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I posted almost a year ago that the time for a clearout was after winning the league. If you fail to strengthen when you're winning then you're asking for stagnation.

Aribo shouldn`t be anywhere any starting XI right now.

Part of why I think we've done well in Europe is because we're typically up against sides who try to play football so there's more space for us and it suits our style of play. But its also not an unreasonable question to ask if some of those players are raising their game for Europe (glamour ties, they get to express themselves, they're in the shop window etc) and just doing the absolute minimum in some of the league games. This is the time to have a clearout and you'd hope we could fund it by selling a few players who blow hot and cold. Look at what Celtic have spent this season as an example.

Gio deserves a year and some support. If nothing else for the European run.

Same here - after Sunday, I'm dreading tomorrow and the SC Semi-final. Our entire season could be over by Easter Monday and that's a horrible thought. However, our European performances and results over the last 3 - 4 years are some thing we should be really proud off no matter the outcome of this tie. The only hope I have is we have a good record against Portugese teams recently and I think they can be gotten at as we've shown previously. Given this, any result that means we are still in the tie would be more than acceptable tomorrow (that includes a narrow defeat). Also worth remembering that the last time we played Braga we were in the middle of another post winter break slump and we won in Braga with Flaurent Kamberi and George Edmundson in our starting 11 (and no Alfie).

I'm still on a downer from Sunday! still gutted! I can hardly even get excited about this match!!

On the contrary, I am happy with the current arrangement. Rangers TV already caters for Rangers fans worldwide and I have zero interest in watching any game that doesn't involve Rangers. Watching RTV means paying a subscription fee, which I would much rather goes to Rangers than some broadcaster like Sky or Setanta who only ever cover a fraction of our games anyway.

So let's assume Gio will be the manager next season, I think we all agree that won't change. He needs to be backed and we need to sell first, again probably no debate there. Morelos, Kent - last year of their contracts will be sold. I think we also need to sell Aribo, Kamara -with those four our most saleable assets and could bring in 25m - conservative estimate. I know I keep saying but Wilson needs to bring in money for players that have largely failed lately: Barisic, Wright, Simpson. We will also free ourselves from some hefty wages - McGregor, Goldson, Davis and those on loan: Amad and Ramsey. That provides the opportunity for Gio to model the team as he wants and if all the funds from sales are made available, that's not a big ask. I know many will say we don't need wholesale changes, but I think we need a full restructure of the team as I think it's the collective that's the problem versus a few individuals regardless of how it seems at times. The opportunity is then there to play a different system starting at the back with good defensive FBs (not to say they can't bomb forward but they need to be able to defend better than Tav) and so yes, I believe Tav is part of the issue despite his stats. I also think that's how Gio would want to set up with his keep the zero. We also need better options up front who have the ability to play solo or in a partnership depending on the opposition and a couple of good wingers that are also good finishers. One commanding midfield general in the mold of Barry Ferguson that can chip in with goals wouldn't go a miss. It's not impossible and we've restructured brining immediate success before and it gives Gio no excuses to go and prove to us what he can do if backed. Or we bring in an other couple of squad players and hope they break through to be regular starters. and hope Gio is a miracle worker.

The support should continue to raise the valid concerns that we have, and you've raised a number of them in a previous reply to me. We should continue banging away, but it doesn't mean that I want the board to resign if they don't happen when there aren't any obvious replacements.

I think it is too soon to be thinking of replacing the manager. I have some doubts but have more doubts about the players who only seem at their best in Europe. Tells us where their heads are at.

