craig

Indeed he was.

Most definitely. In the current climate and given historical spending at our club, now more than ever, we need to be fiscally prudent BUT..... we still need to invest in the squad. Our regular income regardless of European competition and player sales SHOULD be more than sufficient to cover all expenditure. This should, normally, leave us in the position of being able to spend ALL player sales income and, if needed, some of the European cash. The remainder of the European cash could be used to reduce debt. I use the word SHOULD on purpose as this hasnt been the way we have spent in the past. Some of the problem in the past 5 years is we have had AWFUL players at the club that couldn't be given away ! Amazing that WS has come in and made Hutton into the player he is (he undoutbedly improved under WS) and WS has also unearthed an 8 figure gem in Cuellar - paying just over 2 mill for Cuellar is fantastic business in the current transfer market climate. If we sold him on for 12 mill that is huge profit (profit I would rather NOT see us make to be honest - we should be building our team around him !). So one thing WS has done, to a large extent, is bring in players who have re-sale value - even Cousin was looking at leaving for profit !

Screw them IMO. If you dont act fiscally responsibly then you dont deserve to be there. Mileson had his fun and then left them holding the bag. Regardless of his physical condition he must have known the trouble the club would be in if he pulled his funding. There are plenty of Highland League, South league and junior clubs who would love a shot at the pro leagues.

\ I speak Scottish, does that mean I should get a contract ? Dont be silly. As for him not wanting to leave - that was soundbites from Lovenkrands - he KNEW that Rangers were struggling financially and couldn't offer him the money he wanted. He played the game and, in his case, the game was one of trying to make it look as if he wanted to stay and would walk on fire for the club - the REALITY is that he wanted more money but wanted to create a perception that he loved the club and didnt want to leave. Anyone that thinks he wanted to stay for any reason other than MORE MONEY is deluded.

I just read the first sentence of thst story and it looks to me like scare-mongering at best. The Hutton money came in January, a full 6 months after SDM sanctioned 11 mill spending. Now, if SDM has said WS can spend the same amount this year than that, to me at least, would suggest the 11 million and not the NET 2 million after Hutton income. And to top it off they make a comparison between us and the Tims which no-one has any idea about. IMO both sides of the OF will spend similar amounts of money this pre-season - but the Mirror are trying to make us look like the poor relation - I can't see it happening. Scaremongering !

Possibly, but it could likewise work in our favour depending on how it is structured. If related to income levels then we wouldn't be in a worse position than we are now domestically and if you have proper fiscal management in place when working out salaries then you actually may close some of that gap between the larger countries and the rest. The one thing for sure is it would lead to better fiscal management for all.

Ricky came on under the premise of being quite gracious of the attitude of Gersnet regarding the Tommy Burns passing (if I remember correctly). I am sure there are some knuckle draggers in the Rangers support who really couldn't care less about Tommy Burns passing but, thankfully, Gersnet is not the place for those people. I am, however, quite convinced, that had Rangers not drawn against Motherwell on Sat May 17 and handed the initiative back to Celtic in the league, we would never have been graced with Ricky's presence. That is not to say you aren't welcome Ricky - you seem like a well-mannered, reasoned poster (even if you are a Tim) - but save the "grow up" comments for your own ilk who try to acclaim themselves as the greatest fans in the world at the same time as throwing themselves off the upper deck of Torbett Towers and terrorising referees who happen to give the CORRECT decisions against your mob in title deciders.

I think the split is the biggest laughing stock we could have. It was introduced to reduce games played yet teams ended up playing 2 MORE games and, on top of that, you get the anomaly of some teams playing head to head once on their own pitch and 3 times away. A JOKE of a system. Ajax struggling to win the Dutch league is not a problem for anyone other than Ajax, their academy should still be head and shoulders above the rest of Holland - them struggling to win the Dutch league is nothing to do with finances as every team in Holland is under the same type of constraint. Them struggling to compete in the CL is !!! The big 4 countries (England, Italy, Spain and Germany) are extending the disparity (I am not including France because aside from Lyon they dont seem to compete too well) and that is where the issues arise in the European game

Nah, it is only a friendly though, right ? It is no doubt just recognition for him getting 100 caps. I would be more worried as an England fan if he was captain in a WC qualifier.

