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I am pretty down about today. I thought we would show more going forward and expose the Celtic defence a lot more than we managed to. I am not offering excuses. Their goal probably involved a foul but any one of their shots that hit the post could have gone in on another day as well. We were second best and we have to look at ourselves and not blame the ref or anyone else. We have to be good enough that we take it out of the ref's hands and we can still win despite what passes for quality referring in Scotland. However consider it from the other side. They absolutely had to beat us today. They had the following advantages: (1) Home advantage - 60,000+ unwashed venting their hatred with only 800 Bears stuck off in a corner and a ground we (and I mean more experienced and more expensively assembled Rangers teams) haven't won at since 2010. (2) Experience - they have a settled team who are used to the manager's system, used to playing with one another and used to winning at the Piggery (the loss against Aberdeen where they threw the match to spite us at the end of last season doesn't count). We are improving but we are still very much a work in progress. (3) Squad value - even ignoring the Seville calculator valuations that appear in the Scottish press, Celtic's squad value is at least 3 times ours. They spent more on one striker than we have on our whole defence. (4) Freshness - despite playing later in the day they had a comparatively easy game on Thursday night and took off players in the second half with a view to today's game. We on the other hand had an epic heroic last ditch stand with 9 men against UFA for a third of the game followed by a grueling flight home. While Celtic could immerse their players in ice baths and cotton wool immediately after the game, we had immediately get on a flight and any rehabilitation was delayed until the following day. Ask any sports scientist about delaying rehabilitation and its effects versus athletes who can dive straight into ice or get massage. It showed on the pitch today. So what would have happened if Brendan's expensively assembled team couldn't raise themselves at home, at the Piggery in front of a baying green and white mob to beat a Rangers outfit who were largely dead on their feet after 15 hours travelling and a punishing encounter against foreign opposition? It would have been great to watch but it wasn't to be... Celtic did the minimum of what they needed today. They beat us but they failed to batter us when the reality is that they'll probably not get a better chance all season. We will gel better as a team and we'll get key players like Coulibally back from injury. They probably won't get much better than where they are right now. Their defence had a light job today but it's still a joke and will get found out a lot more than previous seasons. I wanted to win today. An awful lot. But this is a marathon not a sprint and what we need from the matches that come after the international break is a concerted run of home and away wins. Both us and Celtic will find it tough coming back from EL matches on Thursdays and I fully expect league points to be dropped. We just have to drop a lot less than them. Then the chase will really be on.

Celtic thoroughly deserved this. Our midfield since losing Coulibaly just doesn't look right , but we are a much harder team to beat, are just missing that 1 player that will bring it all together .All this from 1 transfer window . Given what we have spent and what we have brought in from Europe we are in surplus , the future is looking really good , just hope we don't lose perspective on where we are going.

In these games sometimes it's better to forget tactics and roll the sleeves up and get stuck in .

Very much a Walteresque performance , Thursday night has taken a lot out of these players , anyone who thought we would play a high press today is kidding themselves , long way to go yet .

I am in agreement with 'Doc' , they would say and do anything to further the cause of an 'Independent' (sic) Scotland, and totalitarian tendencies they may have, but the Scottish Parliament hasn't been burnt down just yet. I am all for the protection of children, this SNP approach hasn't been well thought out, it does interfere with basic rights to privacy, but the point is, it can be challenged. The real issue is that the SNP have obviously persuaded large numbers of working class people, and sections of the middle class, that the problems they face are problems of Nationality, when in actual fact they are class issues, and are the same as those of working people in England.

Are they circadians the wee bastards that keep me awake down in Spain?

Yes we did. They couldn't score without the help of the refs turnover. When in position they managed a whole three shots on target. Sick of our fans tbh. Wage bill of 56m against our 18m and we have to play them off the park away from home. They couldn't get through today. We held them and our game plan was working. You will always need a little luck. The ref ignored the fourth official and was very like some of our fans ready to give a foul against Morelos before he moved. If that is all they have the league is ours ????????

