calscot

Smith and youngsters? Rino Gattuso and Barry Ferguson, two of the best... Also Durrant. He gave quite a few young guys a chance Hughs, Murray, Nesbit, Clelland, Pressley, Moore, McInnes, Reid, McLaren, Nicholson, Hagan, McSwegan and many others.

Barry, I've tried to rise to the challenge... What about this?: There have been many jokes lately about Rangers having seemingly picked up Celtic's old biscuit tin from some car boot sale. I usually defend against this by highlighting that while Rangers are not spending outrageously like they did under Advocaat, they have still been spending steadily over the last five years at a rate far higher than Celtic's dark, parsimonious era, and then not that much below the other half of the Old firm in their current sunnier climes. Celtic fans gleefully highlight that last year they bought Jan Venegoor of Hessalink and Graveson for a total of 7.5M (they think they are loaded) while forgetting that they brought in about 6M for Petrov to pay for most of it. Rangers similarly spent 8M after selling Boumsong a couple of years back. They also seem to forget that Rangers forked out 650K on Svensson, 1M on Papac, 2M on Thomson, and 1.8M on Sebo in the same period, which all adds up to about 5.5M. I think Murray would have to have a very large biscuit tin to hold that sort of wonga and it's only a few million less than Celtic spent in one year. This isn't too bad considering a couple of multi-million pound offers fell through for McCulloch and Brown. However, with Chic Youngââ?¬â?¢s confident prediction of Scott Brown going to Rangers for 3M, instead morphing into a transfer to Celtic for 4.4M, questions about spending power have started to hit home. When you start to tot up the transfer cost of a possible Rangers first team this season it starts to take on a certain scary look. If all players are fully fit and playing well a feasible first choice team could be: MacGregor - free Hutton - free Weir - free Ehiogu - free Smith - free Burke - Free Ferguson - effectively free Hemdani - free Adam - free Prso - free Boyd - 400K ------------- Total - 400K -------------- Now while that team recently seems capable of matching Celticââ?¬â?¢s first choice under the guidance of Walter Smith, it does have a very jammy dodger look about it. A whole team for 400K sounds like a bargain, but also smells of lack of ambition from the Rangers chairman who seems to prefer Bourbons to Bendix. So what has snaffled up that ââ?¬Å?reasonable spendingââ?¬Â I talked about, while leaving a team of crumbs? Well a quick look at a potential second choice team from the squad could look like this: Klos - 700K Murray - Free Svensson - 650K Webster - 650K Papac - 1M Novo - 450K Thomson - 2M Rae - 250K Sionko - Free Buffel - 2.3M Sebo - 1.8M ------------ Total - 9.8M ------------ That second team cost almost 25 times as much as the first choice! Now obviously Iââ?¬â?¢ve let sensationalism possibly affect a choice or two, although I say the team is reasonably justified. So humour me for the sake of argument, as the point is, that a large proportion of the money has seems to have been spent on players who donââ?¬â?¢t quite make the first team ahead of cheaper options. To me that is firstly indicative of poor spending by the previous two managers and very poor value for money. Add to that the costly drain to resources of buying players or signing Bosmans with a decent signing on fee, and then paying them off for a fat fee later, and you have a bit of a financial disaster area. Now you have to ask if this is purely bad choices and research by the managers, or is it because they are forced to fight for scraps at the custard cream end of the market and have to take risks at the sake of hoping to turn up a penguin on the cheap In that case the chairman starts to look a bit guilty of sending his managers to the pound store and expecting them to come up with quality goods. The team lately has been of a slightly more costly nature due to Stevie Smithââ?¬â?¢s injury, Burkeââ?¬â?¢s lack of progress to top form since his latest malaise, at the same time as a Novo revival, and also Thomsonââ?¬â?¢s improvement to claim a first pick: MacGregor - free Hutton - free Weir - free Ehiogu - free Papac - 1M Novo - 450K Thomson - 2M Hemdani - free Adam - free Ferguson - effectively free Boyd - 400K ---------------- Total - 3.85M ---------------- Thatââ?¬â?¢s actually quite a cheap team to have been doing so well lately, effectively the best team in the league under Walter Smith, quite a miracle really. But it does not give you confidence the returning manager has been given the tools to challenge a Celtic team shopping at Harrods to replace their retiring midfield. It definitely shows that Sir David Murray has to provide more significant sums to allow his manager to shop in the same street as his main rival. So what does it look like for the start of next season? Well the rumours are that Smith has up to Ã?£8M to spend (probably relying on the sale of Buffel, Sionko, Svensson and Sebo for say 3M in total) and so speculation is all over the place. Broadfoot, Gow and Darcheville have all signed for free which although these days does not mean they are worthless, itââ?¬â?¢s hardly throwing the gauntlet down. So far the most likely signings with fees seem to be Webster and McCulloch. That gives the team the following look: MacGregor - free Hutton - free Weir - free Webster - 650k Papac - 1M Ferguson - effectively free Thomson - 2M Hemdani - free McCulloch - 1.25M Darcheville - free Boyd - 400K --------------- Total - 5.3M --------------- Not much of an improvement with the likes of the following on the bench: Robinson - free Ehiogu ââ?¬â?? free Broadfoot - free Murray ââ?¬â?? free Burke ââ?¬â?? free Novo ââ?¬â?? 450K Gow ââ?¬â?? free Thatââ?¬â?¢s a whole match day squad which costs about 60% as much as Celticââ?¬â?¢s JVOH and Brown. That does not sound good. So that extra 6M has to be spent, but itââ?¬â?¢s hard to see how that will get more than one or two quality players. Rangers fans now realise that the club cannot just spend willy nilly like Mrs Becks with her Galaxy Credit Card. In fact the Becks could probably personally afford a more expensive team. But ââ?¬Å?manageableââ?¬Â debt is not always a bad thing and companies do have to spend themselves out of a slump in order to achieve success which raises their income to match their competitors. Walter needs about 8M every year for a few years so that he can build a squad of reasonable quality while buying what he really needs off the premium shelf instead of looking for what might just do in the bargain bin or items almost past their sell by date. The debt may have to rise to achieve this but as long as the board set a maximum percentage of turnover for that debt, the club will not have the melt down it had 5 years ago. Progress every year in the Champions League is vital and even if you can win leagues with the right kids, itââ?¬â?¢s still hardly worth turning up against Europeââ?¬â?¢s elite with a bunch of freebies ââ?¬â?? and you still have to qualify. Itââ?¬â?¢s time for Sir David Murray to show that heââ?¬â?¢s not comfortable being a half man, half biscuitââ?¬Â¦

