CammyF

I agree, but the thing is, who would have thought that the captain of England and a world class centre half would even consider signing for Rangers and that we'd get him for �£1M pounds? I bet many in football laughed when Graeme Souness claimed that he'd deliver Terry Butcher to Rangers (including those in England who coveted the England captain). If you watch Souness on SKY, even now, people listen and are captivated by him. He has a presence, people actually listen to what he says (and he talks a lot of sense, and still knows football inside out). Butcher says this in his book - as soon as he spoke to Souness, he knew that he'd end up at Ibrox. Not many people say 'no' to Souness. There are very few people in football who have what Souness has and thats why I am very suprised that he isn't currently involved with a club. Having Souness as a figurehead could make a club - he has an aura, and his love for Rangers still burns deep - I see no downside of asking Souness to contribute to Rangers in some capacity. For me it would be as a figurehead with the likes of Wilkins or The Laudrups as coaches. Cammy F

Fleck came through the youth ranks at Rangers. Decent player as well. Cammy F

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/7764671.stm Roy Keane has left his position as manager of Sunderland, BBC Sport understands. Sunderland have yet to confirm the exit of Keane, who was set to give a news conference at 1300 GMT ahead of Saturday's game at Manchester United. The Black Cats are 18th in the Premier League and have lost five of their last six games. The ex-Manchester United midfielder took over at Sunderland in 2006 and led them to the Premier League in 2006-07. Keane, 37, has said in recent weeks that his future may not be certain hinting that he could leave the club. Their latest defeat came against Bolton on Saturday with the Black Cats losing 4-1. "I ask myself every day if I'm the right man for Sunderland," he said following the weekend defeat. "I asked myself this morning, and I said I was. Sunday morning, if the answer's no, we'll have to look at it." Keane has spent nearly �£70m on 33 players since his arrival in August 2006 including the big money arrivals of striker Kenwyne Jones, midfielder Kieran Richardson, defender Anton Ferdinand and keeper Craig Gordon. ------------------------------------------------------- Cammy F

Can't agree regarding the money Craig - �£1M for Butcher wasn't an inflated price in those days - Ian Ferguson cost us �£900,000. Richard Gough was bought for just over �£2M. Hateley cost just over a million and RW was picked up for �£250,000 IIRC. Woods, Drinkell, Stevens all came with reasonable price tags as well. Their wages would have been higher than we were used to, but their original asking prices weren't over-inflated. Agree with what you say regarding players loving their time at Rangers. IMO Dick Advocaat had this as well, Gio, Numan, Mols etc all loved their time at Rangers and still love the club - this has been diluted since then and is something that we need to rediscover soon. Cammy F

Yes, along with Trevor Stephens (twice I think!) Cammy F

Souness also had the 'bottle' to take on the authorities, he backed his players publically, sorted out any dressing room unrest (ask Butcher and Roberts about this) and also had the man-management skills to get the best for players with limited ablility (and usually sold them on at a profit). His drawing power was awesome - look at the players he attracted - Terry Butcher (who had just captained England at the World Cup and was reported to be linkewd with the likes of Man U, Liverpool, Everton et al). Chris Woods, the promising England international keeper. Ray Wilkens, one of the best midfield players of his generation. Mark Hateley, a player who had played and scored at the top level in England, Italy and France (but was booed for his first 6 months in a Rangers jesrsey). And I haven't even mentioned players like Walters, Ferguson, Gough, Spackman and his couq de gras (sp), Mo Johnston! Wish we currently had a manager with the drawing power, man-management and bottle that Souness pocessed. As an aside, I still love listening to Souness and his signings (Butcher apart, turn coat barstward) on SKY TV as you can still tell that they love Rangers and enjoyed every minute that they played for The Rangers - something that Souness installed in them. A Rangers management team of Souness and Ray Wilkens is just a dream, but a dream that I still hope to come true at some point. Cammy F

Unfair to judge Lafferty at Burnley as he was used wide left in a front 3. Anyone know his international stats where he is played thro the middle as a partner to Healy? Isn't 6 in 16 or something similar? Cammy F

Don't know if he's finished, but he looks unfit at the moment - I suppose thats what happens when you miss pre-season. IMO a fully fit Ferguson is a great player, but he has been thrown in after his injury and looks like a very average player. Cammy F

There isn't an excuse for Ferguson - If you look back the threads I warned about introducing Ferguson too soon - straight after the Killie game when we knew the extent of Thomson's injury, I stated that this biggest mistake WS could make was to put Ferguson straight back into the team. This the ideal time to introduce Edu and to see exactly what he had to offer - WS paid over �£2M for the lad and needs to play him. Cammy F

Why play a forward wide right, when you have 2 or 3 natural wide right players in your squad? One was playing left back, the other was on the bench and DID make an impact when introduced and other was signed on loan from Valencia and hasn't kicked a ball for the first team..... Cammy F

Can't agree - Novo isn't the same type of player as Miller. In fact, we don't have another player who can make the runs Miller makes (Cousin was the closest IMO). Novo has been largely used as an impact player due to his pace and ability to run at tiring defences. I can't remember the last game Novo started in and put in a brilliant performance. However, given the choice of Novo of JCD then it's a no-brainer - however, we have a guy we paid �£3M for rotting on the left wing - why not give him a run through the centre? Or why not play Vilicka (sp)? Cammy F

