Leaderboard

Before Sunday's final Old Firm game of the season there was the usual manufactured controversy by the usual trolls in the media. Last week it was Chris Sutton's turn to take the lead by suggesting Rangers should give Celtic a guard of honour ahead of the match to show respect for their title win. Of course, given the rivalry between the clubs, this was never going to happen but it didn't stop several other journalists and pundits latching onto the 'debate' inferring Rangers lacked the class or humility to applaud the Celtic players onto the pitch. Even Alan Stubbs and Neil Lennon had their say with neither having the brains to remember they or their clubs didn't offer Rangers the same guard when they played Hibs and Celtic after winning leagues in previous seasons. As always, when it comes to Scottish football, the hypocrisy and mischief-making stood out more than any genuine point being offered. No matter, this Celtic team do deserve praise. To be on the brink of an unprecedented 'treble treble' is worthy of such and, despite the context that goes with their eight titles in a row, to win nine trophies across three years is good going and it would be churlish not to recognise that. In fact, I'd go so far that if you're not prepared to do so, then it would just make Celtic's job easier in terms of extending their dominance. Indeed, whilst Steven Gerrard clearly wasn't in favour of any bizarre guard of honour, as a professional himself, he will be well aware of how difficult the job is to challenge our greatest rivals going forward. The current financial gulf alone makes his job a difficult one: not impossible but we are hamstrung fiscally and I do note the irony from when the boot was on the other foot twenty odd years ago. Yet, that fairly recent history also shows nothing is a certainty in this country's national sport (take note Hearts). Despite an unsuccessful season per se, Rangers have shown they meter out a challenge to Celtic in the coming years. Yes, Celtic won the league fairly comfortably in the end but in the four matches against them, we at last not only competed with them but came out the four games looking the better side. In the first match at Celtic Park, the hosts by and large dominated and ran out deserved winners but in the three games since, including the second game at Celtic Park at the end of March where we went down to ten men, we not only played the more composed football but we created the most chances whilst bettering them both tactically and physically. Sure, they still won that March contest but, make no mistake, our efforts from that day were reflected in our own win at Ibrox on Sunday. And, in turn, that result will have a bearing the next time we play them too. Most importantly, it should give our own players the belief to approach next season with more confidence, addressing our problems with consistency and our ability to keep winning games when it truly matters. Of course nothing is certain despite our splendid performance from the weekend but we are in a good place. For much of this season we were too dependent on Alfredo Morelos and too one-dimensional in our play as a result. This made us predictable and occasionally easy to defend against: issues that have lingered from the managerial reigns of Warburton and Caixinha/Murty. Fortunately, this season has been different with Steven Gerrard and his coaching team quickly able to find an alternative system to improve results. The form of certain players has helped: not least the likes of Defoe, Davis and Katic but from being over-reliant on one or two individuals, we've played much better as a team since we lost Morelos to suspension. In that sense, it's no coincidence, our overall play has been better for longer periods of games and we've both conceded less and scored more than in other periods of the campaign. With that in mind our current form is well worthy of examination. Since that unlucky defeat to Celtic at the end of March, we've won six games in a row. Not exactly noteworthy on its own but these matches have all been against the best the SPFL has to offer. We've beaten Hearts twice, Celtic, Motherwell, Aberdeen and Hibs: the latter two, teams we've struggled against earlier in the season. We've also scored 14 goals and conceded only once. Of course the season is nearing an end and some sides might well be ready for their holidays but, for me, that means our form deserves more praise, not less. After all, when we finish our season this Sunday at Rugby Park it will be our 60th game of the last 10 and half months. Yet the drive and hunger from the manager and his squad seems to be just as fresh as it was when we beat Shkupi last 12th July. We're also well on our way when it comes to improving the squad for next season. Bosman signings like Jordan Jones, Jake Hastie and Greg Stewart might not take us to Champions League glory but Glen Kamara has already shown since he signed from relegated Dundee that cost need not dictate quality. If you were watching Liverpool's incredible comeback against Barca last midweek and their impressive domestic form throughout the season then Andy Robertson's less than glamorous background shows Scottish-based players can play at the highest levels: a belief that both Gerrard and Gary McAllister can offer any new signing. And there will be more - perhaps a few that will whet the appetite in the same way that Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis have shown their quality once up to speed. Conversely we will lose several players as well with a long list set to leave. The vast majority of Foderingham, Alnwick, Hodson, Wallace, Worrall, McAuley, Coulibaly, Holt, Grezda, Dodoo, Herrera and Lafferty won't be here next season which is a large exodus. More importantly, key players such as Morelos, Tavernier and Kent are uncertain to be here - though at least the Colombian and our skipper will realise serious cash should they move on, which could help us afford to retain Kent. The reliable contributions of players like Goldson, Jack and Arfield will also be of interest to other clubs so new deals may be offered to keep their services. Meanwhile, even obvious talent such as Dorrans, Docherty and Rossiter have struggled to prove themselves at the club so their futures may well be undecided too. As such, whilst the squad turnover may not be as severe as we seen in Gerrard's first summer at the club, change will be obvious and next year's squad very different. Given we'll be starting the hard work again this time next month, we'll need improvement to avoid the downturn of form we seen last winter due to our European exertions. Ensuring the squad has the correct level of depth and quality therein is a big responsibility for Andy Scoulding and Mark Allen. After all, if we are to be successful next season then we'll need to play more than the 60 games we did this term. All things considered Rangers fans asked for evidence of progress from Steven Gerrard and, as much as there have been some great disappointments this season, I think he's definitely provided improvement by and large. To qualify for the Europa League group stages was a laudable achievement and to arguably win the head-to-head versus Celtic over the course of those four games demonstrates improvement; mentally as much as tactically. Unfortunately, no cup finals and no league trophy shows work still needs to be done and a couple of wins over Celtic isn't enough to satisfy the support as long as they're the ones still celebrating trebles come mid-May. In that sense, Sunday's result may have been meaningless but there's no doubt in my mind any momentum Celtic had after our travails of the last 7-8 years has been halted. Perhaps not reversed (and they have plenty of financial fuel to apply) but enough of a marker to suggest a changing of the guard could be upon us.

