calscot

Barcelona all the way... I'm hoping for a Roma v Barca and Liverpool v Fenerbahce semi finals, with a Barca v Fenerbahce final.

Still don't get you. At the risk of repeating myself, if Celtic were given a walkover against Gretna, or even if they play Gretna and win like expected, it will put us in the exact same position as the Gretna points deducted. There is no extra pressure as there is no real change. If we slip up it is the same for us whatever of the three scenarios comes to pass. The only thing that could make a difference is if Celtic were in danger of dropping points against Gretna. If that's the case then maybe Rangers fans should do a whip round to keep them in business till the end of the season. Or maybe Rangers FC should loan them the money. Otherwise, it's all irrelevant.

We can only rest Barry in a game where we are sure to win without him. All the other games are too important. That makes the Partick Thistle game the only candidate.

We should just enjoy the glamour from the latter stages of the competition than worrying about an easy draw. We've just got to our first quarter final in 25 years so we can hardly complain if we go out on our arses. Walter is in the middle of creating a miracle and I'm loving this season.

I'd agree with that team.

You sound like someone who cuts off his nose to spite his face. It seems obvious to me, they are having a cash flow crisis and if you don't play they will automatically go into liquidation as they can't, "trade". Then you're guaranteed to be out of a job and will be lucky to get the wages you are owed. However, if players wait a while for their wages while continuing to play, then Gretna are able to start bringing in some cash and may be able to bridge the gap. You may then be able to keep your job till the end of the season and possibly get paid in full. Not only that but your employer could survive. THe SPL have already promised 100k if Gretna can prove they are capable of playing to the end of the season. How will they do that if players won't play? People have to grow up and think of the bigger picture than just about their own immediate wants. What the players need to do is settle for a fraction of their wage which gives them enough to live on and be owed the rest. Work for them is also a lot different from us - train a bit and then play a match. Not exactly nose to the grindstone. If it was my job I'd continue to work while looking for another job.

If you give Celtic a walkover, we're still level with two games in hand and have the hard work to do... We have to win those games regardless of whether Celtic play Gretna. We have little to complain about except the fact that Celtic have struggled against Gretna and the bankrupt team had a very small chance of taking points off Celtic. If we had just lost to Gretna, I doubt you would have wanted to give Celtic a walkover. Unless you are of the highest integrity...

I don't have much sympathy for the Gretna players as they are refusing to play without being paid. Now I know in most jobs, people wouldn't either - but if playing for a couple of weeks without a wage packet saves your employers from liquidation and maybe give you a job till the end of the season, then it's surely worth doing and it's only playing a few games of football ffs. Typical mercenary attitude by footballers who continue to show why they rarely deserve the slightest bit of sympathy.

Looks like Ascender needs to concentrate more too, Ragers [sic] indeed!!!

You could be right. Cousin holding the ball up allowed the midfielders to get up and take possession. He was a release valve for the pressure and gave the midfield more confidence on the ball.

PS The result will be that no team will be promoted to the SPL without their stadium in place and proof that they can fulfill their fixtures. In my opinion, the SPL should bale them out to enable them to finish the season. The integrity of the league is worth the few hundred thousand it may take - and it's only about 30 grand per club. It's money they have to write off which could end up being less than what we lose in sponsorship and tv money if our league becomes a farce.

The Gretna points make no difference except that Celtic struggled to beat them in one game. It just means we lose 3 points but gain a game in hand. Celtic would be likely to beat Gretna, especially in their present state and so we'd effectively lose those extra points anyway. In both scenarios, the outcome is the same: we need to beat Hibs to maintain our lead. So really, not much difference. Other teams in the league will see a difference if they or teams around them dropped points to Gretna.

PS I think Barry was immense in the first game and was pivotal in us getting through. When I think about that, it makes me wonder how you can justify dropping him. No other midfielder we have, is capable of raising our midfield to a level where we can dominate top European teams. A good Bazza adds more than a poor Bazza takes away. He's worth the risk: we may have more consistency without him but we would have been more likely to draw the first game and lose the second.