Last thought on today , and for me this puts everything into perspective , they spent more on Edouard , than we have assembling an entire squad , just let that sink in a moment . We have had 1 transfer widow and 13 weeks under the new management team,we have undertaken a program of games, including becoming the first British team , and only 8th team in history to qualify for the Europa group stages from the 1st qualifying round ,and we have went to 3 away grounds in the opening 4 weeks . I am fully optimistic that this is going to be a successful season .

Ooh, that's an attacking side. I'd have played Candeias myself, I think he's a better all rounder than Kent and has more experience, however Kent gives us pace. I also think Tav needs a player in front of him who'll track back and provide cover allowing him to push on, and Candeias is better at that then Kent in my opinion. Kent is direct though. I'm too old to be this nervous before a match!

Good post, Shed. Folk in Northern England aren't really any different from Scots, in terms of social issues and being ruled from London. They are actually worse off because in some respects.

Absolutely. They would sell their mothers if it advanced the cause of independence.

A setback but not a disaster

Ejaria should have upended Rogic long before he got near our box, he then stops and let’s Ntcham run past him to score.

It's always a learning day here on Gersnet. ??

Peak athletic performance is entirely dependent on a persons sleep cycle and can vary across the day by as much as 26%. EDIT: Its technical name is the circadian cycle and or circadian phenotype.

IMHO, SG is pretty much seeing it as it should be seen ... good words from him, again: ... and he saw the foul on Jack like the fourth offiall too.

We do defend well, and we did in actual fact limit their clear cut chances, but if you can't stop the ball coming into the box the way it did today from umpteen corners or whatever, then you are always on the edge of losing a goal. The irony is of course, they scored in a breakaway which is what we had set up to do. However the problem was, we couldn't take the pressure off the defence for any length of time, didn't have the players or the legs to do it. Our wide men for most of the game were on defensive duties, and that meant that Tierney for example, was not being troubled defensively, and could bomb forward. I think in the circumstances Gerrard was right not to attempt a high press, but we just didn't have enough about us today middle and front, defence was asked to do too much. We will play better teams in the Europa albeit in less hostile environments, and I have no worries defensively. I don't worry either about the players' fight and togetherness, but in tough places we need to do more to keep the opposition occupied, and take the pressure of the defence. Coulibaly will help.

For the first time in years I can say that at no stage in that game was I worried about them. It was a game that had 0-0 written all over it. You guys can argue about the tactics, formations whatever all day. But as far as I'm concerned they had that handed to them on a plate by the man in the middle. How he can allow play to continue when Jack is cynically taken out allowing a 4 on 2 break is absolutely beyond me? Its never pleasant being beaten by them but I'm not disheartened by what I've seen today and I'm not going to be too critical of the team or the manager either. We've a team of young new players many of whom were making their Old Firm debut who all played to the managers instructions and in any other country would have walked out of that midden with at least a point today. Stevie G was calm and collected on the touch line but you could see Rodgers was physically shiting it. Theres a lot more to come from this team and don't forget we were missing our destroyer who I think will tear their midfield to shreds when we get him back for the first Ibrox game.

Calm down its only 3 points. We still to play them 3 times or more this season. Ejaria let them score he didn't pick up his man. He should of had a free kick.

We didn't surrender the midfield; we blocked off the midfield quite effectively. We did surrender possession to their back-three/four, which was not a bad thing in itself.

You are correct Elisioth, SNP are pro capitalism, but it is not accurate to call them 'fascist'......unprincipled opportunists would be more a more apt description in my opinion.