Having just defended Boyd, I will say that his record against the so called bigger teams is woeful (not just in his Rangers career) - Kevin Thomson has a better scoring record (for a similar number of games) against Celtc than Boyd has. However, he can't be blamed for the defeat on Saturday, nor can he be blamed for the performance. The statistic that is shameful reading is that we didn't force the Hearts keeper to make 1 save in the entire match. If we are to play Boyd, we need to create chances - if we are to continue to play the high ball, we need to drop Boyd and sign a battering-ram type centre forward. Cammy F

To be fair to Boyd, we are hardly playing to his strengths. He isn't a commanding centre who'll win 90% of balls in the air and who'll out-muscle centre-halves, yet we persist on lumping high balls to him and negate his strengths. For Boyd to florish we require a Miller type player beside him and wide-men who can deliver quality into the box. I'm not a Boyd fan, but understand that if he is to play, we need to get the ball down, get it out wide and get decent delivery into the box - if we do that, there is a chance that Boyd will dispatch the ball into the net regularly. If we continue to narrow our game and throw meaningless and aimless high balls in Boyds direction, we'd be as well with me playing up front. Broadfoot has done well at right-back considering he isn't a right-back. However, with WS persisting with him rather than playing a natural full back in that area, we are constantly narrowing our game and leaving huge gaps out wide for opponents to expose and exploit. We can all see where the problems lie, WS appears to be blinded to these problems - or is unwilling to address them. Cammy F

Mendes hasn't kicked a ball since that game at Parkhead. Cammy F

Shock horror - we're away from home, the MOPES are at home Cacmmy F

But it doesn't change the fact that we are 7 points behind, totally inept away from home, have a leaderless bunch of players who can't string 2 passes together. Seriously, you believe that our squad is of the same or better standard as theirs? Our best 11 probably is but our 'squad players' aren't up to the task - as we found to our cost last season as well. Cammy F

Currently 7 points behind the MOPES and if current form continues, we'll be further behind before we entertain them at the end of December. Thats 7 points behind, despite trouncing them 4-2 at their midden earlier in the season. Like it or not, they are on a fantastic run at the moment that shows no signs of slowing whilst we are struggling to hold onto their coat tales. We require an urgent and dramatic upturn in our form and consistancy whilst hoping they hit a 'sticky patch' sooner rather than later. If current form continues, I predict we'll go into the next OF game at least 10 points behind - as I can't see us winning at Tannidice in a fortnights time Cammy F

Can't agree - financially, SPL titles and their ever extending lead this term, they are disapprearing over the horizon - we can't touch them on or off the pitch - has been the same for the best part of a decade now. Cammy F

To be fair, Fleck is just back from injury and needs games to regain his fitness - biy unfair on the lad of we pitch him straight into the first team after a lay-off. However, like many Rangers fans, I don't believe under the current regime that players like Fleck will be given a chance. I fully expect Fleck to be sold to an SPL or English Championship side in the near future. Cammy F

