Yorkie Bear

The problem with the split is that Scottish football is so unbalanced. Everyone want to play Rangers and Celtic at home for the increased gate money so the SPFL have to second guess who will be in the top 6 so that those in the bottom 6 have had 3 old firm home games.  Some may be aggrieved that 2 out of their 3 were with Celtic and not the mighty but that’s tough.

The 4 teams outside the old firm in the top 6 should then get their 2 home games against both Rangers and Celtic. The fixtures between the four of them should sort themselves out with hopefully 2 home games but if that’s not possible for everyone, I can’t see it really matters as it’s all about gate receipts and whether Kilmarnock have 1, 2 or 3 games against Hibs doesn’t really matter.

If as a result of this set up we or Celtic have to play 5 away games then so be it. We will have played an equal number of home and away against the other top 6 clubs. If home advantage was all that it’s taken to be, we would have had an advantage in the earlier part of the season which would be reflected in our table position, but life is not that simple.

We have won 6/13 at home and 10/14 away.

Celtic have won 9/14 at home and 9/13 away

Aberdeen have won 8/13 at home and 8/14 away

Hibs have won  6/13 at home and 7/14 away

Hearts have won 5/13 at home and 4/14 away

Kilmarnock have won 5/13 at home and 4/12 away

So let’s not get hung up on playing at home in the final fixtures. Take the view that whatever they may throw at us, we will prevail.

I remember at the time of the Scottish referendum when the Sunday Herald came out for a Yes vote. It became national (UK) news. At first it was simply said that this was the first newspaper to call for a Yes vote (the underlying sentiment among media types down in England was favourable to a Yes vote). Then in later broadcasts it was also said that the circulation was 40,000, which put things into context. The story soon died.

In his brief spells as Manager, Murty has shown that he has the backing of the players. He has also shown that he can switch the formation depending on who is playing against and has had some good results against teams at the top of the table. He conducts himself well, knows the Ibrox set up and will have a good understanding of the Scottish game. He is slowly bringing on some young players and seems to be a good man-manager. So far so good.

What we now need to see from him is how he can improve on performances against teams in the lower end. It will be interesting to see what type of players he brings in in January, whether he offloads anyone and whether he brings back O'Halloran and can get him to be more consistent.

He now has a decent period of time to make his mark and as has already been said, he has little to lose.

Here's looking forward to the next 5 months.

I wondered whether Wednesday's yellow was calculated by Windass so that, while he would miss the Motherwell game, he'd be back for the Celtic game.

There are some things the Board have set out to do which suggests some strategic direction. They’ve agreed that the DOF & Coach set up is the direction they want. They’ve got the Scouting set up going, which can only be judged in the longer term. They are trying to improve Ibrox. They’ve got the Fan zone off the ground. We’ve even now got 3 mascots:) So I’m sure the AGM will point out these positives to show that they have a direction they want to go in.

Where they have done badly is in their handling of the manager. It seems the MW was wanting out and the board was happy for him to go, so I don’t blame the Board for that. They took their time to appoint Pedro, which again was OK, and it looked like he would give them the style of play they wanted. However that was not to be and from then on it all went wrong. Whatever you may think of Pedro, the manner of his departure did not cover the Board in glory. They appeared to side with players rather than the manager. They had no succession in mind and dumpted it on Murty.

Normally when a club’s managerial post becomes vacant you hear from them that they’s had so many applications. They’ve drawn up a shortlist. They will be interviewing over a period and hope to appoint at such a time. We’ve heard nothing – only from those people who the media link with us to say they’ve not been approached. Now it may be that the Board are being very canny and they are talking to people who we are not even thinking about but I think an indication from them of timescales etc may reassure us that they’ve got it all in hand. Hearing nothing makes us fear that they are not in control of events.

Rangers 2 Aberdeen 0

FGS Morelos

"Derek made his position very clear to me," Milne told Aberdeen's website. "He has no intention of going anywhere. He loves this club."

 

That lost sentence is enough to put me right off McInnes.

In other words "Derek is going nowhere". Could not have put it better myself:)

From the Guardian last week – an insight into what it takes to be a coach. While it’s a generic article and not about any particular team, I think it’s got relevance to our present situation so I hope it’s OK to post here.

It’s written by Liam Rosenior who plays for Brighton and was in response to the abuse that Bilic got when West Ham played Brighton last week.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/26/bilic-abuse-fans-questioning-desire-football-manager-liam-rosenior

Many people has asked what the course [uefa Pro Licence course] entails, its structure and basically does it teach you how to be a manager? The answer will surprise many people because at least 90% of the course has absolutely nothing to do with football whatsoever.