The trouble with last night is that our whole midfield was poor. Was Davis better last night or is it that Bazza had at least three glaringly dreadful passes? Hemdani was also out of sorts and Dailly not as effective as usual. Adam was hardly on the ball at all. Our whole midfield basically went missing which meant our defence suffered a barrage for 90 minutes.

Miles knew the costs and accepted them so should pay for the season. He had the chance to turn down promotion and without a stadium, should have done so. Unless he is being incredibly callous, I would assume, that for some reason, he's discovered he can no longer afford to subsidise the club. However, it shows why sugar daddies should not be allowed. Spending should be kept within limits of your income. It's fairer all round and stops clubs going out of business at the whim of a rich businessman with too much vanity for the club's good. The upshot is that a first division club has been denied promotion, an SPL club has been denied a European place and Gretna could cease to exist after only a few years in the Scottish league. Brooks has a lot to answer for...

With the following going into the semi final draw tomorrow: FC Barcelona Esp Manchester United Eng Arsenal Eng Fenerbah�§e Tur Chelsea Eng AS Roma Ita Schalke 04 Ger Liverpool Eng I can only see Barcelona stopping an English team winning it. Fenerbahce won't get past this round, Roma are no better than the Milan teams who were both put out by English sides in the last round. Schalke are in a league that is no match for the big guns especially after seeing Stuttgart, Bayern and Werder. So I really hope Barcelona do it as I can't stand it when English teams win it. It's as bad as listening to the Tims about 1967...

The list is now Bayern M�¼nchen Bayer Leverkusen Getafe Fiorentina PSV Eindhoven Zenit St. Petersburg We could have a date with Dick Advocaat in the quarters. Funny how he couldn't get to that stage with Rangers. Also could see a reunion with Ricksen.

Gretna have shown the danger of relying on a sugar daddy. You really have to make your income sustainable or you have the risk of going under as soon as the owner closes his wallet. It's kind of cheating in my opinion, as other clubs putting in genuinely earned cash, just can't compete without putting themselves out of business too. That's why many 1st division teams will not be shedding any tears. I think spending should be limited to a certain percentage above turnover and debt levels pegged the same way. Overspending is pretty similar to drugs in sport, if you allow it everyone has to do it to compete - and then you end up with a lot of sickness and side effects. Therefore banning them is the only option. This would have prevented the Leeds meltdown, Chelsea's and Hearts' huge debts and also Rangers' dangerous overspend. The Man U sale would also not have been allowed under my rules. Miles owes it to Gretna to bale them out to at least allow them to survive at a sustainable level. I feel for him about his health but I don't understand why that it is stopping him from saving the club from a position he single handedly put them in. What kind of legacy and memory does he want to leave behind? The guy who's ego killed Gretna FC?

Romanov...

I think we can do it as long as we don't have to chase the game a la Lyon at Ibrox.

The only reason I can see for the gap being closed to 1pt is that we've played one more game against Gretna than Celtic. That being the case you'd expect them to win that game anyway making no difference. The result is that we are one point ahead with a game in hand.

