Tannochsidebear

Taking our last 38 SPL games into account, we have taken 91 points, a fantastic total that would win the title in any season, and would have seen us win the "title" by 14 points. 27 wins, 10 draws and that solitary defeat at the sheep-pen is a terrificly consistent return. When you take into account the boardroom turmoil and financial meltdown over the last year or so as well, it makes it even more remarkable. And still Timmy thinks that if they just bring in a couple of journeymen nobodies they will overhaul our lucky run of results. Dream on Timmy, dream on.

Dont forget there are midweek league games on tonight. I forgot about last night's game but I dont think I would have went for a 0-0 draw anyway. I went for a 2-2 draw at the piggery and a comfy 3-0 win for the Champions. Can't really back up either prediction with hard evidence but it would make me happy if I was right!!

Even if Boogie's mob get knocked out, it will take him more than 5 days to get back given his previous antics, so it will be Paisley at earliest before he is back in the team IMO.

Bougherra Boyd Miller McCulloch Mendes Naismith Beasley Plus Edu and Thomson not yet match-fit. So we had about the same number of players missing, so it about proves my point that our squad is that bit better in-depth to cope with injuries and suspensions. Still, come the end of January and they have bought another 10 world-class players, I might even be worried about them;)

It was a really tight angle by the time he got to it, but a cool finish nonetheless.

I wasn't aware that they were missing Fox, and I had forgotten about Brown and N'Guemo (like they wish they could). On re-checking their line-up I see Loovens missed out as well, so I suppose I was wrong in my suggestion that they were almost at full strength. One thing I will add however, is that it must be taken into consideration that Timmy got rid of 12 players (mostly fringe) in the summer of 2009 and already another 4 out the door in January 2010. A couple of injuries and their squad is threadbare. Look at their bench yesterday. Only McGinn and McCourt have any real experience and they are both rotten, and the rest were kids. I think it is clear to see who has the better depth in the squad, as without 5 players they cannot win at home against the bottom side, and without 7 (boyd,miller,mcculloch,bougherra,beasley,naismith,mendes) we still win away from home. Over a 38 game season it is the best squad that generally wins the title, and the table at this point is quite accurate.

I agree that this is an extremely important stage of the season and our games "on paper" look a little easier than when we had all the top 6 sides back to back in December. The injuries and suspensions are taking their toll, and performances have suffered in the last 3 games, but right now it is all about 3 points above all else. If we can sneak 3 more 1-0 wins from our upcoming 3 league games, i'll be absolutely delighted. There is also the pressure that our winning heaps on the chasing side. We seen how they dealt with the pressure yesterday in a routine home game against the bottom side, with new signings in place and only one player out injured (mcdonald), and nobody suspended they still struggled to get a home point. I believe that if we had failed to beat Accies at lunchtime, Timmy would have beaten Falkirk and closed the gap and the mind games advantage would have been reversed. This coming weekend we entertain a rejuvenated Hearts side, and i'll take a scrappy 1-0 right now to apply even more pressure to Timmy who could be 12 points behind by the time they make the sunday trip to Perth, never easy to win there as we seen ourselves earlier this season. Obviously I can also see that if we were to dropa nything against Hearts it opens the door to them to close the gap on Sunday and I would expect them to do so, but if they are already 12 behind going into the match, I expect them to struggle again, and would not be too surprised if they were held to a draw. I always count the lead as being the "net" lead and assume anyone behind in matches will win their games in hand, so effectively we have a six point lead at this time. The fact that we can accentuate that lead by another 6 points by playing first and them having had a game postponed can work in our favour and we have to really try to extend this lead before our run of hard games comes round again. Our last nine games of the season could see us play Hearts home and away, Aberdeen home and away, United home and away, and away games at hibs and timmy, so it is vital that we go into that run of games with a decent cushion. By contrast, after Timmy come to Ibrox at the end of Feb, they have a run of 6 games before the split where they play 5 out of the bottom 6 sides, and will have 3 home games after the split including the OF game. It is looking good at the moment, and we have a real chance of putting a winning lead together over the next few weeks, and of course it is to be remembered that winning this title brings with it virtually guaranteed CL group stage football, while the runners-up have to run the gauntlet of very difficult qualifiers again with every chance of being eliminated, perhaps with no parachute into the Europa as well. Financially the title could be the difference between relevant comfort and total meltdown, and not just for us either. So lets just do it bears.

I didnt think Goram was that great with kick-outs. I remember for quite a while he diodnt even take bye kicks as his knees were knakered. Goram was very good at controlling the ball out of the box and always loved to take the ball past the forward rushing in, but as for his kicking from hand or bye kicks, I seem to remember it was poor. His shot-stopping skills and mere presence more than made up for it though. Of course Klos took "poor" to new levels at kickouts.

The ones going nuts at the time were easily appeased by reminding them that Goram's kickouts were famously poor, and the chances of him trying to hit Di Fanio twice and actually succeeding were very slim indeed!!

Those were indeed the days, total dominance over the bheasts. Oh how we laughed at Di Canio losing the plot when the goalie skelped him twice.

