craig
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Everything posted by craig
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But look at the numbers we have in midfield too. We have the forgotten man in Hemdani, we have Edu, Adam is supposed to be a CM (good god no, dont put him there), McCulloch ? Don't get me wrong, I think that the side would be weakened with the loss of Mendes, Davis OR Ferguson - but...... if we lost ONE of them we still have two good quality CM's in there. If we lost another due to injury then play Edu or Hemdani. However, if we lose Boyd and there is no real scoring contribution from anywhere else in the team..... then who replaces his goals ? I don't disagree with what you say Cammy - my main thrust really was that, for me, the management of the club have not thought this through well. McGregor would have been 1st for me as we have a good replacement PLUS kepers rarely get injured. Next, a coin flip between midfielder and Bougherra. I don;t think Boys is irreplaceable but I think given the players at our disposal he should be one of the last let go. However, that said, this creates chances for the likes od Velicka, Lafferty, Novo - none of them will give us Boyd's scoring prowess but we may get more productivity. Again, it is the lack of creativity that worries in this regard - because if we dont create enough chances then these players wont score enough goals.
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If I was SDM and Bain what I would have been doing would have been touting....... MCGREGOR. Even in the current climate and with his drop in form we should still be able to get 3.5-4 mill for him. Alexander is an able deputy and I don't think AM would be missed that much in the short term. However, this all looks like very, very poor club management to me. Are the powers that be trying to tell us that this situation "crept up" on them ? What the fuck are budgets and forecasts for ? Who do they employ in their finance dept ? They should have known (unless something came out of left field - even then, in the current climate NOTHING should surprise) about what was about to happen and the squad should been evaluated and the club then tout certain players. I would tend to look at it from a positional perspective, as follows : GK - yep, we could afford to lose AM because A,exander could come in and replace him DEF - Bougherra would be the only real sellable asset - we could lose him and put Broadfoot in there - not ideal I know but certainly doable. Or we could give Webster a chance beside Weir. MID - we could lose any one of a number seeing as we have a plethora of midfielders - Ferguson, Mendes, Davis, Beasley, Adam etc etc. We would only get decent money though for Mendes and Davis and Ferguson (if 3 mill is the number we need I think we could get that for BF). So sell one of those 3 because you still have decent cover. If we lost BF then we play Mendes and Davis at CM. STR - up front. This is where Boyd actually becomes almost irreplaceable. Strikers offer different things but we all know goals win games. We have NOT ONE OTHER STRIKER who consistently scores goals. Now, admittedly some players havent had a chance but Boyd is proven. Boyd is the only striker we have that we could get decent money for - but he offers is the firepower to win games. When you look at the above if I ran the club and knew I needed 3 mill I would have went out to other clubs and made the following available : McGregor, Ferguson/Mendes/Davis, possibly Bougherra but probably not Boyd. The others have "replacements" whilst it doesn't look like we have anyone who could replace Boyd's goals. That said, perhaps moving on some of these established players is a good route to go down - freshen things up a bit. The club has been in the doldrums for a while and the players are culpable in that respect too - so perhaps moving some on isnt such a bad idea.
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And how much you reckon we will make from the AC game ? A half empty stadium.... although, could be a good opportunity for Bears to vent their spleens at what is happening at our club - assuming the club survives that long If the salaries are 44 mill (I think BD projected that) then a 10% pay cut would result in ANNUAL savings of 4 mill - not enough for the short term funding required. 10% to some of these players is nothing, but to others it is significant. The Tims must be pishing themselves laughing at us - it doesn't help them though having a non-existent Rangers will hit them in the pocket too.
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I said in another thread that we are in danger of becoming the new millenium Tims. But you know what, I think the situation is more dire than even that. At least when the Tims were almost bankrupt the economy, and people in general, were doing rather well for themselves. It was easier to find a buyer. In the current climate people are VERY nervous, finding a buyer would be nigh on impossible (Warren Buffett isn't a clsoet Bear by any chance is he ?) as most people are not really spending (even the rich and famous are cutting back). Our own owner is doing likewise and it MIGHT actually be that he is prepared to see Rangers go to the wall - the club cost how much ? 6 million ? Rather than pump more money into the club by having it go bankrupt he could realise cash for the last couple of assets we have. He would never be able to return to West Scotland but he won't care when in his French chataeux. Troubled times for us indeed.
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I hope by "management" you are also including SDM and Bain and not just WS, AM and KM ?? It looks to me as if WS has been told that one player of 3m value or more MUST go. That isn't the team management's fault but that of the Chairman and CEO. And by the way, any other CEO that takes a company this close to the brink, would not only not be getting nice fat bonuses but would also have their head on the chopping block.
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Apparently CM is Adam's natural position. Not that I would ever want him in there.
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Just a shame we simply didn't buy him and used the 3.5 mill in cash to stave off the banks, and could have kept Boyd. More financial mismanagement.......
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With what ? Gers fans, like those of most other clubs, are struggling as much as any. The credit crisis and recession havent fully hit the UK yet have they ?
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1-0 against Morton with every single starting player being a 1st team squad player. The depth of quality in our squad looks worse than I thought.
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If it werent so sad that would be funny !
