craig

AC Milan are holders. You can't use your biased pont of view to say we deserved to go through after 3 games - the group stages is SIX games and over 6 games I am not convinced we deserved it. Lyon were a better team than us - so I think they deserved it. Maybe the wrong tactics were deployed - but even if we used different tactics I think some of us are also missing the fact that Lyon have better players than we do. It really is that simple. We are a team put together on a comparative shoestring, this time last year we were a complete shambles and looking like not even making the CL qualifying. I think our expectations have risen due to the reasonable start to the season - but in a group with those 3 teams I think it ultimately is a SUCCESS to still be in Europe. Obviously heart breaking given our start - but, as I said before, you don't really know where you are until after 4 games. 6 points from 2 games was great - but facing Barca we were never really looking like having more than 7 after 4 games. 7 isnt enough.

AC Milan are the holders Jon....

Neither Gow nor Broadfoot cost us anything. They, right now, are squad fillers and with low wages. Our problem is lack of creativity in the first 11. We will need to replace Weir at the back. Hopefully getting Stevie Smith back so that Papac becomes back-up and retaining Hutton means our back 5 should be solid for a while (depending on Weir's replacement). Up front I think we have plenty of options - our problem is still creativity in the midfield. Not trying to be nagative but Ferguson and Thomson are similar players which means we have no real creativity in the centre of the park. Would be interesting to see Buffel get a chance alongside Ferguson to see if he can provide that spark breaking from midfield - or playing him in the hole behind a lone striker, as Gribz would like.

I havent seen it but it seems Cousin wasnt interested again. We can say that playing Boyd up front alone means we play with 10 men but if Cousin isnt even trying then we should at least go with Boyd who is a more instinctive finisher and his work rate recently makes Cousin look even more disinterested. I don't necessarily think we needed to play 2 up front tonight but with McCulloch playing and Whittaker playing it was obvious, to me at least, that we were playing for a draw. NOT ONE creative player in the team - shocking. But as Jon says, when the group started we were expected to finish with zero points so to still be in Europe is good news, even if it isnt the CL. Seems the Tims got all of our luck too !

lol, I will stop using that comment tomorrow my man ! I f we reach the UEFA cup maybe 3 million of us will go to the final, like the Tims had in Seville !

Some of us were proven right tonight (no gloating though as it hurts me as much as anyone). The team we beat in France was not the real Lyon - the real Lyon came to Ibrox tonight and, from what I can make out, gave us a real lesson. We have ZERO creativity and if we go a goal behind it is very difficult for us to come back from that. Gutted !!!! But not completely unexpected.

Just messing with you my man. Hopefully we will all be smiling after 90 mins. Is only one goal we need !

Best not continue with this thread Wija.... as someone who reckoned we would lose you may just be deemed to be gloating... :fish: That hurts - but at least it happened early doors, lots of time left to get a draw !

Yes, needs to get one correct score from each game. Although it is 9 scores you can have multiple permutations eg, each team has 3 different scores so you effectively have.... game 1 : 1 2 3 game 2 : 4 5 6 game 3 : 7 8 9 So you can have 1 with 4 and 7, 1 with 4 and 8, 1 with 4 and 9..... 2 with 4 and 7, 2 with 4 and 8, 2 with 4 and 9 etc etc

Had 25 quid on an NFL treble at the weekend (Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints) - 165 quid back, not too shabby. Also just had 2 winners on the gg's at 3/1 and 100/30.

Total stake is 2 pound 70. 10p trebles, 27 of them - so 10p x 27. You select your scores for each game and the system will keep updating to work out how many treble bets you have (as well as any other bet which will work with the bets you want to place).

Gribz, WS won't play a 4-4-1-1 in this game IMO, which makes the argument for Buffel a futile one. It is even more futile given the guy hasn't played a first team game for a season. If you are offended by my statement then apologies - I definitely worded that wrong but my point was that there really is no place in the team for our most important game of the season thus far for a guy that 1) hasn't played first team football in over a year 2) for a guy who often doesn't have the guts for the fight and 3) for a guy who also has looked disinterested at times. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer we had a go at Lyon too - but do any of us really believe WS will do that ? I don't think he will and, even if he does, he won't use Buffel (he says as WS, come Wednesday night, plays Buffel in the hole who then proceeds to score the goal to take us through......). I also agree that Whittaker has been very ordinary for us, but I just cant see WS going with an attacking midfielder. Maybe what WS will do is go with McCulloch on the right and play Charlie Adam on the left ?

