JohnMc

Is there a central midfielder coming through the ranks currently that could challenge for a place? Barjonas looked like he might be good enough but it seems clear Gerrard doesn't agree and he'll be away if someone comes in for him and McCrorie is already out on loan. The one I'm waiting to hear about is Zak Rudden. We're short upfront, I don't think we can rely on Defoe and Morelos alone all season, and I wonder if our management team view Rudden as a third choice striker. If we qualify for the Europa League and do well in the cups we'll play a lot of games, whoever our 3rd choice forward is they'll get game time, then it's up to them to hold the position.

There are no 'spare' copies of that esteemed publication, every single one is coveted. I knew a guy from Ballymoney, just a wee bit up the road, who attended revivals in Stornoway back in the day. This is the best Ballymena side in a long time, they should be too strong for our youngsters. I'd love to go, but it won't happen. I did see Rangers play Crusaders and Ballyclare back in the 90s.

Ballymena hi! We should receive a good welcome there and of course NI football is doing okay currently, champions Linfield went through to the next qualifying round of the Champions League last night. To be fair they were 3-2 up at home with 7 minutes to go, only a pub team would throwaway a lead from there.

Ah, c'mon, it was a lovely pass and a decent finish. At 6-1 even I can be magnanimous! It's comedic just how much focus it's got though, I mean had it won them the match or even earned them a point I could just about understand but when it was a consolation during a trouncing you'd think they might have found something else to highlight. But as 26th so ably demonstrates every week, they don't think like we do.

He's the manager of Rangers, that means constant scrutiny and analysis followed by over the top levels of criticism or praise. Thats the gig, that's always been the gig. Gerrard's reaction to the Kilmarnock goal didn't concern me, that's been his reaction to most goals we've conceded. He's a much more thoughtful character than I thought. I'd assumed (wrongly) he was a heart-on-the-sleeve bubbly Scouser, but he's not, he's far more composed and steady. That doesn't mean he's not passionate, he just shows it differently. One concern I have with Gerrard is how he manages people who don't work as hard as he did. Gerrard was a perfectionist as a player, he was the boss in the Liverpool dressing room, and someone who decided if you made it or didn't make it at Liverpool. He'd very high standards and not everyone was able to meet them. I read the Lafferty article this morning and wondered why Gerrard was unable to manage him correctly. Now, let me be clear, I think Lafferty is a clown, he's a brainless waste of talent and someone who constantly displays poor judgement. But he can play football, and when managed correctly can be a highly effective member of a team. Micheal O'Neill has shown that, Craig Levein has shown that, Walter Smith showed that. We knew what we were getting with Lafferty when we signed him. There are still people at the club who remember him first time around, someone must have pointed out that he's not a good trainer, he'll have some sort of domestic implosion during the season and he'll skive off every chance he gets. But, he could win you a match when you need it. My concern for Gerrard isn't that he doesn't display enough emotion on the touchline, it's that he can't relate to journeymen SPFL footballers standard. That he doesn't understand how to motivate and manage a Lafferty, a Grezda or a Barasic. Gerrard, I believe, has very high standards, he expects high intensity training, 100% focus, total concentration. I expect most supporters are agree and think 'about bloody time too'. However, he's not coaching elite EFL, Champion's League quality players. Sometimes, at our level, you need to be able to do something with the shirkers, the lazy and the troubled too. For the record, Gerrard has shown himself to be a much better manager than I thought he'd be, and I remain confident for the season ahead. But if we're doing assessing, that's my observation.

Hah! I wondered if anyone would pick up on that. I know people, who know people, who know people...

I can't see anything other than convincing win tonight. Progres need to attack us and we'll sit deep, keep possession and wait for them to make mistakes, which they will. We're a very different side to the last one that made this journey. I don't expect a classic tonight, but it'll be fairly comfortable.

You need a licence to broadcast radio in the UK, Ofcom manages the process and they're not expensive (a few hundred pounds) if you want to broadcast using DAB. However, you do need to know what you're doing technically, you'll need kit and an engineer at least to set up broadcasts from the ground(s). You also need to buy access to a satellite so the broadcast reaches the radios of those listening, I've no idea what that costs. The big thing needed is the agreement of the SPFL and the SFA, without their agreement nothing can happen. I don't know if the BBC have exclusive radio rights, certainly the fact no other radio station broadcasts commentary suggests they do. If that was the case the whole thing is moot anyway. I'd be very surprised is the club haven't explored this. A Rangers specific radio station, broadcasting interviews, previews, match commentary and the like would do pretty well I suspect and could use the existing content being created for Rangers TV already. As I said I'd be surprised if they've not explored this. Maybe someone like 4 Lads would know.

