stewarty

Your agreeing with me far too much Ian. Should I be worried?

I reckon its a combination of Yogi Hughes injecting some of his enthusiasm and a young Hibs team to play with confidence as well as the OF declining. That said, if we continue to play as we have the last couple of weeks, they should hold no fears for us.

Regardless of the exact number, we all knew we should make a nice wedge out of CL particiation. Just a pity we couldn't manage a wee run in the Europa to supplement the coffers a bit. What this does say to me though is that we absolutely MUST win the league and get this income again next year. But would this make potential buyers hold on to see how the league pans out?

All the refs are terrible, not just Conroy. I don't think it'll make one jot of difference which one it is. The thing I picked up though is that the guy is 43. So basically he'll hang around as a 'top' ref for a couple of years before being forced to retire by the SFA. Doesn't make sense to me. Surely they should fast track a guy who is younger and shows promise? If the SFA were to take a leaf from Walter's tree of pragmatism (ref today's Herald article), I reckon they could get fans and clubs on side and, crucially, buy some of these refs a bit of breathing space to develop their skill and experience.

If Smith changes things for any of the games it will be the Old Firm one although I hope not as we can really expose their defensive frailties.

Yep, I suspect if he has an allegience it will be to Hearts given that (IIRC) he spent most of his playing days there. I'll stand corrected on that but any talk of who he supports will be the usual speculation. In any case, whilst I think he can sometimes get a little hot under the collar, he is always doing so from his own team's perspective rather than being a Rangers hater. Or a Celtic hater for that matter. And also, if he gets a bit fired up occasionally then I'm all for it. God knows Scotland could do with someone kicking some arses and egos into touch because our biggest problem under Burley was that too many players were not performing to their potential

I think he'll be a good appointment. But then again, I was quite happy with Burley when he was appointed too so that means nothing.

Keep taking the pills then.... Oh, did you hear? Hearts beat Celtic 2-1! :fish:

You in a good mood mate?

One of them said Loovens is the Dutch Adam Virgo..... PMSL:devil:

There are a few on KDS who are bemoaning their defence but there's an equal amount who blame the ref. I'm loving it!!

Typical Mope, wants his team's manager to make more of refereeing decisions. Aye because its really helped Mark Mcghee, Jim Gannon, Czaba Laslo, Yogi Hughes, Gus McPherson et al who've been bleating on for most of this season. They're hurting even more because we've not spent any money for 18 months and we're still ahead of them.

And you could argue that they are not too far away from that given their wins over Chelsea and Arsenal...

Also, as others have mentioned, perhaps the Board shared the view that he wasn't the right man to take them to the next level i.e. the Champions League. By getting rid of him now, they allow Mancini a transfer window to make some changes to potentially kick on and achieve that this season.

Fantastic. Was thinking a draw wou ld be a bonus bute a win for the Swinecastle mob.....:giruy:

I guess the Man City board must be looking at Mourinho's stint at Chelsea. He brought instant success for a comparable amount of money spent.

I'm liking the goal difference. Not only do the Tims know they know they have to win, they know they need to win convincingly to keep up with us. Its little things like the add extra pressure that can really tell over the season...

Rumours from earlier today confirmed. Hughes was to be sacked today regardless of the result. Roberto Mancini appointed and will be unveiled on Monday.

Downloaded it and quickly uninstalled it. Just full of ads and links for the Rangers website which were annoying enough after 30 seconds, never mind staying there permanently.

One thing about players fitness this season is that there is no reserve league. Therefore it is harder for fringe players and those returning to fitness to get their sharpness. Not saying that excuses players from having a poor attitude to their fitness and I would contrast Broadfoot who hardly looks like he's been away, to the likes of Adam who seemed to struggle constantly.

Playing devil's advocate: Is there an argument for Walter rotating the keeping position to keep Alexander happy? If Smith was to guarantee him, say 15 SPL games per season plus a selection of Cup games, would he take it? Shagger can be consoled with the fact he is still number one and, form allowing, will get the nod for the OF and european ties. Rangers benefit because they keep two top quality goalkeepers match fit.

I take the point regarding the timing of it all but that is imposed on us by the transfer window. I can't see how it can be any other way. Rumour, speculation and ticket working are always going to happen as the window approaches. In short, I don't blame Walter. I blame the transfer window, media, agents and player power. I'd go further to say that even if we were in the EPL, we'd still find this happening. Just it'll probably be players posturing for new and significantly improved contracts.

Its impossible in the modern world to do gag players. There is so much media coverage with players being asked all sorts of questions, most of which is bland and obvious. Take today's 'revelation' that Alexander might leave if he doesn't start playing regularly. Smith replies that if the circumstances are right, they wouldn't stand in his way. Now shoot me down with a pee shooter, but I reckon most peeps have read or heard that story about 10,000 times over the years. The other example I'm guessing that DJ might be referring to (although I didn't tune in) is Bougherra working his ticket further by saying he wants to go back to the EPL. I can't honestly see why anyone would want to leave us for the EPL but if that's what the guy wants, do we really want to stand in his way? If we make things difficult for players by refusing them the right to be honest under questioning (within reason), we risk not being able to attract any calibre of player, and especially not those for which we specialise of late: i.e. those looking to put themselves in the shop window in the hope of getting a big move elsewhere. Frustrating as it may be to see them using us as a stepping stone, reality tells me that this will continue for many many years to come unless theire is a massive uplift in our television revenues.

Indeed. I don't know much about Ebbsfleet but it seems that most of what attracted folks was some sort of football idealism and some nice sounding gimmicks. Not saying there's anything wrong with that but when times are hard, idealism is often the first thing that goes out the window.

Show me the money! SHOW ME THE MONEY!! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!