ascender

Yes, like @ranger_syntax says, the review of the accounts by people who actually know what they're talking about seems to be very encouraging. Its also unfair to say the board hasn't backed Gio and Gerrard in the transfer market and that all Ross Wilson's signings have been terrible as its all a lot more nuanced than that. The board have clearly made some bad decisions (Australian tour anyone?) and seem way out of touch with the fans on some important issues (disabled supporter access & provisions) so they do need to improve how they communicate and engage on those kind of things, but on the football & budget/accounts things, they can't come out and be as transparent as some fans want because that's not how businesses work. But we all know how it works. If we're winning, everyone is happy. Which is probably why following #55, there was very little criticism about the squad, because we thought it would all be fine, when in reality, some of our starting XI should have been moved-on then, with the rest following the season after, precisely so we didn't find ourselves in this position.

There's no doubt we've been unlucky with injuries. Especially given how absolutely bullet-proof Goldson has been up to now. But... playing devil's advocate... I thought we should have cut our losses/moved-on/neogotiated an exit for Roofe, Jack & Helander during the close season. We just can't have three first XI starters who have continual issues. I thought Souttar was worth a punt - but by signing him and keeping Helander we've effectively doubled our risk exposure in that position. If you look on those three first team wages, plus the contracts given to McGregor and Davis, that's a big chunk of money from our budget which could have gone towards other signings.

I still think there might be a way back for Kamara under Beale, but who knows. I'd definitely take whatever we can get for Morelos in January and finally move on from that chapter. I saw a couple of articles over the weekend saying that Kent really loved working with Beale, so not sure if that means he might be persuaded to stay?

There's no way any manager would accept a situation where they come in to a club and are told the DOF will just identify and sign the players they want and the manager will just have to deal with it. I'm assuming, but happy to be corrected, that the DOF will constantly be looking-out for players who they think are realistic signings, a good fit for the club, the league, good investments etc and then sit down with the manager to discuss them along with any players the manager thinks we should be looking at?

There's been a decent amount of investment in the squad though and before he signed the contract he would have been aware of the budget and what the responsibilities of everyone involved-in transfers would have been. I'm going to assume its the injury situation until we hear otherwise from a source which isn't just a WhatsApp message from their mate. Let's not forget that he was happy with the squad we have and presumably sanctioned some of the contract extensions which have used up some of the budget he could have used elsewhere.

Everyone is back for training on Monday, so it might be nice if we had a manager in place for then....

This is the hill I'm prepared to die on... I think Tav in particular is great and his contribution has been incredible, but him and Goldson have been key first team players under multiple managers now and those teams have exhibited the same weaknesses, flaws and character traits time after time. I wouldn't be gutted to see them both move on as its the very definition of doing the same thing time and time again and expecting a different result.

At this point I'd take a dream team of Gattuso and Ferguson. Can you imagine the press conferences/touchline bans/supporters getting chinned/players getting chinned etc. All infinitely more entertaining than some of the football we've been playing under Gio and we'd still finish second.

In a lot of ways Beale makes sense and you could argue he's shown under Gerrard that he's well aware of the importance of having a very fit squad and wants to play attacking football. I guess its like signing players... unless you can afford to shop at the absolute top-end of the market, its always a risk. Beale's low risk in terms of knowing the club, the pressures, the players, the league... but higher risk as he's unproven as a manager. Something like Dyche is lower risk in terms of his proven ability as a manager, but more of a risk in the other areas.

I still there's players we've signed who can come good if we play a system which suits them; if we have a system in the first place and also in a team which is more confident. But like @rbr says, we should also have a good chunk of wages coming free which will help out. Even if we don't use all of them, McGregor, Davis, Helander and Roofe should all go and we are probably going to lose Morelos and Kent too.

I'll now go and post that on another forum as a rumour I've heard. That's exactly how it works these days.

I'll be honest, I don't know enough about any of them. I can see why Beale is being mentioned as he knows the club, the expectations etc and was highly regarded in his time here, but is he good enough to step up? Its also difficult to judge some of these guys in their current jobs because as we know, managing Rangers is a very unique position.

Its going to be silly season now for managers being linked with us and giving exclusive interviews about how they've always preferred us over them and would love a crack at Europe etc etc.

The fact they've done it at all and waited until now would suggest they at least have a plan which is good. A new manager is just like signing new players, there's always an element of risk and we also have the unique pressures of managing Rangers and the expectations that brings. Not to mention the, um, unique landscape which is Scottish football.

Agreed. What's really pi$$ed me off is that we have all of this going on and then have fans slating guys like Tillman & King struggling to find their feet. Rangers are not an easy team to come in and hit the ground running... When you add-in the ongoing issues around confidence in the team, we really should be cutting them some slack. I'd really like to see someone come in and start making changes now instead of waiting until the summer if possible. If anyone isn't in the long term plans, they should go now rather than prolonging the inevitable.