We've seen and heard a lot since Steven Gerrard became the Rangers manager pretty much exactly three months ago. As much as the sheer profile of Gerrard the player excited even the most negative of Rangers fans, there were understandable doubts and scepticism. This was a untried manager with only 18 months as a youth coach on his CV. Sure, Gerrard had incredible success as a player but there were (still are?) no guarantees about his managerial prospects. Rangers, running off the back of financial and legal issues for the best part of ten years, and challenging the modern 'invincibles' of Celtic - seven league titles in a row, including an unbeaten sixth title and a double treble - was surely no place for a young manager making his way in the game to learn his trade. After all, this challenge almost broke Graeme Murty, another young man with only a background in youth coaching. Yes, their playing careers were very different but the risk for the Rangers board and their Director of Football Mark Allen, was surely needless? Many neutrals said as much and, if we're honest, really honest with ourselves, we all had the same concerns. Very quickly though, this just seemed different. Gerrard's unveiling in May was the first chance we got to hear the man explain his reasons for taking the job and right away the Rangers supporters took confidence from the way he dealt with the media. This wasn't a man to shirk a challenge. This was an icon, a British footballing legend, who understood the scale of the job and appreciated how difficult it was going to be. 'Let's Go' was an unplanned soundbite but it fit the background well, kept things very simple and inspired fans. Since then progress has been swift. Dozens of transfers in and out of the club. Training camps in Spain with double and triple sessions to improve fitness, tactical awareness and build relationships. Twelve competitive games (nine in August alone) - six wins, six draws and, impressively, zero defeats. In fact, take away some questionable refereeing at home and abroad (and some questionable discipline from one or two players) then that record could and should have been better. Indeed, only two injury time goals away at Aberdeen and Motherwell have stopped Rangers from having the perfect league record to compliment their qualification for the Europa League Group Stage. It's literally been a case of blink and you'll miss it when watching Rangers so far this season. At the time of writing on Friday evening, Gerrard has signed 14 players and moved on 16 first team players. The turnover has been astonishing and, so far, the results impressive with a new defence the pick of the new manager's work. Rangers supporters are delighted and despite some understandable imperfections as Gerrard builds a new squad and system, confidence is building like no other period in the last six or seven years. However, with a two week international break on the immediate horizon, I think fans are looking to take a breath. And the players, especially our central defenders and main striker, certainly deserve the rest. Last weekend at Fir Park, the second half in a quite incredible game took a lot out the team and having to play 30mins with nine men nine hours away in Ufa on Thursday is again asking an immense amount out of this new squad. Yet, we have one more hurdle still to face. One more jump to make. Another tough test to pass - the toughest yet. On Sunday, the team will make the short journey across the Clyde to Parkhead to face our greatest rivals in what is still one of football's greatest games. However, the atmosphere will be markedly different from recent years. First of all, relations between the clubs are as bad as they've ever been so there will be very few bears present - only 800 in fact, most in restricted viewing positions well out of sight of the Sky TV cameras. Secondly, Celtic seem to be suffering themselves with dressing room problems: key players falling out with managers and one goal-scoring talisman being sold. The dynamic seems to be one of promises not being fulfilled, broken trust, suspicious fans and banner protests. Finally, and most importantly, we have a team that can compete. Not just physically but, as we've seen several times this season already, mentally too. Self-belief is a vital component of any successful team - Celtic show that continually against us whilst we've faltered time and time again since our return to the top flight. Make no mistake, our form has shown we can get a result on