calscot

I seen some highlights of the game on Rangers World and while it didn't seem a great game, a few players did all right. Boyd was pretty sharp but hit a couple at the keeper and a great shot of his came back off the bar with the keeper beaten. Novo wasn't bad and should have scored but the guy can't buy a goal these days. He was involved in a great piece of one touch football between four players at the edge of the box. He started it by a short, square pass to the right which was tapped forward to someone on the edge of the box, who then did a squar backheel to where Novo had run to, but his shot was straight at the keeper. Malcolm looked pretty solid and had a great, long distance strike saved and put in some good corners. His passing was pretty tidy as usual. He'll make a good solid player for a team. Namouchi didn't look too bad but you only see the best bits in the highlights. MacGregor looked solid without having much to do, but Fanfan still looks dodgy. I think the team was: MacGregor Ponroy Andrews Fanfan Bernard Malcolm Rae Namouchi Novo N'Diayi Boyd

The standard can look dreadful but the level is still pretty high with both sides making each other look bad, and is it any worse than games like West Brom v Portsmouth? I've seen quite a few dire EPL matches as well as crap Rangers games and European games.

I'd like them to qualify and gain some points, maybe even dropping into the UEFA cup with us and Celtic. That would really boost our coefficient which is usually watered down by our non-OF teams as the total is divided by the number of teams in the competition - which is why I wasn't too bothered about Hibs not qualifying. A win and qualification would boost our coef by 5pts divided by 4 so 1.25. We already have bagged 1.125pts, so it would be a good start.

PS I'd like to add that I've met some Englishmen with good knowledge of Scottish football, although they usually have some connection first. But to independently gain much knowledge of the SPL, an Englishman has to really go out of his way to get the information (made easier by the internet) - and why would he with 20 teams in the premier to keep up with pluss another 72 in the lower divisions?

Thing is Cammy, you are probably surrounded by Celtic fans who slag off Rangers and so of course you want them to lose. I'm surrounded by Englishmen slagging off Scottish football and so I like Celtic to lose in Scotland but I like it when they win against English teams. I also like them doing reasonable in Europe as it raises our coefficient which helps Rangers to qualify for the CL and also raises the profile of Scottish football which makes it easier for us to attract good players (however I stop liking it once they start getting to quarter finals - that's just too much). Totally agree but there are ways of ripping. But the bottom line is that the guy had a point and I think it's obvious that he was replying to an a attack on Celtic and the SPL by Pompey fans. I definitely think Madrid, Milan and Barca are bigger than us at this moment and wouldn't argue against it. We may have been bigger than them in the past though. I find the great majority of Englishmen very ignorant on Scottish football. It's not that surprising though, when you read their newspapers. The likes of the Mail for example, rarely even have a single column inch on Scottish football (although they sometimes have a full page on the, not even British, Irish national team). They once even neglected to print the score from the Scottish cup final. Football focus also rarely has more than a few seconds on Scottish football - although it used to have a few minutes when the Saint was around. Man U emphasised the point when they sang "Who the fucking hell are you?", when our most exciting young talent, Chris Burke came on. Shame on them too as they are a club who have much success from blooding young players. You'll always find exceptions, as any nation is not all the same. My last experience of talking to Englishman who had been to an SPL game (without the old firm) was that in his opionion it was like a couple of pub teams and even he could get a game...

I think our defence looks more solid now although we can still lose silly goals. But I always felt there was something missing at the back when Waterreus was in goal and I think it's the communication. Ronald didn't exactly have a great goals against record either and he stuck two fingers up at us in more ways than one. He turned down a decent contract offer and he also said how he was looking forward to leaving us. But he's another who has found out that for most players, it's all down hill after Rangers.

Rangers are unlikely to win the CL in the foreseeable future but it's still far more likely than Scotland winning the world cup - so I'd go for the latter, it would be a bigger achievement and the whole of Scotland and Scottish football, including Rangers, would benefit. Think of the money we'd have to invest in grass roots and the motivation of half a million youngsters to be the next Scottish football star. The whole thing would be self perpetuating and all the SPL clubs would benefit. I think it would resurect some of the pride in our nation which is more important than the pride of a subset of Scottish people revelling in a win that will have been mostly provided by foriegners, great although that would be.

Colshy, I only tend to scoff at anyone English belittling or disregarding Scotland or Scottish football etc. And I hear or read it almost every day. You just have to look at that Portsmouth site to see the anti-Scottish sentiment and disparagement of Scottish football. Those posts are typical of what I have to put up with all the time.

