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On Sunday Rangers will play one of their most important games of the season. We travel to Hampden park for the Scottish cup semi-final against our old rivals Celtic. With the league virtually out of our reach the season could only really be called a success if we could lift the Scottish cup. Just a few weeks ago we were so full of confidence that we could beat Celtic in the league and were actually well on top of them when they went down to ten men. That was it we thought. With a man advantage we would charge on to victory and put us right back in the race to win the league title. Nothing could have been further from the reality as Rangers seemed to lose all shape and it was Celtic who got the winning goal. Instead of fighting for the League title a further loss against Kilmarnock and a draw at Motherwell has actually put us in a three horse battle for the second spot with Hibs and Aberdeen, going in to the last five game split. On Sunday the players get the chance to redeem themselves. This will be some of the players last chance to win some silverware so hopefully they will bring their A game to the table. While Celtic are the bookies red hot favourites, this is a one game effort and as we all know in an old firm derby all form goes out of the window. It is who stands up to be counted on the day. The last time we met them in the cup at Hampden we went on to beat them in a penalty shoot-out. Of course the grass that day was of a masonic cultivation as Rogic' s standing leg pushed up the turf and he ballooned the ball over the bar to put Rangers into the final. The less said about the final the better. Celtic will most likely start with a 4-2-3-1 with Scott Brown and Nitcham playing deeper and Forest Rogic and Armstrong\McGregor giving them the forward push. Dembele will be the lone striker They call Scott Brown the Lego eater but to be honest given his intelligence I don't think he got past the Duplo stage. He can however command the midfield and giving him the space and time to run the game will be suicide as we saw at Ibrox three weeks ago when they went down to ten men. So how can we set up to combat in the vital midfield area. One thing is certain we cannot face it with a two man midfield of Docherty and Dorrans. We need that third man in there and in a perfect world I would love to see young McCrorie in the midfield. Unfortunately when you look at our defence, can we afford to leave Alves and Martin as our main centre-backs? That would certainly leave us short of pace and the inclination to lie deeper which would virtually scuttle the early pressing game. Alves has probably been the biggest disappointment to Rangers supporters who were expecting a world beater. In all honesty he looks more like a carpet beater. Yes, he wins everything in the air but I still can't remember him making a decent tackle. We all know Celtic will not be punting high balls up to Dembele to combat Alves in the air. With David Bates being injured the only other name on offer is Fabio Cardoso. He has had next to no game time with his last game being when he came on for Bates.against Celtic and played a big part in poor defending for the third goal. With McCrorie sitting in front of the defence it would mean that a lot of balls would be mopped up in the midfield though. Murty certainly has a difficult decision to make. We could of course go for a far more defensive plan and sit deeper and put the fit again Windass up as a loan striker to use his pace on the break. The Celtic defenders would certainly love not getting beaten up by Morelos but they are also not the quickest defenders out there and the speed of Windass may upset them more than the battering of Morelos and that also offers up the chance to play a five man midfield keeping our two wide players. We would be giving away territory but that would give us far more room to break into. It would also give far more room for Tavernier and John to break into This could be a line up in that situation Foderingham Tavernier Martin Alves John McCrorie Goss\Holt\ Halliday Candeias Dorrans Murphy Windass I doubt that Murty will change that much and fully expect Kenny Miller to be playing around Morelos. I really hope he shores up the midfield but I am afraid it will be more of the same. He may put in Halliday or Holt for Docherty but that is about the only change I see on the cards I think his team will be. Foderingham Tavernier Martin McCrorie John Candeias Docherty Dorrans Murphy Miller Morelos As I said the favourites do not always win and below is one of the greatest examples of that.

Groups pointing out the bias against us is to be welcomed. But as long as Rangers fans provide the funds to keep clubs who are part of the problem going this will keep running. Nobody is reporting what is happening to the average man in the street. Stop buying the papers. Stop going to away matches against the problem. When they are starving they'll maybe change their tune. At the same time get our groups to call out halfwits like Spiers or bigots like Haggerty at every turn.

Started around 2004, I think. It's similar to what Italian clubs do, with a star for every 10 league titles (Juve have 2, maybe 3 stars and the two Milanese clubs have 1 star each). I quite liked it initially but it has served its purpose and I'd just go back to a big, bold RFC again.

