der Berliner

If we talk, the effect boils down to nothing happening.

Imagine a club takes all this stuff to the relevant authority and asks about an opinion and actions to be taken. In fact, there should be some referee-supervisor who watches on and notes all these errors of judgement or blatant ignorance of the rules - no matter what team or game. And if people either have "certain drops" in "certain games" these people should either be dropped to a lower level or being send home for good. Our (and other clubs`) reluctance to say something or calls out refereeing inablities is starting to get pathetic. As Hannah Arendt once said: Someone who knows that he can disagree also knows that in a certain sense he agrees if he doesn't disagree. We let the Clancys and Maddens get away with it and thus they just carry on.

Our chap should have fallen and we`d have received a free kick. The linesman must have been fully asleep ... utterly pathetic.

As I said before, if our "wing play" doesn`t live up to what we require, i.e. pressing or providing an outlet, as well as having a shot on (sic!) target as often as they can, we have but Morelos up front against 2 or 3 defenders. Yesterday, it was large spells of reacting to Aberdeen and chasing them, rather than the other way round. Bassey was a bit jittery and had too many stray passes out of defence, Kamara and Sands (whom I won`t blame for much, as he`s not used to the Scottish game*) were tightening up the DM, but the whole front line simply did not click. And when this happens, as has been said, you do wonder why changes weren`t made earlier. The presence of Sakala, Morelos and Itten up top alone would have made Aberdeen be more cautious ... as well as providing us with better people to aim at. If anything, Itten is a target man and can hold up a ball. Hagi was marked and fell out of the game ... and we probably only had Bacuna as a straight replacement - and someone who can play the unexpect cool pass. With 5 subs available, we should have changed more people earlier ... and earlier. * I don`t really get picking Sands ahead of Lundstram, and away at Aberdeen at that. He`s a solid player and knows the Scottish game ... and may even be able to put the smile of Brown`s face with a solid tackle. Changing him in for Wright was baffling, not least when Hagi and Kent were the more obvious choices, given their performance levels.

On a wee positive note, holders Borussia Dortmund managed to lose in the German Cup (last 16) yesterday eve at 2nd divison team St. Pauli, 2-1 the final score, Haaland scoring a penalty.

Well, Gio saw it from the sidelines too. BTW, when we lost out in one of the cup semi/quarter finals last seasons due to penalties, twice the oppoistion goalie moved before the shot was taken ... as one can see in the highlights. But there you go. One can never blame Scottish refrees for being good referees.

I would have to think hard whether Aberdeen had a real shot on taregt bar the penalty, we gave them far too much respect from the off and hardly got our act together. We should have hooked Hagi and Kent much earlier, but the whole midfield display was rather ragged, and the balls from the back hardly found an intended target. Even before the penalty Aberdeen started to have a go for it, Kent`s absence didn`t really matter then. Could say it again and again, we should have played with two strikers, as Morelos alone was hardly able to press their defenders on his own and Kent and Wright were not up there often enough. We got a point and given the performance, we probably didn`t deserve more. NB: What a sad sad human being Brown is ...

Truth be told, my interest in football lies with Rangers and I know a few bits about the German BL. Saint-Gilloise is the real surprise this season in Europe, well drilled and not ladden with "star"-players, I would assume. That might work well for a season or two, including the promoted team`s suprise factor. They need to keep it up and hold to their best players though. Another suprise package - on a lesser scale though - is my home town team 1. FC Union Berlin, who got promoted in 2019, endet that season in 11th position, grabbed spot 7 the season afterwards and are 5th right now. Working with a low budget*, hardly any "star"-players but are well drilled. Sometimes that works. * Last season 17th place with Euro 76m compared to Stuttgart (150m), Eintracht Frankfurt (205m), Hertha Berlin (224m), Mönchengladbach (246m), Leverkusen (395m), RB Leipzig (559m), Dortmund (593m) and Bayern Munich (830m).

Methinks the Bulgarian media actually saw that Caskie stuff, put it out as real interest (without knowing better) and the Scots media followed suit. That being said, I`ve seen the BBC gossip page using Teamtalk, HITC et al as sources too, which is beyond parody. I usually check any foreign rumour at the actual news outlet to see whether they got it from their own folk or have some "according to sources in Scotland" lines in it.

Some reports from Denmark suggesting that Club Brugges has jumped ahead of us in the Olson deal ... ... but we shall see. In any transfer dealings and rumours I always remember Nacho Novo`s words: If a player choses not to come to Rangers, it is his loss, not ours.

From the link, he wants to sign permanently this month, yet Hearts want a "huge offer" to make that happen. I suggest a "lucrative friendly" or 250k ...

John Souttar: Rangers set to sign Hearts defender on pre-contract Souttar will become a free agent in the summer when his Hearts contract expires; Blackburn Rovers are one of many English Championship clubs interested in the defender; Rangers are set to sign the centre-back on a pre-contract; watch Aberdeen vs Rangers on Sky Sports on Tuesday https://www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11788/12515621/john-souttar-rangers-set-to-sign-hearts-defender-on-pre-contract

It`s being rumoured that Souttar was in Glasgow today with club officials. We shall see ...

One of the coolest goals I ever saw.

Changes to the OP ... IN - Cedric itten OUT - Jermaine Defoe Will wait till there is something more concrete about the Stephen Kelly loan rumour.

