der Berliner

Sterling might be fit for tomorrow, I heard Clement say, so that might be a bonus. They are not further down "their" season than we are, so who knows how well they will eventually shape up. Sitting back should not be the option, but I would assume we cannot play as open as we did on Saturday, or they will hurt us. Surprise us (again), Rangers!

Funnily enough, before I had a first look at the board I thought: let's see whether the mhedia got up in arms about that penalty not given against Barron. Far less conclusive than the one Germany didn't get at the Euros, but the rules and their application these days are a joke anyway. And suddenly I remembered the days when we had this Compliance Officer, who sprang to the Yahoos' help time and again, castigating our players on hindsight, or reducing Yahoo cards. As long as it was a useful tool, it was in the news and active. Haven't heard of him/her for the best part of two years now? Maybe we see it back, either for Barronmania or these idiots with strange fetishes ...

Rangers probe 'unacceptable' pro-Nazi flag at Hearts match as UEFA keep close eye ahead of Dynamo Kyiv clash Rangers have launched an investigation into an "unacceptable" pro-Nazi banner that appeared in the away end during their 0-0 draw against Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday. The blue flag with a Totenkopf skull - also known as the "death head" - was hung from the section housing the Rangers supporters in Gorgie. The symbol represented the SS during the Second World War and became the logo of the 3rd SS Totenkopf Panzer Division, which committed war crimes during the six-year conflict. ... https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/rangers/latest-rangers-news/rangers-probe-unacceptable-pro-nazi-flag-at-hearts-match-as-uefa-keep-close-eye-ahead-of-dynamo-kyiv-clash-4728556 What's the problem and faux outrage? The Ukrainians will warmly welcome this sort of imagery and if they and theirs wear it every other day in next to each war snippet you see on TV, no-one takes note or looks actively away. Before you ask, of course either of the above should be condemned and banned. You'd have to ask these banner chaps why they have it about ... and the police why they don't grab it at the entrance.

He was the TRIalist that tried to score from our three corners, but somehow failed to hit the target from less than a yard out. He sure is a natural scorer these last few years, but like every striker we have signed since Warburton, he would have to lead the line against packed defences, something he hardly ever does for Hearts. It would be a rather new environment for him and not even the Fates know how he would fare with us. Let him stay at Tynecastle till the end of the year and hope he'll hurt the Scum, then offer him a pre-contract in January. If anything, I wonder why Clement hasn't raided the Belgium or similar market. He and his sure know some cool old heads and talented youngsters.

No goals conceded against super-top-notch striker this side of Saturn's rings, again. Never an easy place to go, the deficits in the team are not new, and need no repetition. Ceterum, peto ut mutanda ratio!

So far, all look steady enough, Butland with a fine save. Early season bout with Hearts, as per usual. Some fine crosses by Ridvan, a good shot by Barron and Dessers a touch unlucky. Hearts, after a few bold minutes, simply (again) rely on hitting on the counter or grab a corner free-kick. Devlin the epitome of this modern day Iberian Plague. Kicks Wright in the knee, then falls flat and claims a foul for effectively nothing. Same with others. Shame of the game these days.

RANGERS: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Davies, Ridvan, Barron, Diomande, Lawrence, Wright, Cortes, Dessers Subs: Kelly, Matondo, Cerny, Dowell, Jefte, Balogun, King, McKinnon, Danilo. I'd call that 11 out of 11.

North Central Edinburgh, South East Berlin, East Central Edinburgh ...

Without wanting to tempt fate, our games against Hearts last season were interesting, but out of six we drew only one. I have no idea in what sort of shape they are right now, though as per usual, they'll probably give it a go. I doubt that we will see Pröpper from the start, so most likely the same that started vs Union. It looks like Clement wants to play Lawrence as the shadow striker, then switches Wright into that role once he brings on fresh legs for the wings. Dessers will start up top, unless there is a late knock. Cortes looked dire in Birmingham, much better in Berlin. Even though, like Matondo, he was not that good at tracking back. Hopefully Matondo gets his head down and has a good season. IMHO, Ridvan should start over Jefte, as he is far more settled in the team and environment. We lost two bad goals down Jefte's side last weekend, even though the centre-halfs didn't help much. Going by those who are fit and acquainted, it would be reasonable to expect Souttar and Davies. Either one may be exchanged for Balogun, who IMHO still is the coolest head of the lot. There will be no way around Tavernier for the time being, though I expect Sterling taking over when fit. I'd go for Kelly in goal, but it will be Butland. Barron and Diomande are the only two chaps ready and raring to go in that midfield duo thing, alas, Diomande "thinks forward". Butland Tavernier - Souttar - Davies - Ridvan Barron - Diomande Wright - Lawrence - Cortes Dessers

Rangers name their Euro squad - CL GK: Jack Butland, Liam Kelly, Lewis Budinauckas DEF: James Tavernier, Ridvan Yilmaz, Robin Propper, John Souttar, Dujon Sterling, Jefte, Ben Davies, Leon Balogun MID: Oscar Cortes, Connor Barron, Mohamed Diomande, Kieran Dowell ATT: Cyriel Dessers, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo, Vaclav Cerny, Scott Wright, Hamza Igamane, Danilo ... plus a host of youngsters.