A High Noon Turkey Shoot. Tension rippled through the PQ Gang Hut on Sunday morning. The Narrative must be protected, Auntie demands strict adherence, threatens transgression with strict liability. Reassurance is right next door, Mikey has our backs. Two dozen camera angles is big artillery, any forward movement by the H-u-ns and an air burst of off the ball incidents will saturate their expectations. This week we will let the hope kill them. The narrative is a mantra, 'Rangers have NOT been improved by Steven Gerrard'. The tension begins to defuse, Gang Hut members find solace in the narrative. On Sunday, the Gang Hut was populated by Big Dick, toting numerous lines of communication with Mikey. Tom English, Billy Dodds, Jim Duffy, and Neil McCann sat watching Sky Sports, whilst Rob McLean commentated from the same means. It took three minutes for the narrative to feel the pressure, Tav' scored and Rob McLean articulated the alarm. Half-time was 1-0 Rangers and thus the topic for discussion for the next twelve minutes was, Jim McIntyre being the recipient of the tin-tac by Dundee. Scott Brown was running down the Ibrox tunnel, when Big Dick brought the chat back to the game they were covering. Mikey had screamed, 'shot out'. Big Dick spent the remaining three minutes of the break demanding Defoe be cautioned for simulation. He pointed out he had struck out at the Hibs Keeper last week and here he is having a kick out at Simunovic, whilst throwing himself to the ground. Big Dick was in full venom spitting flow, reminding the listeners of serial offenders, Morelos and McGregor. We can only assume Mikey didn't spot Simunovic's elbow on Defoe, or maybe he did, but it was contrary to the narrative. The second-half progressed and the Gang Hut was galvanised by Flannagan's elbow. No equivocation, straight red; however Kevin Clancy was right not to award a penalty, because the ball was not in play. Then, the walls came tumbling down. Rob sounded as if he was being fisted by an Anatolian wrestler, as Kamara ripped the Broony, and passed to Defoe who sublimely dummied, Arfield finished with aplomb. Spluttering, gasping for air, Rob succumbed to each thrust and the inevitably of the narrative being rammed home without lubrication. Full time saw the narrative being restored, it was patch repaired, renamed SS Titanic and presented as a safe vessel for Arctic navigation. Mikey was still shouting Flannagan and elbow from the sidelines; later on Sportscene, we would be presented with ten separate angles on the incident. It was the sonorous timbre of Tom that stilled the panic. The narrative had morphed into Brendan bailed, Lenny had been tasked to win the triple treble. He read out a list of eleven Sellik players who will leave the club next week, and a further list of six players with one or two years left on their contract. Dermot Desmond was cast as Virgil Tracy, rocketing across the silver blue to rescue Sellik. Jim Duffy agreed, Sellik will spend, Rangers cannot match Dermot's reach. Soothing calm is almost restored, when Jim throws in, "ah don't think Neil will get the job, if has the job, he would know by now". The narrative is sinking and Virgil is more intent on stringing along Lady Penelope. Tom grasped the nettle, "Steven Gerrard has signed some turkeys". Neil McCann filleted Tom, he let him know he was not falling out with him; but calling professional players turkeys was disrespectful. He offered, Rangers have improved considerably under Gerrard, he asked for Billy Dodds to confirm, "Billy and I know as coaches, the enormous amount of unseen work needed to effect such change"? Billy decided to keep his EBT sheathed, Neil battered Tom around the head with his. Tom acknowledged improvement, but it has come too late. Big Dick added, "there's been improvement, but it has been hard to see"! No post match interview with Lennon, thus the only manager telephoned post match by PQ during the entire Ibrox season, is Derek McInnes after Aberdeen's 0-2 quarter-final replay victory. PQ spend more time servicing the narrative than they do servicing license fee paying Rangers supporters.