The BBC is a difficult beast to pigeon hole, its size and resources give it enormous influence. Radio 1 for example has a huge younger audience, the biggest of any radio station and Radio Five Live remains hugely influential across all sports. The BBC website attracts a huge and diverse audience, they've segmented and cross channeled very well, and are industry leading in many ways. Their serious move into podcasts over the last 12 months is harder to measure. BBC1 remains a broad channel, creating programming aimed at a wide audience, BBC2 and BBC4 more niche. Cbeebies and CBBC have their own clear audiences as does the BBC News channel. Their charter goal is to produce programming for everyone in the UK across all their platforms. The challenge is when you look at it on a Scotland only basis because the UK wide channels can skew audiences. What we know is both Radio 1 and 2 have more listeners than any other radio stations in Scotland. Then Radio Scotland is next. However, this is complicated by Radio Scotland (and Radio 1 and 2) broadcasting across the whole country, no other Scotland based station does that. When you look at a station like Clyde, although it has a smaller audience than Radio Scotland in total its share is bigger in the area it broadcasts too. So it and the other 'regional' commercial stations out perform Radio Scotland in a number of areas. Now, I suspect you're seeing teenagers who watch You Tube channels, Instagram videos and other assorted web content as well Netflix and Amazon Prime and with sport Sky, BT and whoever has Scottish football this year. In the end if you want to watch Scottish football you are limited to the channels that are actually showing it. Teenagers and younger people have always looked for media channels different from their parents. Whether that was NME, Kerrang, Radio Luxemburg, The Word or today You Tube prankers and make-up artists. What is also inevitable is they drift back in their 20s to the mainstream and within a few years they've turned into their parents, mirroring, it happens to all of us without us noticing. The unfortunate reality is Scottish football remains niche, it's of massive importance and attraction here, but outside of Scotland there's little appetite for it. That's the market we're in for now. As such Radio Scotland, with exclusive radio coverage, has the biggest market share for Scottish football and until a realistic competitor takes some or all of that coverage they'll continue to exert significant influence. Ironically, the BBC Scotland issue with Rangers might have unintended consequences. Rangers specific podcasts are appearing and some are flourishing as fans look for coverage and insight elsewhere. If, and it's a big if, one of them or indeed the club, could get the ability to provide radio commentary of Rangers matches, home and away, then BBC Scotland might well have a problem. There are many hurdles in the way of that though. However, the longer this dispute goes on the more chance there is of someone finding a way of filling the void.

Yes, ignoring the BBC is not a strategy that will be in anyway effective. Put simply they have the 3rd most popular website in the UK (after Google and Amazon), the most watched TV station and top 2 most listened to radio stations. On a Scotland only basis Radio Scotland has the most listeners of any station broadcasting from north of the border. I understand very well the changes in media in recent times however the BBC remains the single most influential broadcaster in the UK and in Scotland. That may change in the coming years but I wouldn't put my mortgage on it.

Apologies for the late reply I've been on holiday. Again, Celtic are the most censured and fined club in Scotland. UEFA are far harder on them than the SFA are and I'm not aware of UEFA favouring them over us (or anyone else) but I'm happy to be corrected if you are. We've had fines too, we were fined last season for supporters going onto the pitch for example. The 'big' clubs get fined too, Liverpool were fined for missiles being thrown at the Man City bus and Spurs were fiend for a fan going on the pitch same as we were. UEFA are corrupt, I've no doubt about that, but they seem fairly evenhanded when it comes to fines and censures to clubs in UEFA competitions.

Who have you got in mind Coop? Some of the biggest fines have been to large powerful clubs, AC Milan were fined €12 million last season for example, Chelsea have a current transfer ban, Man City are facing something similar and were fined €40 million a few years ago, although it was downgraded to a still fairly eye-watering €17 million. UEFA do a lot wrong but they're fairly consistent in their treatment of clubs for stuff like that. The Tims have been charged something like 9 times in recent seasons. The fines they've got have been in keeping with fines other clubs got for similar offences.

There's a ruthless streak in Gerrard that I think will show itself in his handling of our squad and players fairly soon. Leaving Candeias out of the first Europa League squad, a player who made 33 appearances for us last season, was a glimpse of that. I think signing Edmundson and this pursuit of Helander is a sign that Gerrard wants every player to worry about his place. My player of the season last year was Goldson, he's our first pick centre-half, but perhaps not if Helander signs. That's a message to every player in that squad. Souness did this when he arrived. Signing Gough when we already had Butcher, Roberts and McPherson was a statement to the whole squad that no one's place was safe. I wouldn't be surprised if we sign another left back, particularly if we get some money in, and clearly a forward or two is essential.

To be fair to Darwin there weren't any internet cafes anywhere in 1989!

Best Pod yet, excellent work all involved. Big well done!

