JFK-1

But apparently Katic and Goldson have formed such an understanding so quickly that there is a likelihood Katic is going be and remain a first pick.

I always thought we should have kept Waghorn. Tank of a guy who was often played out of position.

That's my thinking on it too and given there have been rumours of 3-5-2 since he stepped through the front door this chasing of multi million CB's would appear to back that hypothesis. I'm more than confident he has been watching many hours of footage from last season and seen the times we were being overrun in the midfield. A 3-5-2 may negate that. And with a strike partner we may start getting goals from the incredible sulk again.

Dave King tells STV there are still at least two more to come in and two going out. I think we can presume one of the two incoming will be a striker and SG still seems desperate to land another CB. The identities of the two outgoing is debatable.

I don't think Osijek necessarily have better players than we do simply because Croatia reached the world cup final. Any quality players from Croatia will not be playing there. I just checked the two Croatian scorers from the world cup final as an example, Perišić and Mandžukić Perišić plays for Inter and Mandžukić for Juventus.

Well I think Gonzo pretty much just covered my reply. Theresa May etc are obliged to receive and meet with foreign heads of state. Private citizens are not. I wouldn't have a photograph taken with any politician I had issues with simply because they were British or Scottish or any other nationality for that matter. I'm in the US and I wouldn't be photographed with Trump if the opportunity arose.

I already said that's diplomacy and is standard in such situations. It doesn't indicate support. Was Chamberlain supporting Hitler when he entered into dialogue with him? Of course not it was simply standard diplomacy.

Have to be happy with that. Dodged some real quality.

Chikhura Sachkhere (GEO) or Maribor (SVN)

Maribor If Maribor beat Suchere or something like that.

The yahoos get Cork City if beaten by Rosenborg. Talk about the luck of the Irish.

That's diplomacy and happens all the time. It doesn't indicate support. What Ozil has done is not diplomacy.

Erdogan is a pariah like figure throughout Europe and particularly so in the EU which though it doesn't get everything right they're right about him. Ozil might say things like it's just a photograph but he's helping to legitimise and seemingly supporting the activities of Erdogan by appearing in this photograph. This isn't about race, it's about him apparently supporting what is effectively a dictator in all but name.

Send him out on loan till he gets his head sorted out.

Have to get someone in and I expect that to happen before the window closes. If we can't get a permanent signing of a sufficient quality I wouldn't be surprised if he taps Liverpool yet again for another loan. Possibly Solanke. While I would prefer a permanent signing if there just isn't the desired quality available I would prefer to save the money till there is rather than chancing it on just another number that may not work out. Even if that means waiting till January or even next Summer to get what we need.

I think the same could be said for them regarding the first round. At the end of the day we went through relatively comfortably in comparison to them as they struggled to scrape through with a single goal advantage. If we get the goals going we can take this. They lost 2 goals to a team with a 1,000 capacity stadium.

I had pretty much forgot about the league cup but noticed the latest standings just today. Dundee United matches played = 3 matches lost = 3

Anybody think Louis Moult might be worth another look? And especially so since the sheep are apparently chasing him?

While I would agree that we have to wait to come to concrete conclusions I think we can say they definitely look a lot better and I suspect Shkupi would have scored against last seasons defence. As for Shkupi being crap that's hard to say at this point. Anybody can look crap against superior opposition and at this stage we can't definitively say how good or bad we actually are. We hammered Bury 6-0 and their manager stated afterwards that they spent the entire night 'chasing ghosts' Are Liverpool crap? They drew 0-0 with Bury with Klopp saying afterwards. Liverpool should be able to field a third string that could hammer them and I'm fairly confident we would all have been concerned if we had drawn 0-0 with them. I'm sure Liverpool will come good but we can too.

Derek has a tendency to often state the obvious. We have been talking about the striking problem since the first Shkupi game. What puzzles me is why are last seasons highest scoring team struggling to find the net. Is it just early season 'rust'? Will they begin to hit a goal steak? I think they might as they did many times last season but there were also other times we just couldn't score despite total dominance. And that tendency eventually ended our challenge when it was put alongside the tendency to leak preventable goals. He appears to have solved the defensive problems and now needs to get us scoring consistently while creating so many chances. I don't know if what we already have can step up and do that. There are some who have still to appear and reportedly there is still up to 5 million available in the transfer kitty.

Yes rightly or wrongly I think that's the way we have to go if we're going to get back into that CL spot and reach the group stage. If our own developing talent simply can't attain the standards of a loanee then doesn't that mean they're not good enough for our purposes? And doesn't pointing out to the youngster that this is the standard you have to attain to get into the team give them a target to aim for? And if they didn't have that target aren't they going to perhaps settle for less rather than working their socks off to attain the required standard?

I largely agree on most of your post but there are other considerations. For example a loanee from the likes of Liverpool who can't get into that team doesn't necessarily mean he's not a really good player when you consider the quality they have occupying the first pick spots.

Sounds like he just wants him off the wage bill to me but i'm tired of taking 'cut price offers' for our players. But it might be something we just have to live with till he gets this squad shaped and trimmed to his satisfaction. I'm fervently hoping Gerrard is going to be around till the end of his contract. The annual chopping and changing is a large part of what's killing us.

