calscot

That's what I'm counting on but I also believe that PLG did not spend all of his budget in the summer. I have a feeling he has at least a million left in the kitty and qualifying for UEFA after Christmas should release another million or two. It's hard to believe that PLG would come given a budget of less than 3M per year just so that the debt can become zero when it's normal for most clubs to carry some debt. From what Murray has said, I think that we have to rely on our European earnings for extra spending and we should make at least 2M gross from each home game. I could be wrong but I expect two or three signings in January for a net spend of a couple of million. i don't think that'll break the bank. I also expect the likes of Novo and possibly Rae to leave to make room.

FIFA and UEFA are supposed to be trying to rid football of cheating but all the game's swindlers must have got huge encouragement from last nights game in Kiev. No wonder it's called the Olympic stadium when there is a world class diving contest on show. Schevchenko would have won a gold medal quite easily for his slick tumbling. Ukraine are the biggest bunch of submariners I've seen since watching Das Boot and The Hunt for Red October. The Swedish referee seemed to think that anyone wearing a yellow top is surely immune to the laws of the game and that the opposing team should be punished as severely as possible as often as possible. Time after time the Ukrainians got away with murder, while lesser tackles from Scotland resulted in free kicks and bookings. I was sure that it would be impossible for the ref to give the Ukraine a penalty after the first 20 minutes after all the play acting they were doing. I thought it was a case of crying wolf and he's not believe them when a real foul was committed. How wrong I was when Shevchenko went down after what looked like no more than someone tapping you on the shoulder to ask you the time. Maybe he was scared of a getting a happy slappy as they tend to use that tactic to get someone to face them. But despite this being the most obvious of a series of dives that came straight from that advert of teams practicing falling over, the weak or biased or stupid or even corrupt referee, somehow pointed to the spot. And this was minutes after sending a player off even though he'd hardly touched the same player who got more air than a champion skateboarder, and Elvis wasn't even the last man. I don't think we're a better team than Ukraine but to lose in such a unjust manner just makes my blood boil as well as losing three players for our next game. It's time to get rid of the cheats and time to weed out the referees who cannot judge the game fairly and accurately.

I said the same thing at the time. I would have bet that Kris would have at least hit the target. But from the armchair, it looked like a complete sitter for an international striker. It's crap when you know 100% that as a 37 year old Sunday Veteren league player, you couldn't possibly have done any worse.

I'm sure Smith wrote his own P45 by slagging off his boss. When he moves to a big side or gets a regular game for Scotland he can start to say "I told you so" but not before. Bigger and better players than him have been kicked out of a club for not respecting the manager. I think the fact we've had two keepers mouthing off shows the ridiculousness their demands. Does it mean that both of them should be number 1? Surely at least one of them is patently wrong? They can't both be right. If the manager does not think they should be first choice, surely there is a probably a good reason?

PS I think we might be quite active in the January transfer window as I don't think it'll be too hard for the Frenchman to twist the Mint's arm and get him to blow the cobwebs from his wallet. It's a defining season for Murray too after all.

The honeymoon period does seem to be over and Le Guen has had the two months he asked for. We've what we would consider a relatively easy run of games in league coming up where we have to and should win every game. Le Gaffer has used up all his slack and really can't drop any more silly points. We also need at least a draw in Livorno and must win our UEFA home games. It's a defining time for Le Guen and he needs to start showing he can make a difference. I think we'll all give PLG a full season to really make our judgement but it'll still be a bumpy ride for him if he can't starting stringing the results together and show us that we are progressing.

