SteveC

Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!

Bugger it, I missed it. PC down. What was it like

Only if he signs for us in the transfer window

I thought that was a good attempt. It was not on-target, however, as it bounced off the top of the bar. On target means it would have gone in if there were no-one there to stop it so doing. PS Or alternatively, were it to be "on target" then it would mean that he was aiming to hit the top of the bar rather than to score a goal.

Had the thimz been denied the stonewaller penalty that we just were then there would be refs, sacked, marches on Hampden and weeks of outcry

Belated birthday wishes, Pete. I'm not far behind you in the numerals - alas!

It was changed overnight. Skacel was/is the back page headline that was printed, apparently - I'm not in Scotland but the impression I get is that the one on this thread wasn't used in any edition. If you go looking for the Lawwell story here: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/ you have to scroll down to the last story PS See StuGers post below = different editions?

Craig had already covered my main point..............."look before answering" I keep telling myself that but I never listen.

Yes, it is four rounds with relatively big hitters joining in round three and four. Even the first round this season had IFK Gothenburg and Bronby. I realise that the start of the season is messed up even if you aren't in Europe due to the early League Cup nonsense but at least with that the remnants of our second tier team should be enough to qualify. I can't see the same being true of the Europa League. Presumably the players will go on holiday when they finish so there'll be no time to build a team for 29th June. So it is going to be a slog and it is hard to see how it will be a fruitful one. Unless, and this is probably our best chance, we meet teams in the qualifying round who deliberately get knocked out to spare themselves what they see as a diddly cup distracting from their league business with Thursday kick offs.

Sorry to quote myself but to add to the above, I've just been reading on FF that Scotland (you know the country where football blossomed in our absence) has fallen so far in the co-efficient that all Scottish clubs, even the cup winners (or second in the league if the league winners also win the cup) have to start at the first qualifying group stage. Only one club from that stage (48 teams) made it to the group stages last year. This is because teams such as West Ham United, Hertha Berlin, Panathinaikos and Spartak Moscow were in the third qualifying round and then you also had sides dropping in from the Champion's League, such as Fenerbahce, Sparta Prague and Anderlecht. The opening round is on June 29th. Scottish Cup Final is May 28th and Scotland play England (might affect McKay and Wallace) on June 10th. How we would have a team ready for that in that timescale is a mystery, especially as loan players will presumably be leaving at the end of May.

Kenny Miller: "but I think the lessons to be learned are if we are a bit loose and sloppy on the ball as we were, we are going to be punished at this level." At any level. A lesson you would think has been very well learnt by now, since we've been taught it so many times.

It will be so short it will not be like a "summer break" at all and will store up huge problems for next season. As usual we are in a Catch 22 situation. We need to make the Europa League for financial reasons but the qualifiers will impact badly on next season, successfully negotiated or not. If we get through them then we will get some more money to compensate for having the Thursday night nonsense, which will cost league points, to contend with as the season progresses. It is also good for potential recruits to offer European football. If we don't qualify it'll be an unmitigated disaster and have disrupted preparations for next season for nothing except embarrassment and putting potential buys off coming. We belong/need to be in Europe but it's an onerous undertaking. Life doesn't look like getting easier any time soon.

I see what you did there Goodnight all and hope the bears abroad have fun and stay safe.

Hodson more than deserves a run at the right back slot. He was a big improvement when he came in. PS that was meant to be in direct reply to DB's closing comment but then another post intervened

I certainly agree with your last sentence so lets swing back to what seems to be our only point of disagreement - the manager. Who would you have instead? I can't imagine anyone coming in and doing much in a two horse race where one horse is hobbled and the other horse has everyone, absolutely everyone, working for their side. At least MW wants to play football even though he doesn't have the players for it and maybe he can't pull it off but I'm not sure what the alternative is - hammer throwers' contest for exactly the same league position? What other manager, who believes in football, would take up the challenge - and it is a daunting challenge that will be thermonuclear if they close in on 9 and 10 - and be an improvement worth allowing the settling in period for?

I was at that one. Half time was spectacular; either side of it not so much so.

"there is no help for you" cheers pal, a happy new year to you, too. I could say the same right back at you, you know re people knowing something has happened but acting as though it hasn't. I don't want to concentrate on the past, I hate thinking about it, but I am not going to ignore it either. I certainly don't think a change of manager at the present time would do anything but put our recovery back even longer. How long would it take them to settle in and why would it guarantee improvement? It may well lead to far worse. There's no quick fix for where we find ourselves, excepting huge - eye wateringly huge - injections of money and that being spent wisely. We've many years of shite players ahead of us in all probability because of what happened to us. I hope something changes but the reality of where we are is inescapable. If you think I need help for facing reality then we'll just have to disagree on that.

Ah yes, that'll be it. Maybe hallucinated 2012 and the near successful murder attempt on us and I'm wrong that we are Rangers-in-recovery-from-life-threatening-injuries.

Why, were they expecting us to challenge v a team 2nd in the Bundesliga? 5-0 would be about the least that anyone with sense would predict if Leipzig took it at all seriously. I'm not having a go at anyone for leaving, btw, they are there for a party and I'm sure any beer in the stadium is only about 2% - but I'd be surprised to hear anyone is leaving out of disappointment at us not doing well. We are a financially crippled club with a cobbled together team, missing the entire midfield the manager had anticipated, from a footballing backwater, playing the 2nd top of the Bundesliga.

What was our disallowed "goal" like? I missed it

Friendlies are surely the place to try things out?

Well taken by Burke but again we just run into trouble with the ball and set the opposition up. Then they pour through our wide open defence. This could get messy in the 2nd half unless they stop trying.

Me too and much better commentators than normal!

I thought for a moment that Danny Wilson was going to manage to keep that out.

Our flags look great