I think it's 4 into 2 with Boyd, Prso, Buffel and Sebo. Novo will be well down the pecking order when Sebo comes and Burke is fit.

I thought we played great and had a load of chances which were mostly either unluckily hitting the woodwork or saved by Smith who had good game. There were a few woeful shots by Pros, Clement and most notably Buffel when he did a fantastic solo run with 6 'well players chasing him down but overdid the shot when one on one with the keeper. The game could have easily finished 6-1 and you would expect Buffel, Prso and Adam to put away the same kind of chances given another shot at it. They were just a bit unlucky this time. We did play magnificently for long periods in the game and we only looked dodgy for about a 20 minute period in the second half. The football we were playing at times was a joy to watch with one touch pass and move with lots of flicks and back-heels going straight to feet. I lapped it up and found it the most enjoyable game of football for a long time - well with the exception of Scotland against Bulgaria. The encouraging part is that this was the team's first competitive game using this system and you can tell they will only get better with familiarity and practice. That's why I'd like PLG to keep the same starting 11. Sure Boyd can come on, but he only needs half an hour to score and has proven to be effective late into games. The same can be said of Burke who runs rings round tired defenders when he comes on fresh. We have a squad of players and not everyone can get on the starting team-sheet every week. We have to get away from the favourite player syndrome and stick with guys who are doing the job. If some-one's not performing or tired then hook them for another and possibly replace them for the next game. I think this is how competition for places works but managers tend to break it by dropping and playing players for other reasons than their performances.

I'm sorry wija, but your post makes absolutely no sense to me. How am I Timmy in disguise? Please explain. Is it because I think both Rangers and Celtic are bigger than Portsmouth with bigger stadiums and more supporters? Is because I quite enjoy supporting a big team in a small league rather than fighting relegation every year in a big league? Unreasonably calling a fellow Rangers fan a Timmy in my eyes is pretty pathetic and says more about the person doing the name calling. What are you - the witchfinder general? I'd rather you actual put some effort into discussing the points you disagree with especially as you haven't comprehended even the foggiest about what I'm on about. And if you don't agree with me that the Old Firm are bigger than the likes of Portsmouth, then maybe you're the Englishman in disguise... In fact could you tell me exacly which points you disagree with and why? What did I say about following a bigger team in a lesser league that was shallow? And where did I belittle our success? If you want to talk about how you started supporting Rangers maybe you should start a thread where it's actually relevant, there are many arbitrary reasons for supporting a team and not many are exactly boast-worthy. Boasting about supporting Rangers just because your family does not impress me as it doesn't even sound like you used free choice. But the fact you support Rangers for non-religious or bigoted reasons is a good thing. Although you do seem to imply that if someone started supporting Rangers in the late eighties and nineties then they're not a real Rangers fan. Basically I think that if you want to have a go at me you should perhaps actually read my post properly first bacause you are just arguing the same points as me but using poorer ammunition - like signing the England captain. I'm proud of a lot of Rangers acheivements but having an England captain is an idle boast - in fact didn't he come from the mighty Ipswich? They must have been huge! And wasn't when we were the only club in Britain to enable him to play in the European Cup? If having an England captain makes you great then we're well below many English teams who've had a lot of England captains. And what's wrong with having a load of Scotland captains BTW?

I would say the Buffel position is a striking position - just a bit deeper though, behind a tall frontman who can win the ball and lay it off as well as turn and score.

PS I think PLG will start with the exact same team and I'll be pleased if he does. The only player I'd like to see come straight back in is Fergie for Hemdani - unless Brahim hits top form. Does anyone else think that Sebo will be direct competition to Buffel? I'm hoping Le Gaffer will have a system that he sticks with while doing straight swaps for players for the specific position - with some flexibility of course. This is what I beleive Ajax have been doing for decades. I hate this, total reshuffle of the team and tactics to suit a few favourite players that Eck seemed to use.

I agree and can see either of them starting and being substituted at one point by the other. I think he'll start with Prso and swap for Boyd with half an hour to go. Burke will probably have to sit on the bench after the form of Sionko and Adam but could also come on as a sub for either later. The report really shows the difference in finishing from Boyd and Novo. Can't remember the last time Novo scored despite sometimes playing not bad otherwise. While I don't think Boyd has gone 90 minutes of football without scoring...

