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"it gets tiresome, Rangers supporters saying Stuart is a Rangers hater". The above was said last Saturday by Tam Cowan. It's January 11th, and we are midway through the show when a contrived link is utilised to prove DrStu' does not hate Rangers. Rene Guttuso's name is raised and we are informed both Tam and DrStu' met Rene in the Hilton after signing for Rangers. DrStu' remembers getting Guttuso to hold up his St Johnstone scarf, having fun, and liking the young lad! In it's twenty-sixth year, Off the Ball is indulging in some revisionism. Gennaro played for Rangers for eighteen months in 1997 and '98, he made thirty-odd appearances, scoring three goals. He was a popular figure among the Rangers support. Off the Ball had been going for 3-4 years at that period and habitually referred to both Rangers and Rangers supporters as "H-u-ns". It was the common currency of the show then. They commissioned weekly sketches from BBC Scotland's Comedy Unit, and Gattuso appeared regularly as, "the little hairy monkey". He was portrayed as a stupid monkey continually at odds with modern life. No hesitation in BBC Scotland exercising an already existing stereotype. DrStu' gets excited and when he does he becomes garrulous. He cannot help himself, and in particular he offered, "if Gattuso was in any way a decent prospect as a player, he wouldn't be at Rangers". You can file that one under knowing three separate Rangers supporting season ticket holders who no longer attend Ibrox because they do not believe it's the same club. Gattuso in his career won 73 caps for Italy, securing both the World Cup and Euro championship. Further, at club level he won the Champions League twice and several domestic honours. I can only imagine this latest piece of theatrical revisionism has came about because DrStu' has come into contact with Gennaro's Glasgow born wife, Monica? Keep up the Scare! The beginning of last week's football broadcast from the PQ Gang Hut was DrStu' and Tam reminding the listenership of events from a fortnight before. The first words were, "does Scottish football need saved by Steven Gerrard"? We had five minutes describing the gesticulations of Morelos and Kent at ra Sellik Park. Both DrStu' and Tam pleaded for Rangers supporters to consider these players reactions in reverse, what if Sellik supporters had cut their throats and shot off imaginary guns in front of Rangers supporters? Remember, Lennon was demanding a scrapping of Liam Christie's two match ban and a full apology. Why was this not discussed; as opposed to a number of PQ employees questioning Derek McInnes, Ian McCall, and Robbie Neilson as to their need for saving? Knowing what we know today, I am becoming more convinced DrStu' knew what was coming to both Kent and Morelos last week, and it was all about preparation, a fortnight after the event. DrStu' enjoys being on the establishment side. The Man in the Know. The other man in the know by proxy inside PQ these days, is Michael Stewart. Regularly, he is indulged and allowed to batter Craig Levein. More regularly, he has a waiting expectant audience enjoying his, "I don't like the way Rangers do things as a club". He spent fifteen minutes demanding answers to Ryan Christie's citing by the Compliance Officer. He wanted to know who, why, and when cited. No answer from both Daryll Broadfoot and a recently retired Ref'(didn't catch his name) was enough. He talked, then shouted over both adversaries; even pulling both up short for their usage of English. Given his own power of communication is such, I was surprised with his concluding, "if Ryan Christies grabbing out for balance is a red, then the game is a bogey". To bring this up to date, today we have heard nothing of Morelos or Kent. No one is being saved and the Gattuso guff was just a big lie. There is a price to pay for defeating the favoured establishment club in their own midden. The Gang Hut will take as long as it takes to collect the toll.

Football, in general, is over-analysed nowadays. It was a cup game. We fielded a weakened team and won, with a bit of huffing and puffing. That's about it.

4th official?? Or more likely give Separate Entity FC time to go through the whole match again then instruct the ref to act!

