der Berliner

These games are there to rotate the squad, including the B-Team, who hasn't had competitive stuff all season. Likewise, these games need players with bite. All those chaps put a shift in during the second half. This is something to build upon. All over the place teams blood their youngsters, we soldier on with the same players time and again. It was but Dundee late in the season, yet these chaps showed why they are at Rangers. And then there is Wright ...

If you look at our squad, the only players that we have which might interest potent buyers are Butland, Dessers, and Sterling. Ridvan and Cantwell too, but for less money. English clubs see stats and all and throw money at the owners. Maybe we get lucky and SG wants Tavernier badly, Goldson too. Since we threw the title away, we need to generate income to rebuild the squad for next season. There are enough good keepers about who can do a job in the Premiership (where it matters), although Butland would be my player of the season and I do hope we keep him. Alas, with him, we have a strong leg to stand upon in any transfer dealings.

The vogue PC chaps over here have banned that word. The sane community thus describes these people now as ... Persons without permanent residence and a liberal attitude towards other people's property.

As much as we like to blame our failures on the managers and players, we have been royally f@cked with injuries this season, tomorrow's game is just the icing on the cake (with a cup final to come). As I said before, I haven't seen such ill luck with injuries in my 40odd years of following Rangers (granted, I have no clue about the early till mid-80s. And I, for one, wouldn't blame that on bad coaching or the like. Butland Tavernier - King - Davies - Ridvan Raskin - Diomande McCausland - Cantwell - Silva Dessers Subs: McCrory - Barisic, Wright, Roofe ... Yfeko, Lyall, McKinnon, McInally, Pasnik???

If you follow the footsteps of your name-giver too eagerly, your revolutionary behaviour above may sooner or later see you end up going bananas like him ...

After the Cup Final ...

Stop asking silly questions! It is Rangers after all!

Truth be told, we have been dire for weeks, if not months. I have no sado-masochistic tendencies, so I do not need to see the howling hordes at the Scumhut getting their fill today. Not least when our squad is a) ravaged by injuries, b) have players who simply don't have it any more, and c) us playing a tactic that is and has been shyte. By comparison, they have been blessed with injury free runs for years now. Aside from this, we threw it all away at Ross County and vs Dundee. A dead man on a blind horse can see that while creating dozens of chances in nearly every game, we don't have enough players to make them count. Even if we have those players ready, we stick to the same game plan. Recipe for failure, repeated all over again. One might "take heart" that we have been f@cked by VAR decision in games against them, and the injury record to our best players this season is probably the worst in living memory. No excuse, just a statement of fact.

Will skip today's game. We've been toiling along for weeks now, miss a dozen players (injury- or form-wise), while they waltz on. By default, the form book goes out of the window for OF games, yet, we need a Walter masterclass act today. That aside, we won most of the games that I wasn't watching, so ...

Rangers closing in on Jose Cordoba deal with Levski Sofia It appears that Rangers’ first signing of the summer, however, will not be a forward, a midfielder or a left-back. Rangers Review reports that Clement’s side have entered ‘advanced talks’ to sign Jose Cordoba from Bulgarian outfit Levski Sofia. A left-sided centre-half who represents Panama at international level, the allegedly £3 million-rated Cordoba was in the stands as Rangers beat Kilmarnock 4-1 on Sunday. A result which kept the blue-clad outfit within touching distance of Celtic ahead of this weekend’s Old Firm derby.

Rangers hold a "strong" interest in Levski Sofia defender Jose Cordoba as he approaches the final 12 months of his contract (El Marcador via Daily Record). Rangers in Wesley Snipes - Demolition Man look-alike shocker ...

The future of on-loan Rangers winger Oscar Cortes' is set to be ironed out between parent club Lens and the Ibrox side in the coming days. (CanalRCN via Daily Record) The agent of Australian winger Raphael Borges Rodrigues has teased a potential move to Rangers amid speculation over a move to Ibrox. (Daily Record)

Northern Ireland defender Paddy McNair has confirmed he will be leaving Middlesbrough this summer and a move to Rangers is likely to appeal for the 29-year-old, who is a boyhood fan of the Ibrox side. (Belfast Telegraph) A move to Rangers would "appeal to me" too, so I can whip some tactical sense into the management team ...

Sterling is actually a RB turned into some sort Aribo-style all round player. He sure has all the attributes and skills, we just need to find him a proper place. Given his style, he'd be well-used in a box-to-box midfielder that essentially can play everywhere. We won't drop Lundstram, so I'd put him next to him on Saturday. Not sure about Diomande. If Lundstram exits this summer, it should be Diomande and Sterling, if we continue to play two DMs. They both "think forward".

FT 0-0 It ebbed and flowed, we hit the bar twice, but how this rotten surface is being deemed legal for football is beyond me. Thus, it ended in a kick and rush head-tennis sort of thing. Any other natural pitch would have been better. We probably deserved it more due to trying to play football, but lacked a cutting edge where it mattered. Best example Kathy Hill's last gasp attempt, when she attempted to take an unnecessary touch 6 yards out instead of shooting and got it all wrong. As it stands, they lead the table on goal difference, and it most likely all comes down to this.

HT 0-0 We're more in it, they rely on counter attacks and corners so far. Lots of good work is wrecked in the final third with poor touch or some Yahooress in the way.

This Flint-thing looks and plays so much like one of them ...

We're level on games and points with them, and either side is able to beat the rest of the lot. So getting ahead in the race is important.

Pretty much one way traffic so far, just goals are missing ... @Rousseau ... not that many.

Probably title deciding game today, LIVE on TV right now ... Rangers Women vs Celtic Women at Broadwood Stadium. BBC LIVETEXT BBC LIne-ups

He's so bad that he's on 20 goals now. Imagine we'd play two strikers or have him take the penalties!

... so we are probably stuck with him beyond the summer. Well, that ruined my weeked.

That would be the Nigerian Brotherhood up front then ... if we'd play with two strikers. 27 years, freebie in July, maybe willing to play on Rangers wages (or might just as well go doe Saudi-land), who knows. I have no idea how good a(n all round) player he is.

Another snippet or two ... MacArthur FC winger Raphael Borges Rodrigues, 20, is a reported target for Rangers. (Record) Coventry City have made contact with Rodrigues' representatives. (Football Scotland) Rangers have held talks with right-back Ben Johnson, who has also attracted interest from Crystal Palace and Leeds United, with the 24-year-old expected to leave West Ham United as a free agent at the end of the season after rejecting multiple new contract offers. (The Athletic) On-loan forward Fábio Silva will not be staying with Rangers next season, but the Portuguese 21-year-old's future is yet to be discussed with Wolverhampton Wanderers. (Sebastião Sousa Pinto on X) Jack Butland, the 31-year-old goalkeeper who was targeted by Nottingham Forest in January, has stressed that he remains committed to helping Rangers lift more trophies during the remaining three years of his contract and will not be affected by any fresh speculation about his future at Ibrox this summer. (The Herald) On-loan Rangers midfielder Jose Cifuentes' hopes of a permanent move to Cruzeiro are in doubt after legendary striker Ronaldo pulled the plug on his funding of the Brazilian club. (The National)