calscot

He certainly showed he was one of our better players against Kaunas, however, he also showed he still has the "knack" of not scoring. He'll only win over the fans with a bit of both.

I think Walter must have a budget of at least 11.5M as he's spent 8.5M and still wants Davis at 3m. When you look at it that way, the 11.5M is pretty generous but we need quite a few players and it's obvious that he doesn't want to waste a penny on over-paying for a player. Davis IMHO has not shown he's even worth 3M never mind more. He's more in the mould of Thomson, Whittaker and Naismith, who all came for about 2M. Even if you put him in the same bracket as Lafferty then you are again talking about 3M. When you have a budget you've got to make the most of it without wasting any money and I'm sure if we went to 4M we could find a better player than Davis. However with our budget and rebuilding needs, 4M is too much to spend on one player. It seems to me that we have a notional limit of about 3M based on potential for enhancing the team and potential return should they get better or potential loss if we have to get rid. Arteta has turned out to be a pretty good player, yet we lost 3.5M on him and 6M on Ball. That's too much loss for our finances.

And I'm allowed an opinion about your opinion - and when it seems disingenuous or based on miss-truths, as yours seems to me, then I have a right to have a go.

PS To be honest I don't think SDM has been too bad lately - he sorted out our debt, he brought in the most promising young manager in Europe which ultimately failed but who was to know? Then he brought in someone who has had previous success at Rangers, gave him a decent budget and we were a whisker away from a fantastic season. Never in Rangers prolific past would last season have been seen as the failure it is seen as today. He is LOOKING INTO expanding the stadium but has promised nothing and only released a few details of what was being looked at to head off a leak in the newspapers. His one failure here, was to promise a report which is as yet not forthcoming, but hardly the biggest crime in the world. He did lose interest at one point and has admitted he doesn't want to do it forever, but whether or not you like what he's doing, it seems his appetite is here for the moment - perhaps to try and leave Rangers on a high. I think the greatest criticisms at the moment should be more aimed at some of the stuff Bain is coming out with and if you want to slag off the team, then that's Walter's domain - I can't see much interference or lack of backing from the Chairman. Our transfer budget has been incredible for the past few seasons but people are unfairly comparing it with the Premiership which is hardly Murray's fault either. If you have a specific complaint, there's a good chance I'll agree with you but to paint him as something he isn't is either ill informed or a personal vendetta.

Me, a Murray fan? You're having a laugh! What I am, is a fan of only giving criticism where it's due - and only giving praise where it's due. I argue with people when they praise Murray for stuff he never did and I argue when they slag him off for stuff he never did.

Ah the "truth"... So what is your forfeit if Cuellar stays? We need a central defender, we get one and it's a joke of a transfer? You want us to get rid of defenders? You don't think Walter is working on getting a couple of midfielders and offloading strikers? You think it's piss easy? This is the kind of crap that makes me want to go to some OF forum where at least I can feel I'm arguing with my enemy's nonsense.

PS Perhaps I'm being too polemic these days but I'm struggling to think up a better way to encourage people to be more constructive.

I don't want to curtail avenues of thought, in fact IMHO the stuff I'm getting at contains little thought at all. But I want us to discuss the real issues instead of twisting stuff to make it more moanable. There is a vast difference between discussing the merits and annoyances of a football club than just continually having a go at them without any regard for the truth. We complain that the media do this all the time and the club has no-one to come to the defence, so that's why I defend the club on here. Our biggest detractors used to be the Tims but it just doesn't seem that way to me any more...

In all seriousness I think we should have started two weeks ago to allow us to get up to speed before a very significant CL qualifier both for Rangers and Scotland. Give the players the three weeks off in January/February instead - I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

I'm not getting at those who think there is a possibility of certain things happening - it's those continually, arrogantly and almost gleefully stating things like, "Cuellar will definitely be off", or "Fact - Walter will only have 3.5M to spend". I love discussion but I think there are too many people these days who seem to just be having a pop at Rangers rather than discussing anything. There's a undercurrent of superciliousness and snideness I haven't seen since we had a few Timposters. I'm all for skepticism but some of the cynicism on here deserves a repost. Rangers to me is like a family member, it's fair enough to criticise when it's warranted but making stuff up, exaggerating or twisting things just to have a snide go at my family, is going to get my back up. However, it's seems it's getting fashionable to do so - to quote from One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Nest, "it's like hens at a pecking party". It's easy to say you're being constructive, but as Murphy (Jack Nicholson) pointed out, it doesn't really help anyone. The fact is that some people did state that we'd have 6M or less to spend. They are totally wrong. Some also said Cuellar would go - they are also wrong. Some said the 3 strikers was the end of the spending - they were wrong. These people defend their comment by saying they are being realistic - but how can they be realistic when they are wrong, wrong and wrong? How can I feel these guys are on mine and Rangers side, when they are repeatedly sniping about stuff which is completely and utterly wrong? How is constructive in the slightest? In the end, to me it's not what is being said, it is the tone that gets me - and many times the tone to me is like that of a foe not a friend.

