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To be honest it is the celtic forward line of Collum, Beaton, Thomson, McLean and Clancy that worries me much much more than Edouard and Griffiths!

Everything is deadly silent on the defender All it’s being said is We believe we have got our target and it’s ‘done’ Deli was a target but we never formally moved for him beyond initial informal chat was what was given to press some names speculated on include Skrtel, Lawrence, Soutter (all rubbished by the club) Can’t get any information on it at all which is great work by the club, but I suggest it will break soon if we are as close as suggested Interesting to see what happens

I'd love this to be true because I've seen him play a few times and he's a top quality defender. He's excellent on the ground and in the air, and must only be in his mid twenties. However, having seen how talented he is, I can't believe we'd be in a position to afford him. I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see him being in our price range. Bologna do need to raise funds for a midfielder so perhaps this is an opportunist move by Mark Allen.

I don't really understand the 'we don't need three sitting midfielders' criticism. I think it misunderstands their role and position in the team. I would agree if it was the traditional destroyer-type defensive midfielder, where that's all he does, but our three-man midfield is the basis of our whole offensive structure. It provides the support and organisation for the front-three and full-backs. It's not as if they're sitting back and letting the others do the attacking, they're supporting them, providing a passing option. They also should be getting into the box when appropriate too -- see Jack yesterday. A loose example would be Guardiola's use of full-backs. At times they bomb forward, but mostly they stay back in a central midfield position. Guardiola likes a 2-3, or 3-2 set-up with his CBs, FBs and DM. They provide the support for the front players, and defend against counters. Walker does bomb forward on the overlap at times, but he's mostly playing as a right-sided CB.

I was pleased with Jones' intent to shoot from distance. I can't remember the last time we scored from distance!

Mo was a great signing for our club and those who seen him play will confirm my view that he never gave less than 100%

Best Pod yet, excellent work all involved. Big well done!

Enjoyed the podcast,..thank's to all who played a part in it, especially Colin. Thought it good to have a semi-independent voice involved, it lends more credibility to that type of conversation IMO. The Maurice Johnston signing passed me by as I was in the Australian Outback at the time and there was no internet cafe's to catch up on things when reaching Darwin

Some of the Swedish publications I was trying to read all hint at a problem with the club. It sounds like they want to move him on. It happens over there. The translation was poor so I couldn't get much more than that.

You’d think he could afford tuppence for a razor blade.

If it was Soutter, Hearts would already have released their obligatory statement deriding the offer as miserly!

Hull & Coventry linked with loan moves for Glenn Middleton Stephen Kelly Ayr United, Mathew Shiels Dunfermline, both negotiating loans Josh McPake has signed his new Rangers contract with the club No information on the CB we are believed to be close to signing Latest news

As simple as that. It's not as if Jack and Kamara weren't a threat in attacking areas.

Given circumstances, I could partly understand the short-term nature of it, if Kent was much better than any other option,... but I really think Jones is ready to make the slot his and defensively, if you set-up with Kamara, Jack and Davis it would help balance any defensive deficit on the part of Jones compared to Kent. IMO Jones is the type of player (as is Ojo) who could really come on a bundle this year.

He was similar to Kent on a stats graph I saw, way ahead of the pack when it came to attempted and successsful dribbles. From memory less so when it came the assist and goal related stats. If we don’t get Kent you can certainly see the role Jones could play. If we do I’ll be scratching my head if I’m honest, and I think Jones will be too.

Jones looked the part as well....and with the other options we have, I don't think we need Kent. Importantly, Jones looked very comfortable with a Rangers shirt on his back and was very direct. I think he'll do very well with us and again, importantly he is our player. Develop one of our players rather than two of Liverpool's.

Safely feel our way into it in our first competitive match of the season on a horror of a plastic pitch?

I am going to get carried away. Th boy looks as if he has everything required to be a standout. He’s big and strong very athletic and has a great touch. Was being dished up some physical treatment by St Joes in what little I saw but it didn’t effect him. Good sign for the treatment he’s likely to get in the SPL. A lovely goal topped off an encouraging debut.

