BrahimHemdani

There's zero chance of this happening in the foreseeable future. The turkeys at the bottom of the EPL are not going to vote for a Christmas in the Championship to accommodate us, particularly given that there are 2 too many teams in the League at the moment; and the teams at the top simply don't need us in terms of money and certainly wouldn't want the potential competition. Bear in mind Celtic would be 2nd or 3rd in terms of attendance and we would be 3rd or 4th. So other things like TV money being equal we should be challenging the current top 4. If you were a team like Liverpool would you really want us trying to muscle in above you, I very much doubt it. In addition, neither Rangers nor Celtic would have the "guaranteed" European spot that we have enjoyed in Scotland although as I say above over time we should be challenging for a CL berth.

Barrie McKay has played in every game this season and started every League and Challenge Cup match (but only played the full 90 mins in 3). Coincidentally or not the match he played least time in was the only one we lost. I'd argue the return has been reasonable if not spectacular with 2 goals and 4 assists in 8 League matches, 3 goals and 7 assists in 13 games. The 2 League goals came in the 2 games he played the full 90 minutes, you'd need to ask the Manager whether he got the full 90 because he scored or the other way around. After being sent out on loan twice? I'm sure the more he plays the more confidence he well get and the better the return will be. http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/barrie-mckay/leistungsdaten/spieler/208934'>http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/barrie-mckay/leistungsdaten/spieler/208934 However, his record is somewhat better than Oduwa who has only 3 assists and no goals in 10 games http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/barrie-mckay/leistungsdaten/spieler/208934 For comparison Zelalem has no goals and 5 assists in 7 games. http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/gedion-zelalem/leistungsdaten/spieler/228370 This is another "wrong thread" but it will do for now

Who gives a sh*t about him.

He's barely 18, give him a chance and some of the stuff Waghorn takes to beef him up a bit.

It's axiomatic that in our current set up we have to employ zonal marking on the counter attack against us because at least one and sometimes both full backs will not be in a postion to man mark their immediate opponents. This is also a back up argument for a third central defender, libero or defensive midfielder capable of shuttling between central defense and midfield, a la Yaya Toure (thanks SBR) in his Barcelona days. It's not obvious to me that we have the players capable of pressing the ball effectively enough, if at all, to mount the kind of rearguard action you envisage. It's hard to see the likes of Oduwa, Zelalem, Mackay in those particular trenches. You need a super fit (yes we are a LOT fitter than last season) and exceptionally talented team to mount a successful high pressing game; I'd be happy if we could get back into our zones a bit faster than we do at present and then begin the press. Zonal defense is often found out at set pieces as Celtic in particular know to their cost http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/13720806.Kennedy_defends_Celtic_s_use_of_zonal_marking_system/ but clearly they haven't read this article on set piece marking http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/rules_and_equipment/4685580.stm

Be careful there's a rumour about reconstruction and those who finish below 16th go into the Championship next season.

Agreed on both counts. Clark is coming back from injury so that will have been the reason in his case. Hardie looked the part in the few outings he got last season. Personally I would have Waghorn on the right and either Clark or Hardie in the middle ahead of Miller, and Mackay on the left; but that isn't going to happen with Oduwa apparently guaranteed a start.

Wrong thread mate, this is just to welcome newbies :

Firstly thanks to Zappa for keeping this going despite difficult personal circumstances. Secondly congrats to Zappa for taking and extending his lead over the past two games. Thirdly congrats to me for a highest ever 5th and now 4th place on the FGS tie break.

The comment was a little tongue in cheek, Craig. One glance at Waghorn's career record 42 in 198 games largely in the Championship shows he is not a prolific scorer and for me he is more effective on the right than through the middle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyn_Waghorn

Nice goal by Hardie.

You guys should complain to the Club and see what answer you get. If we can't beat Livingston without Zelalem and Oduwa we don't deserve to make progress in the Cup.

No place for Wallace, that's a travesty. We need to win the last two games to have any chance so we should attack with at least 2 strikers and a goalscoring full back would be a bonus rather than playing a right footer out of position or Robertson who has been found wanting recently. The form strikers are Naismith and Griffiths (sorry to say it because he's a little sh*t but the facts speak for themselves) unless Waghorn could find a Scottish grandfather.