He went on for three seconds but reputedly, Eck thought there were three minutes left. I've caught snippets of him playing for the reserves (watching a whole reserve game would probably bore me to tears and cause a domestic too) and he always seems like one of the best players on the park. I've mentioned his name here numerous times along with Carcary and N'Gessan (who's now on loan) as a player who catches the eye.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=384561&cc=5739 Several Scotland fans were injured after being set upon by a gang of local hooligans in Ukraine, supporters said today. Fans said up to 300 local youths launched an 'unprovoked' attack on members of the Tartan Army in Kiev. The trouble broke out last night in the city's Independence Square, ahead of tonight's Euro 2008 qualifying match. The Scottish Football Association said several Scots with broken bones and cuts. The exact number of supporters involved is unknown. Approximately 3,000 Scottish fans are in Kiev for tonight's match. The SFA has praised the response of the Scotland fans who faced last night's trouble. Derek Kirkwood, security adviser to the SFA said: 'The Scotland fans were absolutely magnificent, in that they did not react to the violence or provocation. 'They chose to walk away from the scene rather than get involved, and their behaviour was exemplary.' But the footballing authority has warned Scottish fans in the country to remain on their guard. The SFA said: 'Following the incident, which was entirely unexpected, the SFA have advised fans to be careful in the city and to avoid any possible further provocation.' A spokesman for the British Embassy in Kiev said he had heard about trouble in Independence Square, but did not know how many people were involved. He was he was not aware of anyone who needed hospital treatment. Scotland currently sit at the top of their Euro 2008 qualifying group after beating France 1-0 in Glasgow at the weekend. Travelling fan Simon Johnston, a committee member of the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, was in Independence Square at the time of last night's trouble. He said around 300 Scots were enjoying themselves in the square at about 9.30pm local time when they were suddenly targeted by a similar number of chanting locals. Johnston said: 'It was a big group of Ukrainians, about 300 of them. They came out of nowhere from down a side street and all piled in. 'All the Scots scarpered, but a few guys, I think, got caught up. We heard there were ambulances there.' Johnston said that, as far as he could see, the Scots had done nothing to provoke any trouble. 'It was the usual good-natured atmosphere with us,' he said. 'We were singing and dancing. 'The Ukrainian group seemed organised, they were shouting 'Ukraine, Ukraine'. It's the first time I have ever seen anything like it.' Johnston said he did not hear of any subsequent clashes in the city. Strathclyde Police have a senior officer in Ukraine, but he is not thought to have been in the area of last night's trouble. It is understood up to five Scottish fans were injured during the disturbance. According to the British Embassy in Kiev, the injured supporters were given first aid in Independence Square before making their own way from the scene. An embassy spokesman said: 'As far as I am aware no complaints have been filed to the police. 'I very much hope there will be no further trouble.' The British ambassador in Kiev, Timothy Barrow, today joined fans from both countries at a football match between supporters in the city. It was won by Ukraine 4-1. Mr Barrow said: 'Scotland's fans have an excellent reputation that's well-deserved. 'I hope supporters from both countries will enjoy each other's company today.' Scottish fans were advised by the British Embassy to arrive early for tonight's match, which starts at 8pm local time (6pm BST). It is being held in the 83,000-capacity Olimpiyskiy stadium. The embassy said Scotland supporters would be held back for at least 30 minutes after the final whistle until all the home supporters had left the immediate stadium area.

To add to that I think we definitely have by far the most competitive group with: France: 2 Italy: 5 Ukraine: 13 Scotland: 34

Scotland have climbed meteorically from an all time low of 88th in 2005 under Bertie Vogts to 34th in the Fifa rankings for September 06. We're now above the Irish, who are now 43rd, for the first time in over 5 years. (McGeedy take note!) Expect us to rise further with our recent October results, the new rankings come out on the 18th I think. Wales are now 62nd which is not too far off their recent high of 50th in 2003. England are 4th which is their highest equal ever ranking and the first time they have been so high since 1997. NI are 58th which puts them above Wales for the first time since 2002. Only last year they were 116th so that's a pretty good recent performance for them too.