Surely the words should be 'won't match' Graeme. F***in amateur!

In respect of this really excellent piece of writing from Rick Roberts, there have been two huge frustrations in recent years. The first was the fractured nature of those seeking to speak for the many supporter factions, who used far more energy decrying each other than was ever expended on our detractors. The second was the decision of Club1872 to engage such a narrow agenda, focussed almost entirely on share ownership and a seat on the board. I think it’s now clear Club1872 is to be the fans’ vehicle but it really needs to set aside its continuing obsession with share ownership and be the voice of the support that it could be. We have enormous collective influence but the old divisions and frustration will reappear unless the potential is turned to action.

Absolutely top class stuff from @Rick Roberts - make sure you spend a few mins reading his fine, fine call to arms. https://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news-category/current-affairs/898-could-fan-power-assist-in-our-ongoing-pr-wars

So we should just pay whatever everyone asks for ? We've been there, didn't end well....

I agree. So Bates was in circa 2k a week in wages. Who are we going to sign that’s up to the standard required for even double that? Cardozo, Martin and Alves don’t cut it. The two that do/did were McCrorie and Bates. Now Bates has gone? It’s just a strange bit of business??

Agree with all of this but part of the remit must be to call out our own when they step out of line. That would give more substance to such an initiative. We must not simply defend Rangers but call out the malicious detractors in the most public but legal and respectful manner. The platform must obviously be social media and it will take some serious professional input and energy to turn this round. It makes sense for 1872 to be the vehicle with support and funding from the club. 1872 perhaps needs to amend its raision detre to accommodate and have clear delineation between the body questioning the club and the part of it that needs support from the club and it’s resources. I for one would volunteer and give my time to assist a constructive initiative in any way that helps. I am sure there are many like me. There is nothing stopping this happening.

we sometimes forget how lucky we are to have lived a full life

Careless use of words is becoming a regular occurrence for Murty.

Every club and its dog invents a reason to put stars on their shirts now. I’d scrap it, we don’t need to boast about our achievements

Scotland used to be a fertile breeding ground for the successful old fashioned style of manager mainly because of the force of personality/character allied to the straightforward, humble but hard working class background (often old industrial areas like mines). For those that were really successful, you could add a very football savvy brain and a charasmatic leadership. Fast forward and the new style of successful manager coming through is something else altogether and generally have a make-up that is foreign to the Scottish football culture and none in Scotland that I know have the independent force of character to impose themselves. ie. I think the relative quality of Scottish manager compared to many other nations will continue to go downhill. The ones that end up being really successful will need to work outside Scotland to fully develop. Meanwhile, Scotland will live in it's own footballing bubble.

So you are saying Murty is our man ?

He must have potential or the Germans would never have signed him; there are not that many players from these shores make it in Germany. Think we might regret this. I suppose there's no sell-on fee as it's a pre-contract?

And he is a useful tool, if used correctly and if he applies himself to the best of his abilities. He vanished after he scored against the Yahoos ... and we can't accept that, especially against the Scum. As I said above, no problem to have him on the bench and use him during the later stages for counter attacks.

It wouldn't worry me it was just a thought that's all.

Tav and Morelos

Saying you won't match HSV's offer is not the same as saying you'll pay whatever everyone asks for. Far from it. I agree with soulsonic. It was a poor choice of word to use from Murty.

The subject of the text I have enboldened is of far greater importance than Bates. We have to hope there is some joined up thinking going-on.

We could get someone better on less money or someone worse on more money, the issue being is that we don't know and our recent record on signing centre-halves and contracts given is poor to awful. With Bates, we knew what we had and part of the unknown gamble is taken away, you could treat that as a commodity that was worth a price. As for better transfer dealings in January...Yes, they were but they didn't have much to improve on and the real litmus test is the summer and we don't know how much say Mark Allen will have or if a new manager/head coach will insist on more control.

We will agree to disagree. I have little doubt that with the right scouting someone of at least the same caliber as Bates could be picked up for peanuts.

Oops!

