Gingerger

I would accept that there are certain SPL games when a holding midfield player protecting the back four is a good idea. Most games Rangers play though don't come into that category but yes it needs to be a practiced option. What I will not accept is Rangers fielding a team with TWO defensive minded players in central midfield. It simply isn't required and we are so much better off when we don't take that negative approach. To be honest, we shouldn't be playing that strategy in any game including Celtic away, and certainly not with the two players named above thats for sure.

what does? The Edu/Mculloch defensive midfield certainly doesn't work. We won the league last year by changing our defensive outlook and going out to win games.

watching todays game and the games in the run-in last year it's pretty obvious that most SPL teams can't cope with Rangers when we're on the front foot and looking to go and get goals. Football players in midfield passing balls into the feet of clever strikers? It will never catch on, give me Edu and McCulloch any day. Not!:meh:

Very well put over article. I've been saying for a number of years now that this whole sham cannot end without a definitive list of acceptable and unacceptable songs but that such a list is impossible to be agreed upon. The detail of what is or isn't sectarian is left to the subjective interpretation of individual bobbies who are often undereducated and ignorant. Want an example? My mind goes back to Tugay's debut at Easter Road a good number of years ago when I had a long argument with a copper after his pal burst into our row to confiscate the hankerchief size Turkish flag being flown by the guy beside me. His explanation? "We've been instructed to remove any obvious sectarian flags!"

This whole business of 'not sectarian but political' makes me sick to my stomach to be honest. How any person with even a remote knowledge of NI history and it's current situation can come away with such nonsense and keep a straight face is well beyond me. These people need to be challenged directly in the press and media and exposed for the obvious, overt bigots that they are. Is there an appetite for that though? Doesn't look like it to me.

That the league table on the BBC Scottish Premier League website has been reset to zero points for all teams with the Sheep on top by alpahabet. Not remarkable you might say because it's the close season and were gearing up to the start of the next one. Except, all the other league tables for the whole country, including the Scottish first, second and third divisions remain untouched on their respective pages. Only ours has been reset. Also, bearing in mind it's the LEAGUE website, it's top line includes two links to Celtics CUP win (the cup has it's own page) and one link, below the two Celtic ones, to our league celebrations. No links to any games or league win compilation summaries or anything daft like that. Am I just paranoid?

Interesting read that, I wasn't on Gernet when it was writen. I don't think that we tried to lose that night however it's fairly obvious that we didn't really pull out all the stops to try and win. Contrast it with the attitude just a couple of weeks later at Hampden, we were like a different side.

This thought occurs to me on cup final day. Thinking back to how we collapsed near the end of the season in 2008 with a much bigger squad I don't think there's any way the current Rangers squad could have gone all the way or even much further in all four competitions. Losing the two games freed us to concentrate on the real target for the season and allowed us to finish the season really, really strongly. Losing at Porkheed also had a good double effect we didn't realise at the time, it made them a bit complacent and made us extra determined by the time we showed up at Hampden for the league cup final. Writen off by everybody we gave a performance which turned the season on it's head. Make no mistake about it, that defeat rocked them seriously back on their heels and gave us the momentum to go and finish the job. Sore though it is to watch them probably winning the cup today I reckon it was a price worth paying for the league title.

At times over the last couple of years I've felt like a lone voice in the darkness re: lafferty. I've always felt there was a good player in there waiting to get out. Just every now and then you saw a wee flash which made you think 'this guy can play by the way!' I've had a right few arguments with friends and family about him, especially after games where we've dropped points and he's not played great but, crucially for my analysis, was far from our worst player. Hopefully he can kick on from here and start next season in the team and scoring goals with big Jelavic. For the first time in a few close seasons I think our priority transfer targets shouldn't include a first choice striker (maybe a back-up if Healy/Beattie etc. move on again). I genuinely believe that, if he can keep his head straight, Lafferty could be a big player for Rangers for several years to come.

It would appear that the statement from the independant board will effectively turn out to be a suicide note. Few will mourn their passing I think.

