weebluedevil

Santa is Turkish, so no problem!

That feels like a loss for me today. Conceding three goals was never in the script, but I guess we came up against our biggest test so far this season. I don’t accept excuses of fatigue - If we want to compete on three fronts we need to be as fit as we all thought we were. I don’t know what went wrong in the 2nd half, we were completely controlled and the equalizer was 100% coming - clear for all to see, yet we couldn’t prevent it. Okay, if we were going to have one off day in these 3 big games, I’d rather it happened today. Let’s see what SG and his team can now do to recover from this. I didn’t think the defence played like their lives depended on it, which I has been characteristic of us so far. No fingers pointed - several players didn’t do themselves justice today. Win, lose or draw on Thursday, I don’t care, as long as we make it to the groups stages, from a revenue perspective. But the league is where we will be judged and we now need to take something from the next Sunday otherwise we could slip 7 points behind Hearts and 5 points behind Celtic after only 4 games, and whatever way you look at it that would not represent a great start.

I was reading some of the journalists giving their views on whether Rangers fans confidence in a result against Celtic, arguably our biggest test this season, was warranted. They felt that our supporters would be delighted to come away with a point. Not for me. Acceptable perhaps, but I won’t be delighted. One draw already at Aberdee, albeit robbed of the opportunity to kick the season off with a win, means we need to come away with 3 points in our next two games if we don’t want to fall further behind the leading pack. We may still be ahead of Celtic if we share the points (assuming we take care of business tomorrow), but that game is the big test for us, and with Celtic not looking their strongest at the moment I would be disappointed not to win there, especially as Hearts have shown they can be taken. A draw won’t be the end of the world, far from it, but I’m not going to celebrate a draw at this stage.

You’re the first, the last, my everything.

The SG effect!

Ufa return leg has to be the priority, but I think we do have strength in depth with the notable exception of CB, so I think we can cope with these 3 massive games coming up. As others have said, I think one good reason to rotate out Morelos and/or Jack for the Well game is for fear of a sending off and suspension for the Celtic game. I still don’t trust those two not to react when provoked, especially Alfredo.

Doesn’t mean a word of that poor attempt at an apology, that he was clearly instructed to do by Motherwell’s lawyer, imo. Needs a ban for his disgraceful comments. Let’s hope we obliterate these morons on Sunday!

I think we’ve just done enough thanks to the clean sheet. Thought Ufa had a great defensive performance and we just weren’t able to find any space or time to spark something in the final third. Great periods of possession in the second half but lacked that killer final pass. On the plus side they didn’t cause our defense any problems with very little to offer when they tried to counter. If we score one over there I’m confident we go through, but it does change the game plan next week. I think we now have to search for that away goal rather than just keep the back door locked like we did in Maribor. Some positive performances - Ejaria had his best game for us yet with good hold up play, passing and stealing. Jack was composed again and Candeias’s work rate was superb - he was everywhere, so somewhat surprised that he was subbed tbh. Morelos again very strong performance and could have had a couple himself. Greegsy, what can you say? Another fine stop she needed. The ball didn’t bounce for us kindly tonight not helped the atrocious refereeing, but clearly we are in pole position. Not getting the run of the ball or fair share of good refereeing decisions yet come away with a win and clean sheet gives me great confidence for next week.

First time that I’ve listened to the GN Pod and thought it was a fantastic listen. Well done to all the contributors and editors!

Yep , really gutted about the kick-off time, and can’t really afford the time off, so will be RTV on iPhone propped up against my monitor.

Autocorrect on breasts from the east, but works just as well

Of course, totally understand, and whilst we are all drinking the SG coolaid, there’s an apprehension with most of the fans that they don’t want to get too confident in case we end up let down or disappointed - it’s the false dawn mentality. My theory is that we’ll feel that way if things don’t go to plan anyway, if we lose a game...or two...on the trot. So I’m just going with the momentum that we’ve created - I hate being too pessimistic, so I’m all in, and if we do have a blip then we get up and go again. Keeping the positivity and confidence annoys those breast’s from the east in any case so that a good reason alone! Let’s go!!!!!!!!!

Seems likely, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Stevie G plays him upfront with Morelos to try to secure a good margin of victory and take the pressure off the return leg, especially since we have arguably our biggest test 3 days after that return leg. The good thing with our manager is he is comfortable playing different formations depending on the task and opposition. Having said that, it may be too soon to test that out in what would be KLs debut.

I was underwhelmed at first, I hope he keeps knocking them in against Celtic and proves me wrong. Welcome back Kyle!

Fair comment!

Very true!

I think the board need to make a punt prior to getting to the group stage as our 2nd leg of the play-off is 24 hrs before the window shuts. Based on what they’ve seen so far, they need to gamble on the fact we will make the group stage.

I still have to pinch myself when I hear Gerrard talk, Manager of Rangers. What a coup. This is real - finally we have genuine hope.

Tactical masterclass by Stevie G, and every player did what was asked - defend as if your life depended on it. I though we’d snatch a late goal for the ? on the cake, but it was McGregor’s penalty save and clean sheet that provided the cherry. Proud bear tonight!

I’m also a big fan of RTV and Tom Miller is an excellent commentator imo. He has some unique catchphrases and he knows the club and history inside out. Shuggy is definitely excitable but you can see how passionate he is about the club, it’s like listening to your dad screaming at the TV! The only criticism I have is there could be more post match analysis, it’s too short and wish we could stick around for manager and player reactions, otherwise a great product. Last season they introduced HD quality which had made a huge difference. Keep it up RTV!

I also read 800k. This doesn’t seem like good business to me. He didn’t do much wrong last season and we were all rejoicing when we signed him permanently. At 23 and of international quality, he should be in the 2m bracket at least.

It’s going to be a tough match against Maribor but we are also looking more assured and confident than we’ve been for many years so we’ve got a good chance across the 2 legs. The biggest question for us is where the goals are going to come from. Even so, I have a feeling we’ll find one from somewhere.

Forget doing it in a bar on PRW before a game, try it on the RM forum and you’ll see the response, it won’t be pleasant. Buster was 100% correct - there a different types of Rangers fan and in many ways the only thing that unites them is their passion for Rangers. I’m a huge Rangers fan but I’m toward the other end of the spectrum when it comes to many of the associated values that some of the staunchest of supporters behold. I don’t always believe some of those values are very healthy but they are entitled to them and I certainly wouldn’t want to ‘enlighten’ them in any way - you can’t change them. At the end of the day it enhances the rivalry and probably adds to the interest in the Old Firm outside of Glasgow. It does define us and perhaps we would lose that attraction if that wasn’t there.

It’s not a priority for me, would rather focus funds on 1. Stopping them and getting back to the business of being #1 2. Becoming financially stable with no debts

Spot on there! Very very stupid for someone that should know better. He has chucked an amazing chance to be given a fresh start under an amazing legend.