The pro licence course I and many aspiring coaches take is based on personal stress management, handling the media, psychology, team-building and cultivating relationships with players and staff at every level of a club – all of the skills and tools which are necessary to cope in a very pressured job at the highest level. But the lectures and coursework we have to complete are as far removed from football as you can get; it’s about developing the understanding of what makes your players (employees) tick, managing in a fickle, high-stress, results-driven business, how to maximise potential in a team environment and the art of teaching itself – all skills needed for management in every industry, not just football.

Ironically, these are abilities which aren’t analysed, quantified or debated by fans or the experts and pundits in the media. Since the introduction of the famous Football Manager computer simulation game, the amount of statistical and tactical analysis available to people has led millions to believe coaching is simply a matter of examining the numbers and then selecting a team and formation and away you go. Everyone is an expert now and has an opinion of their club’s best team and formation.

But can everyone walk into a dressing room full of big characters, who analyse and mock any weakness, stand in front of them and lead them to success? Can everyone deal with the outspoken players who are unhappy and think they should be starting instead of the useless donkey you’ve picked in front of them? Can everyone be the face of a club, in some cases multimillion‑pound companies and therefore face the immense financial pressures that come with every result, every week in the job?

Obviously knowing football systems, football philosophies and tactics is of paramount importance in the job. But in doing my coaching licences I have realised and learned that my character and example as a person, handling high-stress environments while having the ability to inspire and relate to players from different countries of different faiths and culture, is just as important.

When we are talking about the merits of our next Manager and debating previous managers we have had, it usually dwells on formations, style of play and results. While in the end success is determined by results, the means to that end depends on many things and we tend not to talk about interpersonal skills, largely because it’s one side we don’t really see. Maybe that was Pedro’s downfall that he was unable to deal with the entrenched established players and introduce the new, largely foreign, players into a united squad. Of course, it’s not just the manager who has a responsibily here, the players also need to adjust to new personnel and ideas and I think some may find this very difficult.

So what of our new manager? He will face a group of new foreign players, some of who do not speak much English; a group of established players who may think they know best and a group of newish British players who were signed by Pedro. Not only does he need to play “a style of football the fans expect” he needs to be a good man-manager, a superb tactician, adept with the media and deal with stress that comes with the job. Not much to ask!

I want Pedro to succeed because I have never seen a manager being mocked or vilified in Scotland as much as he has - just listen to this:

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-boss-pedro-caixinha-out-11399445

Excuse me if I don't listen to it but I can imagine the content. I also want Pedro to succeed. I like his philosophy. I like his articulate press conferences. It's good to see a manager with a vision.

It's up to the players now to get results and give Pedro a bit of slack.

As Pedro has suggested we can expect much the same team as Sunday's starting line up, with Foderingham and McCrorie coming in. Many on here think that Pena and Windass should be dropped. Well Pedro is giving them a last chance to prove themselves. If anyone has a terrible first half, I expect half time substitutions. If things are no going right, Pedro can'y afford to take the huff and let them get on with it. However, I expect that we will get a good reaction from the team and run out comfortable winners.

I think a bit of composure is needed here. Assuming we win on Wednesday, we’ll be third in the league and with Celtic and Aberdeen playing, probably 3 points behind second place.

I agree there seems a problem within the team that they cannot respond to going behind and when they go 2 down, they seem to give up. While Pedro needs to take some blame, the greater blame should lie with the players. They need to respond as a unit. They need to react to the brutality that is sometime handed out by the opposition, but I don’t kid myself that this is an easy thing to do.

For whatever reason referees seem incapable to dealing with hatchet men. Naively, I thought that after we had moved up from the Peterheads of Scottish football we would be allowed a bit more protection. How wrong I was. As Alves has said, the referees let the hard man tactics go unpunished early on and that sets the trend for the game. It then becomes a matter of survival and good football goes out the window. I don’t know the answer to this. It’s easy to say the players should rise above the baiting but when they are battered and given no protection, it must be very difficult. You can almost understand them just wanting the game to end so they can get off safely. When you see the state of Carduso’s face when he came off, surely the officials must have realised that something needed to be done. Instead, they send the Manager to the stand!

And by the way, did anyone notice that the combativeness of Hibs in the semi was somewhat less that it was at Ibrox. I don’t think that Stokes committed a foul all game! Or maybe I’m a bit paranoid.