I disagree with a lot of what you say here but this is a good post and helps discuss the other side of the argument. We have players who are expected to be able to come in and replace others in our system. Most of those who did come in last night failed to show they have what it takes. Where we differ is that I think that does deserve criticism but I understand your perspective. If these players cannot break down the brick wall of Stranraer, how can they be expected to break down the walls of Aberdeen, Hibs, Killie, St Mirren, etc? Also, I understand why people think that two strikers is more attacking than one, but it really isn't. Our 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 is one of the most attacking setups I've ever seen so that's not the problem. The problem is that we don't have enough quality in the likes of Jones, Ojo, Halliday to make the most of our tactics. If ever there was a reminder of just how fragile our team is, it was last night. If we lose Kent, or Morelos, or Tav, or Barisic, or two or more of our midfielders, we are in big trouble. If Gerrard decides to cash in on Barker, Jones, and Halliday, or if he sends Ojo back, I'll not be bothered in the slightest. There's no point in having backups if they can't perform when required. As you all know, I was against Patterson coming in but once again it shows that the management team know what they're doing. He came in and performed so there can be no excuse from the fringe players about lack of game time or match sharpness. He did it because he committed. The others either didn't commit or don't make have the quality. Either way that means their days with us should be numbered. Ojo in particular frustrates me. Like Ejaria, he has all the skill but lacks the mentality to be at a club like ours. I am continually reminded (normally because the manager proves me wrong) that he knows what he's doing and I trust him. I am also reminded on nights like last night just how much work he still has to do to create a championship winning squad. We have a championship winning team but we are quite some way off having a squad capable of challenging in all competitions.

Tough call between this and Kent's goal at the Piggery. Both similar in their rapid, fluid execution.

Nice to see Gerrard not mincing his words about those senior players who didn't step up. The bar for entry into the first team has been seriously ratcheted up this season and I think the likes of Barker and Ojo will be looking for a new club before too long. They simply aren't good enough for where Gerrard wants Rangers to go and it sounds like he's not afraid to cut the dead wood from our squad if he knows there are better options available. If we want sustained success this is the only way to go.

I will give this some thought

Find it hard to believe we would spend that money on a player who has played all his senior career in the second tier of French football. Scored 22 goals in 107 appearances according to Wikipedia.

What price a league title? I can't wait to find out.

I don’t think so ever saw a title-winning Rangers team that’s didn’t occasionally turn in the sort of display we saw yesterday. I think we’re in danger of over-analysing our situation and reaching too many final conclusions about certain players - the same sort of conclusions we were only recently reaching about Barisic and Katic.

Hopefully that statement truly is just a placeholder. The statement next week had better be far, far better. Weve done well of late with our statements hitting the mark, hopefully this one does too. Still would have liked to have seen us ban The Sun for their xenophobic columnist

?

I'd be happy to be one of your proposers, Stevie.