Sunday. Even so, one of our bigger failings in our various Old Firm humblings of the last two years has been our predictability. A blind man could usually pick our team, guess our system and know where to hurt us. We only needed to concede a goal to fall apart and rarely looked like scoring ourselves. For the most part, we were beaten before the whistle was even blown. This weekend that need not be the case. Sure, Gerrard has preferred a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 most often this season but last week deployed a 3-5-2 that, despite three defensive mistakes not immediately linked to the formation, worked not too badly (in the first half at least). It (or perhaps a 3-4-3) will be used again during this campaign with the loan capture of Joe Worrall from Nottingham Forest increasing our defensive options as well. Moreover, Gerrard hasn't been afraid to rotate his team - in particular his midfield five - so there's no obvious starting XI for Sunday (though I do try to predict this below)! The biggest issue for the Rangers manager will be that of the schedule discussed above. Despite obvious improvements in fitness, players will be tired (at least later in the game) and player indiscipline/officials incompetence won't have helped on Thursday evening. A nine hour overnight flight, just two full days of recovery and only light training drills isn't ideal preparation for any game, never mind away to Celtic, but they played on Thursday too and may not have their usual spring in their step - even if they could afford the luxury of resting key players. Fortunately, we can make changes too. Depending on the system used we can bring in a few players and, ironically, Morelos' daft red card afforded him an extra hour's rest on Thursday. Although I wouldn't rule out a back three, I do expect us to play a four on Sunday as it would be a big risk to bring in Worrall for his debut. McGregor will of course start in goal and Borna Barisic likely the only change to our usual defensive line up. Worrall, Jon Flanagan and erstwhile captain Lee Wallace do offer other options though. In midfield, Lassana Coulibaly has returned to training but may have to settle for a place on the bench though his return might well have been kept as a nice surprise for this game. The likes of Jack, Ejaria, Arfield and Halliday have done lots of good work of late and a combination of those four will surely start. Ross McCrorie may be a wild card should the manager wish for fresh legs and mobility in the engine room. That leaves us three players in attacking roles. Daniel Candeias has never really got going this season but might be preferred to aid James Tavernier on the right side and press high centrally. Ryan Kent has done well on the other flank but with Morelos apparently forgiven for his Ufa immaturity and likely to start, I do wonder if Kyle Lafferty will play on the left. Albanian winger Eros Grezda will hopefully turn out to be a big player for Rangers this season but I don't think we'll see him until after the international break. Glenn Middleton is another option and I do wonder if his pace and direct play could add some doubt to any Celtic defenders? Ultimately, this game will arguably come too early for a few players so I think the manager will opt for familiarity at the expense of freshness. In that respect, we're asking a lot of the potential line-up below but the belief obtained from Thursday's draw and the adrenaline from an Old Firm clash should at least see us through the bulk of the game. After that we're reliant on making the right subs at the right time to deliver the kind of positive result we've lacked against Celtic of late. Another top class defensive display will be needed and our attackers, particularly Alfredo Morelos, must make the most of any chances that come their way. In conclusion, coming away from the East End of Glasgow unbeaten on Sunday would cap off a fantastic first three months in charge for Steven Gerrard. However, god forbid if his team were to return to Ibrox empty-handed, it wouldn't be the end of the world either - not when the full context is applied - so in essence we have nothing to lose with the vast majority of another long season still to be played out. No matter the outcome, the league won't be won nor lost in early September but we do have a chance to lay down an early marker and show we are indeed the real deal. For the first time in a fairly long time ahead of going to Parkhead, I cannot wait... Possible team (4-3-3):

