Tannochsidebear

Why, who is going to pressure him to do so? We all know fine well they are bombproof and completely untouchable in the current climate. Our club must take the stance to publicly ban this paper, all its employees, and put messages up on the big screen telling the fans why and to avoid this publication at all costs. We must demand meetings with the owners, not the editor, to ensure they understand the depth of feeling about how badly biased their once proud Scottish flag-bearer publication has become. That is the only way to get something done about them. Our club, through a succession of boards going back to Murray's takeover in 1988, have only ever been interested in how the Board are portrayed, not the club or the fans. I was hopeful that with real good bears like John Gilligan on the board that something more proactive would be done in this area, but it's just the same old dignified silence.

Moult is just Garner with a regular goal threat, or at least he is against us. So if Garner doesnt fit our style of play, Moult wont either. But if he does, then he will be a much cheaper and more productive option IF we could get our money back for Garner. I was very impressed by Moult this season against us, but that must be gauged against how poor our defence has been.

Thistle 1 Rangers 3 FGS Tav

The problem I have with that is he is and always has been a money-driven mercenary who has always jumped at the whiff of a pay rise. There is no way on earth he is going to be on anything less than in the top 3-4 earners in our squad, he just doesn't operate that way. This will be his fourth season and his third contract since coming back, so even if his first season was a lower wage given our budget at the time, I stand by my educated guess that he will be costing the club around £500k pa, which I'm quite sure even his admirers admit is not value for money. If Pedro thinks that is the best he can get for that kind of money, we are going to be also-rans again next year.

For a reported £10Kpw this is a ridiculous waste of money we clearly don't have out of our playing squad budget. He has been terrible again this season, and in his three seasons since he came back to haunt us for a third time, he has been absolutely woeful with a very poor return by way of goals. His form is being masked by such a poor overall season for the club, but he wouldn't make my top 10 in POTY running. Another really good chance missed in a big game at the weekend to add to his last minute sitter on Hogmanay and the myth that he is a big game player is shattered. He has lost his pace, his control is as bad as ever, his passing is awful, his positional awareness is abject. I agree he is a model pro and seems well liked by his teammates and coaches, but that is not enough to waste £500k on his wages for what even many of his supporters are saying is likely to be a back up role next season. I would have been happy for him to get any non-playing role Pedro wanted for him for the many positives he brings to the club, I just am astonished that we think we can afford to spend a huge chunk of money on a guy who is clearly in decline, as well as a place in the squad that could easily go to a better player or potential player. I hope the reports of a new deal are wrong.

Delighted to see the decline of the Daily Rhebel continues apace. Keep up the good work and spread the word to anyone who still buys it.

I have said this for many year but it is worth repeating it here. I wish football would take an example from Hockey where the rule is more about feet than hands. If the puck hits your foot, its a foul. It is up to you as part of the game to ensure the puck doesnt hit your foot. A well used tactic is to try to hit the foot in order to gain an advantage, especially in the penalty box. This takes all the debate out of it and makes it so simple. Keep your hands away from the ball or you are penalised - end of. It is football and hands have no part to play for 20 of the players.

I think in 12 months time we will be asking how much longer we have to put up with the manager and speculation about his replacement for the summer will be rife. I obviously hope this is not the case but I have no confidence in him, or the recruitment process that brought him to us. Now, for what I can realistically hope for. Still in the title race by the split but perhaps trailing by 10 points or so. Clear in second by the same margin. Have reached the final of both cups and win one. Reached at least the final qualifying round of the Europa. Got rid of at least 10 players from this seasons squad and replaced them with better players for much the same budget. I believe this is achievable if we work in the proper markets - i.e. not buying from the most expensive country in the world and bringing in 3rd tier players from Wigan and Accrington. Now what I can dream for - one or two quality signings plus a few others that improve the team, neck and neck for the title, won a cup, reached the Europa group stages. I keep telling people that are talking of it being impossible to stop 10IAR that when we won our 6IAR, the bheasts were in 4th place 15 points behind (once converted to 3 for a win) and that was with us dropping about 10 points in the final 6 games due it being won so early. We were at least as far ahead of them as we are behind just now. Football can be changed around quickly. All we need to do is improve our side enough that we comfortably are better than the rest. In a two team league this should not be difficult given our resources compared to that of the others. Then we see what happens when a team that has had no pressure on them for 6 years comes under pressure in a title fight. I am certainly looking forward to this challenge, and hope it is 2017-18 that we see it.

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest if Wes is crooked and Jak comes in as I don't think Wes is any better than average and hasn't had a stand-out game in a big game yet, but I don't believe internet tittle-tattle for a minute, and fully expect Wes to play on Sunday. Incidentally his best game to date was only a couple of weeks ago so it could be he is another (like Wilson) who just needed a decent manager to give him some confidence to up his game.

