Davie P

I have heard that the mighty Alloa have sided with Celtic. The odds are stacked against us, lads! I suppose democracy in Scotland works on the basis that if you don't get the desired outcome first time around, just keep agitating until it suits! Independence referendum anyone?

Thanks Ian, good common sense being applied. Is Jas Boyd a lawyer?

Was thinking this over the weekend. However what do we do to actually stop this constant sniping and attacks on the club? A statement from Dave King may be a starting point, but as we have seen in the past, this will be held up to ridicule by the MSM. Their no stupid, they can see the way that the wind blows in Scotland and you can be sure that they are going to carry out their master's wishes and go in the same direction as the wind. The only thing that will hurt them (and Scottish football) is a total boycott of the press and other clubs. When I lived in Scotland there was nothing better than being part of the RSC's and going to away matches, so I understand that to give up that tradition would be an incredibly difficult thing to do. However, we as a club single handedly provided for the financial well being of every lower division club during the journey by paying massively inflated ticket prices to go and watch the most horrible football imaginable (twice per season). The thanks we get for that is 42 clubs support (allegedly) for Lawwell's demands for a further investigation. Further, I would employ private investigators to look into tax submissions for every senior person employed within Celtic and the SPFL over the EBT period. Finally, we need to get some serious Public Relations team on-board. Someone like Bell Pottinger or the like, who are not afraid of using the dark arts to stir up the brown stuff. I don't know if the RFF was ever fully utilised but if we were ever in a fight, that fight is now.

Was it not Kranjcar's back-heel? Irrespective, it was a lovely piece of skill. I thought that we made loads of chances in the first half, just didn't take them. Overall, a comfortable victory and really pleased for Candeias. His work rate was phenomenal and Tav is looking much more solid defensively as a result of Candeias efforts in front of him.

During the journey back to the top, I was in favour of building rapport with opposing teams, even those that had voted us out of the SPL. However, the hate fest that we have experienced not only in the Premier, but even before that in the Championship, made me realise that we will always be hated, no matter how we extend the (red!) hand of friendship. The fact that we were able to survive an ordeal that very few other clubs anywhere in the world would have been able to get through, has just reinforced their rage and ire towards us. As a result, I just feel that we should be creating that siege mentality with the players, and get petrol to burn every bridge between Ibrox and any other club. F**k them all.

Not sure I understand why a letter written by Lawwell in 2012 would re-surface now, especially when the SFA have already had their independent investigation? Why is this forming the basis of a newspaper article, what is their agenda?

I can't skip to the next page (keeps going back to pg 1) so not sure if this has been commented on or not. If so, apologies. 1. Strange signing by MW in the first instance. MOH requires space to play in i.e. counter attack football. When you are playing for Rangers, generally the opposition are all behind the ball. As a result MOH would never be able to play to his strengths. 2. He wasn't selected by MW, Murty or Pedro. Are they all wrong? 3. Every time I watched him play, I never felt that he wanted to make his mark and ensure that he grabbed the chance when it occurred. It honestly looked like he was there to make up the numbers. 4. His body language was totally negative when on the bench or in photos of training sessions. He just seemed generally unhappy to be at the club (perhaps his background?) 5. I didn't read the interview or Pedro's comments on MOH, just saw the headlines, but by saying that he is not his type of player, perhaps PC meant that we are not a counter attacking team and as such MOH would not fit into his football strategy? 6. Probably best for all concerned that MOH is at another club, perhaps the jersey is just too heavy for him. 7. Nothing against the boy and hope that he does well for St J and pushes up his transfer value (or at least allows us to offset some of the transfer fee by being a bargaining chip for Walker or McLean in January.)

So overall, what's the verdict on Pedros' transfer window? Are we pleased or disappointed? For me, overall I am not unhappy. Pedro basically got rid on one team and brought in another, so can't be faulted for effort. The Board backed Pedro and found the cash to support his targets. The only downside for me is that lack of a left sided midfielder/winger, where I feel that we have a glaring weakness. I would hope that John has been brought in as cover for Wallace and is not expected to be our new Bud Johnston. However, the chatter is that he is better going forward than defending (sound familiar?) so perhaps Pedro's intention is that mf role. Although I would have been delighted to have signed Walker, I am actually quite pleased that we were not held to ransom by Hearts and hopefully we go back and get him on a pre-contract in January. We are also probably a decent CB short, and I would have the fear if Alves got injured. However Rome wasn't built in a day and going forward we can add one or two quality players, rather than the radical changes that we have seen now. All decent players no doubt, but probably not enough to get us closer to challenging for the title.

South Africa for me! Fortunately, we tend to follow the English version of the language and not the American abbreviations!