And here's me thinking I was the resident pessimist 😉

A Twist in the Tail(of the Bank) and an Explosion. I remained hors de combat although the crutch had been slung. I was told by the Hairmyers Physio to bathe my chipped bone ankle in sea water? Apparently, emptying the salt shaker into a bucket did not replicate. Anyways, the bucket was required for another purpose after Morton's visit to Ibrox. The Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards had released their take on Amazing Grace and, it was heading for number one like a bullet. The majority of the 18,000 crowd at Ibrox were looking to give Bomber Jackson the bullet when the Referee blew the final whistle. It had begun so well, Rangers ran out - McCloy, Denny, Mathieson, Conn, Jackson, Smith, Penman, D Johnstone, Stein, A MacDonald and, I MacDonald. Morton lined up - Sorensen, Shevlane, Laughton, Lumsden, Anderson, Rankin, Gillies, Mason, Chalmers, Murphy and, Armstrong. There were four changes in the Rangers team but it was not enough. I remember Eric Sorensen having a good game and Joe Mason strolling it in midfield. Bomber nodded in on the stroke of half time but, the second period saw Chalmers equalise and the game culminated with Bomber once again heading into the same net as his first. An OG had seen us slump to a 1-2 defeat. Adverse results after Euro games is nothing new. There was no time for lament, the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against Motherwell was up on Monday evening at Ibrox. On the way to the match, a heated discussion dominated the Tannochside RSC bus, On Wednesday last, 75,000 had crowded into the Stadium for the visit of Torino, 18,000 trapped for Morton on Saturday and, now Monday saw an overcrowded charabanc heading to augment another bumper Ibrox attendance. Officially, it was given as 50,000 plus. An important point was missing from the usual loyal supporters as opposed to part timers argument, three day weeks had just concluded and attending football three times in a week was not every family's priority. Attractive games and opposition was the deciding factor. Rangers took to the field - McCloy, Jardine, Mathieson, Greig, Jackson, Smith, McLean, D Johnstone, Stein, MacDonald and, Johnston. Motherwell were also unchanged from the 2-2 draw at Fir Park nine days before - Fallon, Muir, Whiteford, Forsyth, McCallum, Watson, Campbell, McInally, McCabe, Lawson and, Heron. The inconsistency of this Rangers side could in part be summarised as quick to take action but no so quick to listen. The 'Well triangle of Jim McCabe, Sammy Campbell and, Kirkie Lawson had opened Rangers up twice before at both League and Scottish Cup fixtures at Fir Park in the last month, they did it again in the first minute at Ibrox. A through ball from a quick McCabe - Campbell interchange, saw Lawson dinking McCloy for the opener. Seven minutes later Rangers forced a corner and John Fallon arrived at the party. A decade at Sellik ensured Fallon was a clear favourite among the Rangers support, his Goalkeeping errors had turned a number of games from losses into draws and, from draws into victories. Fallon punched the corner into the net. Colin Stein was grateful for a hesitant Fallon five minutes after our equaliser, knocking the ball passed 'well's stopper for number two. A quick ripple fire start had seen three goals, it was followed by an explosion. A Calor gas bottle within the Enclosure Pie Stall exploded and both girl workers were injured, one quite seriously. One week prior, the Provisional IRA had detonated a car bomb in Donegal Street, Belfast; murdering seven and injuring 148. By half time, Ibrox was in no doubt, the IRA had bombed the Stadium. The slow to listen thing struck again just after the hour mark, the claret and amber triumvirate struck again. The arch poacher, Lawson deservedly equalised and the next 15 minutes became cat and mouse. The large crowd was anxious and only partly settled by a Tommy McLean snapshot which beat the Keeper with 15minutes remaining. Colin Stein finished the contest in the 82nd minute and again, John Fallon was partly at fault. Delight at Fallon's performance evaporated when it came through his former club had won their replay at Tynecastle 0-1. The semi-final draw was conducted the next day and Sellik secured Killie, we got Eddie Turnbull's Hibs. During the month of April'72, we would face a European Cup Winners Cup semi-final against Bayern Munich and a Scottish Cup semi against Edinburgh's green half, as it turned out four sap draining games and something had to give? Five League fixtures had to be played in the same month. Bayern was all that mattered and my Old Man confirmed it when he informed me he had booked up to attend Munich. I was not included because my O' Grades began during the month and he did not want to interrupt my studies. I was furious, Bayern was all that mattered.

It's a huge disappointment we haven't exploited these financial opportunities.

