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Cheers @Frankie - I think BP and heart rate are just about back to normal, and you had to remind me they we face them on Sunday 😁

I don't agree that we were second best in the first leg. We played on the counter but deservedly won 3-1, going on 5.

...but their support's customary offensive rubbish will not be displayed..... which must surely hand us an advantage...... Frankly, that lot could give Trump lessons in narcissism, and self-importance. (To be fair, he's not a vicious antisemite.) "A football club held in the highest esteem". Indeed - presumably in pederast circles, as an example of how to abuse generations of children and get away with it. It doesn't seem to have penetrated the minds of this soi-disant intellectual wing of the fhilth support that Sunday's match will, as usual, attract attention from all over the globe, and that the Board will not wish to be embarrassed by the content of any display; nor will it wish to have to explain, or attempt to excuse, such content. Of course, in, mirabile dictu, an exercise in naked cynicism, refusing permission for a display means that it will not have to be seen to condemn it, afterwards, no matter how mealy mouthed, and insincere, that rebuke would be. Until the last rebel, indeed. God speed that day.

Good news for Raskin being the sole SPFL representative in the Red Devils. He has one year left on his deal come the summer, been here for 3 years, still fairly good age. The time to sell him is this summer and we’d hopefully get 5-10 million for him. He only cost us around 1 million so a good example of what we should be doing on a bigger scale regards player trading.

I think we still had one sub still to make. We get an extra one if it goes into extra time.

Snatched from our board ... Highlights from the first game Yesterday: 5 Minutes Highlights Penalty Shootout TNT Sports That Moment The Scenes I'm feeling it Reaction Barry Ferguson Press Conference Barry Ferguson Reaction Jack Butland and James Tavernier Reaction Jack Butland Reaction Leon Balogun Reaction Mohamed Diomande Pics by Rangers FC Pics by Willie Vass

admin - five year ban??? The frightening thing is Compo could be right 🥵

Your serenity is to be commended. Unfortunately some us are born worriers.

Really pleased with that result last night. Yes, we didn't play well for periods but Fener are a decent side who will cause most teams problems. FWIW, their keeper had a few good saves as well so it wasn't all one-sided. Onto Athletic Club and a Bilbao travel trial run....? Last night didn't really tell us anything we didn't know. We lack genuine quality and depth in key areas resulting in a nervousness on the ball that isn't conductive to achieving consistent success. A squad overhaul is required and we can only hope a takeover helps finance that.

Bilbao Man u and then beat Spurs to end Ange time or revenge over Frankfurt........... Simples

Good to see Butland turn up, been a while. He deserves plaudits for that. Well done.

First thing the 49'ers should do is ban that f*****g drum

I’m overseas (again) at the minute and watched tonight on my iPad, mirrored to a TV with a few colleagues. One of them made a point early on that got me thinking as I watched the match. The point was that most every second ball whether from us winning a dual or them winning a dual fell to a Fenerbahce player. Invariably he was unmarked and had space and time to think. The fact we’re through is a god send but is this second ball thingy just a player quality issue or can our players be a lot smarter out of possession?

Also ,how many times has a two nil defeat been celebrated at Ibrox ?

Happy for both, but hope they come back in one piece 🤞🏻

Both have been particularly impressive in Europe so no surprise at their recognition at this level. I think we may struggle to keep Raskin especially this summer but him being called up can only increase his value.

I thought Cerny was the best player on the park in first half. He tired a bit in the second after having 3 on him but was unlucky not to score with a great shot late on. Tav, Souttar and Barron also did well. I'd have gone with Cerny normally but Butland is the main reason we won the penalty shootout so have to go for him.

Happy we are going through, but a little disapointed in the way we played. I thought we were by far the better team over there and we should have pushed them harder. there was a lot of sitting back trying to soak up their play. Had we been more positive we would have scored as their defence is poor. Skriniar is done and there keeper was average at best.

We are not paying 6m anytime soon on anybody but hes going to be a major loss because hes the only one thats creative and makes chances in the whole squad.

Dunno, but we have a tendency in our team to play balls quickly, no matter whether the player itself or the recipient is under pressure or has people near him. Quite often, the recipient appears to be surprised* by this and "over-reacts", losing the ball in the process. As soon as pressure is applied to our midfielders, they start to do this and more often than not, we lose the ball. That's what you liked Jack or Davies for: receive the ball and play it simple. *The same happens up top, when we try "to pass" the ball over the line, even in areas littered with opposition players. As the passes itself more often than not lack quality (e.g. are too hard), the recipient can't control it and the situation is lost. As if people lack the confidence to take responsibility themselves. Danilo was rightly p*ssed for being left on the bench, but I think we couldn't bring him on after using our contingent of subs. You would hope that Barry plays two strikers at the Scumhut, as we sure need more firepower than yesterday. Relying solely on Dessers or a mazy Cerny run will cost us - again.

