Norris Cole

They do seem to be making a habit of this don't they. Ah well, couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of people and all that. So, St Murn and then Falkirk or Dunfermline - who were excellent tonight by the way. Surely, surely to feck we have to win this thing now. Right?

Same shite, different mouth.

Hear, hear. Very well said.

Yeah, I'll be one of those gutless fans too. You speak as if we shouldn't have any expectations of the players, and I'm not just talking about the result but actually showing some guts themselves. Rather than being "narrowly beaten" on Sunday, we meakly surrendered the trophy to a team who wanted it more, and that is simply unacceptable and the reason, I think you'll find, behind much of the fans' anger. I couldn't believe my eyes as they sprayed the ball about the back line for minutes at a time during extra time when we needed to chase the game. I bet the Celtic end couldn't believe their luck. You can't just blindly support players who patently aren't giving their all for their jersey, and then accuse those who grumble of being "gutless". At least in the mid 80s the players played for the shirt. That's all we ask. I think some of these players need reminding who exactly it is they are playing for.

I was thinking along the lines of "If Carlsberg did Rangers' next few years..." On the Hearts game, we're reaching the point now where one more fuck up - and I don't mean dropping points but dropping points while playing like a bunch of gutless monkeys - and we just might see some serious, open dissent from the support.

You're on the Carlsberg tonight Shroomz aren't you?

That was a write up? Just thought I'd give my thoughts. Not read a Rangers book for a while, think Barry's was the last. And that was pretty poor. I'd recommend Silversmith.

Just finished this fairly enjoyable book by Neil Drysdale - thanks admin for running the comp. A few thoughts:- Large tracts of the book make little reference to Smith. I know autobiographies are supposed to give a bit of background to the events in the subjectââ?¬â?¢s life, but much of the first half of the book in particular is about Souness and his rifts with various players. I also found it rather unfortunate that there were constant references to sectarianism (on 16 pages) in what is supposed to be a book about football, not society. We get the old chestnut about Sir Alex refusing the managerââ?¬â?¢s job because of our ââ?¬Ë?sectarianismââ?¬â?¢ and he even hints this may have been why Jim McLean also turned us down. Thereââ?¬â?¢s also the diatribe from the Hamilton fan who talks about how horrible we were to them and how we screamed sectarian abuse at their players when they beat us in the cup in ââ?¬â?¢87. And there are various interviews with fans with ââ?¬Ë?f enianââ?¬â?¢ splashed liberally throughout, sectarian chanting in Osasuna, UVF chanting in Manchester and at times the book reads like a Spiersesque hatchet job. Apparently refs favoured us in the 9IAR season as well. Perhaps Iââ?¬â?¢m being harsh on the author as he does mention Celtic fans making jokes about the Ibrox Disaster and defending the Enniskillen bombings but again, what has all this got to do with Walter Smith? Iââ?¬â?¢d certainly like to know a bit more about Drysdaleââ?¬â?¢s background. Smithââ?¬â?¢s playing career aside, from a footballing point of view thereââ?¬â?¢s not a huge amount of stuff we donââ?¬â?¢t already know but that said, I did enjoy reliving the events of the 90s and being reminded of some great times (on the other hand the chapter on last season is excruciating). Then again, I read the following quote from a fan about the AEK Athens shambles with weary familiarity: ââ?¬Å?...he screwed up big style that night. The defence was all over the place, and we read later that they had never played together in that formation before. Well, that is just daft isnââ?¬â?¢t it?ââ?¬Â The UEFA Cup stuff was hard to read, and I cringed at Smithââ?¬â?¢s comment after the final about it being ââ?¬Å?the end of the beginningââ?¬Â in rebuilding Rangers, when I look at the sorry state we are in at present and the tough times ahead. What I also enjoyed about the book was when Drysdale looked at Walter Smith the man and not the football icon, since Smith is notoriously unemotional and gives nothing away in front of the camera. I love the quote: ââ?¬Å?He quickly found himself drawn towards Rangers with their history, their reputation as giants within the British game, and their cussed refusal to become trendy. Why else, with the advent of the Swinging Sixties and Beatlemania and social revolution effecting a transformation in the ideas of young Scots, would Smith be so fascinated by the Calvinist tradition which permeated Ibrox?ââ?¬Â Reading the book was also the first time I had read Smithââ?¬â?¢s speech at the 1997/98 AGM when he announced his retirement. While Iââ?¬â?¢m not Smithââ?¬â?¢s biggest fan as current manager, his credentials as a Rangers man are indisputable, which is why I will always back him over the Rangers-hating scum which pervade the media and society in this country. The book is let down somewhat by a series of glaring errors. Ian Durrant apparently scored the winner away to CSKA Moscow in 1992, Walter was appointed Scotland manager in December 2006, and Dave Bowman becomes the slightly more exotic Dave Beaumont. Perhaps Iââ?¬â?¢m being pedantic. All in all a worthwhile read, and better than a lot of the dumbed down crap that pass for football books these days.

Shroomz - SDM has already come out and said we will be trimming the first team squad to 20. We currently have a squad of 28. 28 minus 20 equals...

Depends on your definition of "oblivion" I guess. While I can't see us going out of business, I can certainly see us spending a decade in the wilderness barring something huge happening.

Burley was just on TV there saying Brown was the best player in Scotland by miles He's also picked Gordon and Hutton despite saying he'd only pick players who were playing regularly. The man is a Grade A fud.

He'd be up in court on a BOTP charge if he did that today.

We have one but Waltersaurus won't play him.

He really should shut his mouth.