I love stories like this. Certainly the area where Ibrox Stadium now sits wasn't developed by the late 1870s although Copland Road and Broomloan Road were both developed and linking Govan Road with Paisley Road by then, and the Ibrox Railway Station was open. We moved to the area in 1887 and our ground appears on the ordnance survey map of 1889. I love grounds that are located in the middle of towns and cities. Surrounded by houses and businesses, genuinely part of their local community. I dislike the newer grounds that have been built in the last 30 or so years on the outskirts of towns. I understand why and I accept they've some benefits in terms of access, parking and so on, but they're soulless places pushed to the periphery. Ibrox, for me, is the perfect stadium. A mix of the old and new located in a city surrounded by people, homes, roads and businesses. I know The Hummell Training centre is an impressive facility but it's location isn't, it's miles from our home and overlooking hills and farms instead of the places our support live and work. I'd prefer the Albion was still used, but I accept why that's not practical. So it's all more ironic, when you look at the old maps, you realise that Ibrox was that 'edge of the town, middle of nowhere' stadium at first. The city built around the ground, not the other way around. I guess land was cheaper and more available, much like now, the further out you went. We were the McDiarmid Park or the Falkirk Stadium of our day. The other thing we often overlook is Govan was a totally separate town when we first moved there. At the turn of the century Govan was one of the largest towns in Scotland, but it was separate from Glasgow in the same way Paisley is today. I wonder how we'd all react if the club announced it was moving to a new stadium, outside of the city at the edge of the green belt.

I'm not sure what you mean by this type of signing. What in Murphy's history makes you think he had a high chance of injury? He's had no record serious injury during his career and was 28 when he joined us so hardly at the end of his career. I'm not even sure it's a fair criticism of Dorrans, he's played consistently over 20 games a season at Championship or EPL level for most of his career and was 29 when he joined us. A squad needs balance, we need experienced pros at, or close to, their peak to balance the younger promising players surely? I'd have thought Dorrans and Murphy both fall neatly into the former with the added bonus of them being local boys who'll take no time to adjust to the environment both on and off the field.

Dorrans and Murphy have been really unlucky with injuries, I don't think you can blame them or those who sanctioned their signings for that. I'm disappointed Dorrans is being moved on, I thought his cameo appearance at Villareal gave us a glimpse of what we were missing. It could be that he's simply not ever going to get back to the level of fitness we require though. Murphy was very effective before his injury, he's an intelligent player, not a flashy one, but I hope he regains his fitness and stays with us.

It will be good to hear the Mo Jo story from a Rangers supporter's perspective. Too much of the narrative has centred around the apparent anger and resistance of Rangers supporters towards the transfer, those people did exist, but they were a small percentage they shouldn't dominate the story the way they seem too. I worked as printer at that time. We were a union shop, everyone had to join a trade union when you worked there, printing, along with most skilled trades at that time, was heavily unionised. There was a big dispute between the main print unions and Rupert Murdoch and his papers, The Times, Sunday Times, News Of The World and The Sun. They'd opened a print plant in east London and Kinning Park in Glasgow and had deliberately employed non-union printers and associated trades. There were pickets every night and a lot of anger and resentment. In another forum I'd explain the long term consequences of the dispute, but for this story the point of it is to explain why The Sun was banned from our work. The Sun carried the exclusive story of Johnson's signing on its front page. None of the other papers had the story. We were a small-ish printers in Glasgow filled with bluenoses, none of who had any idea this had happened. Around mid-morning a delivery driver told one of the guys and no one believed him, we all thought it was a wind-up. Then towards lunchtime it came on the Radio Clyde news, we were dumb struck, it seemed impossible. It wasn't so much that we'd signed an RC, John Spencer had been at the club for a few years too much tabloid fanfare and I never heard anyone say a bad word against him. But Spencer was different, he was a Rangers supporter, Mo Johnson definitely wasn't. I think if we'd signed a Brazilian or a Spaniard or Italian most Rangers fans would have shrugged and waited to see if he was any good. But we all knew Maurice Johnston. Most of the Rangers supporters in my work that day burst out laughing; this was the biggest get-it-up-you we could possibly give Celtic, it was hilarious. They'd literally paraded him as their player a few weeks before and he was treated like the prodigal son returning by their support. Now he was sitting beside a grinning Souness saying how much he was looking forward to pulling on the light blue. It seemed unreal. The Celtic support went into meltdown. The board, Billy McNeill and of course Johnson himself were called for everything. In my opinion they struggled to accept the signing far more than the Rangers support did. For many of them the thought that a Glasgow raised, Catholic schooled, Celtic supporting player would consider signing for Rangers seemed impossible. That the highest profile, and arguably the one of the best, just had, rocked their very foundations. It's not hyperbole to say that I'm not sure they've ever really recovered from it. I think much of the hatred so many of them have for us and the apparent need to demonise and stereotype us stems from that signing. I knew Rangers supporters who were very unsure about it too. Most I knew had a problem with the person, rather than his religion. Johnson had a criminal record, something that would have once discounted you from playing for Rangers, he'd a reputation for being a playboy, there were substantial rumours of illegitimate children around the city not being acknowledged by him, he'd been charged with serious assault after a fight in a nightclub, and of course, he was an ex-Celtic player and someone seen as being 'one of theirs' by everyone at Rangers. Could a player with that upbringing really give 100% to our club? The answer was an emphatic yes. I watched his Scottish debut in a friendly at Broomfield against the deeply unreconstructed Airdrie. Five minutes in the Section B boys began a chant of 'who's the Fenian in the blue', which drew smiles from many in our support, but was rejoined with the first chant of Mo, Mo Super Mo, from us. Johnson demonstrated what we'd bought that day. He worked harder than McCoist, he was faster and more mobile, he was a selfless player as well, playing with his back to goal or leading the line he'd drag defenders wide for others to break through, he never gave defenders a minutes peace. Scoring the winner a few months later against Celtic at Ibrox sealed the deal for any remaining doubters of his commitment. His legacy is worth exploring at some point too. After signing Johnson literally nobody was off limits to Rangers. I've heard rumours of Souness asking Gough to tap up Paul McStay at Scotland matches to see if he was interested in crossing the city, Celtic knew no one was beyond us now and that messed with their phycological make-up. They'd always relied on the best young Catholic players gravitating to them and being paid less and treated more poorly than others in the past, now they knew that couldn't happen. Wages starting going up at Parkhead, putting a strain on the famous biscuit tin, Rangers started to be linked with every player, helping us dominate the back pages driving the Celtic support into even deeper apoplexy, and so began a run of dominance for Rangers almost unmatched in Scottish football history. Signing 'wee Mo' played a big part in that. On almost every level the signing was a masterstroke and a big success. Johnson was a very good player who contributed a lot to the side particularly in his first season. I'd argue his signing forced McCoist to work on his game and develop into one of the best players in our history. I'd also argue that signing Johnson so damaged Celtic that they've never got over it, whilst we now look back on it as just another big signing. Ironically, our other big signing that summer, was probably even more important to our continued success. Trevor Steven was a sublime footballer who provided so many of what we now call 'assists'. The other big realisation of course is that 30 years ago we were signing some of the best players available in the UK, how times have changed.

