craig

What is the book Barry ? Great article by the way !

I have Germany to win it but only with the hopes they make the final so I can then bet against them for a risk free bet. I also have them, Croatia and Holland to qualify for the semis. I saw you and tbh had those teams Gribz, hence why I suggested it. Is your decision though - you either leave your bet as it is (and with Holland I would be tempted to leave it) but you can set up an account at betfair and "lay" Holland (Italy in tbh's case) to give yourself, worst case, a risk-free bet. If you are interested in doing that and need a hand let me know.

I dont know exactly how it works but you will definitely get your stake back and they may pro-rate the winning portion of the bet. Not sure though and it differs between bookmakers

What makes this sadder, if possible, is that in Boyd & Cuellar they seem to WANT to stay here rather than leave. Boyd is a natural goalscorer and if it is the case that many of Healy's NI goals are assisted from the hard work of Lafferty then surely we should be looking for Lafferty to provide those assists to Boyd. I don't get it.

I see exatly where you are coming from cal, exactly !! I can't disagree with any of what you are saying. However, at this stage of drawing up fixture scheduling it is the ONLY time in the season when the authorities know for FACT dates of the Euro qualifiers, so they could assist all SPL teams who have qualifiers, not just Rangers. After that point when you get to group stages etc it becomes far too messy to try to manipulate the fixture list and it is a case of tough luck.

Anyone that got Italy at 20/1 or the Dutch at 12/1 should be looking atr laying them back - Italy are in to 7/1 and Holland are 7/2 favourites. By laying them back you get a risk free bet on them both and, in fact, you can manipulate your bet to ensure a profit regardless of them winning or losing the tournament. Betfair is the best place to make the bet.

Is plan B not David Villa and Cesc Fabregas ? :fish:

So not only are we paying off players who were shite for us, we are now paying off players who have played TWO competitive games for us. I would have liked to have seen Gow get a chance to be honest. Couldn't have been worse than McCulloch at the back end of the season. Thankfully Gow didn't cost us anything and Lafferty's wage will be offset, to an extent, by the removal of Gow's wage.

To be honest, I wouldn't be overly upset if we missed out on either player.

Those transactions between Rangers and Murray's other companies should also be disclosed in the notes to the financial statements under Related Party Transactions notes - are they disclosed there Bluedell (I know you have read the financials)

Cal, I know what you are saying - but you are a big proponent of the coefficient and how we should support the other scottish teams including Celtic as it helps Scotland's coefficient (I will support them in Europe but hope they dont ever make a final) and yet here you are suggesting the SPL shouldn't look at the fixtures in conjunction with Euro ties to ensure that at the very least we (all Scottish teams who need Euro qualifiers) get a small bit of assistance in doing do. It isn't a case of arranging who, when and where - it is the case, in my opinion, of where with a slight bit of who - there was absolutely no need for the SPL (or their "gurus") to schedule us away to Celtic right in the middle of CL qualifiers. It wouldn't have been difficult to have 2 home and 2 away games either, especially so early in the season. We still would have a tricky run of games somewhere anyway but surely for the sake of the Scottish game even the SPL should be wanting all Scottish teams to progress as far as possible, yet here they are making it as difficult as they can for Rangers (cant comment on the others as I dont know their fixture list). But the coefficient could take a big blow if we dont get into the group stages or, heaven forbid, not even make the UEFA. Yes, it will be our own fault if we dont make it, but the SPL will be somewhat culpable.

.....she says if ahm a punk she'll throw me oot and hit me....

Wonder if SDM & Bain brought up this year's scheduling....probably not. In terms of the SPL the scheduling is neither here nor there as we all have to play the same amount of home and away games (again.... this stupid split excepted) - but the SPL are not trying to assist us in any way to qualify for the CL group stages

Or in such a short space of time. Smith has talent and potential of that thereis no doubt. He has the ability to make the LB spot his own - I am not sure whether he can reach the same heights that Hutton has now reached but he certainly was the better player when they both were playing. Smith may not develop to the same extent or at the same speed - but if he comes back showing the type of play he was pre-injury then he would be a starter IMO anyway.

No need for apologies Jon, it has just been done to death - the majority wanted him to stay - I doubt that the signings of the strikers we have seen would suggest a new poll would provide different results.

There was already a poll on this - the Boyd to go or stay debate has been done to death

That is what I meant by the scheduling - the SPL side of it evens out for the most part (ridiculous split notwithstanding). It is scheduling 3 away games knowing full well that we will have a Euro qualifier away in there as well. I know that the SPL hired some whizz Canadian company to do the fixtures but the SPL MUST have been able to review them prior to releasing them - which means that they have buried their heads in the sand yet again, a mere month since their scheduling was last lambasted. Amateurish administration by the SPL.

It would potentially put us at a disadvantage but only if we were not to pick up full points (or 7 including a draw at Parkhead) - but if we pick up those points then we actually are at an advantage as, at some point, we will see a reversal. However, the scheduling IS poor because there will be crucial CL qualifiers in there.

Arsenal are rumoured to be interested as well - would think he would choose Arsenal over PSG.

Nah, Robben and Podolski are both better suited on the left - perhaps Ribery or Ronaldhino on the right ?

I would tend to agree that if our problem last season was lack of goal-scoring then we need to look for someone who will COMPLEMENT Boyd in a 4-4-2 OR get true wingers to play the wide roles in a 4-5-1/4-3-3

You are right, it was a combination - when we went at teams with high tempo last season we seemed to have much more success - but more often than not we didnt do that and gave the other team confidence. Ha ! No way would we get Sneijder, would be nice though. Although..... if you believe all you read then the Tims are signing Seedorf, Podolski etc etc

I think Velicka will be a good signing too - but do we need to have that many more strikers - I would have thought that we would look to strengthen the glaring weaknesses which are creativity and an RB (if Whittaker isnt to be played there). I am not convinced that the lack of goals was as much to do with chopping and changing the strikers as I would be about it being the lack of creativity from midfield !

I guess that, at 22 yrs old, he has potential and is young - one thing we criticised WS over was his unwillingness to give younger players a go - at 22 I think we can still say he is a young player - but when are we going to get the creative mid and RB in ? Our squad for nex season could be done already (except maybe some departures) which hardly thrills me. Will be interesting to see what kind of quality the Tims get in - this was a chance for us to build on our relative success from last year but I dont really see much of a strengthening !

Fair point Juff, which I agree with - but to wish it on one of your own players defies belief. It ic very vindictive to wish it on anyone. Maybe maineflyer is just trying to be controversial - but controversy is one thing, being vindictive is another.