Ricky, coming from the East End neighbours you must have grown up in conspiracy theories. Some Rangers fans, legitimately or not (and none of the fans will EVER know for sure) maintain that the whole Phil O Donnell tragedy and subsequent postponement of the OF game smelt of desperation from Celtic - cheating ? Probably not technically. Unethical ? Quite possibly. When you then consider that no such request was made for a man who gave up about 70% of his entire life for your club then inevitably there will be doubts made as to the reasons behind the original request. Aside from the cheating you have the outright LIE of Peter Lawell claiming that extending the league would have the SPL lose its integrity - he was outed quite easily by Walter Smith who hit the nail on the head with his "Peter should just tell the truth and say he wants Rangers to play lots of games in a short space of time" - only the blindest of blind would agree with Lawell's official stance and not see through it. It was a season of particularly poor officiating, both the OF benefitted from it but, in the last 6 weeks of the league Celtic more than Rangers - this doesnt mean that Celtic cheated but some Rangers fans will only see the last few weeks. Funny how you are coming on here with your grow up comments after a satisfactory end to the season yet never made any such appearance when the shit was hitting the fan and all the Celtic fans were suicidal. Enjoy your league win, however poorly Celtic played (best of a bad bunch and not for the first time since WGS came in) - but please dont patronise us with your posting. It is a Rangers forum where the fans are entitled to their opinion. Celtic fans, like yourself, are entitled to - but dont play a holier than us attitude.

I see what you are saying stewarty in that if Whittaker and Smith dont turn out to be good enough then we need replacements (in Smiths case Papac would be an able back-up and may even push for 1st choice - it is RB that could pose the problem) - Whittaker played LB solidly when needed and RB is his preferred position so no need to think he couldnt play there - Smith, we all know, has the talent and we just need him to get back to pre-injury form. However I think that at the moment we DO have natural full backs who can do a good job but what we all know we definitely dont have is the creativity to unlock a defence. My argument is that we have, IMO, more pressing needs than to get more full backs in. If we get a CB and a creative mid plus a striker and have more cash left then, sure, we should think about full-backs

The problem with this is that all those teams would still want a crack at the CL - they wouldn't get it in this format - or if they did then they wouldnt be allowed to play in their own domestic league. On top of that, after the season we have just had, I couldn't be convinced that playing in this on a Wednesday night then domestic league on a Saturday would be achievable. Something needs to be done about the disparity between the leagues and an Atlantic league may be the answer - but we wouldnt be allowed to simultaneously play in the SPL.

Sure the do if they are up to the task. I just dont think PL is the player that will take us to the next level. Pace is one thing but it isnt getting you anywhere in the SPL if there are 10 men behind the ball. PL cant beat a man and wouldnt get to use his pace to the same extent as he would in a European game. Not against 2nd chances (I was happy when BF returned) but only if they benefit the team and I dont think PL would - happy to be proved wrong if he does come back though !

Juff, If Whittaker is fit and there are no midfield injuries he will play RB. If Stevie Smith is fit then he will play LB - both their natural positions. They will, if fit, both be first choice in those positions too so why spend copious amounts of money on back-ups when we have more pressing needs elsewhere ? Or would you rather spend our budget on two full backs and leave the glaring lack of creativity as a problem for next season again. IMO we have a decent defence and with Smith and Whittaker both able to get forward I just dont see the need for excessive spending on those positions. We need cover for both of those positions but IMO we dont need to be spending a ton of money on these positions when Smith and Whittaker are both capable there.

Papac will never get a game at CB so is now an LB for us. If Smith comes back from his injury (and no reason to suggest he wont as he will have had a solid pre-season) then signing an LB will leave us with 3 LB's and IMO we don't need a third one. I understand what you are saying about Whittaker but the reason he played in midfield in the 2nd half of last season was due to the amount of injuries we had. I have no doubts he was set to replace Hutton at RB until those injuries - next season I am certain that we will see him at RB and will not be used elsewhere unless we get the same injuries in midfield. We do need a back up RB although I can still see WS sticking with Broadfoot as back-up. I think our pressing needs are not the full-back positions but CB, AM and ST.