It will be good to hear the Mo Jo story from a Rangers supporter's perspective. Too much of the narrative has centred around the apparent anger and resistance of Rangers supporters towards the transfer, those people did exist, but they were a small percentage they shouldn't dominate the story the way they seem too. I worked as printer at that time. We were a union shop, everyone had to join a trade union when you worked there, printing, along with most skilled trades at that time, was heavily unionised. There was a big dispute between the main print unions and Rupert Murdoch and his papers, The Times, Sunday Times, News Of The World and The Sun. They'd opened a print plant in east London and Kinning Park in Glasgow and had deliberately employed non-union printers and associated trades. There were pickets every night and a lot of anger and resentment. In another forum I'd explain the long term consequences of the dispute, but for this story the point of it is to explain why The Sun was banned from our work. The Sun carried the exclusive story of Johnson's signing on its front page. None of the other papers had the story. We were a small-ish printers in Glasgow filled with bluenoses, none of who had any idea this had happened. Around mid-morning a delivery driver told one of the guys and no one believed him, we all thought it was a wind-up. Then towards lunchtime it came on the Radio Clyde news, we were dumb struck, it seemed impossible. It wasn't so much that we'd signed an RC, John Spencer had been at the club for a few years too much tabloid fanfare and I never heard anyone say a bad word against him. But Spencer was different, he was a Rangers supporter, Mo Johnson definitely wasn't. I think if we'd signed a Brazilian or a Spaniard or Italian most Rangers fans would have shrugged and waited to see if he was any good. But we all knew Maurice Johnston. Most of the Rangers supporters in my work that day burst out laughing; this was the biggest get-it-up-you we could possibly give Celtic, it was hilarious. They'd literally paraded him as their player a few weeks before and he was treated like the prodigal son returning by their support. Now he was sitting beside a grinning Souness saying how much he was looking forward to pulling on the light blue. It seemed unreal. The Celtic support went into meltdown. The board, Billy McNeill and of course Johnson himself were called for everything. In my opinion they struggled to accept the signing far more than the Rangers support did. For many of them the thought that a Glasgow raised, Catholic schooled, Celtic supporting player would consider signing for Rangers seemed impossible. That the highest profile, and arguably the one of the best, just had, rocked their very foundations. It's not hyperbole to say that I'm not sure they've ever really recovered from it. I think much of the hatred so many of them have for us and the apparent need to demonise and stereotype us stems from that signing. I knew Rangers supporters who were very unsure about it too. Most I knew had a problem with the person, rather than his religion. Johnson had a criminal record, something that would have once discounted you from playing for Rangers, he'd a reputation for being a playboy, there were substantial rumours of illegitimate children around the city not being acknowledged by him, he'd been charged with serious assault after a fight in a nightclub, and of course, he was an ex-Celtic player and someone seen as being 'one of theirs' by everyone at Rangers. Could a player with that upbringing really give 100% to our club? The answer was an emphatic yes. I watched his Scottish debut in a friendly at Broomfield against the deeply unreconstructed Airdrie. Five minutes in the Section B boys began a chant of 'who's the Fenian in the blue', which drew smiles from many in our support, but was rejoined with the first chant of Mo, Mo Super Mo, from us. Johnson demonstrated what we'd bought that day. He worked harder than McCoist, he was faster and more mobile, he was a selfless player as well, playing with his back to goal or leading the line he'd drag defenders wide for others to break through, he never gave defenders a minutes peace. Scoring the winner a few months later against Celtic at Ibrox sealed the deal for any remaining doubters of his commitment. His legacy is worth exploring at some point too. After signing Johnson literally nobody was off limits to Rangers. I've heard rumours of Souness asking Gough to tap up Paul McStay at Scotland matches to see if he was interested in crossing the city, Celtic knew no one was beyond us now and that messed with their phycological make-up. They'd always relied on the best young Catholic players gravitating to them and being paid less and treated more poorly than others in the past, now they knew that couldn't happen. Wages starting going up at Parkhead, putting a strain on the famous biscuit tin, Rangers started to be linked with every player, helping us dominate the back pages driving the Celtic support into even deeper apoplexy, and so began a run of dominance for Rangers almost unmatched in Scottish football history. Signing 'wee Mo' played a big part in that. On almost every level the signing was a masterstroke and a big success. Johnson was a very good player who contributed a lot to the side particularly in his first season. I'd argue his signing forced McCoist to work on his game and develop into one of the best players in our history. I'd also argue that signing Johnson so damaged Celtic that they've never got over it, whilst we now look back on it as just another big signing. Ironically, our other big signing that summer, was probably even more important to our continued success. Trevor Steven was a sublime footballer who provided so many of what we now call 'assists'. The other big realisation of course is that 30 years ago we were signing some of the best players available in the UK, how times have changed.