IT was a professional performance from Rangers on Tuesday night as they saw out the tie with FK Shkupi and progressed into the second round of the Europa League. But Steven Gerrard was right to highlight the lack of goals over the two legs and I think that will be his biggest concern as he reflects on his first matches in charge. Rangers should have won the first game at Ibrox far more comfortably and they had enough chances in Macedonia to win the game. It is not as if they are creating nothing, they are carving out some chances, but they are just not putting them in the back of the net. That is a worry. People seem to be settling in at the back, Allan McGregor has dealt with what he has to well and the midfield has been OK. But the lack of goals over the two games will be a concern for the manager. I am sure he and Gary McAllister will be a sitting down and looking at options to bring a striker in. It is a natural striker we need, a predator in the box. I know they are hard to come by but we need someone that is in the box all the time and sniffs out chances and goals. Rangers need a McCoist or Boyd type striker. That is what they are lacking at this moment in time. You can’t say that you’ll just give it until three or four weeks into the Premiership and see if it works because by that stage you could have lost a couple of games and dropped some crucial points. Right now the side is the opposite of what it was last season. Rangers were the top scorers in the Premiership last term but we gave away some terrible goals. Now we have had three clean sheets, and you have to keep in mind the opposition that they have played when judging that. They have still scored eight goals in three games but you look at who they are against and then consider the challenges that will come in the Europa League and the Premiership. There are far tougher tests to come, especially in that run of league games with Aberdeen, Motherwell and Celtic away from home. Rangers have to get it right before then so I am sure the manager will be looking for another striker to come in. Umar Sadiq has joined from Roma but you can’t pin all your hopes on him right now. Given his size, he will provide a presence up there and while he will be working hard in training, he does lack a bit of match sharpness and he won’t be rushed in before he is ready. There are no guarantees that he is going to be the main man because he is still a young player as well. We will see another forward coming into the club. I’m not sure if they will buy anyone but they might look to get someone in on loan. It wouldn’t surprise me if Steven goes back to Liverpool to try and get someone like Dominic Solanke or uses his contacts down south to try and get a player up here on loan. There are lots of players that will find it hard to break into a Premier League side this season and he may feel one or two could do a job here. If you are not going to play down there, a move to rangers may appeal for the player and the parent club. This is where his contacts come in and I am sure he and Gary will have been discussing that since the final whistle on Tuesday night. That is the problem that he must solve right now. We need a natural striker because that is what is missing. If you think of the chances we had early on Tuesday night, if we had scored one the tie was over. We created a couple and missed a couple and that has to change. If you look at Alfredo Morelos, I think his confidence has gone a wee bit. I know it is early doors but it can get to you when you get chances and don’t take them. It will be a worry for the manager and I would imagine it will be something he will try and fix quickly. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/16364789.derek-johnstone-steven-gerrard-must-solve-rangers-striking-conundrum-sooner-rather-than-later/

Foderingham a Target for Ipswich Rangers keeper Wes Foderingham has been earmarked as a possible summer signing by English Championship side Ipswich Town. The 27-year-old, who has racked up more than a century of competitive appearances in a Gers shirt since moving to Ibrox in 2015, has been deemed surplus to requirements by new Rangers manager Steven Gerrard and it is reported that the Suffolk side has made preliminary contact with the former Swindon Town stopper. Ipswich could be in the market for a new first-choice keeper with Polish international Bartosz Bialkowski yet to sign a new long-term contract that was offered to the 31-year-old back in January. Ipswich boss Paul Hurst has only been in the Portman Road hot seat for a month and has so far demonstrated an excellent poker face with the local media in East Anglia regarding incomings and outgoings. Maintaining the poker analogy, just as newbie card players adopt a tight opening strategy by keeping their cards close to their chest, Hurst — a newbie to Championship football — is adopting a similar approach. Although the former Shrewsbury Town supremo has intimated the Tractor Boys are keen to keep Bialkowski at the club, reports in Suffolk suggest any new deal would need to make the Pole the club’s highest-paid player at £20,000 per week. Bialkowski was part of the Polish national squad that competed at this summer’s World Cup finals but did not get any game time because he was an understudy to Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski. The former Notts County and Southampton keeper might feel his best odds of pushing further into the Poland reckoning would be to seek a move to the Premier League, with Crystal Palace rumoured to be strongly interested in Bialkowski back in January. However, with Wayne Hennessey signing a new deal at Selhurst Park, interest from the Eagles may well have cooled. Foderingham would be a solid choice for any Championship side. He has proven himself to be a capable shot-stopper and is one of the most-assured British keepers outside of the Premier League with his feet. Gerrard’s decision to re-sign Allan McGregor at Ibrox from Championship outfit Hull City is the key reason for Foderingham’s demotion in the Rangers squad. Only last year, the Hammersmith-born ace signed a fresh long-term contract, tying him to the Gers until 2020. However, Gerrard is said to be willing to listen to cut-price offers for Foderingham, which will be music to the ears of Ipswich owner Marcus Evans, who operates a notoriously tight ship at Portman Road. If Bialkowski were to have a change of heart and sign a new long-term deal at Ipswich, alternative destinations for Foderingham could include a return to west London and Brentford, with first-choice keeper Daniel Bentley said to be attracting top-flight attention this summer. Fellow west Londoners Queens Park Rangers could also be in the market for a senior keeper with only relative rookies on the books for Steve McClaren at Loftus Road. Foderingham won’t be short of suitors after becoming a fans’ favorite at Ibrox during his time under former Gers supremo Mark Warburton. http://www.talkingbaws.com/2018/07/gers-keeper-wes-foderingham-a-target-for-ipswich-town/