It's only been a few weeks since Rangers got the better of Celtic but, as the winter break finally comes to a close with a return to action in the Cup against Stranraer, that victory in the East End of Glasgow already seems a long time ago. Yet, there's a sense of familiarity with the position we're in - especially compared to this time last year. Going back to January 2019, we were getting ready for a Cup tie away to Cowdenbeath, still basking in the glow of a home win at Ibrox against Celtic and excited by the fact we were tied with our greatest rivals at the top of the table. That positive feeling didn't last long: the Cup game was postponed and a clearly sluggish Rangers team went down to a defeat in our first match of the new year to Kilmarnock. Joe Worrall was the scapegoat as we lost the game despite taking an early lead but it was fairly obvious the whole team lacked that extra bit of belief, the winners' mentality any successful side requires to win trophies. Any league title challenge was gone without really starting and it was back to square one in terms of offering any sort of competition to Celtic. Fast forward 12 months, the top of the league table is eerily similar so at first glance, you'd be excused for thinking we hadn't made progress since last season. However, you'd be wrong. This time Celtic have played a game more, thus, if we win our game in hand, we'll actually be top of the league on our own. Moreover, although Celtic's points tally has increased, we've also won more games, drew less games and lost only once this campaign. Most importantly though is the way we've found that improvement: whilst no Rangers supporter can say we've been excellent throughout the league campaign, there has been an obvious advancement in the way we're able to achieve three points. Indeed, from the very first game - ironically away to Kilmarnock - the character in the side is a lot clearer. There now appears to be a belief in this Rangers team that they can win any game and, crucially, even when suffering from setbacks. Of course goals win games and skill on the ball excites fans more than anything else. But, if you don't have mental strength, then you can forget any sort of winners' medal. With that in mind, Rangers' efforts through this season and in December in particular, were very impressive. To come back from the disappointment of an avoidable draw in Aberdeen as well as a League Cup Final defeat and win every domestic game since has demonstrated a strength of will that I wasn't sure this Rangers team had: in fact, there was a small part of me that thought this crucial element of desire may have gone from the club itself. Thankfully, I've been proven wrong in little over four games with tricky away wins at Motherwell and Hibs as well as hard fought victories against Killie and Celtic. Quite simply we wouldn't have done that last December so this new found confidence of the players and coaching team should be appreciated by the fans. We wanted progress. We've got it. However, the real challenge is just about to begin. OK, it might not come tonight at Ibrox against Stranraer and tougher tests are on the way but don't prepare correctly for this match and the same slackness will affect us in the league. Accordingly, whilst many fans are quite reasonably expecting in effect a reserve XI, I'd prefer as strong a team as possible - even if it means some accepted first choice players come on from the bench. Yes, we've come a long way in terms of general squad quality since we drew with the Wigtownshire Blues in 2013 but, with one eye on next week's match against St Mirren, we need all of our players back as sharp as possible as quickly as possible. Given we'll also be without captain James Tavernier and top-scorer Alfredo Moreos for at least the next three games, then we need the rest of our best XI to find the top of their game in advance of resuming our league campaign. Consequently, tonight's team/squad pretty much picks itself again for me with only Tav's replacement the real source of debate. Does the manager go for experience with Matt Polster (apparently free to leave on loan but reluctant to do so) or Jon Flanagan (rarely a let down on the left side but, even of his preferred right flank, hardly an attacking option like his skipper) or will 18 year old Nathan Patterson be offered the chance given he does like to get forward. Personally I suspect the latter tonight with one of the first two in future games. In attack Jermain Defoe will again deputise for the suspended Alfredo Morelos. In the face of some disgraceful reporting in the media of the Colombian, Rangers supporters are quite right defending their talisman but his preventable loss of discipline in his last two away games has represented his manager with a problem. Fortunately, even from when Defoe joined Rangers this time last year, the veteran Englishman has rarely let us down in terms of goal supply so the onus will be on him for the next three games and, most probably later again in the season. One wonders if the manager may be tempted into signing another striker for back-up purposes? In terms of the rest of the side, cases can be made for various fringe players to come into the team. Going by yesterday's press conference, George Edmundson will be starting instead of Connor Goldson and Wes Foderingham will likely displace Allan McGregor as well. Others such as Steven Davis or Ryan Kent may be utilised from the bench as opposed to starting but I'd like to see both given a good run out as they will be the creative players tasked with unlocking a stubborn St Mirren defence next midweek. Yes, we need minutes in the legs of fringe players but after a three week break, the same can be said for the whole squad. Finding that balance may not affect tonight's outcome but it will across the rest of the month. In view of this, we may see some some of hybrid starting XI tonight: in effect a combination of fringe players needing game-time and first-teamers requiring a staged return to full sharpness without risking fitness longevity. Ergo, a team along the following lines seems likely: Possible starting XI (4-3-3): Foderingham Patterson | Edmundson | Katic | Barisic Arfield | Jack | Aribo Ojo | Defoe | Jones From the bench, I'd expect Steven Davis, Glen Kamara and Ryan Kent to feature later in the game whilst players like Goldson, Halliday and Barker will also fancy same minutes alongside the youngsters who've recently trained with their first team in Dubai. All things considered, I'm perhaps being overly cautious when it comes to worrying about the fitness (or at least the sharpness) of players. Other teams will have the same concern but, for me, it's all about learning from past lessons. In that regard, I do think we were unfortunate last January with the postponement of the Cowdenbeath Cup tie and I did think it cost us to some degree in our first match back at Rugby Park. As such, I'm really keen for us to use tonight's match not as a training game or as some sort of friendly but give it the competitive respect it deserves. That's not to say we can't involve fringe players or promote younger talent but that we do ensure the bulk of our usual first XI - those who will be tasked with delivering the league title above all else - are ready to resume that challenge in perfect condition next Wednesday. We won a fantastic battle on the 29th of December, let's not lose the war this time.

