pete

I had no problem and I live abroad.

I agree that pre-season fitness levels may need to be bolstered with extra slog-it-out training but once the season kicks in and players are playing every weekend and possibly through the week then skill training is enough. Try playing 3v1 for any length of time. It creates almost all fitness and skill factors you will need. Also things like passing from the halfway line to a player on the edge of the area who passes to you to shoot at goal. You have ran about 30 yards as you would do in a game and practice your shooting\kicking skills. All fitness training should be made fun to do and not a slog. I don't believe in this running on a treadmill with electrodes attached and an oxygen mask on. To be honest I think it is a lot of crap and we have certainly not improved since we have had a fitness scientist or whatever he is called.

Good to hear that Feynoord are mentioned instead of Ajax for their youth Academy as it has been the best in Holland for years. Ajax are now trying to rebuild their youth system but were actually only placed as the 7th best in Holland for years. The famous Ajax youth system was a myth for the last 10+ years.

In all honesty it is crazy to think anyone can train 8 hours a day. if you can do that then you are not training properly. Any training done should be with a ball at your feet or involving a football skill as shooting or passing. 1v1 1v3 2v5 and the likes should be a large part of training as that encourages movement and ball skills. Running laps of a football field is a no no unless it is just to warm up. If football training is intense then 2.5 hours a day is enough. Any afternoon training should just be tactical or set piece training. I actually agree with kyle in that rest is also a large part of sporting training.

That should have happened. A CL game at the end of July and we started training around the 5th of July If I remember correctly. That is where I started wondering about Ally. We also got gubbed by a German amateur team as a warning sign. All Dutch teams playing in early European games started training far earlier than we did.

Good to see you back Cammy.

Number of season tickets sold and fan pressure. Green seems to listen to fans opinions.

It is only Tuesday, what a difference a day makes.

Would it matter. At least all the teams would have the same level as Celtic would be hot on our heels across the border. It may be a godsend for the rest as they wouldn't have to overspend to keep up with the OF.

I totally agree with that.

What worries me is he thinks the way out is money and signing players. The players we have are totally under performing and that is part of his job to get the best out of the players. At the speed we play at I could still get back into a defensive position.

I thought you pulled a rickshaw.

RANGERSâ?? fall from grace has, bizarrely, increased their profile around the world. Rangers-is-still-an-attractive-name-internationally-according-to-Ally-McCoist Rangers is still an attractive name internationally according to Ally McCoist And the Ibrox club is ready to cash in by going to either the US or South Africa for pre-season games. Itâ??s all a far cry from last summer when two tours were cancelled, six players turned up for the re-start and the Light Blues didnâ??t even have a licence to continue playing until the 11th hour as their football world disintegrated around them. The fact that weâ??re talking about going to these places is great because it shows the interest that thereâ??s been in the club and that our name is still attractive. Now manager Ally McCoist and chief executive Charles Green are deliberating over lucrative offers. McCoist said: â??Weâ??re hoping to confirm the details in the next couple of weeks but there are quite a few options available to us â?? South Africa, America and probably Germany. â??We will be looking to play three games against quality opposition in mid-to-late July wherever we end up going, â??We wonâ??t do the USA and South Africa â?? just one of them â?? and probably end up where weâ??ve been before in Germany. â??The fact that weâ??re talking about going to these places is great because it shows the interest that thereâ??s been in the club and that our name is still attractive. â??The fact that we still have that pull is very important. â??We want the profile of the club to remain as high as possible but the standard of the team wonâ??t be as high as we would hope for a couple of years yet, thatâ??s pretty evident. â??But hopefully we can end up bigger and stronger than before and that through the rebuilding process there will be opportunities to cross continents again.â? McCoist knows the demise of the Ibrox club â?? and its resurrection â?? has fuelled interest worldwide and he recalls visits from television crews from as far afield as Brazil, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and Hong Kong. â??Thatâ??s because we are a story and itâ??s a good story,â? he said. â??All this gives us the chance to lift Rangersâ?? name higher than it was before because people all over the world canâ??t believe the support weâ??ve had and the fact that we have 45,000 for home games and sell out all our away matches. â??They find it outrageous that a club in our position can do that and it is a fantastic tale.â? McCoist also hopes to be in a position to take new players with him for the pre-season trip even though he canâ??t sign any officially until September. He said: â??It would be vital that we take new players out with us even if itâ??s not ideal that we couldnâ??t play them for six weeks. â??Thatâ??s where we are, but in terms of preparation I would be a lot happier with a good number of new faces to take with us. â??Just to give them a proper pre-season schedule and to work with them on a daily basis would make a big difference. â??Last pre-season was an absolute shambles. We had six players turn up, we werenâ??t allowed to play a pre-season game and we didnâ??t even know if the opening game against Brechin was going ahead 36 hours beforehand. It was chaos. â??So all I can ask for is a little bit of normality in terms of pre-season to prepare and work with the boys and Iâ??m extremely hopeful of getting new boys in for then and maybe even playing a couple as triallists although Iâ??m not sure about that.â?

Thanks 54 that is the way it should be said. I think most supporters think his time is up but the man has been immense for Rangers and should be treated with respect.

Yes probably but it is still difficult to accept it. As I say as a supporter.

I do believe that Ally and his coaching team have been doing their best and I can understand that people think he needs to be replaced. I do have problems with telling a guy who has helped Rangers as a player and manager through thick and thin to fuck off though. I am now talking as a supporter and not a mod. It is most disappointing to hear that coming out of the mouth(or Keyboard) of Rangers supporters. Making it clear you think he should be replaced is no problem and I may possibly agree with that but Ally fuck off is just totally disgraceful imo.

Many said Sky would shoot us into the EPL but it never happened, so maybe they don't make decisions like that. It may just be our thoughts on it.

Is it just me that wouldn't give a shit if Celtic let a foreign team use their training facilities. They must train somewhere or is their a lack of sporting integrity somewhere to stop them from having decent training facilities. I actually think it is the proper thing to do.

Zappa CG admitted that Ally had pulled him over on that count. I think you also have to give Green credit for having no idea of what he was getting into on a political front. we all have to learn from someone.

I will try and get one written although I have not even looked who or when we are playing yet to be honest.

It is a lot better than talking about tax cases, EBT's, administration, Liquidation, the Blue Knights, Duff and Phelps etc. Talking about football and signing players for next season is a breath of fresh air imo, even although it is 99% bullshit.

I think you have to take into account we are not playing at that level on a weekly base. If I run 1 mile a day I can't all of a sudden run the marathon. You get used to playing in the tempo you play every week and get lazy to play at a higher tempo. Spurs against Inter showed that tonight, Inter were not near the tempo Spurs were at.

I always thought the swifts played in light blue vertical stripes in the 70's. I can remember watching them and there was about 2000 supporters in they days I am sure.

Most of the SPL teams are going to be offloading their better players to stay above water so they will be weakened as well. We definitely need a defender who can defend and head a ball but I have faith in the younger players to keep improving and the SPL is not that much better than the level we now play. If we are playing SPL teams every week we will also improve to that standard.

If we play every week at SPL level then we would still end up second with this team. It certainly isn't good enough to challenge the tims but we would be fighting for the best of the rest. We may need strengthening in couple of positions namely defence but most of the players would be okay even in the SPL.