That's exactly what I'd do - sell those four & Tav - to fund a rebuild and reduce the wage bill. Having sold Patterson, we should be able to reinvest the majority of that back in to the playing side whilst putting some in to the bank so to speak. Could we do that all in one window given those others are retiring/moving-on? I suspect we could if we move quickly, but its a massive change to undertake and we also have some doubts about Ross Wilson's ability. (I realise this is a "Football Manager" type scenario where its not quite as easy to do this in real life!)

The boy that ripped them apart for bodo/glimt is available for about half a million supposedly. Value is out there.

Kent on the wing, Roofe and even Itten through the middle, Sakala on the right. Ramsey behind them. It`s St. Mirren, so Balogun, Goldson and Bassey at the back, Lundstram ahead of them. Pick your remaining midfielder at your leisure. Or play Sakala next to Roofe and Diallo on the right. Make them suffer early on, hit them on the counter later. Stop this one-striker trash against packed defences, stop this terrible kick-about at the back and DM.

I think this is fair. Its also crossed my mind that the teams strength is playing European football and not dominating Scotland. How many years were we dominant here but useless in Europe? Look at Celtic recently in Europe V domestically.

GVB will certainly be the manager going into next season. But he’ll need to up things big style if he’s going to be here beyond that. Losing his first two OF games to a very average Celtic team doesn’t look good for the future Im beginning to find his team selections & tactics too predictable. And his loyalty to Alan McGregor incomprehensible

Like much of the cyber world I guess it's a mystery

Off to Aintree so won’t be watching I only hope our defence doesn’t embarrass itself and it would be nice to play the ball forward instead of this across the pitch from me to you then a pass back type of football, just get the sleeves rolled up and get tore in .

Ally Robertson?

Somewhere along the line I think I mastered the art of leaving disappointment behind (more or less) fairly quickly after a defeat. It's not Sunday's game that concerns me, so much as fear of another poor result in Portugal. By all accounts Braga is doing well at the moment, while we .... are not. Hope springs eternal but I can't help feeling our season is about to come to an end on all fronts.

I'm sure in an interview Ross Wilson claimed the financial impact COVID restrictions had on the game had caused a financial issue with the type of market we are looking to sell into. I cannot find a link. It may have been on a RTV Video. I did however find plenty of articles claiming we don't need to sell and any money raised will be reinvested back into the squad. Looking forward to us spending the Patterson money then. Source: https://www.ibroxnews.com/2021/11/22/ross-wilson-no-rangers-players-need-to-be-sold/

out of contract after this season and intends to go back to Germany i believe but Katic will be back from loan

Plenty illegal streams out there!

If playing Roofe we need a tall strong target man as iI believe Roofe to be more of a poacher like scorer.

Agreed, plus SPFL TV would literally see monies going into a pot whereby we pay for every other club. No thanks. Let each club have its own digital media including TV.

I really don't think the squad is the issue - it's the tactical approach; it's just brutal. Our squad depth next season looks like (strikethrough those that look surplus to requirements): Morelos Itten Kent - Hagi - Arfield Sakala - Aribo - Wright Jack - Sands Lundstram - Kamara Bassey - Helander - Souttar - Tavernier Barisic - Balogun - X - Zukowski McLaughlin McCrorie Yongsters: Lowry, Kelly, McPake, Mayo, King, Middleton I don't think that's all that bad. We're really lacking up front and on the right. Another CB is needed - especially with the injury record of Helander and Souttar! I feel like some youngsters could fill in, but we don't seem to trust them - or they're not thought good enough. Our best 'assets' are Kamara, Morelos, Aribo and Kent. Any of those could be sold to free up funds to re-invest. I have been saying for ages that Kamara and Morelos should have been sold long before now.