McCrorie also struggles to pin down his best position. I suspect we all see him as a defensive, holding midfielder, yet he played as a centre half almost exclusively until about 2 years ago. His height is a great asset, I think that's one of the reasons we always played him against Celtic. Protecting the defence and adding height when defending set pieces. Our midfield are quite small as are our forwards. When we play against a side with a six foot plus centre forward we're relying on someone like Tav or Arfield to mark him as the centre-halves pick up each other. Anyway, the story above linking Crystal Palace with Morelos is concerning. They've got money to spend and if they're also going to lose their most popular and arguably influential player to Arsenal they're in the market for a crowd pleasing forward or two. We're in no position to turn down £15 million, we'd struggle to turn away £10 million I think. Who do we replace him with if he goes?

If, next summer, we announced the Bosman signing from Portsmouth of a young midfielder with ten under 21 caps we'd probably look at that as a decent bit of business. That's what McCrorie will be this time next year. As long as he can command a regular starting place it's a good move for him at this stage of his career. If he can't get into the Portsmouth side he won't be getting into ours anytime soon. I like McCrorie but he's a squad player currently and he needs game time. Good move all round I'd say.

It was a great game that's why people go on about it. I've no recollection of the 1992 Scottish Cup Final, but I'll remember the semi final for the rest of my life. It's entirely possible to view one match on its own merits, whatever came before or afterwards. Big Konterman's 25 yard screamer at Hampden will stay long in the mind, but I'd need to Google who we met in the Final afterwards. We didn't win the Champion's League but I'll always remember drawing with Marseille as a great match. Drawing with Celtic at Ibrox when Butcher, Woods and McAvennie were sent off is one of my all time favourite matches. We didn't win it and we ultimately lost the league to them that season, doesn't detract from the experience of that match though.

Yes, I worry his work ethic might not be enough to compensate for any lack of ability. He's an athletic big lad, in theory at least he should be able to break with speed, but I agree you need a bit more than that. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

He's a polarising type of player. He certainly wasn't the hardest working but he created chances in every match, often they weren't taken though. He was effective in Warburton's formation and clearly Warburton is able to get the best out of him, something no other manager has been able to do. McKay clearly has a flaw in his make-up, but for a couple of seasons he was our most effective player in a side playing very watchable football.

Is Jack injured as well? With Arfield's international duty keeping him back from early season games Docherty has a chance to prove he's worth a place. It'll be interesting to see if he can take it. It's funny, but he's one of those players I really want to see succeed. For some reason you get the impression he's a grafter, a player who's trying his best to make it with us. I know that's not always enough, but I hope he does.