Not sure how many of you read Football 365, but they often have some cheeky banter. I was reading through the mailbox today and came across an article written by a Forest Fan. Sound familiar? The more things change, the more they stay the same! I have cut and pasted a few of the sentences, so it may be a bit erratic, but was trying to focus on the relevant bits of his observations. The teams went into the match placed fourth and fifth, but this was more accurate for the away side. The Tricky Trees have made an excellent start to the season, but unlike the visitors, do not expect to be in the promotion picture in May. Forest set up to dominate possession, while United sat back and waited for an opportunity. *Forest’s full-backs, on the other hand, were dreadful. The whole team was incredibly ponderous, but Traore and Tendayi Darikwa were particularly bad. The Trees would work the ball up the right from their own end, approach halfway and attempt to switch play to the left. This almost worked because United were very compact, as the right-winger (Ezgjan Alioski) had moved towards the middle. However, it didn’t work because Traore didn’t ever get his skates on, so by the time he’d got going he was closed down again. *Kemar Roofe opened the scoring, winning a second ball and burying a header. Forest responded with a complete lack of urgency, returning again to passing the ball across the back four. Further ahead, the forwards were getting frustrated because of a lack of service. Countless times, Darikwa would receive the ball either standing still, or where his first step was back towards his own goal. *Andreas Bouchalakis looks like one of those players you describe as “maverick” because his occasional moments of genius are spread out among all manner of poor play. He was in central midfield, but his passing was poor and he ducked out of a couple of tackles. He was withdrawn after 51 minutes, for Ben Brereton, who moved out on to the right wing. *Brereton looked lively when he came on, but only got a few moments to show what he could do. A lot of the time, the defence/midfield were getting the ball to the likes of Brereton and Barrie McKay with a pass of 5 yards, having failed to dribble round an opponent. This meant they had to take on two defenders and often failed. It happened so frequently that it must have been a genuine tactic, but there was no realisation it wasn’t going to work. *I singled out Ayling for United, but a word also for Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper in central defence. As a pair they were immense and instrumental in restricting Forest to one shot on target (actually a tame header from Matt Mills). They posed a real problem for the home side – Forest seemingly didn’t want to put crosses in, because of Jansson’s reputation for fearless heading (even if you throw a brick at him), but when they played the ball to Daryl Murphy’s feet, he was crowded out immediately. Murphy was eventually replaced by Jason Cummings, a more willing runner, but by then it was too late, United were comfortable and sitting too deep for him to run in behind.

Moving onto this season, I agree Niko still doesn't look completely fit and, IMO, until he does he can't play in the left-sided role as that's very demanding physically. However, as much as he has lost any pace he had (I don't think he ever did), and struggled the other day and particularly against Hearts, he still worked hard enough during the game so it's difficult to fault his effort. In that sense, I'd criticise the manager over the player for not withdrawing him earlier on Sunday. And therein lies the rub! If Niko is being expected to bolt up and down the left touchline, he is never going to produce those moments of class, because he is blowing out of his backside after a sprint. Personally, I just don't see how he fits into Pedro's game plan, which appears to be a high press. If you are playing Niko centrally, then you would need to play the two work horses (Jack and Rossiter) to compensate for his lack of movement and probably play counter attack football. Possibly go 4 - 3 - 3 and press from the strikers? That would mean sacrificing Dorrans and Pena, which seems unlikely. Perhaps Dorrans for Rossiter, but I think that Dorrans has far more to his game than just being Niko's minder. I always admired Niko in his younger days for the moments of class, but I am just not sure that the Scottish game (or the Rangers set-up) is geared to get the best out of him.

It would probably suit Dorrans and Pena more, but then we would have to select one of Miller, Herrera or Morelos for the sole striker position. Given the more direct nature of our football this season, Morelos could be left stranded without close support. Ignoring the defence which picks itself, we would probably go with Jack and Rossiter as our holding midfielders, Dorrans, Pena (once fit) and Candeias as the attacking midfield and the dilemma already stated up front. The defence would need to play it out from the back and not bypass the midfield who in turn would need to support and run beyond Morelos (if he is the striker). In my opinion the change in formation would require us to play fundamentally differently from what we have done so far.

Alves had pulled out to cover Wallace, who was out of position after Niko lost the ball/ was fouled. Cardoso moved across to cover Alves and Tav was running next to the Ross County striker and then pulls away. I don't know if he could have got across the player, but he could have put pressure on him to prevent a clean header. To give them credit, it was a great cross from the County player. I have been a big critic of Wallace, both last season and this, and yesterday I felt that at times his passing was sloppy and put us under unnecessary pressure, but he did great in making the third goal. He desperately needs some support down the left hand side though, before he can be properly judged.

Agree with Frankie's comments above. I would add that one big positive that we are seeing is the emergence of an understanding between Candeias and Tavernier down the right hand side. I would like to see Tav going a bit wider i.e. conventional overlapping, rather than cutting inside of Candeias, but other than that, we did look more dangerous on that side. We desperately need a left sided midfielder/winger to get the best out of Wallace. We are so hamstrung by the pace that Niko plays at, allowing the opposition to get all their players behind the ball, which will nullify any magical through ball that he is able to conjure. Pena looked rusty, but I do think there is a player there and it wasn't only for money laundering purposes that we brought him in! Just not sure that he is suited to a wide mf position. Hopefully we can get a bounce game for him over the international break and get his match fitness up to an acceptable level. Also, if we are going to play on a more direct basis, Herrera has to come in for Miller. If we are playing the long ball, Herrera will win far more in the air than Miller, which should create more chances for Morelos.

