Leaderboard

In addition to Bluedell's post earlier in the thread, I guess there's the chance board members (or indeed the chairman) may well be replaced at some point over the course of the next share issue (or two). In the meantime, it would be folly not to pay close attention to the good and bad points of the incumbents. Yes, that has to be done under the proviso there's not really anyone else putting themselves or their wealth forward but that shouldn't veto any valid criticism either.

Last Friday the Lanzarote Loyal RSC donated the incredible sum of £200 to the Restoration of Rangers Graves Project. We have many more plots to attend to over the coming months and this wonderful gesture will help to ensure that our work continues. We’d like to thank the LLRSC for their continued support. Thank you.

I await the public outcry from multiple MSPs regarding this march. Surely any silence will just highlight their hypocrisy.

Club deck rear ?

fuck off....I thought that was hard....I'm shite at this

Just a wee reminder that, for all his faults, King stuck £20m into oldco and had stuck £6.7m into newco as at June last year, and had committed to another £7.2m over this season and next.

Yes - Im worse than a paid errand boy over there & a serial board attacker over here. You have to love blogging.

King and some of the rest of the board have put on money to keep us going over the past few years, and therefore deserve our thanks and the ability to make the decisions. Where would we be without their cash? I hate to think. What alternatives are there to the current board in terms of finance? None that I can see, and none that anyone else has offered. However D'art is correct. The honeymoon period is over for the reasons he highlights. They deserve some criticism, even though they do have the best interests of the club at heart. That doesn't mean that I want them out as there's nobody else waiting in the wings.

harsh......he asked to see the title deeds when he suspected Green was mortgaging the ground He exposed what Green was that summer evening and brought thousands of us together.....

Get over yourself buddy. Bomber saw the nightmare approaching way before many others did.

I wouldn't blame anyone for being critical of our board, given what we have gone through in the last decade. It's essential, in fact. RM has some lunatics posting, so I only look over there for some amusement and don't take any of it seriously. I'd take criticism from that forum as a back-handed compliment, if I were you. The board are doing what they can but have definite limitations in finances and knowledge. I really hope they seek some sound advice before appointing our next manager because it's vital we make the right choice.

Oh come on now surely you're aware SNP MP's and MSP's aren't allowed a free vote on any subject whatsoever and must obey Nippy at all times. In any case they're a minority government and need the votes of the Greens which they didn't get.

Didn't Clarke's Kilmarnock side not take all three points in his last meeting with Brenda? If Murty is doing a good job how are the likes of Hamilton doing us over at Ibrox?

While I have a degree of sympathy for Traynor given his limited remit we need someone way more experienced in the dark arts with a much thicker contact book and one that stretches outwith the confines of Scotland.

I wouldn't be in the slightest surprised if it were revealed Jackson had been dining on succulent lamb.

What I find so strange is that we are so close to beating Celtic for the first time in years and yet we now want to attack the manager, the board and King. I'm sure everyone associated with Celtic wants us to change direction but surely it's just about tweaking things now. Why risk it all now? Of course there is merit in always trying to improve on things by making changes, but are we really that far away? If we are, can someone point it out to me please? Yes, there are ways to improve the board and I don't think many of any would deny that. I've already mentioned things I'd like to change there. Yes, there is maybe another manager out there who could advance us a little bit, and of course there are better players out there. However, with two or three quality additions to the first eleven I'd still be happy to see Murty lead us into next season. I can appreciate we all want success. I do too, but as I've said previously we are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water here. Isn't this a time for calm heads? Thankfully the people that are in charge of our club seem to be remaining calm despite the hysteria going on out here. I just hope they don't lose their heads in the madness. I may disagree with certain decisions or actions (or inaction) coming from the board but I have no reason at all to doubt their motives. That's more than can be said for certain people who seem to want to cause trouble at this critical time.

Jackson has it in for King for some reason, and never hesitates to stick the boot in. It appears to be personal for Jackson.

just another attack on King for who knows what reason....see Jackson's at it as well in the Record....change the record both in and out of the paper

I'm hoping we can supplement the existing board with better leaders, or even replace some of those already involved. I feel we need someone with the strength (gravitas) of King involved in a more hands on role. He can't obviously so I'd welcome a change there. Money aside, is there someone we could identify that would make an ideal chairman? I can't think of anyone but I'd be interested in others' thoughts. My preference is for the board to state quite clearly what the strategy is and some of the key milestones. I wouldn't even freak out if they said "We are building over the next three years, and that means sticking with Murty and younger players no matter what" because although I may not like it, at least it's a strength of commitment and a vision. I'd also like to see that strength of character coming out of the club in terms of dealing with the detractors (i.e. The media, politicians, etc). I accept that in the majority of instances it is better to deal with these issues privately and confidentially, however I don't see much if any progress on that front so I'd at least like to see an acknowledgement from the board that there is an issue and that they are dealing with it, even if that is then managed behind closed doors.

