Uploading images straight to your post...

Currently in the insert other media section there is an 'insert existing attachment'. I don't think this is available on mobile?

Will it be possible to upload images straight to the post?

Ally bang on point, as ever.

Rangers encouraging recruitment drive raises more answers than questions with back-to-their-roots feel - Perks

As a former regular on the now extinct WATP Podcast, I would be happy to make the odd appearance as a panellist/guest. 

Todd Van Allen would be a great person to consult on this, if you have him on FB or Twitter. He records his own comedy podcast in Canada and he was WATP Podcast as far as running the show is concerned.

Cummings is an absolute bell-end. But, when he hits a hattrick vs Hibs, we won't worry about that.

He is saying the same things we heard. I really bought in to that stuff at the start

Reads like he is going there to do exactly the same thing as he did here. He has learnt nothing and seems more defiant than the magic hat, that his system works.

But, I'll be grateful if we get 2mil back for Peña!

Winter break, but barely 2 weeks off for Europa quals earlier this season...

It is a real waste of time. Luckily, 3rd round of the FA Cup was here to save us.

I attempted to view the WATP Mag thread and was told I didn't have permission to do so.

The first thing I felt when I saw his signing picture, was that he is built like a rake.

Purely based on his lack of strength, as I perceive it, I don't think he will be able to handle the physicality in this league, especially if the majority of his playing time has come at U23 level.

Really pleased with this. We should be in a position to have 5/6 players out on loan to the Championship.

Like many, I don't know what position he plays in. However, I'm really happy for him that he's back.

He might not be the most talented, but he certainly is one of the most committed. Especially at Ibrox, we are seriously lacking in commitment, Ross McCrorie aside.

I'm looking forward to seeing him back in action.

The other issue is not letting decent youngsters that you have on the books go. Whilst impossible not to get some wrong, we seem to have been making a habit out of it.

Do you mean keeping young players longer than we should if they aren't going to make it? Ryan Hardie, for example?

Regardless of where players come from, our budget means we have to get much better value out of the money we spend to have any chance of getting anywhere close to an acceptable level.

 

Over the years, too many players have joined us and went backwards for it to be a coincidence. We need to start consistently improving players and adding value and that should start with the development squad, including a pathway for those good enough.

 

Going out and taking a punt on established names who are winding their career down should be stopped as it costs more than it delivers. We need the new scouting department to spot the decent players before they make headlines and their values increase.

Would you class Jack Hendry as player who has yet to make the headlines and has potential to improve?

Thanks for your feedback, chaps.

Jamie Murphy also seems to be a favourite to join us.

I realised afterwards that I had missed out the Murphy rumour, but being honest I don't know anything worthwhile about him to write an opinion.

We shouldnt be looking at cherry picking Kilmarnock and Dundee players.

I get you, but, the majority of our successful players have been signed from the likes of Kilmarnock and Dundee; Kris Boyd and Nacho Novo to name just two.

I am a firm believer that signing the best players in Scotland will help us become the best team in Scotland (once again).

Plus, it should be a cheaper market compared to what we get from England or further afield. Part of that though, is enhancing our reputation as a buying club and improving relationships with the clubs we buy from.

This will be on the home page when Frankie has a chance.

The transfer window is open! Hurrah!

 

OK, OK. I'm not that excited. However, we still have some questions to consider, after I attempted to move on 6 first team players in Part 1 of my Transfer Window Preview:

 

What positions do Rangers need to fill in this window?

 

Who could they sign to fill those positions?

 

Let's start at the back. As far as goalkeepers are concerned Rangers are in a very strong position. As well as having two experienced professionals competing for the number 1 jersey, there are an abundance of young stoppers who have represented their countries all through the age groups. We don't need any activity in this department, for years to come, we'd hope.

 

Across the defence, both Cardoso and Alves have question marks over their heads during this window. The situation looks a tad concerning if either or both players move on. We could be left with just Wilson, Bates and McCrorie as senior centre-backs. There is more young talent to come from Auchenhowie in this position, but we wouldn't want to have to rely on this week-in, week-out; there is a Scottish Premiership title to be won!

 

If we work on the assumption that Fabio Cardoso will return to Portugal in the next few weeks, having barely featured under Graeme Murty, who could we bring in to replace him?

 

Dundee's 22-year-old Jack Hendry has this morning been linked by a Scottish newspaper with a move to Celtic. The article suggests a fee would be somewhere between £500,000-£1.5million. If that was the case, he should surely also be a person of interest for Rangers, depending on which side of the Glasgow divide he sits on. Newcastle United and Crystal Palace were also named in the article, but Hendry has already moved to England once before and failed to make the grade. Scottish football data and tactical analyst, @TheSPFLRadar, tweeted yesterday to suggest Hendry "isn't ready for Celtic yet". Would he be ready for Rangers?

 

At full-back, Rangers have already completed the permanent signing of Declan John. This maintains Rangers' current status with just 3 fit senior full-backs. Lee Wallace has been nearly ready to return for a while now, and you'd have to expect he'll be back before the end of the window. Again, there are young lads available to provide further cover. As long as we keep hold of Tavernier, I wouldn't be pushing for any hasty recruitment in this area - as weak as our current options are defensively.