Maybe I picked you up wrong when you said "you cant honestly say you prefer Whittaker at right mid than Buffel in an attacking role". If so, apologies. But that statement is like comparing apples and oranges, unless you are expecting WS to play with no right mid. At the end of the day Gribz, you like Buffel yet you are very much in the minority which suggests, to me at least, that there is something flawed in your thinking (or you see something that thousands of other fans dont). Yes, he has the talent but he has VERY RARELY applied it in a Rangers jersey - and yet you think that he is worth the chance in our most important game of the season thus far ??? Makes no sense to me. I think Ian got it right by having a solid team to start and have your creative players such as Buffel sitting on the bench in case needed - but even then I doubt Buffel would come on. He hasn't done enough in the past to warrant a place in the team for this game - now.... I would probably be saying something different if WS had at least given him a first team run out this season, and in the last couple of weeks, but he hasnt so I just cant see him doing so in this game. Yes Buffel has been playing well in the reserves but he has far more talent than to be playing reserve football so you would expect him to be playing well - it is a far different matter to be thrown in at the deep end in a vital CL match.

No problem johhny - As is the norm with me.... as we get closer to game time I get more confident. I think we will get the draw we need. It will be an interesting game for sure and it may actually suit us to sit in and defend deep because they do have the pace to hurt us should we defend too high. They DO have the players capable of hurting us though - players like Benzema, Juninho, Govou and that is what I fear most - because we don't really have those type of players in our team. If you look at our likely line up.... it is looking like we will go with Cousin up front and whilst he has a great game for us in Lyon..... since that game he has looked completely disinterested in playing for Rangers. So who else do we rely on for scoring goals if needed ?? Boyd won't start and WS, I would think, won't allow Ferguson to roam too far forward. That is why I have been fearful.... if we lose the first goal it looks difficult to see where we get one back from - although.... Lyon do give you chances to score. I will go for a 0-0 draw- how does that sound for fence sitting !!!

I think one thing that is forgotten is that your right mid (and left for that matter) needs to have an understanding with his RB. Whittaker is limited going forward but he slots in nicely when Hutton makes his rampaging runs down the flank. Gribz.... you have said on numerous occasions that Buffel has only been shite when played out of position - yet here you are suggesting we play him..... out of position !! He has never played well for us when played as a wide midfielder. Another thing we can't forget is we only need a draw so there is no way IMO that WS will go with Buffel - Whittaker is more solid defensively and for that reason would be ahead of Buffel IMO. I would prefer Naismith to either of them to be honest although we havent seen enough of him to know if he would complement Hutton.

That is probably the most ridiculous thing I have seen you post johnny and I very much respect your posts. Because some fans refuse to be blindly optimistic in absolutely no way means that they want to see the team get beat and most definitely not gloat should that happen. You also seem to be tarring us all with the same brush by suggesting that we are always negative which also is nowhere near the case. Can we win this game ? Of course we can. Is it a difficult game for us to get a result ? Absolutely. Lyon, in my opinion, have a superior team to us, my opinion that we will lose the game is based on comparing the two teams and their quality. I think Lyon have more quality than we do. Doesn't make me any less a supporter than you are - and it certainly doesn't mean I am always negative.

I think we will lose too unfortunately, the pessimist in me says it. However, by Wednesday afternoon I will fully be expecting to see us in the hat for the last 16 !

I am sure some of their first teamers wouldn't have been playing.

I doubt they put out a reserve team Pete - look at some of their players that got booked - Juninho, Revellier, Keita.

great result for us, just a shame we didnt play and get a win to put us top of the table.

Yep, Gav's fault - you are a tit Gav !

ya dick Gav !

that was quick !

Ya dancer !!!!!!!!!!!!

yep, they work out the odds based on the games that DID go ahead and pay out at the new, reduced odds.