Under Sir Walter we signed lots of captains ...

... someone had to stop the match day assumptions in the transfer thread. 😱 😎 So off we go in the hunt for 56!

Saturday - 03. August 2024 - 12:30 Scottish Premiership at Tynecastle Park v Referee - Nick Walsh Assistants - Fourth Official - Video Assistant Referee - Assistant Video Assistant Referee - Missing - Zak Lovelace (muscle), Nicolas Raskin (ankle), Hamza Igamane (lack of training), Todd Cantwell (not in squad) Doubtful - Sterling Live on - Sky Sports Football and Rangers TV

Yes. It was quite interesting to see wee Ross walking along that towering black Union striker with no respect or fear whatsoever. IMHO, Barron, Wright, and McCausland are of that "British tenacious ilk" which is needed in the Premiership. People like Stuart McCall or Ian Ferguson. Diomande is similar, but possesses far more skill ... but also looks rather frail. There will be enough games where we will need the technical and fast chaps more than the fighters, and vice versa. You do wonder whether the arrival of Cerny, alongside Cortes and Wright will hamper the amount of games for McCausland. That said, all can play on either side of attack or AM. We shall see.

Well, I think I stopped loosing sleep about what happens behind the doors at Ibrox ever since SG arrived. What will be will be, no matter how much we wreck our brains. As the board/club is structured now, another Murray/Whyte/Green scenario won't be happening and those in power are all doing their best (whether they are PR beasts or not) for the club. 100 fans will have 101 different ideas of what goes wrong and/or can or must be done better ... and fair enough. My main concern remains with the team, the players and the tactics. Not that I can change much about the tactical shambles either, but it is something you can have "objective" and valid opinions on. And it is also enough to lose sleep over ...

He and McCausland did more tracking back against Union than Cortes and Jefte did together, while Tavernier fell over before Union's "penalty".

IN - Hannibal Mejbri (21) - AM, Tunisia, ManU - contract till 2025 - TM - TM stats - LINK IN - Marko van Ginkel (31) - CM, Dutch, freebie - TM - TM stats - LINK IN - Robin Pröpper (30) - CB, Dutch, Twente - contract till 2027 - TM - TM stats - LINK

Rightio, some more time on my hands now, so let's go over this ... after watching it from essentially the sidelines behind the managers's benches. Typical 4-2-3-1 again, with probably some more focus on getting players to know each other and back to fitness levels than truly going for a win. Hence the inclusion of Jefte, who looked okay, but is IMHO no starter ahead of Ridvan. As soon as the Turk went into the game, he whipped in more dangerous crosses than Jefte did in two games. Tavernier looked sluggish from far and near, and while I accept that he didn't train much (for whatever reason), you do expect more from a professional athlete and sportsman. His sub King was clearly not a right-back, but we almost went three at the back with him, Balogun and Souttar, which helped to cut much of their attacking threat (despite Union's substitutions). Ridvan played more advanced than Jefte too. The defence at their goals in the first half looked suspect, not least these two long cross-field balls for number 1 and 3. The penalty was a joke, even from 60 metres away, the ref is a Bundesliga 2 regular (which should still be better than Premiership level) and can do better. Star of the show was surely Diomande, who tackled and worked tirelessly throughout, has an eye for a pass and a good shot in him too. Hope he gets enough protection from the refs this season. Barron, despite his size, was the Stuart McCall type of midfield dynamo we've been begging for for a long time. The two CMs worked really well and were playing positively throughout. We DO need some sort of Davis-type creator from the back still. Far too much is left to the centre-halfs in terms of build-up play. Lawrence played some sort of secondary striker role, which is fine when we have the ball, as he find spaces to shoot from. The constant pressing that we need (home and abroad) is clearly not his core competence, though he gave his best. Cortes has bags of speed and skill, with a bit more experience, he'll sure be a fine asset. This game was much better than the one in Birmingham. Wright worked away as usual, though I still think he will be better used more centrally once Cerny gets the right-wing slot. What he and McCausland brings is a lot of work and pressing the opposition, both worked back pretty well. Dessers ... I honestly don't know what causes all the negativity. He worked their defence and goalie tirelessly, took his goals well, missed a few opportunities too. Generally, a very solid striker. What we need is more like him, or, even better, another one next to him (mantra gong applied). Butland ... maybe it is just me, but he looks to be at 75 % at the most. If it was me, I'd put Kelly in goals next Saturday, though I suspect that Butland will be number 1 no matter what. All in all, an entertaining day, the Union chap who invited me said at HT that this may well end 5-5, which I agreed too.