Thing is Gers4Life, you could look back at this board a year ago and there were no doubt similar posts. It simply isn't happening.

Of course Smith runs scared of Celtic, look no further than the last two OF games. Unacceptable in a Rangers manager of any era, and Struth, Waddell, Wallace et al must be turning in their graves.

JOHN MacDONALD reckons powderpuff Rangers failed to land a blow on Celtic because they were too SCARED to take the fight to them. The ex-Ibrox striker was one of a host of Old Firm stars paraded on the pitch on Sunday. But that was the ONLY highlight for MacDonald as he sighed: ââ?¬Å?Rangers were simply over-cautious. We keep hearing that Celtic have a bad defence so why not attack them? ââ?¬Å?Every other team seems to do OK when they attack them. Weââ?¬â?¢ve been playing 4-4-2 recently then we go back to 4-1-4-1. ââ?¬Å?Kenny Miller was never going to win headers against Celticââ?¬â?¢s big two at the back and Kyle Lafferty was trying to knock the ball on to one player in attack. Player for player Celtic are not any better than us so it was so disappointing. ââ?¬Å?I thought before the game that whoever won the cup will go on and win the league and I donââ?¬â?¢t think that will change. That win will give Celtic a lift.ââ?¬Â Kirk Broadfoot and Madjid Bougherra will form a new defensive pairing for Gers this week. Broadfoot is free to face Hearts at Ibrox despite his Hampden red card, and will miss Gersââ?¬â?¢ first game in next termââ?¬â?¢s League Cup. Bougherra, who missed the final with a calf strain, looks certain to return in place of the banned Davie Weir, with Lee McCulloch also fit

The UEFA Cup Final was one game where I find it hard to criticise Walter's formation. This is in no way a dig at the players or management, or taking any credit away from anyone, but I'll never believe anything other than our run to the final was one of the biggest prolonged footballing freaks I have seen in my entire life. By the time we got to the final, we were way out of our depth. Zenit were a sublime outift, and while the first 70 minutes of the final made the gulf in class look minimal, in terms of quality they were streets ahead of us - I don't necessarily mean in that one game, but in general. As I've said, I understand Walter's formation for the final. What got my goat was things like giving the off-form and ineffectual Darcheville his first (and only) full 90 minutes in that game, and most of all, fannying about with a clipboard for a full 7 minutes after the Zenit goal before bringing Novo on with 13 minutes left - his first sub. But I honestly can't blame Walter for trying to hang on and get a lucky break in Manchester. All we ever had was a 1 in 4 chance or whatever, they really were a better team than us. You could say we had nothing to lose, but Bayern tried going at them in the semi and they got taken apart. Man Utd tried the same in the Super Cup and the same happened.

I laugh when they mock our songs, as there's no better gauge of their level of obsession with all things Rangers. Their IRA songbook I find offensive. I hear they were waving pizza boxes at Rangers fans at Larne harbour on Sunday. Sweep, sweep...

Five too many

I used to hate my captain when I played the game. I remember one time he bawled at me repeatedly from about 50 yards away to close down my man. Seeing as my opponent was about 15 yards away and getting ready to hoof the ball out of defence I didn't really see the point, but nevertheless launched myself at him. Never has a football hit my stomach with such a sickening thud. I got my breath back after about 20 seconds. Prick

I don't believe he is suffering from any of the ailments you mention. I do think he is a tactically inept manager (as was Eck at times) who had great players to overcome that in his first spell. But what's become clear this season is the fire's gone out in Smith. Remember the 3-1 Erik Bo Andersen OF game, facing the supporters pumping his fists? Now it's "we're a bit disappointed" and various other bland statements. I'm not saying he's any less of a Rangers man, but he looks like someone who should be retired. I expect he may have been had it not been for Dave's SOS call. As for Barry, I've no doubt he wants to be the player he once was, but I don't think it's a case of just needing to watch a few old videos. He's evidently just past it, and at the relatively young age of 30 to be struggling in the SPL like he has this season, I think a lot of that has to go down to his injuries. There were a lot of rumours flying about a year ago about how much longer Barry could keep on playing, and he does now appear to be in decline. In truth, he hasn't recovered from breaking his kneecap playing for Blackburn in 2004. Which is a real pity, as we only saw the real Barry Ferguson for five years, from 1998 to 2003. One of the best players I've seen wear the jersey during that time. Barry deserves the criticism over his performances, as they're just patently not been good enough for the captain of Rangers. But it irks me a bit when you hear people slating him as a man, as if they still can't get over the fact he went to Blackburn. Any man who accepts the fact he's going to have arthritis relatively young as a consequence of playing through the pain for Rangers, is committed to the club in my book.

Pete do you speak like Steve McClaren?

"Hounded" PMSL Thought I asked politely enough to be honest. If you're going to accuse people of twisting things, you should at least have the common courtesy to explain yourself. The other boards I'm on insist on it as a matter of respect. We clearly have two contrasting definitions of "at the top of the Scottish game". For you it means above the non-OF teams. For me it means lifting the SPL trophy. Any further discussion of the management on this thread is utterly pointless IMHO as we are well aware of each other's entrenched positions.

No need to get cranky. You stated that under the current management we are "competing at the top of the Scottish game again" then you said "well above the other non-OF teams", which is a bit of a contradiction seeing as being above the non-OF teams doesn't make us "at the top of the Scottish game", as we are 2nd. Still. We'll be top of the Scottish game when we're champions again. By the way (and I like your sarcastic use of quotation marks around 'support'), I wouldn't be so confident about dismissing change - or "tearing the house down" as you phrase it - when the status quo has proven so ineffectual.