Is it just me or am I the only one who thinks the ranting Tim has a point. His post is clearly out of context as to me it looks like he's responding to some Pompey fan saying something like "Portsmouth are a bigger club than Celtic who play in a Mickey Mouse league anyway". He's just gone off the handle a bit but he looks like an intelligent, well adjusted individual compared to some of the out of order racist remarks by a few of the Pompey fans as well as their completely ignorant remarks like comparing the SPL to the VC. It's the Pompey fans who look bad to me on that page and the typical anti-Scottishness of some of the English is transparent even though they don't even know where the Tim is from. I agree with the Tim for most of his post: I agree with him that Portsmouth is a smaller club than Celtic. I agree that Portsmouth only get a mention because they are in a highly hyped league with some very big clubs (due to Sky money). I agree that Pompey usually get beat by the bigger clubs. I agree that Celtic have a lot more fans than Pompey and their stadium is better. I agree that Petrov is only going to Portsmouth to play in the EPL and not for the club itself. I agree that if he got a better offer from a bigger club he'd probably take it. I agree that Portsmouth are unlikely to get into Europe and have precious little chance of CL football. And I agree that I'd rather follow a team that wins stuff, albeit in a less competitive league, and competes in Europe, than watch them outplayed week after week and never win anything, albeit in one of the top leagues. The responses prove his point that although Pompey don't win anything they enjoy boasting about what league they are in, so I agree again there. I disagree about his attack on their nickname, and some people do care about them. For those who disagree with me, remember, all these points also apply to Rangers. Supporting a smaller, less successful club is definitely more of a noble cause as you have more downs to put up with than ups, but as soon as you glorify in the league your in, and put others down for theirs, you're nobility is gone and you become just another glory hunter with a more banal goal. Celtic fans boast about winning the league, Pompey boast about being in a league...

The time to sanitise the song has long passed. We had many, many chances but the majority of the singers ignored or defied the warnings. We deserve no sympathy, we've made our own bed and have displayed a shocking lack of intelligence and forethought. Even with us on the brink there are many still singing it.

While you'd expect a good footballer to be able to play in any position, when it comes to top class football, the standard is so high, you usually have to specialise in one or two, which means that without a lot of experience in a position you can end up being quite naive about your decision making - and they rarely do a good job. That's why we hate players playing out of position.

We could do with a list of players who have come out of Murray park and where they play. Off the top of my head: MacGregor/Smith/Brown Hutton/Lowing/Ross McLean Smith Burke Fletcher Adam MacCormack McLean Anyone want to have a go at a definitive list?

PS Graham Smith is a Rangers youth product and he also had a good game. I think Brian Mclean was injured.

I agree. I'm still not sure if he's any good but to judge him playing for a Motherwell team who were being over-run by Rangers is far too harsh. All Motherwell can do is try to defend well and then sneak a goal. They did that and McCormack delivered the telling cross, so he did about as much as you could expect in the circumstances. Last season we've seen Buffel be pretty anonymous in games we weren't in control of. That doesn't automatically make him a shit player.

Ibrox was mostly seated (about 36,000 of them) before the Taylor report. The stadium is pretty much dedicated to those who lost their lives in the second Ibrox disaster and to prevent it ever happening again. However I don't see how sitting down can ruin an atmosphere as Ibrox was pretty noisy in the eighties. In my opinion, it's having a season ticket for a specific seat that has done it. Most people no longer watch the game with a big bunch of mates which would give them the confidence to sing more songs.

I think there is a big difference between punting the ball most of the time and doing it now and again. If you always play the ball on the deck you can get predictable, it's good to mix it up and try to catch the defence off guard. For example in doubles badminton, most of the serves are short as it's easy to smash a long one, but you get drawn in by repeated short serves and then you can be taken totally by surprise by a long one. I think it's good to have a large repertoire of moves - although some, like the long ball, should probably be used sparingly.

I agree that they are untouchable and I'm someone who hopes some of them die out when the religious associations become more tenuous. The one that I think is the best of that lot is Derry's walls. I'm not interested in the Northern Irish history aspect, but I do like the sentiment of "no surrender" especially in a football match. It's also a rousing song. If we could change the words to be more football related I'd definitely like it to stay.

I've just reread a post and seen that "Orangemen" was the word I was lookin g for. I never said there's anything wrong with the song except that it's hypocritical to sing it while slagging off Celtic's Irish songs. It's also a pretty stupid song if you and you father are not in the OO. And you won't see many red blooded males swooning over a sash and saying "Oh it's soooo beautiful..., the colours are soooo fine..., I want to sing about you all the time." But in my opinion, most don't really know what their singing about at all. It's jsut a song to "get right up the Tims".

Ok Plastic Orange Order Member for the pedantic, I was looking for a noun representing these people and that was the one I came up with. I assumed most would work out what I mean...