John Barr

BYEEEEEEEEEE:flipa:

All season nearly there's been rumours that Walter Smith will leave at the end of the season.

So, i got to wondering, what would Rangers fans prefer?

A.] Walter Smith to continue and do a Sir Alex and build for the future. This would be WS' empire if he continued and i couldnt really blame any Gers fan for wanting him to continue if he wins the league on Sunday.

Look at the stats after all, in his first half season back, he restructured Rangers from a disaster area to have us winning again.

He got us in his second season, to the UEFA cup final, a Scottish and League Cup Double and on the verge of a very impressive 4 trophies.

Many still say we only lost the league that year due to fixture congestion and a very unhelpful spl who refused to space out the games.

And, who knows in his third season? a Double with the biggest prize to come? the Scottish Premier League Championship, which is in his own hands to win with one game to go.

The bad side to WS is having to put up with his weird tactics, his poor transfer dealings, his playing older seemingly past it players, and the playing negatively and players out of position.

But, through all that is bad, i for one would take that if it won us the league from Celtic every season.

You honestly cannot fault the guy if he produces a league and cup double which was preceded by a major european final appearance and a cup double.

B.] Or, would you prefer another, bolder manager who would have the team playing beautiful, silky attacking football, destroying the lesser teams, but also one who may not manage to deliver the goods when the push comes to the shove.

A team that plays superbly doesn't always win things. And i for one am now beginning to realise that maybe, just maybe, we as Rangers supporters should have been more supportive of WS because if he delivers this title, it would be so hard to argue against what he has delivered to us.

He may walk anyway, and the signs are that he is tired, and fed up with the constant sniping and criticism.

That alone is spurring him on to get this league from Celtic, and i fear he may use up all his experience to win this league title.

So, it would be interesting to hear from you guys what you think would be the better for the club.

The chance to impress everyone with beautiful football, skillfull attacking players but no certainty of winning.

Or to take most of the prizes and seemingly 'win ugly' but nonetheless, WIN anyway!!!

Davis should have been moved into the middle of the park a long time ago. A rest may well be what Mendes needed to recharge his batteries.

 

Should be interesting to see who WS picks next week. I can see Ferguson starting.

I think he'll stay with what he's been playing lateley.

I feel WS thinks why try change things around if they have more or less been working.

Fergie will come on 60mins gone to drive us through the finish line.

It'll be VERY interesting to see McGregor and Fergusons reactions if we do win this.

Afterall, do you think the former captain, deposed of his rank will join in with the guys? I think he'll make another 'statement' to the press, and Rangers management by not joining in, maybe running up the tunnel and lying low.

If we win i'll be watching what he does. After what he's been through i couldnt really blame him for taking a backseat and letting the new captain get on with it.

Also, i wonder if Big Davie Weir would let Feguson lift the trophy with him upon presentation? That would be an almighty GIRUY to ALL media, Scotland and the management.

Again, i will watch with interest.

Who would have thought it - The scene of where we won 9IAR all over again!!!

Yes, i keep having memeories of the Laudrup header running through my mind.

Its a bit early for predictions etc, but i have this feeling that Novo is gonna net the winner.

He missed so many chances last week, he'll be fizzing for a almighty party clincher goal. 1-0 to Gers.

Gribz, did you see Levein being interviewed on Setanta after his game?

Without the interviewer asking anything he just piped up.." we'll be alright for next week".

Jim Delahunt even mentioned it to Jim Duffy "Do you think Craig Levein has something planned for next weekend for Rangers Jim"?

Total wanker Levein when it comes to playing us, he always trys to fuck us up.

Well, hopefully our players will be well up for it and knock they shits out of europe too, and i'd actually be happy to see the sheep move in front of them, just to fuck them up cause they think they are better than they are.

Agree mate about your post, and i'm trying not to think about the extent of the seriousness financially this is for us. Because if we lose this now, it will be the monumental fuck up of all time in Scottish fitba.

I think Donald Findlay makes some excellent arguments in defence for this lad.