So bringing in Martin, Murphy & Cummings on loans (with a view to a permanent deal for the latter two) is "learning nothing" ? I would suggest that much was learned by bringing those guys in on initial loan deals with views to permanent. Murphy has proven he would be worth a permanent deal. Cummings hasn't had the chance but at least if he doesn't look like being what we need then we haven't "wasted" wages on a 3 yr deal for a guy that won't cut it (I'm not saying Cummings won't cut it, but the point is those "loans with potential permanent deals" suggest we HAVE learnt). "Would make sense to get rid of Alves" - that says, to me at least, that you ARE suggesting it. Alves has another year on his contract I believe. Would I keep Bates before Alves. Definitely. Would I pay him 7-8k a week ? Nope. Maybe it is me.... but I just don't think he is worth even close to that. And before you compare him to other players.... they aren't worth it either. If Alves doesn't want to leave then we probably don't have the finance to give Bates 8k over 4 years. It is very much a personal thing but I just don't think he is good enough. Our best CB this season he may have been (I don't think he has, McCrorie was and is better, but he is so versatile that he got moved to DM) but that doesn't mean he is good enough for us. I would have absolutely no qualms in replacing Bates with Aidan Wilson, another youngster who has done well when called upon. Our CB pairing next season should be McCrorie plus one other - whether that be Wilson, Alves or someone else. FWIW, I heard about 4 or 5 months ago that Bates was leaving in the summer......

I will stick with Liverpool to win the cup

If it's true that Alves is on 40k a week then we could cut our losses with him - assuming he would be willing to go, no guarantee there - and could get 2 CB's at 10k a week and still save money. Pedro and his dealings last summer have screwed us royally between Alves, Cardoso, Pena and Herrera.

Reportedly on less than 2k a week and wanted between 7 and 8k a week.

Alves is reportedly on 40k a week

Cardoso really is worse than Bates. Watch either of them play recently?

I don't understand this talk of risk. We're talking about a player who even at 21 was outperforming and starting ahead of his higher paid colleagues, and in terms of finances we're talking about peanuts. The risk is in spending a substantial transfer fee and at least £7,500 for an adequate replacement. Given this is the club who spent £1.3m and £20k in wages on Fabio Cardoso last summer I would consider that very risky.

You have a chance to boycott the remaining away fixtures spend your money on your family , treat yourself do what you want with it rather than give it to clubs that dislike us .

Bates was/is as decent player...nothing more. There is potential for him to develop in the future & that is where the gamble lies. He's not worth paying anywhere in the region of the £7.5k pw that is being quoted. So do the club take a gamble & offer £3-3.5K with a 4yr contract in the hope of further development, or do they keep the wage low, and the term shorter & reduce that risk IF he doesn't develop as hoped?? Whos to say that he WILL develop into a better player than he is now - it's a tricky one. It would appear that the club opted to mitigate the risk somewhat, and go for the lower wage/contract term option. Bates' agent thought differently with the outcome being he moves on. I think the club did the right thing, in not being held to ransom. I don't think Bates ever blew anyone away with his performances, but he did pretty well overall. The other concern for Bates is that While Murty tends to favour him just now, there might be a different manager next season who has different views....

I wonder what Cardoso is on? Alves & Martin?

2 tims and a tim media puppet

Only a few weeks ago across a few forums the general consensus was he wasnt good enough , now hes leaving hes Beckenbauer

A Tim and a Timmy media puppet.

While he has to look after himself, I can't help feeling there's a bit of ingratitude in his actions.

McCrorie is a better player, I am not comparing Bates with McCrorie, I am comparing Bates with Alves & Martin, Bates has won a couple of MOTM awards and I still say his distribution is no worse than Alves or Martin, Bates has youth on his side to improve. I'm not getting my knickers in a twist about Bates leaving, I am only saying he is a young Scottish CB who could maybe have developed a good partnership with McCrorie and lasted for years.

How much is Alves on per week compaired to Bates? I would have Bates before Alves & Martin every day of the week

Given the UB's recent "fuck you" to authority with their unauthorised march, and leaflets using the F word and images of violence, is it really any surprise when the authorities decide not to risk helping them when they have no idea what the outcome will be? The UBs should remember that there are consequences to their actions.

What gets me is how easily we throw money around and waste a lot of it at the higher end of the wage scale on players where there will often be no re-sale value, yet we seem to want to drive a hard bargain at the lower end to the extent of losing a promising youngster for nothing. Contract management is very important when your revenue streams are limited.

I hope we dont get de boer