JohnMc

Gaffer, you're not the manager of Rangers and with respect if you're comparing your job to his we're wasting our time. The manager of Rangers doesn't get to have 'shocking days', if he has one he gets criticised very publicly, if he has a few close together he gets fired, we don't accept second best and that's why we're the most successful club side in the world. You might think that's unfair, but it's reality. I can probably accept losing a match, I can't accept losing the tie, that's simply unacceptable. I don't get these excuses I keep reading about lack of fitness, whether physical or mental. That's Pedro's job, if he's sending out sides that aren't mentally fit then he should be fired. There are no excuses for that, bullshit that it's harder to attack than defend, he's going to be facing a season of 10 men behind the ball in Scotland and he must surely know that by now. If we're not prepared for teams defending doggedly then we're in for a longer season than even I fear. I didn't call them a pub team, but let's be clear they are a semi-pro side who finished fourth in the league of a country who are currently ranked 48th out of 55 European countries. Two of the countries below them are rocks in the sea, two are mountain tax havens and one is a war zone. They might beat the Dog and Duck first eleven on Glasgow Green on a Saturday morning but lets not pretend they are anything other than the poorest side Rangers have ever met in European football before now, because they are.

That's the dilemma the board face. If they sack him now and admit he was a mistake they'll be criticised and their judgement to appoint a manager will be questioned. But on the plus side they'll have removed the problem early and have another chance to make a better appointment. If they choose to wait until Christmas, when we're fighting for fourth, out the League Cup and playing to half full stadiums then they can say 'we gave him time and backed him but it didn't work out'. That looks better for them but next season is a write off and we've wasted 12 months. I'm not some hot head who hounds a manager after a bad result. I normally plead patience. I went down with the good ship Le Guen, Bluedell might remember heated pleas to give him more time and backing on another forum at the time. I even backed McCoist because he was a club legend and held the club together during some difficult times when I felt he deserved more respect. But I can't see any reason to keep Pedro. I'm sure PC is a lovely guy but he's never good enough to manage Rangers, he simply doesn't have what it takes and the sooner he's relieved of his duties the better for both him and us because it's going to get horrible for him once the season begins. Glasgow is an unforgiving football city when things aren't going well.

Meaningless? He's shown himself unable to read a match, exert no influence on one as it plays out and unable to motivate a side to improve their performance against the same side the following week. Twice. It's not meaningless it was a less than subtle reminder that the hammering we received from Celtic wasn't a one off. Actually, it was meaningless if we choose to ignore it.

They bloody qualified JFK, we got put out. Freak results do happen, but not over two legs they don't. And you're not seriously suggesting we'll go the rest of the season unbeaten, are you? I'll be astonished if we make it through August unbeaten.

Who? Who has had a worse start than this?

der Berliner, the fourth best team in Luxembourg! Fourth!! Not even the best side. If only you got points for hitting the post and the bar, eh? We scored one goal over 180 minutes against a side of part-timers dB, you can make your excuses in a one off match, perhaps, but not over two legs. Someone in the other thread mentioned Advocaat's first match against the Irish side. See, in that match we were losing badly at half time, again it was early in the summer, that side had not only not played together much but Advocaat had never managed them in a game that counted before, unlike Pedro he didn't get a few months to learn and plot and plan. So at half time Advocaat changed his side, changed formation, moved players about, saw how the Irish were playing and adjusted his team and tactics so that Rangers, the full-time side, ran out comfortable winners in the end. Tell me again about how PC didn't have time to prepare for this match? How long does he need to prepare a team capable of beating the side that finished more than 20 points behind the winners of the Luxembourg league? If our players are "half-fit" then that alone should see PC get fired. Why are our players only half fit for the first match of the season? There can be no excuse for that, that's simply not doing the very basics of his job. PC's ability is questioned because he's presided over two of the most humiliating results in over a century of playing football. You really think that's unreasonable?

Unreasonable? You know what's unreasonable, expecting a Rangers manager to put out a side that can beat the fourth best side in Luxembourg over two legs. Aye, that's unreasonable now. Tell me why should I have faith in PC?