We can set ourselves up for our title push with 3 victories in the next 2 weeks, which will bring us at least a 7 point cushion at the halfway stage. Certainly not a big enough advantage to claim the title is over, but a healthy cushion over an imploding side with a new manager who has won nothing, and has already been knocked out of 3 competitions this season. The pressure on timmy to buy big in January (when they actually have no cash) will be cranked up, and if they do spend big and we go on to win the title, is could be financial meltdown that not even GCC could get them out of. Merry Christmas.

Up until around the 83 minute mark I was thinking Davis was a shoe-in for MOTM, but then Beasley scored and set up another for Girafferty (pissed myself when the guy behind me called him that yesterday!!) and I thought he could just nick it with that, as he was outstanding throughout the game, as was Davis. Miller's first goal was a peach (must have been a mis-hit!) and he worked hard throughout. For me it is only when he is in this wee run of form that he looks even remotely like worth having in the squad, but I confess his partnership with Boyd has consistently been shown to be the most productive of all the striking options. If only Miller's form would last more than a few games this time, we might be onto something. We'll see. Honourable mentions to Broadfoot and Boyd for impressive showings also.

To me it is quite simple. They are both good quality goalkeepers. In my opinion the one thing that seperates them more than anything else is the ability to make saves they have no right to make. Only one of the two keepers can do this. That is why Alexander is a steady keeper, but when push comes to shove, McGregor can pull off a wonder save. In Alexander's Rangers career I cannot think of any save of his that comes into this category. Both have their faults, the main ones being McGregor at crosses, and Alexander at shots from outside the box, but it is that something special save that is pulled out from time to time that can be the match-winner/saver that sets them apart.

I dont know if I would "blame" the polish madman Frankie, applaud was more my thinking given his form of the last year or so. As for centre backs, every week they are conceding soft and defensively poor goals, and look low on confidence, while we are defensively sound and playing well. Looks good for Jan 3, just like it did 2 years ago at this time, so unless they can find another reason for postponement, we should be able to go to the piggery with real confidence this time.

Never even heard of most of them to be honest! The ones I have heard of are either useless or too expensive for our budget.

Delighted with a great performance and result. MOTM for me was Beasley, with not a failure in the team (even big Lee did ok), we were really up for it last night, and when we play with pace and quick passing, and close down the opposition in their own half, nobdy in the SPL can live with us. The problem is maintaining that high level of pace and commitment every week, but when it all clicks, it is a joy to watch.

Thats all well and good as long as he does not go out of his way to be seen to be impartial. We know from experience you can never appear impartial to timmy if you have played for us, so there really is no point trying to. Billy would do well to remember that, as I find sometimes he is too quick to play us down unneccessarily, in a way he would not do with other teams.

Spoke to him last night, he has no problem with you putting up reports from and links to the blog for Gersnet members to read and discuss.

A wee bump reminder to those in this that tonights game is part of it, so get your predictions in. There is also a bonus point for first goalscorer. Is anyone not picking Boyd?

I know I am blinkered regarding Miller, and I often fail to give him credit on those rare occassions he is due it, but I really didnt think he did all that well on Saturday. Not bad, and certainly an improvement from his garbage European form, but not great. Although I did notice he got a good ovation when he went off, which is rare, so I thought at that time he must have done all right and I was just focusing on others.

I thought it was a decent all round team performance with no real stand-out player. My MOTM would be Boyd, but with honourable mentions for Beasley, who might have sneaked it had he played the full game, as we went flat after he went off, and Thomson, who I slag off often enough but he was much better yesterday, and again I thought the team dropped a level after he went off. I see others have went for Novo, but I thought the wee man had an absolute stinker of a first half, but much better in the second, and although he too often tried to shoot when players were in better positions for tap-ins, I dont criticise him for that as I always want my strikers to have a go at goal. Davis was great when we went 3-0 up and we were hitting them on the break, and this is definately when we see the best of him, when he is moving forward with space in front of him. As for early contenders for POTY, there are only 2. McGregor and Boyd. If both are still at the club come 1 Feb, it could be close between them. I cant see anybody else coming close but worth remembering we are not even at halfway yet.

Congrats Alan, but it is early days yet

The guy who runs the youth blog is a member of the Nithsdale Loyal and is indeed a dedicated follower of the youth teams of all ages, as well as an ever-present at all first team games. If you need any info from him etc I would be glad to pass on his details to you.

Another decent week for me this week, now up to 6th and chasing you guys in our mini-league. I was tempted to use a joker with my 3-0 to the bears yesterday, and would have jumped to 3rd if I had done. Got 2 perfect scores and 2 correct results for 8 points. Didnt get Hamilton or Hibs results right.

Agreed MF. I had been told often enough over the last couple of years that Martin is a good guy, one of us, well liked within the club by real Rangers people like Walter and Ally etc, and had always thought that he done a good job of hiding it then. It is surely more than coincidence that all his best work seems to have come since Murray was booted out by the bank (sorry, resigned to spend more time on his other businesses), which means that perhaps I have been too harsh on the guy previously. However, with contract talks about to start with several kep players, and a transfer window looming, we will see how adept his skills are in these vital areas, that up until now appear to us mere simpletons to have not been good enough.