Frankie

Yeah, I heard last week he was struggling for the rest of the season. Shame as he's a great wee player. In saying that, I thought Ian Murray was superb against Hearts the other week so let's hope he benefits from this.

It's supposed to snow this weekend... Strange the waited so long but I'm sure there is a reason for it.

Paranoia caused by an over-reaction to an imagined perception of unjustness can't be applied here. When coupled with the weather comments, the stupid joke about Sebo and now this unacceptable description of Thomson, this isn't a perception but a fact that BBC Scotland at least seem to be condoning some sort of continual anti-Rangers feelings. Now, I don't think these incidents are as dangerous or as offensive as some would make out but at the same time we should just bend over and accept them. We all pay our licence fee for a neutral, quality product from the BBC. I don't think any of us are getting that and it's not like saying "Ach just stop buying that paper". That's not possible.

Ian at the bar... Not a chance...! Nice one Jon.

No doubt about it Cammy. As ian says, much of that is to do with Joke's stormtroopers and our lack of success lately but we all have to play our part in improving it. There's nothing - nothing! - better than being amongst Rangers fans at a big game and when we're in full voice.

... in terms of tactics and personnel for next season. I think the side might look something like this: ____________________McGregor___________________ Hutton______Webster____________Ehiogu_______Smith ________Hemdani_____Ferguson____Thomson________ ________Brown________Boyd_____McCulloch_________ I agree we need another right back which might help Hutton achieve a better level of consistency. With Klos leaving, we'll need another goalie unless we give the impressive Lee Robinson a chance as deputy. In midfield, Hemdani might move on but I think he'd get on well alongside Thomson or playing just in front of the back 4 enabling Ferguson to get forward. Brown and McCulloch could be signed for a combined �£3-3.5million and both of them would make good buys for deeper, wider roles while supporting Boyd as the poacher. With Klos, Prso and Buffel all set to move on that will free up money for wages so that way we'll be able to afford the 3 or 4 players we need. In saying that guys like Burke, Adam, Murray, Novo and Svensson et al might still be able to provide adequate back-up for a better quality first XI. I just hope we have a 2nd place finish and CL football to help fund any transfer fees. We can ill-afford to finish 4rd again. That would be a disaster. PS: Trying to get back posting now after a hectic few weeks making the new RST website and real work... Let's get Gersnet buzzing again!

He describes it above Jon... :D

A new year and a new website for the Trust... It's always nice to start a new year with a fresh look. As such, the Trust website now has a new content managed style enabling easier navigation for the user and increased flexibility for the site admin. We hope all our members enjoy the new look and we'd love to hear your thoughts in the poll available on the right hand side of the home page. If you spot any broken links or have any issues with the format, please contact us using the top menu button. Don't forget to update your bookmarks with the new address: http://www.rangerssupporterstrust.co.uk/rstsite/

Celtic are offering more - simple. We don't need Hartley as urgently as they now do with Maloney ready to leave.

Hartley had a medical for us yesterday.

Thomson is in some ways similar to Clement but has more creativity, a higher work rate and is more likely to score goals. A great signing IMO.

My information is that PH will sign today.

PSV midfielder who we were linked with today - Aussie international.

http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~970533,00.html http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~970522,00.html Hopefully we'll sign 1 or 2 of Brown, Thomson or Culina in the next day or 2...

What's everyone's thoughts on the 2 new guys...? I think we all knew that we needed defenders and although Weir and Egiogh aren't exciting young players, I think their experience and physical game will help Svensson and Webster no end. Looking as if Clement will be leaving so that should enable Hemdani to move back into his preferred position in midfield. If JC does leave then hopefully that will free up a bit of cash to buy Scott Brown from Hibs. We certainly lack creativity and hard work in the midfield and wee Broon would do a job in that regard. An interesting week ahead!

Money isn't a problem mate. Thanks for offering though...

Yep, we've bought another domain name through a more reliable company who renew domain names automatically.

After a short break, Gersnet is now back online. We've had some problems with our domain name over the last couple of weeks through no fault of our own. .info will be back online in the next few days but for the moment if we stick to the http://www.gersnetonline.net/vb/ address that will bring us all here. Apologies again and thanks for your patience. I'll get something on Newsnow asap to announce our return but if everyone can contact the usual folk then that will be cool. Gersnet Team!

Apologies for the downtime... Beyond our control - honestly.

:D Honestly, being linked with Bamba frightens me no end. Rumour or not.