Everyone knows his exceptional goal and assist count but there is another thing that for me stands out over his time with Rangers and that is the very few minutes he hasn't been on the park during those four seasons. The first of those was spent in the Championship and he started all 36 matches, coming off in two, missing a total of 28 minutes of the League season....In the Cups (inc. Challenge Cup), he started in all games (11) and came off once in the 81st minute. In the next 3 seasons in the top tier and it's 38 matches (38x90mins= 3420 minutes) he's played... 16/17: 3145 17/18: 3358 18/19: 3234 (possible 3330mins / 1 game to play) In our European run this season, he's played 1260 minutes out of a possible 1260. The only two games he missed this season were Ayr Utd and Cowdenbeath in the Cups. So this season he's played 57 competitive games but has only been booked once. In the 4 years with us he's played 12950 League minutes from a possible 13410 Nor has he missed a minute of a European game and that is a total of 1440. We won't know what we have until he is gone...or to put it another way, to help title aspirations for next season, we need to do everything possible to keep a hold of him. Quiz ? Can you think of an outfield player who has spent at least four years with Rangers, who has a better appearance record than that ? ps. No-one tell Matt Polster or his Mrs might start to badger him for a move

Decent statement from the club ! A club spokesperson said: “Once again, there seems intent to change the decision of a Referee in a match involving Rangers. There seems to be a steady erosion of respect for Scotland’s Referees and the authority they are meant to enjoy under Rule 5 of the Laws of the Game. “The decisions of Referees regarding facts connected with play are meant to be final but Referees are now routinely invited to change their decisions after a game has finished. “It is particularly shocking that another Rangers player has been singled out for retrospective action and issued with a notice of complaint while Jozo Simunovic, the Celtic player who used an elbow to fell Jermain Defoe, has escaped any kind of censure. “Why did one incident escape punishment while the other is now deemed worthy of a red card? We cannot understand how these two incidents could be studied yet only one be considered worthy of punishment. “It seems as if Rangers’ players are being held to a different code of conduct from players at other clubs. We shall vigorously defend Mr Flanagan and have also asked for full transparency on what matters are brought forward for retrospective action. Are those decisions being made even-handedly?”

Again the question has to be the process of citing. Simonuvic v Defoe hasn’t had a mention! Why not? Are the BBC and Sky managing our disciplinary process. It’s fecking incredible and despite all the lawyers involved it just doesn’t stand up to any examination on the basis of natural justice. On Brown I didn’t see any angle that proved Brown had been hit on the face and given the linesman or ref didn’t see it then how can a panel watching the same footage everyone else saw conclude that was Browns face (or throat for that matter)? However giving the SFA the benefit of the doubt on Flanagan why the hell hasn’t Simonuvic been cited? Why wasn’t Brown cited for raking Morelos, or Broadfoot, why did Power get away with assaulting Jack, how the hell was the Killie keeper exonerated from elbowing Kamara. What are our Board doing about it?

As far as young keepers are concerned, I hope we keep the faith and keep a pathway open for Robbie McCrorie.