Theres no doubt the lad is a bit of an arse, but this kind of public crusifiction for anything Rangers, and incorrect reporting of events is just a feeding frenzy for the public gullible enough to believe half the rubbish printed in the crap we call 'newspapers'.

Well done to the guys who put this topic on Gersnet, it shows not everyone is not up to scratch with the mhedias reporting!

Our favourite Celtic-supporting ref, I give you Mr Iain Brines.

 

 

It's over gentlemen.

I would have normally fainted at seing him ref any game for us, but did you see that penalty claim for Celtic he didn't give when Nakamura was bundled on the back by Van Zanten in the 91st minute...and he DIDN'T give it!!! Shck of shocks.. Tim supporter doesnt give his team a penalty.

I couldn't believe he didnt give that.

It may only have been a 50/50, or more, or less, whatever. But i looked at him when the incident happened and expected him to blow and point to the spot, and he didn't. WOW!

On this point, maybe, just maybe Nakamuras 3 seasons of diving caught up with him at that moment, just when they REALLY needed a pen, they don't get it.

That may well have been down to the slitty eyed cheat having a tendancy to collapse in a heap when he is even being looked at in the box.

John will quite rightly be feeling a bit smug today. Well in big man.

Ha! Well said SA.

I said a Hibs Victory would have meant a point at Tannadice would have done, so i'm well and truly pissed off they didn't do it:confused:

Aye RIGHT!

Get it right up ye Celtic.

I honestly cannot believe the Hibs done it again. Just had a thought last night that they could actually dmage Celtic as i remembered the last game. I honestly HOPED they would do it but never actually THOUGHT they would, if u get my drift lads.

YES, YES YES!

WE ARE THE PEOPLE........... WHO ARE GOING TO WATCH THE GERS LIFT THE LEAGUE TROPHY AT TANNADICE ON SUNDAY.

c'mon every bluenose lets get behind them and show these dirty cheatin Mopes how it should be won.

Ok, speech over. lol:rfc:

We sit 3 points clear and one goal behind in GD.

Celtic and Hibs kick off. Now am i allowing myself to dream here, but, Hibs beat Celtic 2-0 not along ago.

So, can it happen again?

And, if it does, we will be 3 points ahead with ONE GAME TO GO.

Therefore, only a draw would be needed at Tannadice.

C'mon you Hibs. Don't lie down to they dirty, cheatin' bassas.

Maybe, just MAYBE, we can take a MASSIVE step towards this title today!!!

WE ARE THE PEOPLE:rfc::rfc:

I cant work out how the linesman could have a say on the Bougherra one, Bougherra would have been blocking the view of Langfields face.

 

Beattie mentioned Lafferty winked at the dugout - I didnt see that but if thats the case then thats appaling.

Unfortunately he did.

I was hoping it was for something else, it may have been for McCoist throwing instructions to him, and Lafferty 'winks' to say ok.

I don't want to make excuses for the guy as it was a daft thing to do, but as Norris said it's against snakebelly f.c. which makes it ok in a lot of peoples books. lol

However, we are nothing like that bunch of shitehawks, so we are morally much better off. And if that happened to my team i'd have been gunning for him.

Can we blame Dougal? If he gets told by his linesman that Bougherra deliberately kicked the keeper in the head he has no alternative but to send him off. The linesman was in a far better position and the ref had no alternative but to send him off.

Actually the FINAL decision rests with the referee Del.

So, therefore, he could overrule the linesmans judgement if he wanted.

What i found annoying aswell as all the other obvious points about Stuart Dougal, was he was nowhere near that incident.

Where was he? Near the halfway line i think.

What a borig game that was.

 

Mon the Millwall.

Don't judge them on 1 nervey game Gav.

I dont want to bang on about how good a League 1 side are, but they were praised by a lot of people this season for attacking, flowing football.

Neil Harris the Millwall striker said he loved to watch Scunny play as they were so attack minded(he is a stiker)

Darren ferguson(posh manager) said of all the sides thye played on their way to promotion this season, Scunthorpe was the most attractive and he hoped they went up.

