Danny

I will say that Ally has always been extremely open with the press, maybe too open. The only time I ever heard him button it was when asked about the Lennon incident. But in his defence, we're always complaining about hearing so little about what's going on at Ibrox - now we're hearing every lurid detail and that isn't good enough either. The club can't really win.

How can I ask? With great ease. And guess what? People are answering with valid comments and analysis. So suck on it

tbh your points about how he's fared make sense on one side of the coin, but on the other is the fact that Villa were extremely poor last season under Houllier who famously wouldn't give certain players like Ireland a chance. They've been badly managed since MON left. Let's face it, if he'd been playing every game he wouldn't have any interest in returning. But it doesn't automatically go that because you don't play very often, you're not very good. Look at my Man City thread in the other section. And as a closing nugget, every one of us would run naked on the turf at Celtic Park to have Hutton return, but he's just been voted Spurs worst RB of the last decade. How players do in England isn't always an indicator of how good they are.

Easily our best youth prospect for many years, he really has the potential to be the real thing. I hope it works out for him, I really do.

More than twice tbh. Hutton was, honestly, and is, imho (and perhaps slightly biased opinion) world class. Dunno where it went wrong at Spurs, but I'd be the happiest bear alive if we got him back. tbh I think, as a free agent, he'd want to return.

I have no idea where it went wrong for Hutton at Spurs. When I saw him he looked every inch the player we sold, but for God knows what reason Spurs' fans don't and didn't like him. I would take him back at Ibrox over Whittaker in an instant, but that would never, ever happen.

Just seems amazing that 7 top class players like these are just gathering dust at City.

He's basically been the boss for about a month now, and of course we cannot judge him on the pitch for another month yet, but I think it's safe to analyse how we feel he's done in transfers, negotiations and media performances. As people who pour our love and support, not to mention cash, into the club, we have that right. For me, it's a very mixed batch. I am pleased that Steven Davis and Allan McGregor's contracts are being given such high priority, and that 'not for sale' signs have been firmly plastered over their heads, particularly McGregor, especially in light of Lennon publicly admitting that even Kayal is for sale at the right price. We want to keep our best players, and Ally doesn't appear interested in the vast sums of cash selling McGregor would give his transfer kitty. For that I applaud him. I am also pleased we're so active in the transfer market - it's clear we're trying to bring in a lot of reinforcements, and a lot of the names we're linked to seem pretty decent and an enhancement - it's just a bit of a pity we've not made any actual signings yet and there's nothing to get tangibly thrilled about at this point. I'm sure Ally is working around the clock to make it happen though, and signings can be a slow process, so hopefully we'll have something to cheer soon. My main 2 reservations are, firstly, him publicly saying that we won't go to 3M for Cuellar, where Cuellar is quite clearly worth that kind of money. He has 3 years of top flight experience on top of the class we sold in the first place, and would be a fantastic addition to the team. I have no doubt Ally wants him, but I felt saying, very specifically, that 3M was too much, was something I didn't want to hear. 'Negotiations are ongoing' would have been much better. Secondly his manlove for Whittaker seems bizarre. He's apparently appraised Whittaker as one of our 4 top players. If he really believes that, I have doubts about his judgement. He wants to keep him at all costs, and regardless of who is doing the negotiations, �£20k+ is far too much for a player who is usually average and sometimes quite good. My early feelings about Ally are mixed, some good, some not so good. The last time I had a serious objection to something a new manager did after joining was PLG and him letting Soti go so quickly - I trusted him because I rated him but I am not making that same mistake again. I have serious objections about some things Ally seems to be doing and I just hope I am totally wrong this time. I don't trust him yet, and I hope he gives me and others good reason to begin to earn that trust in the coming months.

That is true, but unlike Walter he hasn't earned our trust yet. We're allowed to completely disagree with the guy, given his lack of experience. So we're allowed to say he's wrong and criticise what he's doing. With Walter in the last 2 or so years especially, whatever he did, even if it was dubious, he'd earned the 'In Walter We Trust'. Ally's nowhere near that yet.

I see both your points. Underage is underage no matter how you look at it, but an almost legal girl doesn't quite have the same taboo attached to her as one who's barely entered secondary school.

I still don't know how he managed to get away with a fine and a slap on the wrist. Any mortal would do time for this. And yes, Vlad blamed the mafia on this one too.

I didn't see this thread before. Good post, and while I accept the reality of the modern footballer, money, and the way the game is run and conducts itself, Whittaker's conduct has been pretty poor and I'd rather he moved on. Oddly enough I actually accept loyalty in football is a dying breed, and you can't expect players to show loyalty in the way us fans believe we would in the same situation. But to turn down lavish sums of money, in order to get even more, away in some backwater league even worse than our own, while your agent slags the club off on your behalf and displays a mild level of unecessary hostillity... I used to be a big fan of Whittaker and espoused him over Broadfoot, but in the past season I've felt we could do better despite him having a pretty reasonable year of it. This little episode has only reinforced that and I'd be more than happy if he left.

Best of luck? Why? Why does he need luck?

No one knows what he is on currently exactly, and while I have some agreement with what you say, the truth is he is no more important to us than Papac, yet Papac happily accepted what seems a modest wage rise and contract extension, while Whittaker expects to be paid in line with our best players? What exactly justifies Whittaker in holding the club to ransom in the way Papac didn't? Oh, I know, Bursaspor waving filthy lucre in his face, that's what. I wouldn't blame him if some EPL team came in for him and gave him a chance to have a crack at a lucrative league, much in the way Edu may. But to want to leave purely on a money basis and to practically insult and be hostile to Rangers in the process through his agent has left a sour taste in the mouth. I do not understand Ally's loyalty to him, and high opinion of him. Yes, he's versatile, but he's not especially great in any of his positions. He is certainly worth no more than �£10k a week imo. �£20k+ is just a waste of money for what we're getting.

I just don't understand why Ally loves Whittaker so much, and is almost prepared to keep him at all costs. I really don't agree with him on this. Or, I'll go further and say our manager is wrong. I just hope his judgement isn't always this awry.

So other sides are interested? Who could they be?

Wonder how Thomson's team mates feel playing alongside someone who was effectively found guilty of grooming a 12 year old and a 14 year old online.

Interestingly the agent Gary MacKay, the former Hearts player of course, that Vlad is naming as being part of this Mafia ring, is indeed the agent of...Lee Wallace.

I love how he blames Hearts failing in the last 12 games of the season purely on 'The Mafia'. I think that's genius.

Bottom line is he's a cock we're much better off rid of. Whyte was spot on to start the process.

Ally said categorically that �£3M is too high. That's not the wage, that's the transfer fee. That's what I'm annoyed by.

And Ally, in his wisdom, won't go up to �£3M for him? I am furious with him tbh.

I was only saying

Didn't see this, posted it in the transfers thread. After the shite of the last 2 days related to Whittaker and Cuellar from our new manager, this comes as something of decent news.

One piece of decent news is that after West Brom allegedly failed with a bid last night to lure McGregor, Shagger is still is contract talks and should sign up soon.