After dragging my sorry ass out of my sick bed on Saturday, I trudged along to Tynecastle with a sense of trepidation as we haven’t exactly hit the heights away from home this season with victories at Parkhead, Easter Road and Rugby Park being the exception rather than the rule. The good thing about following Rangers recently is that it only takes a few minutes to get a feeling on how the game is going to pan out. Once again on Saturday, on hearing the starting 11 and witnessing the slow, predictable and lazy start to the game, the following 90 minutes was as painful as it was predictable. There is so much wrong with Rangers at the moment that an article on a website or in a fanzine couldn’t begin to cover all that is wrong at Ibrox. From the charlatan that is running the circus, to the monkeys that be employs to a manager who is tactically inept and a backroom staff whom appear to offer little input to change this ineptness. The obvious failings on the pitch mirror the obvious (well to some sections of the support) off the pitch, with one having a direct implication on the other. However, the woes off the pitch are no excuse for a keeper who is more interested in shagging his way through the female population of Glasgow than he is at coming off his line when a ball is floated into his 6 yard box. The off field problems don’t excuse 2 experienced centre-halves being bitch-slapped by a forward who failed to make an impression on the lower zeniths of the English Championship. It also doesn’t explain why we have a manager who would rather play 4 or 5 players out of position than playing players in their correct positions (even though he has signed those players to bolster those glaring deficiencies). However, let’s not lay all the blame at the managers door, our squad has been dismantled regularly and all our best players sold on and replaced by a lower standard of player. I actually believe that I could manage an SPL team to a victory against Rangers. It is so easy to exploit our glaring weaknesses. Flood the midfield, get the ball into the wide areas and force Rangers into a long-ball game, and 90% of the time, you’ll get a result. Our midfield is all over the place and so narrow. By playing centre-halves at fullback, our back four is also narrow, leaving huge spaces down both flanks. Our strikers have their strengths, but bullying defenders in a physical battle isn’t one of them. We did have a gifted striker who could dominate an entire backline, who could bully them and who could also play a bit, but he was sold in the last transfer window. Never mind, we did make a wee profit on him (note to SDM – ensure Mr Bain receives another pay increase for that piece of business). Also, this trait of pulling everyone back to defend set-pieces is ridiculous. It allows opposition to flood the box and create mayhem - it also results in us gifting the ball back to them if we manage to clear the ball and it comes straight back on top of us, resulting in us having to defend prolonged periods of pressure. We have to get back to basics – get 11 players on the pitch who are playing their correct positions and get back to what Rangers do best, playing free-flowing and attractive football. Firstly, I’d drop McGregor and bring back Alexander. I would also drop David Weir who’s distribution is amateurish and try Broadfoot as his long-term replacement. Deploy young McMillan at right back and Papac at left back. In midfield, I’d play Aaron, Davis, Mendes with Edu as the holding player and have Miller and Boyd/Lafferty as the front pairing. Having spent Ã?£3.5M on the lad, the least WS can do is deploy him through the middle rather than watch the lad rot on the left-wing. As the title says, supporting Rangers at the moment is like groundhog day. The above failings aren’t new; they have been evident and unresolved for nearly a decade now. We are staring down the barrel of losing 4 consecutive SPL titles and barring two dramatic, welcome and enjoyable last day triumphs, we’d be staring down the barrel of going almost 8 seasons without winning the title. Those two dramatic, welcome and enjoyable last day triumphs, like the UEFA Cup Final (and run to said final) last season have been nothing more than false dawns. It has been debated before, but it is worth reiterating, if we continue to buy run of the mill SPL players, we’ll continue to witness run of the mill SPL performances which will ensure that we gain run of the mill SPL results. We have nothing special within our ranks at the moment (not that we are witnessing anyway) and we have lost that aura that a great team appears to have. No SPL club are frightened of playing Rangers anymore, why should they be, we aren’t a great team and haven’t laden with great players. For those within our support who believe SDM’s lies and false promises and believe that football is cyclical, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it isn’t. Celtc broke our dominance due to hard work on the pitch and by finally getting a board that matched the ambitions of their fans. Say what you like about the MOPES and their board, but they have worked as a team, have deflected all the media attention on to us and have overtaken us both on and off the pitch. They are so far ahead, they are in danger of disappearing over the horizon. We’ll continue to be 2nd best until we change those who are in charge, or change the mindset of those currently in control. However, and again, this is groundhog day territory, we won’t ever invoke change as the vast majority still believe (unbelievably) that the current regime are the best way forward for Rangers. SDM and his lapdogs have cleverly pulled the wool over sections of our supporters eyes. They have managed to make the majority of us believe that protesting isn’t the ‘Rangers way’. They have convinced us that protesting is some how ‘The Celtc Way’. Well Bears, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Just ask Davie White and John Greig if protesting isn’t the ‘Rangers Way’. We invoked the biggest revolution in Scottish Football for Gods Sake. It was Rangers fans voicing concern of the direction of the club under the Marlborough’s and by demonstrating against the legendary John Greig and Jock Wallaces (2nd stint) managerial disasters. Lastly on this subject and the most ironic part, the vast majority of our support like to impart their Presbyterian believes to all comers, yet believe that protesting isn’t the ‘protestant way’…… In conclusion, if we don’t invoke the necessary changes in the leadership (sic) of our club, we’ll be sitting here writing (and reading) about the same deficiencies for the foreseeable future whilst our club continues its fall from grace and struggles to keep abreast with its bitter rivals. We’ll continue to witness players who are average at best and we’ll continue to struggle to win the SPL title. How long are you willing to wait until you force change? Will 4-in-a-row be your nadir? Or are you willing to wait a few years, give the current custodian more time to ruin this club? For this Bear, I’ll continue to fight for change at the top level in the club. I’ll continue to try and convince other fans that the time is right for change (a decade on their shadow should be enough for all of us). However, I fear more and more groundhog days ahead. Cammy F

Walter Smith must also answer as to why he paid over a million for Velicka and doesn't play him. Why he paid �£3.5M for a centre who he deploys as a winger and why he paid over �£2M for a defensive midfield player who again isnt given a chance to play. All very important questions especially when you consider WS would rather play 6 playes out of position rathar than play the likes of Edu, Aaaron, McMillan et al. Cammy F

3 pages directing ire at players who are or arent performing and no one as yet has mentioned our excuse for a goalkeeper. Maybe McGregor should keep his cock in his pants for a few weeks and concentrate on his footballing ability. A truely aweful excuse for a keeper at the moment. Cammy F

Instead of slating players who are being played out of position, lets make a noval idea to our manager. Play players where they are comfortable, where they have experience and where we can exploit their positives. No more centre-halves playing full back No more midfield players playing centre-back No more forwards playing wide midfield Nah, that'll never take off Cammy F

NBM was founded for the correct reasons but was hijacked but certain people with a clear and defined agenda - highlight Rangers fans as the bigots whilst excusing bigoted and sectarian behaviour by Celtc fans as part of their 'complex history'. Good ridence to bad rubbish. Cammy F