Foderingham 6

Tavernier 7

Cardoso 6

McCrorie 8

Hodson 7

Candeias 6

Jack 6

Dorrans 6

Windass 6

Pena 6

Morelos 6

Subs :

Miller 5

Herrera 5

Nemane 5

Same as usual :

Foderingham 7

Tavernier 7

Cardoso 6

Alves 8

Wallace 6

Jack

Dorrans 7

Kranjcar 5

Candeais 7

Miller 6

Morelos 8

Subs

Herrera 7

Pena 7

Rossiter 6

Foderingham 6

Tavernier 6

Cardoso 6

Alves 7

Wallace 7

Candeias 6

Jack 6

Dorrans 6

Windass 6

Miller 5

Morelos 7

Subs :

Kranjcar 6

Hardie 6

Foderingham 5

Tavernier 5

Alves 6

Cardoso 6

Hodson 5

Candeias 5

Jack 5

Dorrans 6

Windass 5

Miller 5

Morelos 6

Subs :

Herrera 5

Wilson 5

Pena 5

Beaton - as a competent referee 0 but certain people may say he played a blinder.

Foderingham - 7

Hodson - 6

Cardoso - 6

Alves - 7

Wallace - 7

Jack - 8

Dorrans - 8

Candeias - 7

Windass - 7

Miller - 6

Herrera - 6

Subs :

Tavernier - 6

Wilson - 6

Morelos - 6

The secret to success this year is consistency. We've seen it in the past that when Celtic were stuttering, the likes of Aberdeen failed because they were not consistent. A good start to the season - anything is possible.

We've got 6 games before we meet Celtic, so by then we'll know if we are in with a shout. If we're within 3 points of top spot when we meet them, I fancy us for to be league winners. I also think we will be cup finalists.

The televised matches for August are out:

spfl.co.uk/premiership/fixtures/

Our first match - Motherwell away is now on Sunday 6/8 at 1.30

Also our Match at Ross County has been moved to Sunday 27/8 at 3.00.

I agree that the ramifications are horrendous but that won't stop our detractors from stoking the flames. The anti-Rangers brigade will be on the march. This is going to get very messy.

How much this is down to Mackay and how much to those around him. You have got to ask yourself why he was so reluctant to sign a new contract last year. I really don't think that this is all the fault of Pedro, I think that those around Mackay have convinced him that he is better than he really is and his heart is no longer at Ibrox. Time will tell if he shines in England and end up in a Premier side or he end up back in Scotland in a struggling SPFL team. Regardless, he will make more money in the short term, but at what price?

I agree with RANGERSRAB that certain people have played to the stands and stoked up the hatred to us. The problem is that while the SFA say nothing will be done, how will these certain people now react? How will they save face? I can't see that they will simply say "the SFA have spoken. Our hands are tied. Let's move on". The danger is that the clamour will build and the SFA will "review" their decision. Seems like Scottish football have some "interesting times" ahead.

What a difference a day makes!

All positive here. PC being given a chance. New signings being allowed time to gel.

Fast forward to today and PC is a dud who should go now and the players he signed are not up to it.

I prefer the optimism of this thread.

I think we need a bit perspective here. In the immediate aftermath of this terrible result, the knives will be out for the manager but in the cold light of day his sacking would be an overreaction.

If we were to get rid of him, who would we bring in? Do you think that a new manager 4 weeks before the start of the season is a good decision? What about the players he has brought in?

The manager needs to be given a chance to see what he can do in the league. A good start and this European nightmare will be dismissed as a lesson learned. The pressure is on Pedro now. It's essential that we win the opening game at Motherwell and follow it up with 2 home victories so that we can breathe again. 9 points under our belt and a team gelling will bring back our belief. A bad start and a stuttering team doesn't bear thinking about.

Maybe I'm naive and/or in denial but I remain optimistic.

Foderingham 6

Tavernier 6

Bates 6

Cardoso 7

Wallace 6

Jack 7

Holt 6

Kranjcar 8

Dalcio 6

Waghorn 5

Miller 7

Subs :

Candeis 6

Rossiter 6

Morelos 6

If we are in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa, 1st game of season will be on the Sunday 6th and should we reach the pay-off round, the Hearts game will be on Sunday 20/8 - or maybe i'm getting ahead of myself.

The site is definitely "quality not quantity" and I hope it remains so.

The thing I like about the site , unlike some other fans sites, is that it does not degenerate into abuse and there are not 5 separate threads dealing with the same topic.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to the new season with success on the pitch and informed debate on the site.