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True but then, is Thomson really of that quality yet ? I am a big admirer of KT but he is only in his career infancy and hasn't proven that he can sustain it over a period of time. I also don't think there is any doubt that BF is a better player than KT if both performing to their abilities. WHo could we get for 2.5 million to replace BF ? That said, I guess Davis was only 3.5 mill and I would like to see him partner Mendes in the middle.
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Sorry lads (Gribz especially) - I merged the Beckham thread with the rich list instead of the two rich list ones. He is on the rich list anyway....... Sorry
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Believe me..... you do NOT want me doing anything techy !!
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But Pete, this is not merely about Kris Boyd and his goal-scoring exploits - it is the signals the club are giving. They are basically prepared to sell any and all of our players (just a shame it is the better ones and not the deadwood dross we have) which suggests to me that our club is in very dire financial straits and that would mean that Rangers could "die a painful death". We can discuss the merits of Boyd's ability or not - but this isn't really about Boyd, but about what is happening to our club.
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You could extrapolate that to the whole squad !
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Hopefully his form when he returns won't be similar to Ferguson's
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Got you now Gavin. When I said in "Boy'd mould" I meant a similar type player in that he doesnt do much outside the box but is predatory in the box. Before you castrate me for saying "predatory", I couldn't think of a better word - he is nowhere near as lethal as Boyd. I guess I would have been better saying that he is a poor man's Kris Boyd. Sadly, it looks like we will be playing as the poor man soon. Hey, as for Smith and his spending - what he SHOULD have done was simply not bought Lafferty then he wouldn't need the 3.5 mill for Boyd. Or maybe the club would still have sold. Who knows. But in no way would I be happy to see Boyd go. I agree with you re the league and CL, and that is a short-term view from our chairman. I actually agree with ascender - this stinks of a fire-sale out of necessity. Are we on the brink of being the new millennium Tims ? (i.e. them being that close to bankruptcy in the 90's and we are seeing ourselves turn full circle into the very same potential fate in 2009 ??)
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I think you are being completely unreasonable here. Tell me.... Eck was an unpopular Rangers manager in the eyes of the masses (some didnt see him that way and, in fact, take a look at what he did fr our club FINANCIALLY - he was a net income producer IIRC) and SDM sacked him (no matter what SDM says he forced Eck to go) so what loyalty should Eck show the club. His loyalties lie squarely with Birmingham. Sorry, but if you want to look for a scapegoat in all of this look at the chairman, CEO and manager of RANGERS - NOT the manager of Birmingham.
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Not sure what you are getting at gavin.... my post was merely in terms of who would end up playing if Boyd leaves. In no way was I comparing ANY of them to Boyd - just looking at the alternatives we have. I would much prefer Boyd to any of those players.
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Or...... why not sell Boyd AND Naismith and have a starting front 2 of Kenny Miller and Lee McCulloch....... We have mentioned Lafferty (who doesnt excite me at all) and Naismith coming back (who I prefer on the left side) but I think that we will see more of Velicka, who seems to be in the Boyd mould. For me the current situation is a product of the complete mis-management of funds by WS with the signings he made in August.
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Rangers have confirmed Birmingham have made an approach for star striker Kris Boyd. Reports emanating on Tuesday suggested that Birmingham were lining up a move for the prolific 25-year-old as Alex McLeish looks to be reunited with Boyd. McLeish is a big fan of Boyd having signed him during his time in charge of Rangers and also selected him for Scotland when he was national team boss. Boyd was linked with a move to Cardiff last summer after struggling to hold down a regular place in Walter Smith's side last season. However, Boyd has impressed this season and has scored 18 goals in the SPL this term after forming a productive partnership with Kenny Miller. Rangers chairman David Murray has confirmed they have rejected Birmingham's opening bid for Boyd, but has hinted they would be prepared to do a deal if the offer is right. "Birmingham have made an enquiry. We talked about money but we haven't agreed a fee and no business will be done today," said Murray. "We rejected a bid of around �£3million but if they improve it, we'll allow them to speak to Kris Boyd."
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Quite possibly - but here is the thing I have difficulty with. Boyd has PROVEN he will score in the SPL, Lafferty hasn't done that anywhere in club football. Selling Boyd for, say, 3.5 million whilst buying Lafferty for the same price makes NO sense to me whatsoever. Boyd is only 25 so has his best years ahead of him. What WS SHOULD have done is simply NOT bought Lafferty and saved the club 3.5 mill on an unnecessary transfer fee and that way POSSIBLY could have kept Boyd. Boyd vs. Lafferty - a no-brainer for me, the goalscorer hands down ! And yes, Lafferty hasnt been played up front, but his touch and link-up play looks WORSE than Boyd's when he has played out on the left. Unreal. By selling Boyd (again, depending on fee - if it was 8 mill then of course it makes sense to sell but if it is 3 mill then definitely not) I think that Bain and Smith should definitely go. With SDM the sentiment from me is the same, the only exception is he needs someone to buy the club first.
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This would be pretty close to being a last straw for many fans, dependent on fee. The one thing we can say with certainty is that if Boyd is sold our chances of league success are almost gone - whether you like him as a player or not, we have NO-ONE who would consistently bang in the goals to ensure wins in the SPL.
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Pending a successful medical - a formality one would assume though. Good luck to the lad !
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That is the thing which convinces me we should keep him. I wouldn't be averse to letting BF leave, but for 2.5 million ? I just dont see where we get someone in for that price of that quality. Double it to 5 and I would make a deal.