So minor quibbles aside we basically agree. I would say it's more to do with having an axe to grind but he should know that the press is not the best place to weild it. He gets a lot of training for that kind of thing and plenty of advice from his agent. However his agent will be wealthier with a move. I never said he meant it, but I said he was an idiot if he did mean it. Never said he couldn't, I was pointing out that if you leave Rangers before really proving yourself and demand to be number 1, the likes of Motherwell or Dunfermline are where you will probably end up. Where you go from there depends on how you establish your reputation in a small team in a lesser league. He's a different case to MacGregor as he was a full international who had shown he was a capable keeper for Finland and FC Copenhagen. But despite his reputation he couldn't demand to be number one either. To be pedantic, Southampton are now in the Championship but Niemi is now with Fulham. Not exactly a big team but bigger than Motherwell. He's also 34 now while MacGregor I think is 24. Not many big clubs have young keepers. I think you're helping me make my point here. Which is, you can't be a young keeper who's come through the ranks at a club the size of Rangers and demand to be number one when players of more repute can't either. If you think you've had a raw deal then train well, play well, keep your head down and discuss it privately just before the transfer window and leave if you have to. But you are in absolutely no position to blackmail the manager and you are just damaging your cause by doing so.

With Henry saying he'll see us in France for revenge and people pointing out that we lost 6-0 to Holland after beating them 1-0 at home, my answer is who really cares if France stuff us at home? We could have had two splendid, hard fought draws with France and still come out with only 2 points. We've got three points already and I'm ready to walk away from the second game against them with that same total. If we get thrashed then it's only going to affect our goal difference, but hopefully not our moral. We have nothing at all to fear in France. Now applying the Holland ties to Ukraine is not a good comparison, the only similarity is that we beat a good team at home 1-0 and had an away game 4 days later. The thrashing was in most part due to the Dutch being stung by the Hampden result and also being desperate to get to the European finals and needing one good win against a less gifted side with a crap manager to do so. This is still the early stages of the qualifiers and it's fair to predict that Ukraine will not be so gung ho in their attitude. I think they will be far cagier and their confidence won't be so high after their result against Italy. They may also be more wary of Scotland after our recent results and after all we are more like peers than we were with the Oranje. I expect a hard fought game where a draw will be a good result and keep the momentum going as well as keeping us at the top of the table. We need to get the better of Ukraine if we've any chance of qualifying as it's bad enough trying to finish second in a group with the two world cup finalists. An away draw and a home win would go a long way to making us challengers as well as not dropping any points to Lithuania, Georgia and Faroes. However, we're bound to slip up once or twice and so it's not the bottom line, but then Italy already have lost points. A load of draws from the top three seeds will go a long way to opening the door for us. So a win tonight would be fantastic but a draw would still be a great result.

If he keeps the team playing as it is the SFA will soon regret having a 52k stadium instead of a Millenium like 78k. That would really produce a roar.