I think Ally gets at least next season to prove he's the man for the job. A few weeks ago I saw a scenario where this season ended in tears and a new owner at which point all bets would have been off with respect to Ally's appointment. Now we will, at the very least, come very, very close to winning the league and have scooped the League cup. As such I think everybody is prepared to give Ally a chance. He's served a long enough apprenticeship, nobody can say he's inexperienced in the job as he's been assistant through some big times over the last couple of years. His spat with Lennon confirmed his suitability imho, he has the passion required to match them.

It would be lovely to think that Celtic could lose today. Unfortunately though this game is usually shootie-in for them so I don't expect anything other than a solid Celtic win. Wednesday night though is a different prospect if we've won again on Tuesday. Despite Hearts being really poor yesterday they will still put a lot into that game and, I'll say again IF we've won, the pressure on Celtic will be enormous. The situation would be ripe for a spectacular Timplosion.

Talking to my wee pet Tim at work today I was gobsmacked to discover how worked up he was about this. Apparently Weir was "outrageous" and "must be punished for this". I'm actually now worried about the boys mental health, I kept saying to him "****, listen to yourself, are you actually serious about this? take a wee minute to think and calm down".

I think everybody is looking at the wrong end of the park with this one. We haven't really had much problem scoring goals this year, we have though conceeded far to many for this Bear. The myth that we are a dour defensive outfit who grind out 1 goal wins isn't reflected in the league table in which we've scored a few more goals than the other mob but conceeded far more. Selling Miller wasn't a good move financially for Rangers and a worse move in a footballing sense, however, not being able to sign a central defensive partner for Bougerra last summer has been far more significant. Not given up hope yet either though Guys. We've been here before remember.

Give the size of the squad and the number of games we've played I think we've done about as well as could be expected. The combination of the small squad and lots of games has seen us put out some lineups which were almost unrecognisable as 'first teams'. For example, Edu has had to play through a real bad patch (which he's hopefully over btw) because we had no real alternative. Foster has probably played about three times as many games as he would have expected when he signed and we have not named the full number of subs in at least three league games. Despite all that we're still in there at the death and we've won the only trophy actually handed out so far. A remarkable achievement I'd say. Having said all that, if we start next season in the same financial state I doubt we could do anything like it again. Another reason why the buyout needs to happen now.

same story for me Guys. I had an account on FF for years but rarely posted, just every now and then when I took the notion. Anyway, after supposedly lurking for nearly a decade I was suddenly "an obvious Tim" because I dared to contradict the central collective. Best to avoid the place I'd suggest, ran and populated by extremist nutters imho.

The bank sold Kenny Miller. Rangers are not in control of their finances and have not been for a couple of years. This is why the White deal must go through. The alternative is all our best players being taken away for peanuts by predators who know we are dying to sell.

The way I see this one is that you have to say that the guy or guys sending these parcels is/are bonkers. If you realise that the perpetrator(s) is mad then it doesn't really take too much of a leap in imagination to realise that it could in fact be a mad Celtic fan trying to make a perverse point in his own mad way. It has to be a possibility. All bets are off when you are dealing with people who are clinically insane.

Got to say it's interesting to see a flock of evacuees from FF on here. I chucked it after the weekend and I wont be back on for some time. I don't really want to go into the reasons but hopefully this place is a little more laid back than over there.

Just signed up for the site tonight so I thought I'd say hello. I've been a Copland road man for 25 years + now and counting during which we've seen more ups than downs thankfully. Here's to another 25 years of the same and some decent chat on here Reading tonight that the sale could go through. I really hope it does because after ten years of watching the decline under Murray we need a new direction really badly and this seems the only route available to break the link with MIH & the bank. Also noting with interest the appointment of Craig Thomson for the game on Sunday. Ain't it interesting how the press choose which stories are controversial? If C*ltic had a ref who had a comparable recent history with them (fat chance eh?) and he was appointed to Sundays game we would be hearing about nothing else all the way to the weekend. Instead we'll be faced with the "best man for the job" crap from the usual bias suspects.