This season possible first chioce team if all fully fit: MacGregor - free Hutton - free Weir - free Ehiogu - free Smith - free Burke - Free Ferguson - effectively free Hemdani - free Adam - free Prso - free Boyd - 400K ------------- Total - 400K -------------- This season possible 2nd team: Klos - 700K Murray - Free Svensson - 650K Webster - 650K Papac - 1M Novo - 450K Thomson - 2M Rae - 250K Sionko - Free Buffel - 2.3M Sebo - 1.8M ------------ Total - 9.8M ------------ 2nd team cost about 25 times more than the first! Team lately: MacGregor - free Hutton - free Weir - free Ehiogu - free Papac - 1M Novo - 450K Ferguson - effectively free Thomson - 2M Hemdani - free Adam - free Boyd - 400K ------------ Total - 3.85M ------------ Quite a cheap team to have been doing so well lately... But it shows we definitely have to spend to get some quality. Next season? MacGregor - free Hutton - free Weir - free Webster - 650k Papac - 1M Ferguson - effectively free Thomson - 2M Hemdani - free McCulloch - 1.25M Darcheville - free Boyd - 400K ------------ Total - 5.3M ------------

Other younger players we have are: Broadfoot, Svensson, Adam, Sebo, Gow. Then there are: Robinson, Lowing, Burke, Lennon, Shinnie, Furman. Papac is 27. Murray is 26. Novo is 28. Buffel is 26.

hmm 30 year old winners or 22 year old losers - oh the dilemma...

Makes you think if we could have got him in January for 3.5M?

Agree with Barry, plus I think he's on his way out as a player.

I would really like him for 3 to 3.5M. Above that, and I think we can get a better player from Europe, possilby with more potential to sell on. But if we've 5M to spend, it would probably be better spent on 2 or 3 players, than one with potential. BTW How much is Fletcher worth?

While I don't condone their behaviour, surely the minutes silence is voluntary and not being the most respectful is hardly a sackable offence. However I see it as behaviour unbecoming of a Rangers employee and they should be admonished for that and sent to some kind of class which teaches how to behave when representing Rangers FC.

I think MacGregor and Burke have Just signed new contracts and are an integral part of the squad - as are Boyd and Adam. There's not much chance of any of them leaving without a very tempting cash offer from the Premiership or abroad. I predict Murray will stay as he will be difficult to move on until the end of his contract but in any case is a decent squad player. Klos and Prso are also leaving which frees up two of the largest wages. Rae is definitely going and I think we will try to get rid of Buffel. Sionko is unwanted but will also be hard to move on considering his wage and nationality - ie his natural buyer would be Czech or Slovak but they can't afford his wages. Svensson is a difficult one to predict. Again his wage precludes him from returning to Gothenburg, except maybe on loan, and it also depends on whether Walter sees any promise in him.

And Lennon! We definitely need another experienced striker and Koevermanns fits the bill. Using Buffel as part exchange would also rid us of a poor performer, high wage earner for probably more than he is currently worth.

PS I think we'd thrash them using only Scots in the teams.

Didn't know Telfer had left. Wilson is Scottish isn't he? Brian Ferry would probably be better the best Scottish midfielder (after Riordan and Hartley) I could find for Celtic on the internet was Simon Ferry, a youngster who's never played for the first team. But I think with Graveson and Lennon leaving and Jarosik obviously mince, it shows how big a hole there is in their midfield.