What another group of Nats, Republicans and Green Brigade members, who spout pish about bigotry, racism and Independence, who are themselves the main perpetrators to the very ethos they claim to oppose. That's how they work, the very same c@nts who wanted oh so desperately the OBAF laws, then ran screaming to their fellow travelling dangleberries in the SNP to have the law repealed, when they were quite rightly charged under that law.

Murty has been given till the end of the season and that's when decisions about the next step have to be made. He could still win the cup and produce another stunning run. Just a couple of weeks ago the concensus appeared to be that he was the man and now after a contrary result it's back to he has to go. We can't be constantly veering all over the place like this because there will always be contrary results. The yahoos just had one when they couldn't beat a team who aren't even in the top 6 and who were down to 10 men for the bulk of the match. And in addition according to reports the non top 6 team were getting the better of them till they went down to 10 men. Anyone seeing any screams for the head of Rogers? Murty has produced some of the best results of the season and it may be the case that we need to give him a close season and the Summer window to truly see where he can take the team next.

Wasn’t Walter assistant to McLean at Dundee United?

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana) Allow me to summarise briefly. The Panel of Takeovers and Mergers ruled that the current custodians of our club did not act properly in their acquisition of same, determining they had acted as a concert party and consequently, having control of 30% of the business were thus compelled to make an offer to investors for the remaining shares. This was denied by Dave King who took the decision to the Court of Session where his legal argument was rejected by Lord Bannatyne. The Advocate for the takeover Panel highlighted during the hearing an e-mail from George Letham to Dave King which cautioned King about the consequences of exceeding the 30% benchmark. These warnings clearly went unheeded. Subsequently King was ordered to make an £11 million offer to the Club’s remaining shareholders despite the fact King’s lawyer argued that his client could not afford to make such an offer. If alarm bells are not sounding amongst our support – they certainly should be. When Laura Fawkes, a Director of Club 1872, challenged Dave King at the 2017 AGM with regard to the recruitment of a replacement manager, the timescales as well as apparent failure to put in place previous assurances given with regard to succession planning, Dave King responded as follows: “As far as the manager, I don’t accept the comment you’ve made. It’s difficult to put a time limit on it. The issue with Pedro was not one of succession planning, there’s maybe a perception that Pedro was doomed to failure. It wasn’t my view, I don’t think it was the board’s view, we continued to back Pedro. Ultimately results speak for themselves and having taken action we were extremely aware that this is going to be a 3 year appointment. We have got to be a careful we don’t let adverse results distract us from the process and I’m personally happy that we have taken the correct amount of time.” After 68 days we had still failed to appoint a new manager and eventually installed the youth coach Graham Murty, as temporary manager. That remains the status quo at the time of writing. Our club is one home defeat away from our worst ever series of home performances on record. In terms of assessment of our club’s progress, rebuilding and vision to reclaim the top spot in domestic football, it serves as more of an indictment than a positive indicator of continuous and steady improvement. I would hope by now the alarm bells are loud enough to suggest a major headache is imminent. Any honeymoon period which the current board deserved is now at an end. It is fine being beholden to them for rescuing us but they need to be judged by the job they are doing now and if that is deemed unsatisfactory or below standard then criticism should be forthcoming. Not silence.

Clarke has taken 4 points from 6 against Celtic and 7 points from 9 against us, since he joined Killie. What more do you expect anyone to do at Killie?

I wonder if the offensive structure and positioning isn't there, though; and that's a reason why we take an age to do anything. (And perhaps evidence of the players being left to their own devices?) I can't count the number of times I see very few passing options on the ball for a player; it should be instinctive that the players know what they're doing. Moving it quicker would certainly help. I think you underestimate your track record when it comes to posts... Congratulations!

He was right

The lads in the photos aren't wearing niqabs, Bearger.

I agree with much of what you say. As I've mentioned before, one of the simplest things we could do is move the ball faster. We have a change of mentality at home. The players are given more time on the ball so they take it. It shouldn't matter how much time the opposition is willing to give us, we need to switch the ball faster to open up the spaces. I don't however think we are as linear as you say. I do see dynamic runs from the majority of the front 4, but it's still too tight because we've taken too long to move the ball. I know you like your stats and if you look at our speed of play at home (against most teams that sit in) compared with our speed against those who close us down, you'll be surprised at the difference. I've offered other ways we can deal with the issue we have at home, but simply moving the ball faster is possibly a simple (in some respects) solution to something we are perhaps over complicating. [I just noticed this is my 1,000th post on the forum. It only seems like yesterday I joined. Just shows how many opinions I have. If I post enough of them I'm eventually going to get something right, surely!]