The SFA are corrupt to the core. The position of Compliance Officer is definitely under question. I hope the club are working on this as we speak. It was my understanding that in the past they have said they couldn't act because the ref had deemed an incident as meriting a yellow.

I may be going out on a limb here but I can genuinely see us not just challenging but actually winning the title strongly next season. BlackSocksRedTops, whilst I agree with your sentiment I think you have to also consider the other side of the coin. Celtic will have a new manager and assuming this is not Lennon that may give them a bit of a lift. It is likely that there will be at least some overhaul of their playing staff in the summer. Judging from the results against ourselves and earlier ones where they squeezed out a win it is apparent that their squad does not have the necessary strength. The directors of Celtic I am sure will have been annoyed that they lost to us, since undoubtedly they want to go for ten in a row and see that this is now in jeopardy. For that reason I can see considerable funds being made available to whoever becomes the manager. Let us hope that they choose the wrong manager and that they buy flops.

Wow, that's incredible considering the number of games and when you also consider that for every minute in every game he's flying up and down that wing. He must have run over 600km during competitive games this season without injury. That's when you appreciate how athletic he is. I think Tav received justified criticism in previous seasons because his defending wasn't good enough, and too often his positioning was poor also. No one could ever have doubted his work ethic though. There is a very noticeable difference this season which I believe is down to Beale and the rest of the coaching team who have been working on specific areas with him and some others. Tav has obviously lapped this up because now I feel safe with him in there. We couldn't have said that last season. Isn't it great when you feel that players we either have already or bring in can be improved by the coaching staff. I can't think of any coaching team we've had in the last 30 years which has given me any confidence in their ability to develop players.

That's simply phenomenal.

Ideal scenario. We beat Killie to go 17 points clear of them place while hubz beat the sheep to deny them a third place finish. Hearts pull off a surprise to take the cup leaving the sheep out of Europe.

I do understand how the chance came about initially, but I'm sure it was Katic that ran over to close down Eduard and ended up on the wrong side because he got too close and was done by him. All he needed to do was close him down and slow him down. As I said, he did this on his first game back (can't remember who it was against, but maybe Motherwell now that I think about it) and got hooked at half time. I could tell the manager was furious when it happened that time, and he then didn't get back into the team again until recently. He needs to learn but he's still very young and I expect he will become a great player for us.

From UB Facebook page. After positive discussions with the club regarding safe standing we will be remaining in BF1 next season with the aim of working towards the creation of a safe standing area within the stadium in 2020.As always limited spaces will become available within BF1 for next season, if you are interested in creating an atmosphere for 90 minutes and would like to move over to our section then please send the following details to BF1transfers@outlook.com or message the Union Bears Facebook page:* Full Name* Do you currently have a season ticket (yes/no)* Rangers number (if applicable)* Contact number * Address* Date of BirthThis is your chance to make a difference - move to BF1, help create an atmosphere and be part of the campaign moving towards safe standing!Union BearsNo Surrender

It's now blatant corruption and everyone knows it. Despite this, no one in the press will say it is. What bigger sporting story can there be than a corrupt league and yet not a single word will be written about this. It's disgusting! I'm furious.

We may take heart from the fact that guttersnipe always overreach themselves: the further from the sheuch, the more they expose themselves, and the higher their fall.

Not really, we all know the CO was put in place by St Pats FC, corruption continues in Scottish football

Fixed that for you.

The abuse our players take from the fans of other clubs is unreal. That said, I am not disappointed by this because I just don't see where Shinnie breaks into our team - we have Jack, McCrorie and even Docherty for that role (can Rossiter stay injury free ??) and we then also have Kamara and Davis. Shinnie isnt someone that could take us to "the next level". The only real reason to take him would have been to weaken Aberdeen - but this season has proven we are considerably ahead of them even if he were to stay, despite head to head results.

This nonsense has now gone too far. I’m not against retrospective punishment for an offence the referee doesn’t see, but the referee did see this & gave a yellow card. Whether it was a yellow or red or whatever is up for debate but he did see the incident & took action. And as for Lennon he is totally deluded if he thinks Brown is some sort of victim. Meanwhile we still wait for action against Brown for his provocation towardsMorelos from the previous OF game & his conduct after the final whistle

Unbefuckinglievable

I don't know where he is but I do know where he will be on Sunday. Rugby park refereeing our final game of the season.