I don't rate him either but can you imagine the outcry from the parkhead way if the team had no Celtic player in it...

I would hate to leave out Fletcher and McFadden though... I think McCulloch is ahead of Adam but we may sign him too. We could also have Murray, Burke and Gow on the bench. Celtic could have: Brown Telfer/Wilson Caldwell Pressley McManus Kennedy Ferry Hartley Riordan Miller Beattie

Goalkeepers - Craig Gordon (Hearts), Allan McGregor (Rangers), Iain Turner (Everton) Defenders - Graham Alexander (Preston), Russell Anderson (Aberdeen), Gary Caldwell (Celtic), Alan Hutton (Rangers), Jay McEveley (Derby), Stephen McManus (Celtic), Gary Naysmith (Everton), Steven Pressley (Celtic) and David Weir (Rangers). Midfield - Charlie Adam (Rangers), Scott Brown (Hibernian), Barry Ferguson (Rangers), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), Paul Hartley (Celtic), Lee McCulloch (Wigan), Gary Teale (Derby) Forwards - Craig Beattie (Celtic), Kris Boyd (Rangers), James McFadden (Everton), Shaun Maloney (Aston Villa), Kenny Miller (Celtic). Who would you play? My team would be: Craig Gordon (Hearts) Alan Hutton (Rangers) Stephen McManus (Celtic) David Weir (Rangers) Gary Naysmith (Everton) Scott Brown (Hibernian) Darren Fletcher (Manchester United) Barry Ferguson (Rangers) Lee McCulloch (Wigan) Kris Boyd (Rangers) James McFadden (Everton) Not the worst looking team in the world...

I recorded the second half so could have a look... not sure what good it will do and it does seem like sinking to their level.

I would rather have Adam in my team before Sionko and by all accounts Walter Smith and Paul Le Guen agree with me...

We need another striker too... or Sebo to dramatically improve beyond all recognition.

Seems to me like a good addition to the squad. I'm expecting another striker to be signed though as Buffel should also be leaving. I think we need at least 5 strikers possibly 6 - Boyd Darcheville Gow Sebo A.N.Other I see Novo as definitely a right winger now as he doesn't do much through the middle and doesn't score enough. But he can fill in during injuries. I think we need a first team squad of about 30 players. Allan McGREGOR Lee ROBINSON Another keeper David WEIR Ugo EHIOGU Karl SVENSSON Andy WEBSTER Kirk BROADFOOT Alan HUTTON Ian MURRAY Steven SMITH Sasa PAPAC Alan LOWING Another fullback Barry FERGUSON © Brahim HEMDANI Kevin THOMSON Dean FURMAN Another central midfielder Nacho NOVO Chris BURKE Charlie ADAM Two more wide players Kris BOYD Jean-Claude DARCHEVILLE Alan Gow Filip SEBO Steven LENNON Another Striker To leave: Stefan KLOS Antoine PONROY Libor SIONKO Gavin RAE Makhtar N'DIAYE Thomas BUFFEL Dado PRSO So we get rid of 7, have already brought in 3 and need 6 more. That would only increase our squad by two players but if the players we bring in are decent then the quality of our squad will have improved dramatically.

I think the funny thing is that Celtic fans have been slagging us off for being skint and going on about them being able to afford Venegoor and Greveson, when really the money mostly came from the sale of Petrov, just like we spent 8M off the back of Boumsong. However, who would you rather have, Venegoor and Graveson or Boyd and Hemdani? The latter two were two of the last signings by Eck and cost less than a million for them both - and we all give Eck a hard time for his signings. Boyd has totally out-scored Venegoor all season (in fact so has Adam) and Hemdani has been a rock in midfield compared to Graveson's headless chicken. Adam has also been a more valuable player than Gravesson and he was free... So expensive, famous signings do not always outshine the less glamorous cheap ones...

Good points Fraser, most goals are preventable, all of them are if you go back enough in play. Goals mostly come from a good bit of skill matched by a lapse in defending. I get fed up hearing that Nakamura's freekicks are sheer genius whereas Adam's are just bad defending and goalkeeping. Who's scored the most and who got player of the year? I think you are also right about Boyd, he wrong footed Boruc by taking it extremely well first time on the volley from an awkward angle. I would say the Celtic defence was far more to blame than a goalkeeper having to deal with an unchallenged twelve yard shot. When you create enough chances, couple of them are bound to go in and boy did our team create plenty of chances.

To me Le Guen was seemingly very adept at putting round pegs into round holes, however the Rangers squad and the SPL were a like square peg and Le Guen insisted on continually trying to get them in the round hole. Walter Smith recognised the square peg and knew where the square hole was... One of the rules of life is, "you can't fix what you don't acknowledge". Another is, "if you keep doing the same thing you shouldn't be surprised if you keep getting the same result". Le Guen should learn them.

No - a bramley tart...

I thought Clement while showing promise, was lightweight and error prone. I prefer Hemdani in the role.