Foderingham - 6 Tavernier - 7 Cardoso - 7 Alves - 8 Wallace - 6 Jack - 8 Dorrans - 5 Kranjcar - 4 Candeais - 7 Miller - 4 Morelos - 7 Subs Herrera - 5 Pena - 5 Rossiter - 5

Jack was excellent yet again. I thought he was comfortably our best player yesterday. Much of the work that he does goes unnoticed. He mopped up attack after attack, often covering the full backs and centre backs. He also played the killer pass (with his left foot) for Morelos to run onto, when he was tackled just outside the box by Naismith. I don't believe that is his role and Dorrans would be viewed as the more creative of the two, however he is an extremely versatile player and could probably play either role. He did give the ball away on a couple of occasions yesterday, but still had the fitness and character to get after it and win the ball back. I do like Rossiter as well and if we revert to a 4 2 3 1 formation at some point, I think he will come into the team but right now, not at the expense of Jack. Could see us playing that formation against Celtic. I thought that Dorrans was disappointing yesterday. When he signed I expected him to be a class above basically every other player in Scotland, but he hasn't really shown much, other than the opening day goals. Long way to go in the season and hopefully, the likes of Dorrans and Pena come good. Would strengthen the team no end.

Think we have found our "fox" in the box!

I do agree with DJ, and always thought it was bizarre that our transfer targets under the previous regime were for players from the third and fourth tier of English Football. The idea that players who are used to crowds of 2 000 and limited scrutiny from the public off the field, could all of a sudden adapt to playing in front of 50 000 and living in the Glasgow goldfish bowl, was just insanity to me. I think it was Bill Struth who said, " I know you can play son, but can you play for Rangers?" It's a heavy shirt and not everyone has the mentality to wear it as it should be worn.

Bit of a strange one this. From the footage, he plays in a similar style to Atakayi, the young lad we got from Finland, very pacy and direct. If Nemane is going to be in the development squad, this would then presumably be at Atakayi's expense. As has often been asked, why would we provide exposure to another club's player at the expense of our own? It would make more sense that Nemane comes into the first team environment, but perhaps they are playing down expectations. You have to believe that Mark Allen saw a lot of him and believes that he could go further in the game.

Foderingham - 6 Tavernier - 6 Cardoso - 6 Alves - 7 Wallace - 6 Candeias - 6 Jack - 7 Dorrans - 6 Windass - 5 Miller - 4 Morelos - 6 Subs: Kranjcar - 4 Hardie - 5

He played attacking midfielder for WBA (when he was probably the player of the season in the Championship) but was more defensive for Norwich. I think the intention is that he will play a box to box role, which hasn't really happened to date. Probably because we changed from 4 -2 - 3 - 1 formation to a 4 - 4 - 2.

I know that we are all critical of the result, but the performance was ok. We lacked a cutting edge and I felt that there was no passion. After the injustice of the previous week, I really thought that we were going to storm the barricades - that just never happened. It was all just a bit insipid for me. Defensively, we were sound, Jack is an excellent retainer and recycler of the ball, Dorrans looked good to me in the first half and Morelos looks like he is going to be a real goal poacher. Miller, to me, upsets the flow of the game. He is not creative enough to play the "10" role and he drops too deep into the midfield and personally I feel that his positioning actually impedes Dorrans. To move him out to the wing (when Windass was hooked) just shows the deficiencies within the squad. I would far rather see Beerman being brought back into the squad as a left mid/wing rather than attempt to square peg/round hole Miller into a position in the team. I am not solely blaming Miller, he plays in the position that he is told to play in, but once again, Pedro needs to finalise replacements sooner rather than later.

Tend to agree re Windass. Played well against Motherwell and Wednesday, but in both matches, we were well on top (for the most part). I do feel that Windass does go hiding when things are not going too well. I believe that we need Walker or even better, a genuine left sided midfielder/winger. Must be a left footed 'Candeias' somewhere in Portugal! Miller is in the team, largely due to his work rate, and we don't have a direct replacement for him. Kranjcar and Pena would add more quality, but without covering the same amount of ground. I just don't see Herrera and Morelos being played together, unless we go long ball from early doors. I also get the impression that Pedro wants to have a strong Scottish contingent throughout the team, so expect Miller to start tomorrow!

Tend to agree re Windass. Played well against Motherwell and Wednesday, but in both matches, we were well on top (for the most part). I do feel that Windass does go hiding when things are not going too well. I believe that we need Walker or even better, a genuine left sided midfielder/winger. Must be a left footed 'Candeias' somewhere in Portugal! Miller is in the team, largely due to his work rate, and we don't have a direct replacement for him. Kranjcar and Pena would add more quality, but without covering the same amount of ground. I just don't see Herrera and Morelos being played together, unless we go long ball from early doors. I also get the impression that Pedro wants to have a strong Scottish contingent throughout the team, so expect Miller to start tomorrow!

Doesn't really matter now though does it. Job done by Beaton, potentially cost us 3 points.