I heard on the radio that there will a minute's applause at the Birmingham - Villa derby match this weekend in honour of big Ugo. I absolutely despise applause for a life lost - I dont understand clapping death and I dont buy into the lets applaud the life he lived. You do that when they are alive, not when they have died, especially such a sudden and young death. As and when our club mark his passing (Sunday or next week) I will stand respectfully for a minutes silence. It is the right thing to do.

So sad, his family must be devastated with such a sudden loss. Will forever be remembered for an overhead kick that lives long in the memory and was the first marker being laid down that Walter and The Rangers were back and things were about to change.

This thread is absolutely bonkers. Drugs are for mugs people, call the hotline for help!

I dont recall ever hearing of a more useless set of stats than this, other than the pass completion rate for CB's that is referred to. Packing indeed, whatever next? Of far more significance to me when judging stats for a CB is how many goals did he prevent? How many shots did his man get in? How many goals is he responsible for? How many goals does he score for us? Defenders should be content to pass the ball to the one or two holding midfielders, or to the advancing full-backs. End of. If none of these four players are available, the CB is not responsible for where the ball ends up, usually a long ball in the general direction of the central striker. There is a growing industry, the world of stats, which was probably started by the X-Box generation of gamers who use these stats to buy/sell players in their silly wee simulated games that deny them fresh air and real-life human friendships, and is seen as useful to tv companies to give them something to talk about in a poor game. It matters little on matchday that someone like Wilson can have a high "packing" rate, when he is constantly found asleep and his opponent scores a lot of goals against him (recent renaissance apart). I would be far more interested in some analysis of why we suddenly dont look like conceding goals with much the same players when for nearly two years we have never looked like not conceding goals. Has Pedro done something deliberate to tweek our tactics that make us look much more solid? Can someone show the difference between what Pedro is doing and how we shaped up under MW? Or is it just that in these last 3 games our opponents have been rubbish from an attacking sense?

Is it not the case that we have had our quota of televised home games for this season? I think teams are only allowed 4/5 televised home games per season. Therefore Sky would have had to pay extra compensation (or something like that IIRC). Not quite the same story as a snub, but hey-ho.

Surely just a puff piece from his agent to get Dolly to up their offer. He wouldn't get in our team just now, never mind the team we hope to improve to next season.

Sadly, I am going to miss out this time as I am down south at a family event (in-laws 70th party) and am now doubly gutted at not only missing the match but also the Gersnet dinner (late lunch surely!) I hope there is a good turnout and all bears in attendance have a fantastic day out.

Agreed boabie, while it is a live story that a first team player is suspended internally, the sensationalist claptrap that goes along with it is nonsense. Not sure if I see a Rangers player in MOH, but I believe if he leaves in the summer he would do a good job for a St Johnstone, Ross County type club, but I think Rangers has been too big for him. It happens with some players.

After posting the above, I thought I would take a wee look at the points total earned by the runners up since the top league went to 38 games in 2000-01. Aberdeen's record points total, set in 2015 at 75 points, would only have been good enough for the runners up spot on 2 occasions between 2001-2012 when the league was at full strength. The tainted title years of 2012-16 have seen a huge drop off in points required to be second. Points acquired by runnersup 01 82 02 85 03 97 04 81 05 92 06 74 07 72 08 86 09 82 10 81 11 92 12 83* before 10pt deduction 13 63 14 70 15 75 16 71

From PC's presser, MOH will not be part of the squad on Saturday but we wont be adding anything further about it. Clearly an internal disciplinary matter, so it would seem MOH has not done what was asked of him and his story wasnt accepted by PC.

I dont think 70-75 points has even won a top league title over 38 games, but if thats what you believe I suppose it is easier than talking about your red card for breaking Wilson's nose with a flying elbow and subsequent 2 match ban. Oh wait a minute.....

It seems MOH has indeed fallen foul of internal discipline procedures. He will not be part of Saturday's squad but PC is saying nothing more about it.

Me too Norris, I can only imagine how much he could have done for our team if he had been given the amount of game time we have wasted on Miller this season.

Going to be a tough sell this time round, so cant really put them up too much. I thought there might actually be a freeze on them given how badly this season has gone. However if we want our club to recruit better players (a necessity), we have to be prepared to play (and pay) our part.

to the tune of Tiffany's "I think we're alone now" from the 80's.

We also said that after the Hamilton match, which then was followed by two of the most dismal draws in years. I am content just to take one at a time and be glad for the victory over Dolly, always worth a smile or two, or in this case, three!