But they have been gunning us at Hampden, porkheid, and Ibrox when we have had big supports. I think today it was confirmed that despite obvious progress we have a good bit to go. Decent European teams go there with small supports and do better than we did today.

Frustrating day. We were just starting to come into it when we lost the goal. Looked like a foul on Jack too. No white flag waving though. We'll beat them at Ibrox in December Need a decent run before then

Not a great performance today. But worth noting if the ref gives that blatant free kick then who knows if they score at all. All that asside we need to start winning fast and lots in the league now.

I don’t expect to see any further posts like that again Gonzo, or you WILL be banned. Highly inappropriate

Agree 100%. Coulibally would have made a difference giving others space and our Albanian will help but quality midfielder needs to be in the pipeline. We just qualified for EL and disappointing as this performance was there are reasons to be optimistic we can add to the EL story, win a trophy and build a platform for next year and a real go at the title. We are only 4 points off them which you might expect visiting their place first. The break has come at a good time for us it’s been a strenuous effort so far and the 9 guys who survived the UFA game must have been tired. I’m confident Gerrard and his team know what is required. Win our next 2 league games and the feel good factor should return.

I had expected the match to play out more or less like this. The exception being that I thought we would sneak a goal instead of them. The manager probably won't admit it but Thursday will have limited our approach to the game. Some positives and negatives to take from the game. Despite the result my confidence in the defence has increased. Barisic let the quality of his crosses drop though.

Disappointed we lost today but not a disaster. We are heading in the right direction now. I am sure of that. It needs to be remembered this team was thrown together at the start of the season. It will get better & stronger as the season goes on. To have qualified for the EL group stages is an incredible achievement in itself. Both MW & Pedro lost their first OF games 5-1 to the yahoos. Certainly can’t us suffering heavy defeats like that to them under SG

I haven't read back so apologies if any of this has been said. Overall I am not too disappointed. We defended very well. The inexperience of the team showed and I think we were a bit overawed at times but we didn't implode like previous seasons. I am also sure that tiredness was a factor. We will grow from this and by the time we play them again we will have a few months of playing together under our belt. I was disappointed with the starting line up and hoped to see Candeias starting as he takes the pressure off Tav. I thought Kent should have gone at half time and Arfield was very disappointing. The manager was far too late with his subs and I hope he learns much from this experience today.

I think Collum was ok today.....sure he could have given a foul on Jack, maybe it was maybe it wasn't.....tell you what though, he was a lot close to the incident than Stevie G or the fourth official....looking at the game overall, it wasn't the ref that cost us today.

Yep, make that SPFL and you are fine. BTW, when Rogic pushed Jack to he ground and was chased by Ejaria, I was screaming for the latter to flatten Rogic and take one for the team. Writing the above though reminded me that Ejaria was bursting his gut in Ufa last Thursday and may not have had the legs to take him. And in saying that, I'd have to come back to my preference of Candeias over Kent ... for not many get away from him.

Sorted ? You keep doing it, and i'll keep sorting it till you get it right.

I agree we did allow their deep playmakers to dictate play, but I would much rather -- If we're not going to press them -- we gave them the ball deep and marked their passing options. I felt we did that. Broon and Ntcham had plenty of time of the ball but McGregor, Rogic and that other one were never in the game.

Doubt we defended that deep on purpose, but we contained them rather well. People will drum on that on cahnces and shots and whatnot they deserve the win, but essentially all the aforementioned win you nothing if the other side defends equally well ... and not just clinging to it. A refereeing error cost us the game today, right where we were vulnerable most (and the Yahoos stepped back at the time on purpose no doubt, trying to lure us out). In turn he gave us nothing in their half or close to the area. But he didn't see Christie's dive from 5 yards away. If shyte was black, it would have a different name.

I've watched Walters teams over the years , packed with superstars put in worse performances than that , ok we won a lot but we also got scudded in a lot , it's all about perspective , their teams has players that have played together for nearly 2-3 years and no each other , we had a whole new team playing , we will get stronger , I firmly believe it .

I hope no one is going to be naive enough to be unreasonably disappointed after that. We all wanted a win but better Rangers teams than this have come away with worse results from Parkhead. It’s a work in progress and very early days but our improvement is obvious.

I really believe that Thursday night efforts were a massive factor in this , but it's only 1 game and we need to regroup .

· 6m Celtic have battered Rangers and it’s a fantastic goal but Rogic fouls Ryan Jack in the build up. Willie Collum has had a shocking game

Apparently McCauley signed for the season. Decent experienced cover.

Going with 2 up front is a huge gamble. Hope we don’t get out numbered in MF. And I’d have been tempted to play Halliday instead of Kent who’s been disappointing so far in my opinion

Very happy to agree with that one! And with that, I am going to now go off and hopefully enjoy what we are all here for .... the start of 55. I've got an acute case of the battle fever. I'm sure you guys do too.

I'd vote Labour as they are socialist and for the working class generally. The party as a whole doesn't have so many instances of discrimination towards rangers or elected politicians who make a fool of themselves by being bias against us on social media or being pro-republican with tri colours and the like the way the snp mps do, its a farce these people are politicians yet stirring the pot of division which fits their anti-unionist stance, unlike labour. The biggest club in scotland which generates a lot of money for scotland are sent down to the third division yet when it happens to other clubs the government make statements looking to help etc. done fuck all for us because we're big bad rangers as per usual.

