calscot

If we'd spent 10-12M on 7 or 8 first team players that were better than the present squad then any dressing room problems would have his full ownership and he could drop any of the old guard he didn't like.

Got to agree with this. It's the old clich�© of buying a Ferrari and not putting any petrol in the tank...

Got to agree with this. I'm not point all the blame at PLG but no matter what problems are at a club, the manager is there to solve them. PLG failed as a manager in this respect. He signed about 14 players. If he wanted a team to follow his instructions he should have sign 11 that were good enough to pick in the team and beat a load of other teams with lesser players and managers of less repute. His buys were terrible and although he only spent 3M, there are rumours he had a lot more in the kitty, and with 6 months to do his research at the expense of Canal+ he should have been able to spot a few bargains. Hearts aren't exactly matching our spending, yet they are pretty much as good as us even though they have a bunch of crap Lithuanians in their squad and the team is picked by an owner of no managerial ability while ridding the squad of some very good Scottish players. That a much vaunted manager like PLG is not streets ahead of the likes of Romonov must be incredibly embarrassing for him. Maybe Le Guen thought he could change Ibrox overnight but even the most naive of us realise that there will be resistance to change, and when performance is not allowed to dip while things sort themselves out you have to implement gradual change. You also have to see potential problems and nip them in the bud. In retrospect if he wanted to reduce the status of the captaincy he could have experimented with it when he came, giving it to different players. No-one can complain when a new managers selects his own captain - and if you think about it, it is the first thing you should do in any new football manager's job. You can let the players earn it.

I think most SPL players have not been donkeys but not been stars either. Many have sat on the bench or played for the reserves and most were outshone by big name signings.

Rae - injured most of the time, not a success yet. Murray - good utility player but injured too much too. Boyd - gets a slagging but does put the ball in the net alsmost every time he plays. Kishinisvilli - never quite did it for us but reportedly doing well for Blackburn. Goram came from Hibs - absolute success Ian Ferguson - from St Mirren - reasonable success Billy Dodds - not bad but under achieved. Stevie Thomson - no.

Doesn't help the case for BF...

Maybe amid much deserved criticism, we sometimes forget what he's good at.

That's what I keep saying and sometimes you wonder why a youth academy is such a big deal when it costs a few million to run when you can pick up the best three Scottish youngsters every year for about half that...

There's a lot of that happening in Scotland, Riordan is another example. Then people complain when the OF spend what money they do have abroad... The other Scottish clubs need to look themselves in the mirror when they wonder about their finances.

Maybe it's best he didn't leave a season earlier as we may have had people clamouring for his return... doesn't bear thinking about...

Listened to Durrant today on Rangers TV and he sounds like an intelligent guy who mumbles as badly as Mobray... Said all the right stuff and seemed to hint that the decision to leave was Le Guen's - but that could just be the party line.

It's a shame we missed the boat on Pressley as he and Webster already have had a pretty solid partnership. I put that down to PLG not fancying him and I wouldn't be surprised if Elvis stalled everything to wait and see if Rangers would put in an offer for him.

BF could be PLG's scapegoat - especially for the future when asked what went wrong at Rangers...

