ascender

He looked solid enough on that performance - commands his area, safe pair of hands and comes for crosses. What more do we want?

Ricksen seems determined to get back in PLG's plans, but the cynic in me is thinking that's no surprise if you're on the sort of wages he picks up every week. Problem is Frankie, I can't see anyone paying a fee for Ricksen just now and it might be difficult to terminate his contract. Surely we'd have done that already if it was legally possible and PLG wanted rid of him?

I still think Hutton is a bit lightweight and his final ball is lacking. Its a tough call... like I said in another thread, you have to give him a chance under PLG, but how much time do you give him? One thing is certain, we need to get back to a rock solid back four and keeper if we're going to improve, especially in Europe

I have to say I'm not convinced that Hutton is the solution to our right back problem, but I think he deserves a chance to prove himself this season. Lowing is very promising by all accounts, so maybe he should get his chance too. But then, if Hutton isn't good enough, what do you do? Loan him for a season and hope it improves him or just let him go?

Its a lot of money, especially when they were supposed to be interested in Gattuso. Having said that, with the way their midfield has been over the last couple of seasons, if the guy plays well, it won't seem so expensive. I think their plan is to use Smith as a striker this season, but you'd think they'd still be looking to sign another forward.

Remember though, he was playing for Motherwell yesterday so its a bit harsh to judge him on the basis of that performance. I still think its right he went though, he didn't seem to do as well as someone like Adam when he went away on loan last season and obviously hasn't impressed PLG or AM. Good luck to him though.

I'm surprised its taken this long for this rumour to surface. It was going around Edinburgh a few weeks ago when it was clear he was going to leave, but no-one took it seriously as he'd already told his team-mates he wanted to play in England.

Finally got through and subscribed! Thank fvck for that. Its a different number, but it'll be the same people on the other end of the phone, its just a way they can recognise what promotion you're calling about. Is there a promotional code or anything?

I don't think it matters, all songs which make sectarian reference will end up being banned if UEFA get their way. Regardless of who complains about them, it doesn't matter, I think we've had it spelled out to us that we have to change now or face the consequences. That's why I think Murray should be fronting a new initiative and going on the offensive here as there's loads of issues about this and also some things he could be doing to paint the fans and the club in a positive light.

Maybe the slower pace of the Italian game will suit him? I have to say I really don't know what happened to him in between leaving us and going down south, he looked something special every time I saw him, but he's been a total car crash defender for them.

Totally agree its with the fans to stop, but you know the argument will be that "we don't know what else to sing". I just think the club should be helping out and doing something proactive instead of just warning fans to cut out the bad singing. Give us an alternative then Mr Murray, you know its not going to be easy to stop certain sections, so we need all the help we can get.

I've been trying for 3 days!

So why don't the club get to work and dish out new song sheets before games and play songs over the tannoy to go with the lyrics and stuff. Have the songs for download from the website and stuff. I know its going to cost some cash and take a while, but surely the club has to start doing something positive about this rather than just moaning about the problem.

Not sure about Hemdani, but I think we have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. If he is similar to Clement, I think I'd rather give the nod to Gavin Rae in the middle with Clement, Adam on the left and Sionko on the right.

That's pretty shocking if you've paid for multi-room and then have to fork out again to get individual channels on other boxes. Unreal. Also, HTF can the Setanta subscription number STILL be too busy to get through to???????

This story has gone very quiet, I'm hoping that's good news.

Yeah, tried them both Chris. Its this sort of thing that makes you think you're dealing with a bunch of amateurs.

Tried ordering it online and it failed at final step saying I had to phone. Which is fine, except for the fact I can't get through on their number as the "network is busy".

Not really. Say Marv was on 4 grand a week. There's £200,000+ already. What I mean is that in the scheme of our wage and transfer budget, a few hundred thousand shouldn't be much. But its ultimately all guesswork as we jsut don't know what's going on with the finances just now.

I read about the Nike link way back when we were first linked with him, but no-where else seemed to pick up on it so I didn't know if it was actually true or not. It would certainly be another reason for them holding out for more cash. Also, I don't think there's much difference between £200,000 and £500,000. I'm guessing big Marv's wages could cover the difference.

I'd like to think we wouldn't miss out on a player for the sake of £500,000 or so, considering the league starts this week and we are in need of a striker. I guess its a balancing act between paying over the odds and paying a reasonable amount for a young player with potential, in a position we're lacking cover in.

I take it they still show the whole Rangers match on the Monday night on RTV?

I have to say I am very very close to just hitting the order button on their website. I wish there was a package of Rangers games you could buy for the season, for those of us who can't make it to the matches themselves for whatever reason. £180 is pretty steep, but then I think £15 a month seems pretty reasonable if you actually make use of it. Decisions decisions....

More in the paper today, Sebo is now hopeful of a transfer happening very soon. Rangers are still in talks and he says everyone at the club is behind him in his decision apart from the owner, who he set straight on the matter. Really hope this one comes off, I think the one area we're light on is strikers. I'd also like to see us picking up Andy Webster for some cover in central defence, but I don't know if he'd be happy with a squad place even if we did go for him.

It would be good to see Adam getting a chance to show what he can do. I'd like to see how that team would play, very optimistic.