What Koeman said... If we signed Bamba I'm sure I'd join long queue of people throwing themselves off the Forth Road Bridge.

http://www.gersnet.info/fmrangers/newmain/110107.html First of all I think itââ?¬â?¢s quite important that we keep an element of perspective in this article. Not many Rangers fans like Bain in a personal way and that can often cloud judgement when it comes to the job he does. Martin Bain first joined Rangers in 1996 serving under former commercial manager Bob Reilly. At that time football was in the midst of a commercial explosion; TV money was high even in Scottish football and other opportunities were there to be grasped because of that huge media exposure. As a result, Bain ââ?¬â?? like other members of the commercial team ââ?¬â?? can say he was partly responsible for bringing in the large amounts of money to the club in those heady days. Because of his relatively young age in those days ââ?¬â?? he was 29 when he joined the club ââ?¬â?? Bainââ?¬â?¢s potential was spotted early by the senior staff. Although not having a background in football his good work in the commercial arm helped him secure the (rather vague and general) post of ââ?¬Ë?Director of Football Businessââ?¬â?¢ in late 2002 ââ?¬â?? a year after being appointed to the Rangers board. Of course that season really saw the Rangers financial downsizing begin in earnest. Although Mikel Arteta joined the club for a near Ã?£6million, Rangers fans started to see the influx of below average Bosman players such as Kevin Muscat ââ?¬Ë?complimentââ?¬â?¢ the squad. Alex McLeish was the manager and it was soon obvious that he, and Bain to be fair, would have a difficult job on their hands delivering success to the restraints of a club trying to ship excess baggage to attain an even financial keel. To that end, they were reasonably successful. McLeish delivered 7 trophies and Martin Bain made some difficult decisions to ensure Rangers (as of their 2005/06 accounts) were back almost into the black. Of course both still suffered for their thankless work. McLeish couldnââ?¬â?¢t achieve real consistency, and, as the Ibrox Scrooge, Bain was the ultimate supportersââ?¬â?¢ scapegoat of an unimaginative board and a chairman who had disappeared for a few years and lacked the ambition of his initial spell. In February 2005, nine years after his first arrival at Ibrox, Bain was appointed Rangersââ?¬â?¢ 4th Chief Executive. David Holmes was the first such employee and no-one can forget the club-changing work he did under the Marlborough administration. Since then, the club has had another 2 such CEOââ?¬â?¢s - Alan Montgomery and Bob Brannan (now the chairman of Dundee). Both perhaps had it easier than Bain working in less stressful times. Unfortunately, it was around this time that Bain was starting to make mistakes that this high-profile job couldnââ?¬â?¢t afford. Dragan Mladenovic, Jose Pierre-Fanfan and Olivier Bernard were just 3 examples of players that had to be paid off their lucrative contracts. Meanwhile rumours of staff fall-outs were rife. Retail director Nick Peel, long time club secretary Campbell Ogilvie and Youth manager George Adams were all moved on in quick succession amid rumours of disagreements with Bain. In more recent times, Bain has also been seen as incompetent in other areas. On holiday in the Alps while Paul le Guen and Barry Ferguson had their much publicised fall out and failing to get any sort of fee for players on the transfer list. Bainââ?¬â?¢s biggest detractors point to the success of Celtic and specifically their CEO ââ?¬â?? Peter Lawwel ââ?¬â?? as the main evidence for his failure. Continuing and unacceptable media problems, continued transfer market underperformance and continued poor relationships with his staff and our fans are all a marked contrast to Lawwel ââ?¬â?? who has to operate under the same financial restrictions and in the same market as Bain. In the last year we have seen 2 managers sacked from Rangers. The last 2 seasons have also delivered no trophies to our club. That is wholly unacceptable and that underperformance can be attributed to the mistakes and incompetence of Martin Bain. Sure, could be argued that, in the same way as the departing managers, he has suffered from a lack of backing from a chairman who seems to lack the fight and ambition for the challenges we face. However, our now infecund owner canââ?¬â?¢t be sacked which leaves the right hand man he groomed for the job. Mistakes have been rife and success has disappeared. Martin Bain should no longer be the Rangers Chief Executive. Now, is the time to make that change.

Yeah, I'll third it... All the best Wattie and welcome back.

This meeting is to be completely open so anything he tells us about the PLG/Ferguson issue will be reported back. As will everything else in the meeting.

I'll tell him why he was dropped for the Belgium squad. It's because, despite us having one of the worst teams and run of results in our history, he still can't apply the necessary commitment, work-rate, determination, skill and consistency to be in the first team ahead of less talented players such as Novo. As such, he's proved plenty to me in the last 2 years - mainly that he's not good enough.