Kelly Joins Ayr On Loan https://rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/kelly-joins-ayr-on-loan/

He only played 3 of the last 14 games, spending most of that time on the bench.

Suggestions he didn't play as much in second half of their season so we've made an opportunistic move.

A large amount of money to spend on another centre half. With the squad approaching 35 players, we need to move folk on as a priority given we arguably still need another striker.

Don't click the link. It's standard anti-Rangers guff by a yahoo.

Faster than the club is probably why the club hate me to be honest

Managing to keep it so quiet makes me think it'll be a player from outwith the UK

I agree, while I want to see more of Edmundson than 45 mins against a very poor side before I can be too comfortable with him being a big part of our side THIS season, we also have young Mayo who impressed (again with the caveat of a bounce game being all I have seen him in, and not much defending to be done). I would still really love a creative attacking centre midfield player, I think that is the one player we really need to break down 10 man defences which we play an awful lot in our league. Not sure any of the players we currently have can do this consistently.

Wait till we get VAR - you cannot argue with objective truth! Offside is offside; over the goal line is over the goal line.

Strangely, I think CB is the one area where we DON'T require a marquee signing. Katic and Goldson are good defenders and Edmundson seems promising.

We have a decent squad but for a title challenge IMO we are still short of two quality players, a central defender and a centre forward. It's a lot to do with mentality and not allowing silly points to go astray. The game at Kilmarnock will give us a better idea of where we are.

Tav and Ojo Barasic and Jones Title of 2020 book (or 2020 vision) ...............'Winging it to 55'

I think Ryan jack has been designated that role to cover for him. If you play 3 defensive midfielders then there should always be cover for the backs to push through.

I think the Ejaria comparison is more valid in relation to Aribo because I think the two positions have slightly different pitfalls. And I think there is more reason to be hopeful than there was with Oduwa, you can see in his highlights reel real ability at a fairly high level (Championship) which wasn’t there with Oduwa. As I’ve said previously Ojo has more ability than Kent from what I’ve seen but needs to show the work rate and desire we saw in Kent to succeed.

I'll do a short club by club prior to the first matches.

A good start but let’s not get carried away. I’m looking for four wins out of four in ELQ1& ELQ2 to help our co-efficient

£5M for a striker with absolutely no top-tier football experience, no thanks. I dont care how good he looks in that overrated league, we simply cannot afford to be spunking £5M on a guy like that. There absolutely must be better options abroad for a striker with top league experience and knows how to win things. Leeds have underachieved since their relegation many years ago. I know the market has gone crazy in England, but that is all the more reason we do not shop there. We sell to there, but we cant buy from there. I'm obviously ok with free transfers and development fees, that is not in question.

I will admit to listening in tonight and this is a must not miss podcast. Stewart Weir and Colin Armstrong put up a fantastic pod. Really not to be missed! I can't wait until Wednesday to hear it again.

Delighted to say all our usual contributors will be returning for the new season as well as a few new voices. Well-kent RFC community polemicist @D'Artagnan will be joining the team and author of several books on the club, Iain Duff will also bring his fantastic knowledge of the club's history to our weekly debates. Journalist and current Head of News at the Dundee Evening Telegraph David Wren will be another new face and help us all navigate through the maze that is Scottish media landscape. We'll also be looking to provide more preview shows ahead of games and, technical challenges permitting, we may even be live outside Ibrox with team news and more on match-days. Feel free to throw cabbages and other rotten veg at @Govan Rear Bear if you spot him recording.