I promise you mate, the final will be a hundred times better.

No Gers fan will watch it though as it's on at the same time as the Dundee Utd game next week:(

Its a pity Leicester went up!

 

Sheff Wed, QPR, Forest and Man City all previously played in it.

 

Its a league that is getting better by the season

Do you watch any mate?

Well, we're halfway there, i got it bang on the nose saying we'd do it on penalties too.

Bit of a scary, nervey game but we done the biz, and i know we can beat Millwall as we beat them twice already this season.

I really advise any of you to watch this final. It's on Sky on the Sunday 24th May at Wembley. Watch it!!! I honestly don't think there will be anything else in a Rangers supporters diary that day:whistle:

Oh aye, ex Ger, Tore Andre Flo missed the 9th kick of the spot kicks to put us through.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8038237.stm

Supposedly EGGert Johnsen of Hearts wants Kirk to be his mentor.

HENna want Kirk to sponser their tattoos now.

Kirk admitted in an interview at the hospital that it was the first time he had been found guilty of POACHING in the box.

Millwall awaits the winners.

 

Leeds in League 1 for another season. Some bumper games there next season with:

Southampton, Charlton, Norwich, Leeds

It really is amazing how so many so called bigger teams crash and burn and end up in this league!

This is probably the biggest game in our history...and i'm not going.(feckin work)

We should have had the first leg done and dusted, but for a rediculous corner decision which led to a goal, Scunthorpe may have been playing in the League 1 final play off at Wembley.

However, anyone who knows anything about the Iron, knows they love to do it dramatically and the hard way too.

If your bored on Friday and looking for some entertainment, i advice you to watch this play off 2nd leg being played at the Stadium MK, which is being shown on Sky Sports 1 K.O 19.45hrs.

Scunthorpe is my english team and i have supported them for the best part of 30 years toe to toe with Rangers.

They are looking for some kind of pay off for a fantastic season where loveley attacking, flowing football has been played.

A unbelievable Cup final game was already played at Wembley where we lost 3-2 to relegated Luton with an extra time winner and really should have won in the Johnsons paint trophy final.

So, look out for Scunthorpe looking to put the score right and gain promotion to the Champioship, a league where we could more than hold our own.

If you don't know much about League 1 football and want to give it a go, watch out for 'Hooper man' (young Gary Hooper, Scunthorpes answer to Gary Linekar). And Paul Hurst and Kevan Hayes, the trio light up Scunnys attacking play and it's a delight to watch.

My prediction, Scunthorpe to do it on penalties.

Come on!!!

According to Walter last night "we just need to make sure we win our two games":sigh:

 

 

Dear Santa,

 

Please can I have a new manager for my football club...

Exactly the same comment he made at this stage last year Norris.

Novo had just scored.

 

WS was preparing to go 3-3-4 by the looks of things. But having equalised he went against it.

 

Sorry guys, but I disagree with you. Bringing Fleck on for Dailly would not have been the smart move. We had just equalised and, yes we needed a goal, but we were MURDERING Hibs. We were creating chances all over the place.

 

Getting the equaliser meant we could continue to bombard them the way we were. I don't think that bringing Fleck on for Dailly would have been the right move as we were already creating lots of chances.

Sorry Craig, i disagree with yourself.

You said we were murdering Hibs. Only on possesion and chances did we murder them.

We weren't scoring and the game was nearly finished. And that is why we needed a good finisher on the park and a set piece taker to try something different, as it seemed like everything else had been tried.

Aleague title was at stake and 1 goal would have swung it our way and it was a gamble Smith was prepared to take. Unfortunately he had the right idea initially, but then bottled it to leave a thin defensive line.

This short move just typifies the Smith ethos. He is almost satisfied to have the draw in the bag and attack looking for the winner with 4 defenders and a defensive midfielder on the park, instead of opting for 3 defenders and 4 attackers.

We obviously will never know, but i feel if he had went with wee Fleck it may have swung for us that night!

Pretty much my thoughts on it.

 

Only thing that will change my mind is a result of 6-0 or better. Yes SIX!