Ok Murray has quite fairly taken a lot of criticism but thinking about our managerial hirings and "firings" it really does seem he listens to the fans. When GS left SDM tried to keep him, and insisted it was the biggest mistake of his life. The fans were also sorry to see him go and wanted him to say. He appointed WS as manager which although wasn't the most exciting thing for the fans, it had continuity and after he won the treble and did well in Europe the fans were happy. He got rid of WS when the fans weren't happy about Euro results despite being on very good term with him. We were spoiled with domestic success and gave WS a lot of criticism and most thought it was a good time for him to move on especially as the team was stagnating and WS looked a bit jaded with the job. He then brought us the big name that we craved, DA, who looked like he could do well in Europe and the difference was night and day in that arena although we always looked like we just needed a couple more quality players to actually do something. That's what we craved and that's what SDM provided but unfortunately it was from borrowed money and he didn't keep a good eye on the finances. DA was very successful to start but the more he didn't quite make it the more desperate he got before losing the dressing room. After a barren season and things looking bleak we started to want rid of DA and lo and behold he was punted upstairs by SDM and replaced with what many fans wanted: A promising Scottish manager who knew all about Rangers. We really wanted a bigger name but we didn't realise the extend of the debt but he is still liked by many fans. He was SDA's third manager to be instantly successful and the third manager to completely peter out and give us a barren season. We became so dire that there was a clamour to replace him from the fans and although SDM backed him, to be fair it was only because he had already lined up his replacement but had to wait on him. PLG was another dream ticket for the Rangers fans who lapped it up again, another masterstroke. The fact it didn't work out is more down to PLG than SDM and you can't blame the chairman for that choice. But the fans reacted again and so did Murray, this time immediately and now he's bringing in his 5th dream ticket in a row. We all respect WS and believe he's improved as he's shown with Scotland and we love AMC and would like to see him as a future Rangers manager. We again want a Scottish influence who are Rangers men and we've got it. So you can't fault SDM for getting rid when the fans wanted it and bringing in very popular choices. It looks like the fans do have power after all, or maybe DM is actually a bit of a fan too, or perhaps he just thinks the same as us, or alternatively he wants to be seen as some kind of hero but spoils it all with his bullshit, bad chairmanship in other ways like not allowing fan representation on the board, and many other faults.

Both Bardsley and Martin are back at Man U with rumours about Bardsley going on loan to Aston Villa. However, I was talking about the reserve team while Le Guen was around for the full 7 months not just after Christmas...

This is something I keep saying too. When a player in the first team squad is not in the team and not injured he should play in the reserves to build up match fitness, match competitiveness, confidence, get used to the present system (the reserves should play the same system and formation as the first team) and show whether he's ready for the first team or indeed banging on the door. Le Guen has not made use of the reserve team at all and I think that's part of the reason why the fringe players look so bad when they come on. Our reserve team should have been something like: .....................Klos/Letizi......................... Bardsley...Rodriguez...Ponroy...Papac/Murray ........................Rae.................................. Burke/Sionko........Buffel..............Martin/N'Diaye ................Stanger....Sebo........................... But it was nothing of the sort. It's no wonder players coming into the team are so far off the pace. I know you have to develop the youngsters but the first team is priority number one, two and three. With a few injuries you can introduce the young players and they can play in a team full of experience instead of an under 21 team which is no different that having an extra under 21 league in addition to the reserve league.

There is nothing in that to suggest he is not coming. You have to say you like your job and are going nowhere until you have a cast iron offer. That's not to say he'll come but it's a nothing statement that means nothing either way.

I agree. And while Barry is still hugely popular, I think he is on a yellow card with many Rangers fans. I can't see him getting away with any more shenanigans even without the Walter/Ally factor and still stay popular.

With Brown and Thomson in the squad there wouldn't such a big need for Clement and Hemdani... They could be backup though.

What about Webster?

Looks like he won't get the Captaincy back and I 100% agree with that. He cannot be seen to be winning at Le Guen's expense and I don't actually rate him as a captain. Too moany for sure. We need a respected, calming influence like Gough who will encourage players and organise them rather than just berate them.

If Brian has the ability to teach talented players to play like him, then he would be a gold mine in our youth setup.

Durrant looks like he's taken the smirk off their faces though... I don't think he can afford to be too pally with the players at the moment - especially the ones accused of undermining the previous manager. His body language of having his hands behind his back suggests confidence, superiority and aloofness, while being slightly defensive and guarded. That's a good sign.

PS I really hope Smith stays on with Scotland as a part time manager as I'd hate to see all his good work go to waste just as we've got our credibility back.

With all the speculation that's happening it strikes me that maybe le Guen and the Rangers family were just not compatible... We just thought along totally different lines and couldn't understand his buys, tactics, team selections or decisions. Now with Smith and McCoist coming in there is talk of bringing in McCall and Hateley along with securing Brown, Thomson and Webster. Now that's what you call compatibility. That's exactly what we see as the solution and what we want. I think we can expect to see teams with 4-4-2 with Boyd and Prso up front. A new centre back paring and of course MacGregor as number one goalie. We'll probably now be signing the most promising or established Scots and other good British players with the odd proven foreigner and playing a British style game. We'll be getting pretty much what we've been asking for for years along with good man management, high moral and players playing for the jersey. If it doesn't work now, at least we're all in it together and it will prove us all wrong and we'll have to shut up.