Anchorman

Oh God how I long for the day again when Rangers Men were just Rangers Men. Its actually like a re-run of the old Life of Brian sketch. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=monty+python+judean+people%27s+front&oq=monty&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59j0.2829j0j4&client=tablet-android-lenovo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 Anyway Chris Graham does a grand job of sticking up for my Club whenever I've seen him on TV.

I must disagree. I actually wanted to like him today, but to me he was getting to the stage where his confidence was dropping because he was so ineffective, Miller was getting annoyed with him as were the crowd. a couple of through balls he attempted were poor to say the least. If Holt stays fit I cant see him being in the side too often. I wont miss him.

Unfortunately the young fella didn't make me eat my words today. Only cemented my view.

Not sure what the stands hold, but the seat planner still shows almost all Broomloan Rear still available. Copland Rear is shown as unavailable as well (pay at the gate). Lots of spaces still elsewhere. £30K looks optimistic to me but I stand to be corrected.

Is he maybe just taking a different approach and choosing his battles at the moment. If he takes on the SFA and wins does that leave us vulnerable again (I ask the question out of ignorance rather than pretending I know what the hell the ramifications are because I'm lost with the whole business)?

I think he is a victim of his own hype and billing before he arrived as a 'wonderkid' and that is maybe why the critical assessment bar is set so high for him in my mind. If I step back and look at it from a different angle (lets say he is a new kid just up through our ranks) then yes I would say "this boy has got bags of potential and I cant wait to see his progress". I've come at it from the 'wonderkid' angle and that is why I've made comparisons with a boy who did come to us at the same age i.e. Mikel Arteta, and who was further ahead in his progress IMHO. Maybe that's why opinions are so divided on this - some assessing a young lad - pure and simple, while others (like me) are assessing a supposed 'wonderkid' or 'superstar in the making' because of the billing he came with.

Cracking read. Specifically on the benefits of a 'metronome' (while I admit to disliking these types of terms as it is 'food and drink' for people pretending to know what they are talking about, thinking they sound like they do, by using the terms. Although, not in the case of the author). What I would say is that while I am sold on the benefits of the role itself I'm not all that sold on Zelalem being able to do it all that well. I feel that he gives the ball away far more than people are saying on here. I also think his passing isn't nearly incisive enough (a few 'hospital' balls which stop the flow). Last night for example I actually thought he made a number of errors. He isn't very 'street-wise' to tackles coming his way. He can learn obviously but in his case there is a lot to learn. He's maybe a victim of the young superstar 'hype' that came with him. I have seen nothing at all to justify that. The 'litmus test' for me is always 'if he was playing in a Falkirk jersey, for example, would I notice him as a player?' The answer in Gideon's case for me is unfortunately - No. And before anyone says 'but he's a metronome so you wouldn't notice him' - Mikel Arteta passed my 'litmus test' with flying colours when he arrived. Similar age (Mikel just turned 20 the month he arrive) but Arteta had far more in his locker than Zelalem has. He played with a shoulders back\head up authority than Zelalem doesn't really have. He was also very 'cute' at riding tackles and making cluggers look stupid. He also knew how to strike a ball when required (this should be a fundamental requirement for a player. Although in saying that I remember Derek Ferguson had to work really hard on that element of his game as it let him down often) I wish the lad well and I will continue to cheer him on, but I don't see that potential that others see unfortunately. Its just one mans opinion and I would love to be proved wrong.

Whats the thoughts on potential crowd size for Saturday? The ticket sales on the official site look very poor, looking at the seats still available.

Where is the blend of experience that the manager said he wanted? A wily old head showing the way in front of the back four would have left me feeling a lot more easy. We don't have a solid 'spine' as Souness would say. But hey ho the ride with Mr Warburton is far more enjoyable than that of previous years. Fasten your belts folks.

Maybe the RST should get a hold of the software used by that 'pillar of integrity', Spiers, to post 20,000 'likes' online against the statement. You know the one he used to create 20,000 fake Russian Twitter followers?

Incredible for a boy who doesn't know how to strike a ball properly.

One thing that does concern me about O'Halloran - all the talk seems to be about his 'blistering pace'. When will he get to use that with us? 90% of the time we are up against a defensive wall with no room in behind. Has he got more than that in his locker?

Bang on the button.

The one thing I would say is that MW and DW have seen him a helluva lot more than any of us have, and I'm still in the 'I trust in Warburton' camp. Also if that was the game last weekend the Talksport presenters said that he was desparately trying to avoid any contact at all as he was desperate for a move and knew he was going. He also stayed on the pitch at the end himself apparently to wave goodbye to the fans. Anyway hes gone now!

Fully agree. This has all the 'hallmarks' of our transfer windows in years gone by and we don't appear to be learning lessons. There is one thing in being frugal (which I think we are all agreed on), but its another thing all together being poor at conducting our business, and being contradictory in the process which just makes us look plain stupid. "Getting our business done early in the window" (MW), "we've got a few key targets we hope to get over the line in the next couple of day - they are almost there" (MW), "we want to have a team ready to compete in the top flight of the top divisions, a team who have played together and know each other, not assembled in the summer window before the season starts" (DK). Nobody supports our manager (and our board) more than me but I can't believe MW is happy with how its going. I think he must be slightly disillusioned and disappointed with whoever is conducting this business. Even as an avid supporter of our current management and board we should be able to voice concerns when we perceive certain problems - its unhealthy if we can't.

Oh Rab, C'mon now.

I get what you are saying, but I don't believe in this instance that MW would rate O'Halloran at only £200,000 in today's market. I still get the feeling that he isn't going to be happy if we cant close off £500K deals for his first choice picks.

The Manager spoke of a couple of signings he hopes to get over the line by the weekend - "they are very close" I think he said. He's either going to be a disappointed man, feeling let down, if its Diagoura, or we have all been barking up the wrong tree. Looks like he's off to Leeds.

Bound to happen. We do it all too often i.e. do the prolonged haggling in public (going in with an offer obviously way too low). Other clubs watch it from a distance, get a feel for what the 'actual' selling price is and the gazzump us. And we look bloody stupid in the process. Unfortunately it is often the mhanky mob who do it. Watch this space with O'Hallaron (big Selik family). I'm not suggesting we pay over the odds, but either pay what we need to (after an acceptable period of haggling) or walk away . In saying that I hope I'm proved wrong this time.

Can anyone explain? I'm in the dark about this guy. Paid for by them??

I would really like us to get him.

Do you remember the 'ash cloud' that used to rise up in the Rangers End at Hampden when we scored? You used to be blowing that stuff out of your nose for about a week after.

I think its true though what woman say about men and measuring. We seem to 'inflate' our measurements at times for some reason . Oh the black ash - I swear if I had worn aluminium boots (although you would swear I was at times) it would still have got between my toes.

Yes absolutely, 100%, totally - thats what I meant (he lied) !

Cheers Craig - i did say life can be confusing at times