As per title, we played a closed doors game against Queen of the South, winning 4-1 From the snippets out there: Line up McGregor - Flanagan, Goldson, Mayo, Barisic - Kamara, Barjonas, Polster, Ojo - Kent Morelos Goals: Morelos 2, Kent & Ojo

I'd like to hear what Lee Wallace has to say about his Rangers career, particularly what happened after that match at Hampden. Beyond that, I find football players' tales about their careers to be generic, tick-box exercises. Some of my favourite players have turned out to be opportunists, with little interest in anything but prolonging the milking process.

I think the difference between Negri and Sebo ,was that Negri scored for fun ,but looked like he wanted to be anywhere else ,..whereas Sebo absolutely loved being at Rangers , but couldn't score.

Interesting. From watching a couple of videos, he looks quite quick (relatively speaking -- not sure how that translates to our league), likes to play on the shoulder, has a good eye for space, and likes the back post. I question the quality of the League, although it does look competitive (a few big names in there, for what that's worth). Rodez have just been promoted from the third tier, and Bonnet looks to have coped with the step up well; scoring 9 goals this season already (tied 4th top scorer in the League). £4.5M for a player from that level seems expensive. At 26 he's perhaps just coming into his prime? Interesting.

I've just watched the Celtic game back and have a question. What powers are open to a referee and how do they come to a decision like yellow carding Morelos for his 'gesture'? The reason I ask this is because it's clear that the referee didn't react at all at the time. So, when did he yellow card him? Can a referee yellow card him an hour after the game when he's been influenced, or does it need to be done at the time? I really don't understand this. I can understand how the SFA can (and will) use its powers, but how can Morelos be given a third yellow card for that incident? It seems utterly bizarre to me.

I read it here: https://twitter.com/CoplandRoadOrg/status/1218248831835549696?s=20

Disagree with almost everything you say here. 1. Gerrard is spot on with his comments. The fringe players offered very little despite being given 90 minutes. 2. Shouldn’t need to play more than one up top when the two “wingers” are playing narrow, effectively as strikers themselves - particularly when the full backs, Paterson especially, was playing as a winger and giving a 4th player up top. 3. You throw out stats and say they’re similar to our “starting brigade” yet ignore that the opposition are two leagues lower, part rather than full time, than the teams our “starting brigade” produce those stats against. 4. You downplay the credit Paterson gets because he “wasn’t tested” and at the same time absolve Halliday and Barker from being poor.... were they tested more than Paterson ? No. But it suits your agenda to suggest so. 5. “He threw in Halliday and Barker” hoping they would gel.... he threw in Paterson too and he would have to help with whomever played down that side.... and he did for an hour... and he’s a youth, not an established 1st team squad member. 6. In fact, Kai Kennedy offered more in 10 minutes than Barker did all game. Barker just isn’t good enough for us, it really is that simple. 7. Bemoaning fringe players not getting game time - they got the chance last night against a team where they should shine. And they didn’t. If they can’t look good against 3rd division opponents then they’re going to struggle against Premier League opponents. They aren’t good enough. 8. You keep banging on about changing formation - why should Gerrard change formation ? Domestically he’s lost two games all season, one where we were robbed.... and, funnily enough, that game we lost was when he changed from his usual narrow 4-3-3 - yet here you are complaining that he should change tactics - why should he change a winning formula ? Makes absolutely zero sense to me. None whatsoever. We’ve just pumped our nearest domestic rivals on their own patch using his trusted narrow 4-3-3. So why change it ? Further, a change of formation last night would have told him NOTHING about whether those fringe players can fit his system. 9. Jones or Aribo as a second striker ??? No thanks. If it comes to that then we definitely need a striker to come in. 10. “...adjusted formation according to the opposition at hand...”. We’re playing the best football in the country, were two points off top with a game in hand, we’ve qualified for the EL last 32, we’ve lost one league game all year (funnily enough when we changed formation....) yet you want us to change formation for the opponent at hand ? This season Gerrard and his team have proven time and time again that it’s other teams who need to adjust because if they don’t we will beat them. We’ve overrrun Celtic in 4 of the last 5 games against them and the one we didn’t was the game when WE changed formation from our preferred. No thanks.