I dont want PL OR KM back. KM is shite and PL had his chance to stay and turned it down for money. Now he is seeing he maybe made the wrong decision and wants back. No thanks for me. The problem that I always thought Lovenkrands had was not really one of his own making but more down to the way teams played against us. He is a player that relies on his pace to get in behind defenders and this worked well against European opposition but when he faced Scottish defences with 10 men behind the ball he struggled badly. The other thing is..... just what Rangers player right now could you expect to make that incisive pass that PL would need to get in behind anyway ? I dont think he would be that effective for us and his career seems to have tailed off in Germany.

Yep, I think I made a similar point on another thread. WS has a BIG squad but he hasn't really utilised it this season just past. That being the case he needs to decide if he is going to use a squad or a team and hope for no injuries. Either way given the size of the squad we dont need any more squad players, we need first teamers. Not sure I agree that we need full backs though. With Stevie Smith coming back from injury and Papac playing really well I dont think we need an LB. As for RB that is Whittaker's supposed natural position so we should see him as starter there next season (especially as our wide midfielders should all be fit too so he shouldnt have to cover in that position) - though we do need a suitable back-up for the position (would Lowing be trusted) ? I would also rather see 2x5 million players or 3x3 million players - we have a large squad now and what we need to start seeing is us now looking for quality not quantity. We have the quantity already so now we should be looking for those 2 or 3 players who can really make a marked difference - a CB (possibly not if Webster can prove his fitness), an attacking midfielder and a striker - the spine of the team.

Did you watch him in Europe this season Gribz ? He was terrible for the most part. Last season I would have agreed with you, this season just past I wouldn't. I actually preferred seeing Christian Dailly in that position, that is how bad I felt Hemdani was in the Euro games this past season. For me much as though Hemdani is a neat technical player he labours on the ball too much and puts himself, and his team-mates in trouble - in the final against Zenit where he was up against fast players they were tearing at him to steal the ball off him and he struggled badly. IMO Hemdani is 1) too slow for the Scottish game 2) at 31 is starting to get on 3) not really interested in being at Ibrox and 4) could be replaced by a better player reasonably easily.

Sorry man, just messingb around - should have tried to respond to the point too. I don't know, the only thing I can think of is that it is not as high profile - makes no sense I know as the law is for all.

lol, even reading about cricket legislation is boring !

Whilst I can understand his suling it is hardly professional. I am not convinced he has been a scapegoat either - he simply hasn't been good enough this season - his form has been poor at best. Yes, you could argue he was used very sparingly in the SPL but then Thomson was by far the better player in that position. He still got Euro games and looked poor in those as well. Why do you think he will be a miss ? Not arguing Gribz but I just don't see where he would fit into our system - BF won't get dropped and KT is a FAR better player IMO - actually I think KT is already becoming more important to us than even BF. Then we are all screaming for an attacking midfielder - so I just don't see where Hemdani could fit in when he would be 4th choice central midfielder. Sad he is leaving on a free though - we should be getting a fee for him - but then, had his form this season been better we very well may have got a fee for him.

Perhaps what UEFA should consider instead is having a salary cap placed on teams. I don't think that breaches EU employment law but it would make it more difficult for the larger leagues to simply take all the very best players as they would have to operate under tighter financial restrictions, meaning that teams would have to at least consider bringing through home grown talent. It works in the US with NFL, NHL and NBA and it makes the league more competitive. Just something to consider.

bloody typical !! I fly back to the UK on July 30......

I don't think Hemdani will be a loss at all. Although not as publicised as Cousin I reckon he isn't interested in being at Ibrox either. His performances all season have been very poor. We can get a better player than him in.

I used my ghostwriter Pete..... I think that as I was in the US on holiday and not completely emrboiled in the last couple of games shenanigans that I had a bit more emotionally removed from things. Didn't know the SC final score until Tuesday afternoon ! Thanks for the compliments guys, you will make me blush...