I flew out of Scotland on the 30th of June. Rangers were still in Europe, our most talented creative player was still on our books, there was little talk or thought of EBTs and Pedro was our manager. I returned late last night to discover only one of the above is still true. I'm staggered that anyone can make any kind of argument to keep Pedro now. It was a mistake to appoint him, it was a mistake to back him in the transfer market and it's a mistake to stick by him now just because we've invested in players he wanted. It won't come good and the sooner we accept this, make the hard but necessary change required, the better.

I'll take Hibs on the glorious twelfth if no one else wants it?

Lafferty on a free is a great signing for Hearts, likewise Aberdeen signing Greg Stewart on a loan is a good bit of business. I'd have passed on Lafferty but taken Stewart, I'm surprised he didn't make it down south.

Nah Craig, that's not quite right. Kilmarnock released him when he'd just turned 16. The story is they feared he had a long term injury but popular belief is that was just an excuse and they felt he was too small and slight to make it. Certainly he's been largely injury free since then. Rangers then signed him and he spent a season in the under 19s before the club's demotion to Div 3 and subsequent exodus of first team players meant he was suddenly in the first team squad and getting a game. Kilmarnock are certainly due credit for developing him as a child, but as a professional, when no one else wanted to sign him, we've done the developing. We're in agreement about persevering, although sadly it seems we're in the minority these days.

He was inconsistent last season, not uncommon for someone in his position or at his age. Consistency should come with experience though. But even then he was by far our most creative player. I'm not suggesting he should be paid more than anyone else, but he should be on a par with our top earners. If that turns out not to be enough then we shake hands and go our separate ways, but I'm led to believe that's not the case. If nothing else McKay is only 22, signing him to another 3 year contract makes business sense, he'll be approaching the peak of his career in a couple of years time, selling him then makes more sense.

Or maybe the offer he's been made doesn't match what he can get elsewhere and what others at the club are on. Why do people think McKay is lazy or afraid of hard work? Visibly he looks like one of the fittest players at the club and he's certainly one of the fastest. In 2016 Warburton explained that both McKay and Holt were covering over 14km per game in late March, more than anyone else in the team. That doesn't sound like someone who doesn't fancy hard word. Perhaps he just doesn't fancy the new manager of course. Well, exactly. McKay is a match-winner, someone who creates chances in every match he plays and who will continue to improve as he gains more and more experience. That's absolutely worth persevering with, particularly when we've no replacement for him. I see no point in giving Hearts half a million (or more) for Walker when we could give it to McKay to sign a new contract. McKay is better than Walker. It does seem his time at Rangers is coming to an end and I'm certainly not privy to what goes on in the dressing room, perhaps the relationship between him and the manager has broken down. It saddens and concerns me because I believe he could be something quite special and as a player we developed the club should have a better insight into his thinking and his state of mind. I guess I still think PC will be gone by this time next season and so I'd rather McKay stayed.

C'mon Billy, do you think Walker will still want to play for us if we offer him less money than he's on just now? Or the same? These guys are professionals and want paid what they believe, or their agents are telling them, they are worth. I've never read anything that says McKay doesn't want to play for us, he signed a contract extension only 18 months ago. If the club don't think McKay is worth an English Championship salary they should say so and put him up for sale. I think he's definitely worth that and is by far our most creative player. To sell him and replace with someone who has spent most of the last season out injured makes no sense to me. I'm old enough to remember when supporters moaned that Davie Cooper didn't 'try' hard enough, that he didn't influence games as much as he could, that his attitude wasn't all it should be, that he didn't get stuck in, all the criticisms I've started hearing about McKay in recent months. McKay has shown he can play with the best of them, he's still a young player, like most creative players and most young players he can be inconsistent, but he's better than anyone else who is at the club and most in the league.

This is depressing. Hopefully this can be sorted out soon, we should be doing everything in our power to keep McKay at he club. I read reports that Halliday if off on loan for a year, I wonder if he thinks PC might be gone by then and he can return to the club.