Have to love their honesty ?

Let's just close this one down. @Briton, for some reason you re-opened a dying thread with a response to a post which was made over two weeks ago. @Gonzo79 then replied with an attempt at humour. You may not have laughed but it didn't warrant your response in my opinion. I think this has been done to death now. Clancy has given a statement about it. I agree with his version of events, but even if anyone doesn't, it's in the past so let's move on. We've got an important sequence of league games coming up and they're more worthy of our debate now. I know I'd rather read about all of your opinions on that.

It is worrying that the manager says such stuff. Getting a bit of perspective here : - We totally dominated a game against 10 defence-minded players. Games we have had similar performances before, by our starting brigade. 33-0 shot, 10-0 on target, 12-0 corners. We seemingly moan on a high level here. - The gaffer deemed it worthwhile to stick to his one-striker line up against this. We all know what was coming, so did he. Was it adjusted? Nope. - He threw in Halliday and Barker from essentially no-where, assuming that they gel. Same with Jones after months out with injury. BTW, in case people missed it before, Jones and Barker are not skill-wizards, they work with space, pace and their directness. How much of that did they get? Against Tashkent Jones got space and was far more effective. - Credit is being heaped on Patterson, who did well. But he was essentially not tested and was thus given quite bit of freedom to bomb forward. Dunno, but it doesn't sit well with me when we hardly ever give the "fringe" players any real chance to shine, then throw them in against the ultimate brick wall and expect them to ran them down and over (in a way that the first row usually doesn't do either). And then, straight after the match, come up with these remarks? When the bucket should also stop with those selecting players for every game and tactics for every game at hand. Out of my head I can remember but one or two games where we adjusted the formation according to the opposition at hand and cast the "4-3-3" aside. Obviously, as Stewart was out injured, a second striker was not to be, even though we could have played Aribo or even Jones there.

Yes; they've been good in the Euro and now their form seems to have picked up domestically.

Tedious affair to watch partly because there was a total lack of urgency to the play but I suppose we might expect that in a case like this. No refection on Stranraer for that they were never in it and in fact I don't recall them registering a single shot even off target nor even a corner. They did nothing with their possession superiority. ? It played out almost entirely in their half with an air of inevitability that the ball had to go into their net at some point which it ultimately did, twice. Then it was over. Thankfully. Stranraer get their money we move on to the real business on Wednesday.

The BBC have rigged the possession stats for the last two league home games. 50-50 when Rangers dominated all other metrics.

But far the best exponent of the 30 yard thunderbolt I ever saw was actually John Greig, who I must have seen bury a dozen or more.

Let's be clear here, we are only (still) discussing these incidents, and the Compliance Officer has only came out of hibernation for 1 reason and 1 reason only - Rangers won the game. If we had lost, do you really think we'd still be hearing and seeing ramifications 19 days on?

Utterly pathetic by the bias, corrupt, incompetent @ScottishFA , no wonder Scottish football is the laughing stock of world football #pennstatejustice for decades of paedophile ring at Separate Entity FC 100+ victims

The double standards are sickening

And that is exactly the defence to be used on 6th Feb. Our behaviour was no more than getting a little excited after our first win at the midden of our rivals in many years. Remind me how much Hibs got fined after the SC final, or how much the bheasts got fined after every victory against us when they can help themselves but shove it in our faces? We should get exactly the same fine as that.

But when Neil Lennon, Leigh Griffiths or Scott Brown do it...…. ?

He sure can, but so too can I. I would suspect that neither of us is of the required standard. We do have Flanagan and Polster though. (NB: That's sarcastic mode, BTW.)

Character building