Football-ability-wise, we were second best in both games. They cut us open on numerous occasions in both games, but were rather suspect at the back. We pounced on that. Had they been a bit more lethal ... all of which is essentially a carbon copy of our Scottish league campaigns for the best part of a decade. We did what they failed in and were ruthless in our counter-attacks. Yesterday, we used the same tactics and they pushed us back time and again. Had Cerny been a little more unselfish, we might have saved us from 30 more minutes of this, plus penalties. But truth be told, we never really looked like scoring for most parts, as they adapted to our game of last week. I am as happy as anyone, but yesterday was too tight for comfort. A marvellous achievement for the side we have right now, of course. Wee remark: we should look to give Jefte a rest every now and then. Against good attackers (and physical ones), he's been second best on numerous occasions, usually resulting in goals. Not that Ridvan is more physical, but he has more bite. In a 5-man defence like yesterday, it may work with Jefte, as there's someone covering for him. Having Barron back is a bonus, as he provides protection to our backline too. Hope he and Dessers is fit for Sunday, not that the game matters that much anymore, bragging rights aside.

A 'squad overhaul' suggests a squad clear out. I don't think we need a clear out - other than the few that have contracts ending. We just need to start improving the team with quality additions. This is still the rebuild we started in the summer.

We hardly win an aerial challenge either and teams playing us always look massive. Maybe I just have that complex because I am only about 5ft 3

Yeah I suppose we can use the Quarter second leg to get use to the stadium for the final 👍

Glad we are through for the cash in the next round but lets not kid ourselves that was absolutely terrible. We made that team look like world beaters , tactics were all wrong , we should have had a right go at them instead of trying to go through on the first game result. Had we not won the pens that whole team would have been slaughtered and rightfully so.

Just like Man Utd its a stone throw from the current stadium which is good to keep it central. They have to do it as they cant build St James' anymore which is a shame as I love those huge stands. Ive been to St James' a couple of times, last in 2008 - I was on a stag weekend and the rest went paint balling and I thought Im not doing that nonsense so went to see a Blackburn game instead - and they went down that season. I sitting up near the back row of the Milburn stand and there was a great view and plenty leg room. First time was around 1990/91 for a West Ham game when it was terracing behind both the goals, we didnt get away tickets so went into the old terraced Gallowgate and it was rocking then.

Phew....... Something magical and mystical about Thursday nights.....

Sterling looked to be very involved. Jefte and Diomande again having a good connection, with the former playing very high. I know Balogun is a decent defender but he is a bit of a black hole when it comes to ball circulation. It's more stark when you compare him to the few minutes Propper had in the last game. In that 20-odd minute spell Propper had more connections than Balogun had in two matches. Of course you want them to defend first, but at this level we do need the ability to progress the ball. It looks like we never found Dessers that much. Raskin and Barron had a lot of strong connections.

I think the OP is being a bit harsh on us on last night's performance alone, as it was the exact opposite the previous Thursday when we won almost every single second ball and totally dominated the midfield area. Our issue last night was that we decided to try to replicate that but our opponent was ready for us with new tactics of their own as they have a quality manager and we eh dont. In general I to tend to think we win an average amount of second balls when Raskin and Diomande are in the middle, but Barron doesnt ever seem to be in the right place for where the ball is going to land (match awareness and pitch geography are not his strengths) and as for the likes of Bajrami, Lawrence etc, lets just not get started on them.

Tav for me, two match saving tackles and led the way in the penalty shoot-out. Butland had some great saves and was immense at the penalties, Souttar was very good as well.

Yes you get an extra sub during extra time, thought it would be sensible when the ball went out after 122 mins with 60 seconds left to bring Danilo on for a defender to enhance our penalty options..... but didn't matter in the end. Maybe the lack of experience in the coaching team meant they forgot they had one more......

Not his biggest fan but it can only be the keeper.

I remember thinking the same when we played Dortmund around 2000. Their whole team looked bigger, stronger and faster than us and I was delighted when I heard we were signing one of their midfielders. Wasn't so delighted when it turned out to be Nerlinger.

We really must think about signing Cerny whatever it takes.

Would be nice if Villa can go all the way

A few players did well from Butland to Raskin but I thought the most consistent was Souttar who probably hurt himself diving out of bed this morning to head another ball away.

First time its ever happened mate

Excellent outcome and now a chance to make a few bob

We got in about half 1. The benefits of working from home coming in to play today

I missed the first half but thought the when we made the changes just before their 2nd goal we looked more like the side to pinch it. The second goal could have been stopped on the line. I think Hagi should have come on earlier instead of Bajrami who was poor. We did the hard part in the first leg with a win and we should have been out of sight. Our penalties bar Hagi were good and Butland's second save was outstanding - Im delighted for him after coming under some criticism. Going through is all that matters and we have another quarter final - Im not sure if Bilbao is the better tie than Roma as they will be wanting to reach the final on their home patch but its a winnable game.

A bit of both.

I should rather we had put them to the sword, but is that not what we did in the shootout?

@buster. may not be on the Board but correctly in my view, he has defended them, Mr Bennett in particular against their most persistent critic on here.

St Maximain not in their side which is good; he was very dangerous v us last week.

A touching gesture!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 We are all the same. It too often needs humanity and courage to acknowledge it.

I think Real Madrid's percentages are a bit low, they have to be favourites against Arsenal. Since PSG knocked out Liverpool they have become all the media's favourites all of a sudden. Whilst they look a better team than they have had in the past I still dont have them as winners and I think Unai Emery could produce a masterclass to knock them out.