Lest I forget ... ... the game will be screened on free TV tomorrow afternoon. You may have to do some VPNing to get this working, they currently show Essen vs Leverkusen, if you want to try your luck. https://tv.sport1.de/live/sport1

I'll only make a prediction if @Rousseau is handing out grand board titles. Still waiting for my super-special Euro 2024 winners avatar, after all! And I need to bookmark this thread, so we can go over it on January and May 2025 ...

For every Sima, there is a Matondo. At the end of the day, no matter what they did elsewhere beforehand, they have to click with us and that is a matter for the future. IMHO, we could have made better use of Lammers, and Roofe, Sima etc.. That is: playing them where they are used to play and (sic!) where they were required. But we didn't. We tried to make Plan A better with different players and ... failed again. You would hope that Cerny is not the alternative for any right attacker we have, but used as a right winger with 2 strikers (or players who are strikers) waiting for his crosses. Else we'll probably have someone to whom the Scottish defences adjust after 3 months and whose novelty status will be blunted.

Out of curiosity, I checked that Lyndon Dykes rumour for stats alone. He's 28 these days, has his contract running till 2027, has played 335 games, scoring 73 goals and assisting another 56. QPR stats read (last season): 163 (43) games, 36 (7) goals, 12 assists (1). You wonder what QPR's asking price would be (not far off Shankland's, I'd assume) This Zar Celar (25) guy has played mainly in Switzerland and clocked up 198 (49) games, 92 (21) goals, and 20 (4) assists. They snatched him up for Euro 2m. ... from stats alone, we should have looked at Celar, who'd have been well within our price range.

Quite a bit ... Negotiations are at an advanced stage for Rangers to sign on loan 21-year-old Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri, who had an unsuccessful spell with Sevilla and rejected a loan move with an option to buy to FC Copenhagen as the Tunisia international enters the final year of his Old Trafford contract. (Africafoot), Sevilla are demanding that Rangers pay 60% of Joan Jordan's wages and agree to a mandatory purchase of between £2.5m and £4.2m next summer for the 30-year-old midfielder after the Ibrox club offered to pay 40% of his salary during a proposed year-long loan. (Gol Digital), Vaclav Cerny has handed over his company car, will miss the annual team photo session and has started following Rangers on Instagram after an agreement was reached for the 26-year-old Wolfsburg winger to move on loan only a year after arriving from Twente. (AZ WAZ), Twente sporting director Arnold Bruggink has confirmed the Dutch club are "working" on signing 27-year-old Rangers forward Sam Lammers "but we're not there yet". (Tubantia), Selling Sam Lammers to Twente for £2.7m could unlock the money Rangers need to tempt Heart of Midlothian to part with Lawrence Shankland, with the Edinburgh club likely to demand at least £3m for the 28-year-old Scotland striker. (Daily Record), Queens Park Rangers' move for Slovenian striker Zan Celar means the Championship club could be open to selling Lyndon Dykes, with Rangers reigniting their interest in the 28-year-old as an alternative signing target to fellow Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland. (HITC), Besiktas plan to make an official offer soon for Rangers captain James Tavernier and the 32-year-old English right-back is keen on being reunited with former Ibrox manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst. (Duhuliye), Rangers vice-captain Connor Goldson agreed personal terms in principle with Aris Limassol before returning for Wednesday’s friendly against Birmingham City and the clubs are close to agreeing a fee for the 31-year-old centre-back. (Football Insider)

Well ... Hannibal Mejbri, a French-Tunisian attacking midfielder with but a year of his contract left. If he's good, we can get him on a free next summer ... You would hope that we snatch Cerny for our right side, and pump some mony we'll receive for Goldson, Lammers, Cantwell etc. into the Sima deal. I doubt we'll sell Wright as long as we do not have a couple more AM replacements ready, if does Cantwell leave. Lowry was fully lost last night, Hagi is also away. We can't repeat Beale's mistake of last season.

While agree to most of this, would the appropriate question not be: Can they actually back the (respective) gaffer? (Both in terms of having/investing money and "financial fair-play".) In the here and now, it looks very much that Clement will / may only get all the money we rake in from "transfers out", which may very well be a significant sum? Generally ... And, at the end of the day, injuries and freak-refereeing/VARing aside, we pulled them back to one point last season, only to throw it away in 2 weeks. And "it" refers to direct CL qualification and the money that comes with it, without playing a single CL game. Any gaffer has to deliver, and neither of them changed the team in a way that wrought success - i.e. we just toiled along with 4-2-3-1 against any team out there. It beggars belief that people can be so blind/stubborn ...