I agree with all of that. The only reason I mention 4-4-2 is that I think it would be interesting to see both Morelos and Cummings causing havoc by making sideways runs along the back line. Until Dorrans comes in I just don't think we have anyone creative enough for that central attacking midfielder position. The other thing with two strikers is that it's two players up top for Murphy and Candeias to play one-twos with. Murphy's one-two would bring him inside and Candeias's one-two would get him in behind the full back. With one striker coming short for the one-two the second striker could focus on getting in a goalscoring position.

For me, it's not really about the formation; It's a good basic structure, fitting the players, but it's how we play it. We are far too linear in our approaches -- it may as well be a 4-4-2! It's always one winger and full-back combination trying to fashion and cross or shot. This is easy to deal with most of the time. We need to get in behind; we need more dynamic play. We need triangles as opposed to simple linear overlaps from the full-back. This is the heart of Murty's deficiencies, for me. A formation switch will not change this. Leicester's game against Chelsea, although they didn't win, showed how to play a more dynamic game; it was just a basic, simple difference -- and that was with a 4-4-2! One of the CM, or one of the forwards would come wide to create little triangles with the Full-back and Winger; sometimes both. All the play was diagonal, not linear, to give Chelsea something to think about. The aim was to get in behind. It wasn't brilliantly executed, but it shows how they way a team approaches their build-up is much more important than formation in trying to create chances. Even Barca play 4-4-2 nowadays, but you'll never see them play in a linear, static fashion: one wide player comes inside to make a diamond at times with Paulinho --PAULINHO, the Tottenham DM reject! -- playing the No.10; Paulinho is the worst 'creative' No.10 you'll ever see. Anyway, my point -- perhaps poorly made -- is that the formation is not the issue, but the way we play it. Tottenham -- another, final example -- play a 4-2-3-1, but you'd never accuse them of being static, linear or struggling to break a side down.

Gaffer it's been pointed out further up on the thread, D'art was a full board member of C1872, who then resigned from that position after a few months.

Numbers bloody numbers give us back the days when football was a free flowing game,no zones, players interchanging naturally without the help of clip-boards/diagrams,videos etc. Suppose there is no harm in dreaming

Amazed to see the apologists lining up to excuse Carragher. Actually I’m not.

Anger management classes, then a stint in the highly paid Celebrity Big Brother it is for Carragher , where he'll get a chance to show the public "The real" Jamie Carragher , and not the horrible ,angry, spitty guy in the video. Job done !

They do a lot of charity work but don't like to talk about it. Smashie and Nicey CSC.

Quite a result Dundee winning 1-0 against Dundee The sending off looks like a Thomson vendetta against Motherwell.

Very interesting question. I don't think so. Case in point, Stoke: they propelled up the leagues with a basic approach, brutal to watch but effective percentage football; but once they tried to develop further, and they made improvements all-over, but ultimately failed. I think there's a ceiling with that style of football; it only takes you so far. You'd then need a Guardiola. Leipzig are the only side to really propel up the leagues and then challenge for the title. Their style is completely unlike Clarke; its all fast transitions -- a style that already had pedigree at the top end of the table with Salzburg. (I've said before but Salzburg would be a terrific model for us.) I've waffled there...

We're pretty direct as it is; get it wide a get a cross in or wangle a shot. I'm not sure lumping it in the box from even deeper gives defences in this league anything to worry about?

A switch to 4-4-2 at home is a switch away from trying to play through defences (which we routinely fail abjectly at in homes games) to a more direct style of play with Morelos and Cummings giving the midfield options for through balls and crosses etc.

Will his team not have done that on occasions this season? I take your point and of course there's a risk but there's always going to be issues with any manager that is proposed.

Hmmm. Of course there will be no outcry to this pro-independence group. Unsurpringly "Red Front Republic are made up of an assortment of people from C.S.C, Green Brigade and Republican Flute Bands".

Shouldnt be allowed either

No, it was the Copland Nutter.

Well, in a normal league/country you would be correct, however do you really think that will happen?.........................nah! don't think so

Yeah, it was hardly the biggest secret in the world. Every man and his dog knew they were acting together. King was just insulting everyone's intelligence when he claimed they weren't.

... I am still somewhat at a loss why people can't see beyond the manager when shit results happen. We had not really great alternatives for creative midfield on the bench, and Morelos may or may not have made a difference earlier. As has been said, the lad has been playing football for ages now and needs a few minutes rest every now and then, for body and mind. You would hope that Murty, Nicholl and Johansson get their act together and find a way past teams like Killie, be that home and away. But if players simply don't reach their standards, what shall he do on the day? Just saying ...

Thats no very staunch.

My report on todays 17's and development squad games https://rfcyouths.wordpress.com/17s-turn-tables-on-celtic/

Someone would have to be pretty daft to walk around that area with a Celtc top on on the morning of a Rangers v Celtc match. I am enjoying some of the language here though. Thuggish, toxic, dark elements, aggressively chanting and paramitary style uniform. Spiers has already got his article half-written for him.