Maybe we offer Hearts the chance of a "lucrative friendly" game?

From the Kicker article ... a rather level headed view: More recently, the 25-year-old only had a place on the bench, during the 0-0 against Augsburg and 0-0 against VfB Stuttgart: Fürth would have needed goals for a win, Itten has proved that he can get them, and yet coach Stefan Leitl refrained from using the striker from the bench. It simply did not fit - at the latest after Leitl turned away from his offensive, courageous approach (of last season and early on this season, DB) to the game and concentrated on stabilizing the defense - at the expense of the attack. Only one of three Fürth players who can have more than one goal of the season. Therefore, a separation makes sense, six months before the originally intended end of the loan. And that although Itten was one of only three players in the Fürth squad who have scored more than one goal all season. He scored in the 1-3 defeat against Bayern and in the 1-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt, only Branimir Hrgota (four goals this season, including three penalties) and Jamie Leweling (three) got more. Itten's "problem": He's a penalty area striker with good finishing qualities, but has to be served in the penalty area. Yet, the Shamrocks managed to get into this dangerous zone less and less recently and when they did, it was via counter attacks. Thing is, he is a Hateley type penalty area striker and we hardly played to his strengths, but time and again hoped that our left and right attacking player would come up with the goals to support Morelos. I do hope that GvB sticks to his words and changes the line-up according to the oposition at hand, rather than doing the same "4-3-3" over and over again. That aside, Itten won`t cost us a penny (and can`t be loaned anywhere else).

Just demand that everyone entering the ground has to have had a shower within the last 24 hours and there will be enough empty seats at the Scumdome.

Some murmurs that once Skov Olsen`s valuation by Bologna and Rangers are aligned, the Dane will be in Glasgow. The Italians thought of pounds while we of Euros, when the 7.5m were debated.

DR (link only for reference) reports that Middlesbrough might want Simpson. There is also some rumours that we might want to grab the Arab`s goalie Siegrist on a pre-contract, but I`ll give that runour another 24 hours or so. OUT - Jack Simpson - Middlesbrough - LINK (10 Jan)

Update on the Souttar rumour, plus Dutch-CH and Colombian striker links added: IN - John Souttar - 25, CH, Scottish, contract till 2022 - LINK (05 Jan) new LINK (09 Jan)- TM IN - Danilho Doekhi - 23, CH, Dutch/Suriname, contract till 2022 - LINK (09 Jan) - TM IN - Frank Castaneda - 27, ST, Colombia, freebie - LINK (09 Jan) - TM

You can`t exactly get your head around this, even over here. We`ve had 15k supporters in outdoor arenas and 5k indoors - double-jabbed and mask-wearing. They now have reduced this outdoors to no spectators whatsoever, while indoors it is reduced to 2k (incl. staff), at least in sports arenas. So we have 2k people tomorrow at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena ice-hockey game, all people doubble-jabbed, mask-wearing and having to provide a negative test valid for tomorrow too. And obviously rather strict health protocols all around the arena. While it is quite beyond me, why large football stadiums can`t have 5 to 25k spectators spread across the stands, the main argument against it is that outside the stadium distance-/health-restrictions won`t be adhered to. For reference, the MBA has a capacity of 14.5 (ice-hockey) to 17k.

A few "defensive" things ... - James Sands arrived in Scotland and Rangers without a fan or reporter even noticing it. (Though someone having hospitality treatment at Ibrox yesterday was adamant that he saw Sands, et even our German admin refrained from posting the info from this FB group chat.) Some feat by the club. - Helander, Balogun, Simpson ... have had their troubles this season, and Balogun`s and Goldson`s contracts end this summer. Whether the Patterson etc. money will allow us to be more flexible in the wages structure (if we actually want that to happen) remains to be seen. - Bassey has been used as a CH of late and that side of defence looks okay and will probably get better, not least with Barisic getting back to his best. - James Sands is a CH by trade and can step straight into the team (though he might get a few sub appearances to get used to the Scottish game first). - Leon King has now been promoted to the first team squad (and for a reason), again, in the CH position - Souttar would come in a low or no fee, normal wages and some good form too - the risk is limited. Thus, it might look to be the end of the road for Simpson, whereas it is anyone guess with regards to Balogun beyond the summer. Goldson is a bit of a conundrum, yet we have yet to hear of any solid interest from England et al. All in all, what matters most is that we looked decently covered in the CH positions for the rest of the season, not least when Souttar would be added to the current squad. Should Helander return and Balogun gets fit again, we`d also have cover for either fullback position with the latter and Bassey. As for Lundstram ... I would assume that his wages are pure guesswork (and even if not, was agreed to by SG and Ross Wilson) and why he gets so much IMHO unwarranted animosity is beyond me. He`s been placed alongside Kamara every now and then and IMHO he`s more the Arfield type of combative midfielder who likes to move forward every now and then. As a DM, Kamara and Jack are possibly better, but in nigh all of the games that I saw Lundstram, he did okay. Or at least not worse than anyone else on the pitch. Sometimes it is baffling how people remember all the bad stuff one player manages to do on the pitch and kind of ignore his overall play, while it is the complete opposite with others.

BTW, transfermarkt give the fee we got for Patterson as 12.6m (and they are rarely wrong with somesuch). Not that it matters that much to us.

I`ll place him in the transfer thread squad list then.