I was thinking about this yesterday. I don't know whether he's "lost the dressing room" in the traditional way or is just out of ideas? Or struggling to get his ideas across? There's clearly something not right, but like Gerrard's last season, nobody seems to be able to fix it.

Wow. The last few weeks, every time I get a notification on my phone or watch from BBC Sport I've been hoping its this one... But I was resigned to him not being sacked so have been paying far less attention to the notifications. And now they've done it. He's given us some great memories, but clearly his time was up. I'm genuinely surprised the board have made the decision though, so that has to be a good thing. Hopefully we can get someone in quickly and get the players motivated again, along with some planning for next season because I think we need to start making some changes now to get this squad refreshed.

An organised protest aimed at stopping additional income to the club would quickly be felt. i.e. fans agree not to purchase anything in the stadium on match days; programmes; boycott merchandise etc, but we all know that would be impossible to organise with a fanbase like ours. Other than protests, that's the only influence we as fans really have now once season tickets are sold.

I thought at the end of last week's match he looked like someone who knew his time was up... You'd have to hope there would have at least been a chat about expectations etc. I can't see how he survives this weekend's result and where that leaves us in the league.

I thought the 12 o'clock announcement had been rubbished yesterday by the Heart and Hand folks?

But Gio has been in for long enough to ask that question and he's not just bumbling on with what he's given - he could have made bigger changes to that squad whilst operating within the overall playing budget if he had concerns about certain players fitness, attitude, capability, suitability etc. I guess for the board, they'll point to the success on the pitch and off it last season to say they did their job and did it will. I think every supporter I know was willing to take second place in the league for a chance at the Europa League final for example. The board have made funds available to Gio for signings (and on paper, I still don't think it's a bad set of signings) so they have backed him. And he did more than enough to justify it, but it was apparent early-on this season that our league form was looking patchy at best and its now got worse to the point where the league is effectively over by November. It is telling (and baffling) that Gerrard and Gio haven't made bigger changes at the end of seasons where it seemed like the core of the squad were finished. Not sure how to explain that when we have also been spending money.

I think its more than fair to highlight Morelos - have we had a single season since he signed where his attitude has been spot-on and hasn't been affected by his lack of fitness, getting suspended for something stupid or just having a strop? I love him, but he's had more than enough second chances. You could write a whole article about him, but where it does feed in to the wider dereliction of duty is that until we signed Colak, neither manager really seemed to have a good plan as to how we played when he wasn't available. I've said it before, but Gerrard's stock is rising with every passing week he's not here. He was far from perfect and seemed unable or unwilling to work out and address whatever malaise had set-in after #55 so took the easy way out and left for Villa. I do agree with the point about the board and I'm also a bit surprised with the amount of flak Ross Wilson takes. It's far too simplistic an argument to say "sack the board and Wilson", but that's football fans for you. When you look at his signings, some haven't worked out, some have and some we seem to have signed without adjusting our system to fit them in. So were they the wrong players to have signed? We all know that playing for Rangers isn't an easy job and it takes players some time to settle. So why are we giving some of the new signings such a hard time when they're coming in to play for the biggest club in their career at a time when confidence is low, fans are unhappy and we seem to have no tactical direction? Kent and Morelos running down their contracts though, that is on Wilson as I think that's his remit isn't it? Where I do have issues with Gio is that I still struggle to see what his plan is and what system we're actually playing. We look mentally weak with a lack of leadership and unable to do even the basics anymore. Player fitness seems to have taken a dive off a cliff since he came in. Presumably it was him who thought it was a good idea to give McGregor, Davis and Arfield extensions? FWIW I can see how Arfield is worth an extension as he offers something different, but the other two??? Those two will also be taking home a decent chunk of the wage bill. I thought Souttar was worth a punt, but to have him and Helander here? Mind boggling. Same goes for Roofe - why on earth have we kept him knowing we can't rely on him? Same goes for Jack. I know he's played a reasonable percentage of games for us, but he's too injury prone for someone who, when fit, is a first-choice player. The biggest worry to me, and I've said it time and time again, is that this squad is still exhibiting some of the same issues on the pitch that have been there for at least 4 seasons now. I've also said in the past that maybe we should have let players like Tav and Goldson go because we've changed managers and are still seeing these issues occur, so you know, it might just have something to do with the players?

Today has to be the last straw right? Surely he can't stay after that? Although I thought that about a week ago too so who knows.

They've actually done something about it?! I think we've had this chat before - it was quite normal within my circle of friends that the terms "hun" and "tim" were used as good natured banter between both sides, but society has changed a lot and its really not difficult to see why so many Rangers fans feel like we've been unfairly targeted over the years by various individuals and organisations when it comes to use of Sectarian language, images etc.

So all in all, they look very encouraging and next year's should be similar. Does feel like they are the first ones since being back in the top flight which show we're nearly in good place, a solid footing which we can build from.