Whilst this may be true I dont think there can be any doubt that it will shine a brighter light on decisions being made. VAR allows refs to stop the game and assess..... right now, their incompetence, or cheating if you take a more extreme view, can be brushed aside as "honest mistakes". The one thing you can't do with VAR, particularly with blatant decisions, is put it down to honest mistakes. There are plenty of examples of this - Kyogo's offside goal, twice, against Hearts, to secure them wins. The Goldson shirt pull on Sunday, the CCV handball on Sunday, the shirt pull on Sakala at Ibrox against Dundee Utd, the Dundee Utd handball when we drew 1-1 at Tannadice, the Celtic handball late in the game against Livvy. There are decisions VAR will highlight that can't be interpreted any way other than the fact of the situation - that at least makes things better - where interpretation can be applied then, yes, we will have the same old issues

The reason we spend so much time passing the ball around our defensive third is to allow the opposition time to organise fully to meet our occasional attacking moves. The reason we play a lone striker is to ensure most of those attacks are entirely futile. Our current scoring rate only proves how successful these twin tactics have been.

I have to disagree. Roofe is an asset but not on his own. He needs someone to play alongside/around him to ensure we get the best of him.

I don’t think there’s a lot of money for new players and if we spend peanuts we will only get monkeys

I keep going between the two extremes of agreeing fully with you to then thinking all the help he got was a few loans in January, and if the squad have chucked it mentally then there is not much he can do.

I keep hearing our fans telling us that we have better players than Celtic and their manager is a dud but at least him across the city is getting a tune from his players. Our manager isn’t getting a thing from what is mostly a squad that won the league at a canter and in my opinion that’s the manager’s fault and I would sack him today might be a tad harsh but I never tolerated failure .. I am a very bad loser

I see we're voting on VAR soon, surely that will come in and be a step in the right direction assuming the usual characters don't screw it up or try to do it on the cheap? As for Gio, if we give him a chance to have a proper transfer window to build his own team, I really hope he gets the funds to do it properly and have a real clearout of those players who've chucked it yet again. I guess that might come down to whether or not we get bids for Morelos, Kent, Aribo and Kamara?

Yes, it was round about the time of Setanta wasn't it? Why do you say that @Bill? Nobody seems happy with the current TV deal so we should be trying to do something about it. I know its the "nobody likes us, we don't care attitude", but we're stuck in Scotland so need to box clever and try to make changes which will be of benefit to us and the game as a whole.

looking right at it same as the handball.

I've only seen Weston once and his off the ball movement and leading of the line was superb. The Celtic B team defence never stopped chasing him. I'd have him involved for that alone.

Hi Mr Compo. Lucky I didnt participate recently - my predictions was have been nothing short of your age haha. West ham still to get top 4? on the cards. Man Utd have fucked it, Arsenals fixture card if harder than a week in jail and Spurs just generally dont get there.

When did Itten sign for Braga 😉

How do you know they arent being addressed ? I can tell you for FACT that the Academy is far, far better run now than it was 3 or 4 years ago. They actually managed to REDUCE the cost at the Academy and INCREASE the support given to players in the structure. I know some of the guys in there personally and they work tirelessly for the club, for the kids and to get the most out of them. They just took a U13 or U14 team to Manchester and beat City 4-3. The Academy is functioning.... Gilmour, Patterson, King, Lowry are examples of that working. That is just one example - but some of our fans will still scream that the academy is shit. Are there concerns ? Absolutely. Some of those things can be improved without money, or without significant money. Some however need investment - and the custodians will have to decide between a or b, not both. Fact of life when running a business that has to manage their finances wisely.

It is a bit of an oxymoron. yes, the fans provide the vast majority of revenue. However, the Board have also spent a ton of money on the very things I mentioned. Now they are to be a "given" - at the same time, we are trying to advise against the financial profligacy that previous custodians operated under. Which is it to be, because we can't genuinely have our cake and to eat it. The Oz trip was absolutely a disaster - however, if we want to maximise our finances nd become self-sustaining it is exactly the type of thing we need to do - just so happened that the club didnt realise just how little we actually want that cash when Celtic are part of the commitment to realising it. Same with the Bitci NFT's. Can't blame the club for trying to cash in on them and nobody was forced to buy them. Every other major club have done likewise including Napoli, AC Milan, Man City - yet C1872 bemoaned it. The same C1872 who wanted to buy King's shares and see none of that cash go directly to the club. We really are, as a fanbase, a walking hypocrisy