I agree, if you're going to slate him, wait till he's finished first. The amount of pathetic lies that have been posted on here have been of Tim-like proportions and you have to wonder at the agenda of some of the posts. People have actually stated as FACT that we'd have 3.5M to spend and others have stated 6M. Well, we're already at 8.5M and counting. So, for all those detractors - GITRUY! The same type of people have stated as FACT that we were selling Cuellar, MacGregor and Boyd. Well, sorry to disappoint you guys, but they are still here - live with it! I just hope we can have a good season with us at least winning the league, to add to the misery of those who are reveling in their assurance that we will fail.

I think the weird thing is that we seemed far better prepared last year with almost a whole new team. Even our friendlies went well with a draw against Ajax and a win against Chelsea. This season's preparations seem very shaky in comparison.

Depends if we win on penalties. And going by last season we've a pretty good chance...

While I agree that Murray may not be the best leader of our club, I have to say your synopsis lacks any foundation. Last season we were a whisker away from our most successful season ever. If that's going backwards then I've got everything the wrong way round. We've gone from losing the league by ten to twenty points to narrowly losing at the end with the mitigation of a horrendous schedule of games. We've also gone from a ranking of 50 odd in Europe to the top 20. Doesn't look like backwards to me. We may have had a bad result last night but are you going to prejudge our season after one game? As to spending money, where is it supposed to come from - or do you want a sugar daddy like Abramovic who has put his club into about �£700M of debt? That's ok while he's there but what if he completely loses interest a la Brooks Mileson? A new owner can't rely on the fans financial backing either if the last share issue is anything to go by. The spending over the last few seasons is actually extremely high when you look at our finances. You could even say too high as our debt is not exactly comfortable. As for the stadium, I'm sure something will come of it but I doubt it will be a 70,000 super stadium. All that is happening right now is a feasibility study and Murray has not blown it up to be more than that - it is the media and fans like yourself that have done so. At the moment Murray has expanded the stadium to a 51,000 all seater which has attained 5 star UEFA rating. Celtic may have a larger stadium but it is not 5 star as it is nowhere near the same quality as it was built on the cheap with thousands of seats having a restricted view. Hampden is also larger but only by about a thousand seats and again it does not match the quality of Ibrox, especially if you think about how far some fans are away from the pitch. We don't have the largest stadium in Scotland, but we do have the best, are you going to blame Murray for that? As for having his heart in it, he seemed to have lost it a few years ago, when he "broke" his plaything, but whether or not you like what he's doing, he seems to be back with motivation again. I think the only think you have genuine complaint about is that he promised an announcement about the stadium in May which he didn't deliver. Then there is the question of whom you would like instead? Romanov? You may not like Murray, and most of us would like to see a new owner, but at least get real about it instead of making it up.

Everyone seems to agree that they should be played and are saying so in a way that you must be stupid to disagree. So why isn't Walter playing them? Is the crux of the matter that if we fail to progress against Kaunas, then we are totally out of Europe? No CL and no UEFA cup! Even if we're playing crap, surely he thinks it's too big a risk to introduce youngsters for a game of that magnitude? It's easy to say it from your comfy chair, but would anyone really rest the future of your career and the financial success or failure of their company on a couple of teenagers? Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't trust most teenagers to pee in the toilet without missing never mind scoring a crucial goal which could be worth 10's of millions of pounds. And would you really trust a teenager to clean up the mess after them? So how about cleaning up their mess in a football match? Maybe we'll see them this season but it will surely be in the cups and lesser league games to start with?

The "Carmen" music is "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orf. The piece is called "O Fortuna". It's been made very famous by The Omen and the Old Spice advert. Not to be confused with the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet. Smart arse loyal...

Thought Bazza did ok. Gordon Ramsay himself is not exactly the epitome of charisma - and he used his f word far more than Bazza used his - "Fud".