And I'm not being kinky here... Scotland have a tradition of keeping poor quality managers in a job for a long time after their sell by date, so let's make sure we don't lose a prime quality one. Let's be honest, Walter Smith is not really among the best club managers Scotland has produced. He had great domestic success at Rangers but it was at a time when we were spending far more than our opposition and had possibly the highest wage bill in the UK. Celtic were in turmoil and Smith took advantage. Don't get me wrong, I think Smith is a good manager, worse managers than he would have lost one of those titles in the 9 in row years despite the gulf between teams. But one CL run apart, his European results and his struggle with Everton albeit with financial problems, showed where his level lies. Good and solid, well above average, but not a world beater. However Scotland have been very poorly mismanaged for two decades - since Roxburgh took the reins. We had a very good team at the time and although he got us to a couple of finals, we would lose to the likes of Costa Rica through terrible tactics and an overcautious approach. Brown was a slightly better manager but still average at best. He too couldn't bring the best out of a reasonably talented squad and he couldn't do that at Preston either. Vogts, just didn't have a scooby. He confused the players tactically and made them feel inferior, telling them how poor a crop he had to choose from almost on a daily basis. He also capped players who should never have donned a dark blue top. However, Smith seems to have galvanised a bunch of so called journeymen into a team with great self belief, who know if they work hard and do their job they can get results. It's night and day over those previous managers who would spin us tales of caution against the likes of the Faroes and then struggle against them. Walter has taken a team who ply their trade in the English Premiership (whom some would have you as the best league in the world) and in the top half of the SPL, which is still a decent league by European standards. The players are plenty good enough to give a team of postmen and bankers a good thrashing, and for the first time in my memory, they did so. We should definitely be better than the likes of the Balkans and Walter has taken us to the best of them and won soundly only letting in the most spectacular of goals. The win against France was unexpected, but we all expected the team to have a decent go (I was very optimistic for a draw) and history suggests we can claim the odd win or draws especially at home against the greatest teams in the world if we play to our full ability. History is littered with Scotland wins, draws and unlucky losses against the likes of Brazil, England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Holland. I think we've always had the players who could do something reasonable if they played to their strengths, but what we lacked was consistency and a bit of luck with the former being down to the manager. Walter Smith was always good at man management and basic strategy without being a tactical mastermind ("What's a tactic?"). He can definitely make a team play as a team. This really lends itself to international football as you only have a limited time with the players so intricate training sessions are a waste of time as are very unorthodox formations and tactics, since the players are more used to their different club systems. He has an advantage here over more tactically astute managers as he knows the stuff that really counts on this stage. This could make him achieve more acclaim as a Scotland manager than his many trophies for Rangers. He's shown what he can do, even that the job was made for him, so lets enter a period of stability and let him steer Scotland into an era where we at least punch our weight for a change. Give him a long contract and let him become a Scotland legend.

You sound like you fancy Shevchenko... ie you think he's "fit".

I'm sure he's been in trouble with Eck and even Dick about his attitude before. Wanting something and demanding it are two different things. Being disappointed and going in a huff are also different. I think the guy is an idiot if he thinks he can tell PLG that he must be picked. Klos can't do that and he's won the champions league and has caps for Germany as well as being a Rangers legend. What's MacGregor done to show he deserves it more than Klos? Letizi is obviously a filler for a year or so, all MacGregor needs to do is show what he can do on the park and bide his time while acting like the consumate professional - unless he'd prefer to be first choice for Dunfermline for the rest of his career. Who does Graeme Smith play for again? Motherwell?

PS I think it's this attitude that has stalled his career previously at Ibrox. If he'd shut his mouth and worked hard and showed commitment, he'd probably be well in contention for the keeper shirt by now, especially with Klos's injuries.

He's asking a bit much, Woods and Goram had to fight it out for no 1 as did Charbonnier and Klos. Niemi wasn't guaranteed a game and niether was Ginsburg nor Schnelders. Indeed Klos is still here, as is a very experienced former PSG keeper. No-one should walk into the Rangers first team. What makes MacGregor think he is different from former Scotland, England, France, Germany, Finland, Netherlands and Israeli number 1's? However, I think managers should be a bit better at allowing real competition for places. The best man at the time should get the starting place and if he does well enough he should keep his place. I think MacGregor has done enough to warrant keeping his place but there is no way he can tell any manager of note, who he should pick in his team.

I always have a higher sense of expectation when he's on the pitch and tend to will the other players to pass to him. Hope he stays and continues to develop. He should get a decent wage offer now.

Maybe if he shut his mouth it would be easier for Le Guen to keep him in the team... As it is, the manager picks the team not the players.

He's seems really keen to go and doesn't want a future at Rangers. He's unwilling to be a number 2. Therefore I can't see him staying and his attitude doesn't impress me. No-one should be a guaranteed pick at a club the size of Rangers. We need a squad and not just 11 first picks.

He's no chance of replacing Gordon though. Safest Scottish pair of hands since Goram.

I think we need a new experienced CB that can command the defence and possibly be captain. We need another Gough, Butcher etc. Even a player like Berg would help till Svensson grows up a bit. Rodriguez is no more than squad material.

But consistantly not bad, isn't quite what we need at Rangers. Hamdani needs to step up his performances.

Smith had to turn down a call up to the Scotland squad due to injury. He'll probably be ok by the weekend.