I was critical of Caixinha last season and remain sceptical about his ability. I can't get excited or depressed at his signings as out with Jack and Alves I've never heard or seen any of them play. Signing the Aberdeen captain on a free is a good bit of business, he must have something about him in the dressing room in terms of leadership and responsibility too. Alves has great experience and has spent almost his entire career at a pretty high level, on paper he's a step up in quality and arguably our best signing since the day's of Walter Smith. I remain nervous about integrating 'Latin' players into Scottish football, not only is it a big culture shock on the pitch but culturally and linguistically off it too. The young Columbian has already spent time in Finland so Scotland shouldn't be too much of a shock, the rest we'll just have to hope find their feet quickly. It's hardly impossible, Ceuller, Amaruso, Gattuso, Arteta have all fitted in quickly and well so no reason these new guys can't either. All that being said it is exciting when a new season starts, seeing new players for the first time and the slate from last season wiped clean always brings a new hope. I'm not sure we can take much from Thursday's match either positively or negatively. The proof will come in August and September.

I feel sorry for Halliday. He lost form last season but he was hardly the only one, I do wonder how he'd perform with better defence behind him and a better attack in front of him. I still think he's a better player than he gets credit for. Hey ho.

Is St Joseph's a primary school or a secondary school? I'd fancy us in both legs if they're a primary.

There are clubs in the next round I've heard of, that doesn't auger well.

Good luck Joe. I wish him all the best, it didn't work out, no hard feelings.

Is Walker better than McKay? I don't think so. Wouldn't it be better to give the half million we're reported to have offered Hearts for Walker to McKay and ensure he stays at the club?

The goalie signing is a puzzler. What do we need another 18 year old keeper for? With Fod, Alnwick and Kelly this new lad is already fourth choice at best. And what's one of our players doing joining them?!! Fuxake, what's the world coming too.

This Walker saga feels a bit like Scott Allen a couple of seasons ago. Either Cathro has been told Hearts won't sell him less than £1 million or he's making a very big stick for his own back. Hearts can't afford to keep an unhappy player for 12 months and then lose him for nothing. They'll sell him in this window but selling him to us will be unpopular with their support and for that reasons I don't think they will. I could see him at Sunderland or MK Dons next season because I don't think we can, or should, spend £1 million on him.

Forrester has had 'attitude' problems his entire career, in my opinion it comes from having too much too young. Forrester was a child star, capped for England at under 16 and under 17 he was highly gifted and expected by everyone who saw him to become a star. Watford bought him as a 10 year old from his local side Northampton, Aston Villa then paid a quarter of a million for him when he was only 16. Yet his career since then is littered with failed chances and contracts being run down, it's the only reason Rangers were able to sign him. Warburton clearly felt he could be the manager to finally get the best out of him, Pedro thinks differently. For me Forrester is the type of player who infuriates supporters. He is clearly gifted but his attitude and his application simply don't match his skill and so he doesn't make it into the first team often enough. You see wee glimpses of what he could be, then he vanishes for four weeks. There are lots of players who hate training and could be described as 'poor' trainers, but they're easy to manage, they're diligent in other areas and bring more to the team. Forrester is simply not as good as he thinks he is and without the hard work never will be.

There was an interesting interview with Harry Kane in the Times a few weeks back. Kane, who is a similar height and build to Hardie, was sent out on loan by Spurs and did okay but never set the heather on fire. Spurs wanted to send him out again but he refused and told them he wanted to stay and fight for a place in the Spurs side. Half way through that season he got his chance and the rest is history. Now I'm not for one minute suggesting Hardie is the next Harry Kane but he is someone who has consistently scored goals wherever he's played. That's a great strength. Like a few others I've never been that impressed with his overall game on the occasions I've seen him but he clearly has enormous self-belief and knows where the goals are. He's a big skinny lad, but as he gets older he'll start to grow into himself and become physically stronger, adding another dimension to his game. I'd be really disappointed if Hardie didn't get a chance at Rangers. You'd start to question the point of our youth system if someone who has consistently scored goals at every level he's played at isn't given a chance in our first team.