I'm against the campaign for plain English as it would reduce the richness of our language but I would join a campaign for CLEAR English. That statement seems more designed to confuse than to clarify. I can't make much sense of it. It seems he's saying we increased season ticket sales due to the amazing initiative of offering a free training day. I would like to know exactly what they've done to the pitch to make it playable in all conditions, but no explanation is there. Maybe Harry Potter has cast a spell on it or something... I can't believe that more intrusive and distracting advertising will provide the ultimate entertainment system. Maybe it's to distract from the perceived lack of entertainment on the park. And is that the full stadium announcement due since May? With a capacity increase of zero. And Rangers are charging clubs 5% distribution fee to SAVE Rangers fans money - please, please explain how. Either Bain is a half-wit with a thesaurus and "Technobabble for Dummies", or he's deliberately trying to pull the wool over the fans eyes. I can see from this why he is so detested.

I would. Murray Park's youth academy did not come about by chance. It's part of the long term strategy by the club to provide a conveyor belt of decent players to the squad without having to break the bank every year. Walter will know this and it will be a resource he knows he'll have to rely on. He's already shown a commitment to playing a younger squad and picking up the best young talent from the SPL, who not only can be developed into top Rangers players but can also be sold on for a profit when the time is right. Walter may not be well known for playing a team of teenagers, but who is? That "team of kids" at Man U had one teenager - Phil Neville who was 18.5. The team also had a 29 year old, a 30 yo and two 31yosm, as well as two at 24. The rest were 20 or 21 - but it has to be said that, that team was exceptional or all teams in the Prem, including Man U would be using it as a template. I think it's also unfair to compare pretty much any manager to Sir Alex. Just because he can do it, doesn't mean anyone else can. Even then I think Fleck and Furman will have a role to play next season. However, Smith did regularly play a 20 year old last season and has bought another 20 year old international. He also played quite a few players between 21 and 25. In addition his first choice keeper is our youngest for long, long time. But to see what happens when you play a very young team full of talent, you only have to look to Hibs who have done a great job of bringing through young players. Doen't help them win the league though and they often struggled to hold any sort of form for a whole season - and what's their record in Europe? So to say Walter doesn't play young players is a fallacy and when people use the phrase, "If they are old enough, they are good enough," they miss the first point of evaluating whether a player is good enough. Most of the time they are not, and therefore, not old enough.

Considering the lack of options in midfield I can see us going with: MacGregor Whittaker Wier Webster/Dailly Papac Novo Hemdani Thomson McCulloch Miller Velicka

Trouble is that Furman doesn't look quite good enough -YET. So it seems he's not old enough. Fleck looks like he's ready to be gently introduced to first team football.

Can't see us signing three strikers and then going for a basic 4-5-1. A 4-5-1 that more readily turns into a 4-3-3 is a possibility but IMHO the signs are that we might be heading for a 4-4-1-1.

It's pretty simple - If we don't make the CL or a long run in UEFA we make a multimillion pound loss. We get CL or a very good run in UEFA and we just about break even. CL and a UEFA run means we make a profit. That's all BEFORE we spend a penny on transfer fees. Last season we just about broke even and then spent about �£10M on players and increased our wage bill. That 10M needs to be paid back from somewhere, and that's where the Hutton and other tranfer monies will be headed leaving us about 16M in debt which still has to be serviced. This year we should make a profit (outside of the transfer income) but it's not likely to be more than about 10M - and probably less - which is where this season's transfer budget will come from. If we want better players then our wage bill will also increase again. People also have to remember that increased revenue also comes with greater costs - there are many costs for every home game, and travel and accommodation for away games, then add in all the player bonuses etc. So by the time we finish spending on the squad we'll just about break even to the point we were at before spending on players last year. There is only a finite amount of money and you can't spend more than your earn every year - as lots of people are finding out with the credit crunch. The money that comes in doesn't just disappear and it's all laid out for anyone to see in the published accounts which should contain a Profit and Loss Account Statement, a Balance Sheet and a Cash Flow report. Why not have a good read of the accounts? To understand it you'll need some basic accountancy knowledge, and I've found that a book called "Accounting in a Nutshell" by Janet Walker has helped.

I think the difference here is that players are still trying to get match fit.

Novo Whittaker Thomson Hemdani Dailly McCulloch Adam Beasley Furman Fleck Not brilliant, but certainly not bad enough for a panic buy against Kaunas, so I can see where Walter is coming from. I really can't imagine the window will close without at least a couple of additions to the midfield.