Having experience Socialism first hand for 20 odd years, Capitalism ever since, and being rather clued up on anything Fascism since being a German, I would hope people would not throw some words in too lightly into any debate. IMHO patriotism is oftentimes mistaken for nationalism while nationalism is quite often mistaken for Fascism or the like. There are a lot of gray areas and oftentimes you see politicians cater to a certain spectrum of society to gather votes and acceptance. Which is not to say that quite a few politicians do actually stand for what they say. Some SNP folk are apparently steeped in grey-green and once in power, were probably amongst those most responsible to make "hun" an "accepted/tolerated" word while "f-enian" is been given the utmost no-no treatement.

I'll try this one again, in hope that I can get an answer. For those opining that the SNP is anti Rangers, who should we vote for instead? As you probably already knew, I'm waiting to have some fun with your answers because I am almost certain I can show you examples for every party. Politics may be interesting to many people, and it seems to stir a lot of emotions, but although many individual politicians are definitely anti Rangers, there isn't a party that would even think about football, never mind have an anti Rangers agenda. Having said that, I'm more than happy to support anyone who takes action to remove corrupt politicians from their posts. And with regards to this thread, I am hopeful that the offenders in this situation at GCC are dealt with appropriately. It would then send a clear message to others that we will not accept this treatment. Support who you want as politicians, and by all means hold onto your strongly held beliefs, but do your job, which is to represent all of your constituents. The clue is in the name afterall ..... public servants!

It's not a particularly clever piece of legislation, and I am not denying that in certain circumstances 'Nationalism' can lean in the direction of 'Fascism' , but that is not the case here. The danger in calling social democrats 'Fascist' is that you alienate whole sections who would be natural allies in any struggle with actual fascists. It happened in Germany in the thirties, and split the opposition to the Nazis.

They've got to sell their tickets cheaper because their fans need to pay for tickets to their games, AND ours. This season has already cost some of their fans a fortune, having had to travel to watch us in 8 games already. Poor souls.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow because for the first time in years we have a real chance to compete and take something from this game. I want to see Broonaldo chasing shadows.

I'd agree that we'll probably go for the tried and tested four along the back with the usual faces plus Barisic. From what I can see, Worral hasn't played a first team game for 5 months and this isn't the match to ease his way back in. The other option of a defensive three (with Flanagan) is still an outside bet, whether it be from the start or at sometime during the match. I don't like the prospect of two Celtic forwards running wider channels between a three and creating space for others to move into,.... but given Dembele has gone and Edward* is coming back from an injury, I doubt they'll start that way. Options appear to be limited in the middle. Halliday/McCrorie are options if one of the 'UFA three starters' isn't 100%. Coulibally would be a huge boost but unless we are planning a surprise curveball, that's doubtful. It's the middle where we will need the energy to stop them from dominating possession, it's a big ask for another full 90 minutes. Playing a highline comes with risks but reducing the distance back to middle would help us get up the pitch. Candeias will surely start, he gets the big games and only played 45 minutes against Ufa because of an enforced tactical switch. Morelos looks like starting. Whatever the thoughts about him and what he did the other night, it was too late in the window to consider anything other than support him and hope. I'd be planning contingencies for the next transfer window. Lafferty or Kent ? You can make a good argument for both but Laff brings a real goal threat and if we want anything out of this game, we'll need to score. Another game where warning the players not to do anything stupid and get sent off is stating the bleeding obvious. Celtic will be actively looking to bait our players, especially Morelos, Lafferty, Candeias and Jack. I think we have to try and seize the initiative from the start, not let them settle and hope we get a lead that we can build on. I'm more relaxed about this one after qualification for the group stages and all I would ask is to continue in the same vein of effort and commitment and keep 11 on the pitch.