I thought Bazza had an outstanding game after being off form for a while, and when he does so, we are a much, much better team. He chased, tackled and blocked everything while remaining calm and creative on the ball. We need him in this form in every European game. Hemdani also improved but is still not as slick and effective as earlier in the season - Dailly helping him out certainly improved matters. I've been impressed with Dailly, after originally being wary of his signing - although I thought he'd be a good squad player and a notch above Ehiogu. However, he's really giving Thomson and Hemdani a run for their places. Great player to have around in a long season as he can play just about anywhere. Let's give him at least another season, if not two. Davis has also been a revelation and not only has he improved with every game, I don't think it's a coincidence that Fergie has as well. He takes a lot of pressure off our captain and they also gel well. Again while I thought he'd be a good squad player, I wasn't overly inspired by his loan, but now I want him signed pronto. It's also great to have more bodies to fill the centre midfield as at one point we were playing our three best there at the same time, with only Faye (eek!) to come in for injury. Walter has again been proven right when it comes to Adam, he's told us to lay off the lad and I think we should heed that advice. He's still a young with some rough edges but last night looked like one of the best players on the park and definitely the most dangerous. He can definitely do it, he just needs to work on consistency. Booing him is certainly not going to help. Maybe he needs to watch a few recordings of his good games and bad, and let him work out what he does differently. I was really pleased that Cousin's deal fell through which was more to do with Darche's suspension and injury problems. We have no-one else who can really lead the line in the solo role and it's great to have two players who can do that. He played that role immensely last night, holding the ball up in a way that Boyd can only dream of. He also attacked the goal well, always asking questions of the keeper, and given Weiss's foibles he was doing the right thing. His goal could be considered a lucky mistake but it still took a fantastic strike to bring out the keeper's gaffe. Testing the keeper also brought the second goal and brings home how important it is to get powerful shots on target and have players always following up. MacGregor had only two real saves to make and performed them with aplomb. The rest of his general play was impeccable and we have no worries about him at all. He'll be pleased with his 8th clean sheet in 13 European games this season. Broadfoot stepped into Hutton's shoes and did himself proud - in attack as well as defence. Not quite as assured or as skilled as his expensive predecessor but put in a great shift that Hutton would have been pleased with. Weir was outstanding and belied the tired look he's had of late. Never caught out once and rescued the team a few times after poor mistakes allowed the Bremer attackers forward. Cuellar had another great game too, however he needs to concentrate on his distribution and be careful about giving the ball away cheaply in a dangerous position. Tackled and headed like a masterclass. Papac was solid again and much better coming forward. Showed some neat tricks and good ball control at times but lost the ball cheaply with some poor control at others. Good game for him but needs to cut out too many mistakes. I thought McCulloch did a very good job coming on for Cousin and was so unlucky not to score. Needed to do an Henry and just chuck his whole body, elbows and all at the ball. It was a fantastic tackle though and Lee did well to get into the scoring position in the first place. That tackle probably evened up the goalkeeping mistake for the first goal, so 2-0 was probably the right result reflecting the play. Walter Smith just keeps on coming up with the goods, and apart from the Lyon home game has picked the squad and tactics to perfection in Europe this season and this could be the first time we've got to the last 8 in Europe since '93. However, we should not take the 2-0 for granted as we've been there before with Dortmund, lost 2-0 away and then went out on penalties. I think Kaiserslautern also put us out at the same stage after we won at Ibrox. All in all it's looking like a great season with us also at the top of the league, a final to look forward to and still in the Scottish cup. We're on a great unbeaten run and also a run of 11 straight wins in the league. This is shaping up to be our best season on all fronts for a long, long time.

After tonight, I'm hoping Cousin will stay for a while. Remember, he'll bewatching Fulham in a relegation scrap before most likely going down to the Championship, while at Rangers, he plays to win a treble, while doing well in the CL and giving a good go of getting to the UEFA cup quarter final and maybe even beyond. Maybe he'll get a reality check...

We beat the German champions at home and were unlucky away but beat them overall in the "tie" on away goals rule. No reason why we can't do the same to Bremen. We are a more cohesive unit now, despite being weakened by suspensions, injuries and a player sold. Bremen also cannot pick their first choice side which evens the playing field. It will obviously depend on how the teams play on the nights but looking at how both teams have performed in Europe this season, our chances can be no worse than 50-50. I thought the same with Pana and we just shaded it; maybe that could happen again...

The reports always seem to be in the more bloggie fan sites rather than the proper press, so it's more rumour mongering than fact. The quoted price is 1.5M not 3M.