 

Moving in to midfield, when all are fit, we have good options in the middle. McCrorie has been a revelation at holding mid and Jamie Barjonas is ready to play a regular part too, from what I have seen. However, with Rossiter, Jack and Dorrans all injured, you could suggest a loan signing might be beneficial. Based on an article in the Scottish Sun just yesterday [https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/2031436/rangers-napli-marcus-mcguane-january-loan/], it would seem moves are afoot to bring in Arsenal's England U19 international combative midfielder, Marcus McGuane. I can't tell you much about him, but the article suggests a number of clubs across Europe would be interested in his services. McGuane has come off the bench for Arsenal in the Champions League this season, but he is hardly competing for a place in the first team.

 

In the wide areas, with Josh Windass linked away, Rangers may have to find at least one new recruit in this area in case Windass does attract a large enough offer. In my opinion, the number one target in the Premiership for Rangers should be Jordan Jones. The Kilmarnock winger created a whole host of problems for James Tavernier in the recent fixture and he looks like he could provide good service for Alfredo Morelos up top. Rangers were heavily linked with Jamie Walker throughout the last window, but since then Walker has hardly impressed. I wouldn't like Rangers to renew their interest at this stage.

 

We should also remember that Michael O'Halloran will return to Rangers this week, which bolsters numbers at wing and full-back if nothing else.

 

The 'number 10' position is possibly the most critical area for Graeme Murty to seek something new. Alfredo Morelos is the top scorer in the league, but it could be double that if he had a better supporting play-maker to work with. Neither Niko Krancjar or Carlos Peña are capable of effectively supporting Morelos, and with Kenny Miller injured, it seems inevitable that Rangers will recruit in this area if at least Peña can be moved on. Are there any players in Scotland who could be a benefit to Rangers in this area? I'd need to do more homework in this area before making a genuine suggestion.

 

Finally, up front we are also struggling for someone, anyone, other than Morelos to make a worthwhile contribution this season. With Kenny Miller injured, Eduardo Herrera hopefully finding a return to Mexico and Ryan Hardie probably not good enough (if we're honest), Rangers need to invest in this position. The Louis Moult ship has already sailed, and I am quite disappointed that Rangers did not even attempt to sign him. We should be signing players like Moult when they show that they have the right attributes to play for us. Rangers would probably have to look outside Scotland to fill this position; preferably not Mexico.

 

If I've missed any blatantly obvious hot prospects from Scotland that we should be talking about, please log on to Gersnet and let us know!

 

Here's hoping for a happy new year and productive transfer window!

I had genuinely forgotten about Dalcio, hence his lack of inclusion - you can't even class him as a first team player. I would imagine there's a contractual reason we can't send him back.

I'm really not keen with this opinion that celebrating a draw against the-greatest-team-that-ever-played should not be celebrated. It is a positive result that keeps out faint title hopes alive.

It's almost like mocking our contentment with a draw is a good way to deflect their intrinsic fear that this Celtic team are fast on their way back Earth.

It doesn't sound good, but I am very encouraged by Murty's focus on the psychological well-being of an injured player.

Wishful thinking. Were the amateur clubs you played for hated by everyone? Did your rivals have placemen at the main association?

Positive* thinking.

I’ve said it before, professional sport operates on such narrow margins that unfair refereeing, by giving marginal fouls on way for example can have a massive influence on the game. Never mind massive decisions.

 

I find it strange that you acknowledge you think we are being referreed to a different standard but don’t find it a big deal...

I did say "if", a few times! But it's a fair enough comment. I can see the contradiction in what I'm trying to say.

Looking deeper as to why I'm quite content that we take the high road when it comes to referees is probably due to my 12 years (and counting) as an amateur in football and rugby. At every club I've played a coach or captain has told the team to "keep the ref on our side". I now repeat it without thinking when I'm captain on the rugby pitch, or coaching youngsters.

Referees can and do show bias to players/clubs that they like, whatever the reason. I've experienced it countless times as a player; albeit with lesser able refs you'd probably argue. Even at school age we could get pally with a ref and have decisions go our way. It works both ways too. Get on the wrong side of the ref and you will definitely suffer.

If we're on the wrong side of certain refs, criticising them in public will not help. I'd like to think that over time, by taking the high line, we'll get them back on our side.

... if the only thing he does is drive into players who turn out for us the mental strength to deal with the shirt then he'll have more than paid his way...

Until reading that, I didn't really know what to think of this, as I know f-all about Jimmy Nicholl other than what we covered in his Seventy2 interview a few years ago.

All players are capable of developing their psychological skills in order to handle any amount of pressure, or responsibility. Some may need more work than others (Tavernier and Windass, I'm looking at you). The more people we can bring in with correct mental attributes and experience, the better, at least until we can properly invest in Sport Psychology.

If Jimmy Nicholl does as you suggest, he will be worth his wages for sure.

I suspect Krancjar was started because Murty was hoping he would get on the ball, make a telling pass and add creativity. This didn't really happen, but looking at our bench there did not appear to be any replacements who could fulfil this role although someone like Barjonas might have added more energy but not until the end did we seem to be lacking in this department.

I don't know how anyone could pick Krancjar over Barjonas from what we've seen in the past few weeks, especially against the 4th best player in the world. The kid has real energy and intensity in his play. I was hoping Murty would be quite biased towards the youngsters, but not quite yet.

I won't see the game back until tomorrow but very pleased we didn't lose ground in the title race.

Krancjar starting again reinforces my thoughts on Murty in the hot seat...