Your reasons are valid but are exactly the reasons why I think we will win the league. Whoever they get as a manager will not be Rodgers or anywhere near his level. Their squad needs an overhaul so that requires money and a glut of new players which doesn't guarantee anything. IMO, this much change can go 50/50. I just hope we can capitalise if their manager and new players are struggling. For this time in years, I would say there is more uncertainty over the summer at Parkhead than Ibrox

That should sent/tweeted to them all, Pacific Quay Musings

Another great production lads. Really enjoyed it, although I did disagree with two points. 1. I don't think it was a red card incident with Flanagan. 2. Katic is good but has a long way to go. The chance Celtic had really was gilt edged because Katic got into the wrong position and ended up on the wrong side of Eduard. This was similar to two other occasions against Livingston and Killie and he has to sort that out to keep his first 11 place. However, even when I disagree I love it.

Quite simply, another masterpiece of literary genius 26th???

I may be going out on a limb here but I can genuinely see us not just challenging but actually winning the title strongly next season. Celtic starting the season without Rodgers basically renders them back at square one IMO. Whether it's Lennon or a different manager, they won't have the same impact as Rodgers had on that team. On the other hand, we have team and management that seems to be learning from it's mistakes and with a season under belt and few quality additions we can only go from strength to strength. Our club has a feeling of positivity and momentum whereas the mob across the city have uncertainty and departures to entertain them during the summer. Ok they will go and win a treble treble this season. I care not about that as the architect of that success is nowhere to be seen. A good start is a no brainer next season and we have shown at the tail end of this season, we have the players and tools to beat everyone in this league. Let's not forget, we didn't lose the league due to the head to heads V Celtic. We lost the league due to naivety in winnable games V Aberdeen, Killie, Hibs etc. Looking further ahead, I genuinely hope we can cash in on Morelos. Much of this season was side tracked by the circus that surrounds Alfie and I feel that if he is not there we will be more focused and we will have happy days ahead.

I guess the only concern is if a large overhaul of players happens and we have to start again with new faces learning the system etc. The progress made this season just needs additions IMO but of course some of it could be out of our hands. Retaining Kent would be No.1 priority along with keeping Tav. We will certainly get another year out of McGregor in goal but I wonder if SG would take a punt on Joe Hart who will be available this summer. At 32 he would offer longevity. Buster - agree, however at the end of that game at Pittodrie SG made an offensive change rather than a defensive one late on which could have had a big difference.

Frankie, a good succinct piece. It tells it as it is, and where we are at. I suspect PQ will be calling, asking you to aid their reconnect with the Rangers support?

Now there is talk of Manchester City facing a ban from the champions league due to this silly financial fair play rule , doesn't seem to effect teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid whom if I remember correct the government came to their rescue .

Apparently McCrorie did very well with Morton. He's on a similar route to the one McGregor trod #Dunfermline

A 12 months apprenticeship and 3 transfer windows were always likely to be required before the SG&Co era began to take proper shape. From the moment we adapted to the 11th minute sending off of Morelos to dominate Aberdeen in the first league game of the season, I knew the management/coaching team knew what they were doing. I'd say the managers biggest mistake was the starting XI for the Kilmarnock game we lost in January. I think that is where the outside possibility of a title was lost. Looking forward to next season with justified optimism. ps. We need to get the recruitment right #Quality x3, Spine

I can only find 2. The point I was making was the difference difference between say Man City or Arsenal home goal. All you see is “fans” using mobile phones. I got that, but where's the fun in that?

Surely he's ready to be number 2? I don't get why you need two keepers in their prime in the squad when you have talent like McCrorie coming through, waste of money. He's not a boy anymore he's 21. Same could have been said about Liam Kelly.

In fairness, Tav is in his physical prime whereas Tierney has been developing his physicality over those years and you can see the impact that its had in terms of possibly being over-played in the earlier phase of his career. That said, your general point stands.

Get him cloned.

"Rangers make move for World Cup Winner... ...'s son." [The Sun Headline]

They got him with in minutes of this being posted , nice touch

BTW, when we got Kamara I remember quite a few had doubts about his qualities, despite folk like Neil McCann singing praises. Same on FF. Now, someone over there did a bit of thread-necromancy and highlighted a few negative comments and then added a gif that has seemingly escaped Rousseau up till now ?

Bear in mind that we all show our approval of UEFA every time we watch their competitions on TV.