 

We're 2 behind at the momment. THat would put us plus 4 with them to play hibs this weekend. Knowing they need goals and not having a team of bottle merchants they will win. If they get some early goals they will not let up and could easy win by 2 or 3. Hopefully not more.

 

Then it comes to a final day shoot out and again I could see them outscoring us at hom to hearts, compared to us at Tannadice. 6-0 is a minimum if we are to retain any hopes of stealing this title.

 

Knowing our team of yellow bellied bottle merchants we'll just fail to beat Dundee united instead and make it easy for them.

Totally agree mate.

Id plan on going for 6 aswell John. Ok its tricky to score 6 but the aim should be to get as much as possible. If we win by 4 then we'd take that.

 

Its all about how we set up from the start.

 

I wouldnt go with Gav's 4-4-2, I think we need at least 3 upfront. Id even be tempted with a 4-2-4. Edu and Davis just sit then allow Lafferty, Novo, Miller and Boyd / Velicka to run at them.

Yes, i see that working.

I think i'd go 4 3 3.

But with Weir and Bougherra sitting deep to cover for the others pushing away forward.

Whittaker and whoevers at left back pushing right up swinging crosses in.

3 in midfield Mendes, Edu and Davis but with a diamond in Midfield, Edu and Mendes behind Davis, who pushes right up and forces the Aberdeen defence back to the Penalty box. But with Mendes and Edu getting forward to pick up loose balls, to have shots from distance and forward for every set piece.

3 up front in Miller, Boyd and Lafferty, who should not leave the Aberdeen penalty box the whole game.

Novo and Fleck to come on wide if it's not working!

I think he'll go anyway. He just looks tired and this season has defo got to him.

There will definetly be a change in management at our club this summer.

But, i still voted NO.

Yes, i wondered where he got too to.

Another amazing decision from Walter.

I think he was ready tio go on when Nacho scored. Walter probably felt ok we don't need to be overly offensive with 4 or 5 strikers on the park whilst drawing as we now only needed 1 goal.

I did notice Bougherra came forward much more after the Gers goal. Maybe he went with him instead of putting Fleck on.

Whatever it was, it was crap. He should have thrown the boy on as he is probably the best finisher we have, he is a set piece threat too with his free kicks and his speed and dribbling could have caused a lot of trouble for the HIVs defence.

I would have thrown him on and taken Dailly off.

As i have said elsewhere Gribz, i remember the same situation last season when Rangers needed to improve their goal difference and Walter Smith said ' you cannot set out to beat a team by a set number of goals, it is disrespectful and naive. You have to set the side up to win the points first and then see after that.'

Now, maybe he has learned from last season AND from last nights debacle. I hope so, because a 4 3 3 formation is the only thing that is going to win us the league.

The way i see it, if at worst Celtic beat the HIVs 3-0, that puts them 5 ahead in goal difference PLUS they have the advantage of having scored more.

So, i would plan for that on saturday and go for 6. It does sound a bit ludicrous to plan to beat the sheep by 6. But going by the way we can play attacking if we want(when we know we need to)(i.e last 15 mins of last night) then we should set our stall out the way we did for that 15 mins. We will probably lose a couple at worst, but AT LEAST it would be seen as trying to do the right thing to win this league title.

So, if we can get an early goal, Aberdeen will be thinking their in for a pounding and their legs might go, and we might just get the 6 we need.

The one thing that last night has made clear is that we need to score goals (and several of them) if we're to regain the title.

 

That will make for 2 exciting matches - not least on Saturday at a packed Ibrox - so we should all get behind the team and cheer them to the title!

Thing is, i distinctly remember the same situation last season wwith Rangers needing to improve their goal difference to get the title.

Walter Smith came out then and said 'you cannot set out too beat someone by a set number of goals, you first need to try and win the game, and after that see what happens' (or words to that effect)

Now, i don't see that attitude changing and i have a scary feeling in my head that Smith will NOT set out an attacking formation and Will set out to win the game and ntot improve the goals until it's too late and the game has gone.