Thanks spot on, the master in that role.

That's my point GS, you really can't separate the Club from it's fans, especially when it comes to money.

Before Buzquets Barcelona had a very tall black player (don't remember his name) who shuttled between midfield and defence depending on the state of play.

Clearly the current situation is a disgrace and Rangers should be seen to lead the way on this issue, how else can we demand proper facilities for our disabled fans at away grounds if we don't have sufficient ourselves. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to be in a wheelchair for life or even part of one's life, perhaps some of us should try it for a day; better still invite the Club's directors to try it. All that said, I would like to know the cost of improvements before considering how best they might be funded. Season ticket holders will pay a share of the cost by virture of their renewal cost whether they like it or not (and most if not all will be quite happy to do so I'm sure). Similarly posing a question - should the club be doing this without supporters' money? is a bit tenuous because the Club wouldn't exist without supporters money. Season ticket holders alone cannot fund this. I think a separate levy on all tickets not just season tickets would be the best way to go. At a quick rough calculation 45,000 (average attendance rounded down) x 18 matches at £1 a ticket say would bring in £800,000 a season. I doubt if that would be anywhere close to the sum required so it might have to be more and would certainly have to go on for some years. Also a ticket levy would incur VAT, unless there is a way to avoid that, where the money is for this purpose. The government might be persuaded to return the VAT as a contribution. Other funding areas would need to be explored, FS may be best placed to advise (excuse the pun).

dB is correct the original date was Saturday 10 October and the game was brought forward to Friday night for TV http://spfl.co.uk/challenge-cup/dates/

That's a very fair point. You can only go so far saying , we'll play our way, let the opposition do what they want. If the opposition are better than us, then we have to take their style of play and star men into account or we'll lose all the games 5-4. As our team plays right now, if we went into a ELQ2 game in Azerbaijan, I would fancy a 0-4.

There is a contradiction in Doncaster's view of this because at once he will tell you that personally he is in favour of a 16 team league but in another breath he will say that teams like Dundee Utd aren't worth diddly squat. In his world Rangers would play Celtic every week with a Sunday matineee; but the rest of us know that there is a law of diminshing returns. When we played 8 times, Rangers couldn't sell all the tickets for the cup tie and even Nathan Oduwa would find out as Mark Walters complained, the defenders soon learn your tricks.

I agree with the well argued OP as I said elsewhere If it's a defensive midfield player then that person becomes the third or fifth defensive player when the opponents attack and a third or fourth midfielder when we go forward. However, I don't agree that Athletic Bilbao are a Porsche to our VW. I was in the newly rebulit San Mames Stadium (cap 53,289) for the Basque derby v Sociedad last February and it's true that their fans are fanatical but no more so than Rangers fans would be against Celtic; with one big difference, they mix in the bars over there and even inside some areas of the ground. Athletic's policy of only signing Basque native or trained players is at once their strength but also a weakness, since although they are one of only three Clubs (like us) never to have been relegated, they have only won la liga on 8 occasions, the last being more than 30 years ago.

This is ridiculous and has ruined two lots of plans that I had. Aird has only played a few minutes as a sub RB. We won every match up until Oduwa and Zelalem joined and there's no reason to suppose that we couldn't beat Livingston with a midfield of say Holt, Law/Shiels & Halliday and Mackay, Waghorn, Clark/Miller up front. I think this is more about giving the squad a two week break than international call ups.

What did I say? I did thank you for the post. I think you'll find that newbie's on here get as much attention as any others depending on the quality of the posts. A suggestion might be to start a separate thread for something like that, though, as this is a thread about Jim Baxter after all. I certainly remember Johnny Hamilton as a very skilful player who unfortunately lost his way and failed to make the best use of the talents he was given.

There is NO point in Dundee Utd or two Clubs across the road from each other. I've been saying for years they should amalgamate as Dundee City.

Missed the programme, but I had extenuating circumstances. Baxter was a regular in a couple of Clubs an uncle of mine ran in Glasgow, as were many of his team mates, as a result I am delighted to say I have his autograph. I remember listening to the game in Vienna when he broke his leg - one of those where were you when that happened moments - in my case in the school corridor furtively listening on the earpiece of a secret transistor radio. He was never the same player again.