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Last year we seemed to struggle against the lower teams of the SPL, but this season a pattern already seems to be setting in against the teams from the top half. The first game or 2 was looked at as one-off's but taking this approach is dangerous simply because we can all see problems in our play. Take away our fantastic CL results, the hard work and good start to the SPL may have to be done again. We didnt show up at Tynecastle, had an off day at Motherwell and then lost against Hibs. Yet we had a few reminders last season about this kind of results. We have Celtic followed by Dundee Utd and that will be the first round of games complete. Over a season we can drop points but we cant drop points in around 40% of our games in each quarter. Now getting something from this first OF match of the season is vital, as we just dont want to have to play catch up again from October. If we are going to have squad rotation then why cant we also have formation and tactics rotation. Looking at our squad, I still think its the best in the country and easily the most depth but we need to play to our strengths. We have attack minded young talent that arent being given a chance. I really think the only problem we have is not setting the stall out right in these type games. I dont mind the 4-5-1 as long as it can be changed onto a 4-3-3 on attack or even a 4-2-4. Id still also like to see JCD strike up a partnership with Cousin but if they are out and Smith wants to play Boyd upfront in a 4-5-1 then why doesnt he give this a try: ______________McGregor____________ Hutton____Weir_______Cuellar____Papac ____Ferguson___Buffel____Hemdani____ ___Novo________Boyd_______Naismith You could swap Naismith with McCulloch or Gow but either one of these players and Novo will get back and form the 4-5-1 again, but that team is attack minded and surely too good for most SPL sides.

Silly question if regards to his age!! But I think WS has matured as a manager since his first stint. He was wonderfully sucessful domestically but for a few seasons our closest title contenders were Motherwell and Aberdeen in the early 90s until Celtic came stronger in 95/96. However that doesnt take his achievements away. But in europe apart from the 92/93 season he just lost it and we were at the end of some cuffings. This time round he has taken a different approach and it seems to be working. He is going for result first, performance second not to say the latter has been bad. I think its down to his time with Scotland more than his Everton days, he seemed to just click with Scotland and its giving him something to take into the Rangers job. Maybe some say not having Archie Knox around is a good thing and having Ally instead is doing the job??

Saturday, 6 October 2007 _____________________________________Time_____TV Dundee United v Motherwell_____________15:00 Hearts v Falkirk________________________15:00 Kilmarnock v Inverness CT_______________15:00 Rangers v Hibernian____________________15:00 Sunday, 7 October 2007 Aberdeen v St Mirren____________________15:00 Gretna v Celtic_________________________15:00____** Looking at the fixtures, we can see that it is Rangers who have the most difficult fixture again this weekend, with a visit to Ibrox of third placed Hibs. Hibs have been playing well of late with a win over Celtic at Easter Road the most noticeable result. Away from home they have mostly recorded draws with only a win at Tynecastle on day one giving them three points. Rangers have yet to drop a point at Ibrox and their confidence will be sky high after Tuesdays 3-0 win in Lyon. Lets hope it is confidence and not complacency. If Rangers are going to be real title contenders then we have to take these matches in our stride. Rangers should take the three points but it won�t be easy we will have to come out fighting from the start. Rangers win. Dundee United and Motherwell cross swords at Tannadice on Saturday. Motherwell are probably showing the best form in the SPL at the moment with a draw against Rangers last week, and a 4-1 win in the CIS cup against Hibs a few days earlier. United had the chance to top the league a few weeks ago, but two defeats in their last two games see them in fourth place on the same points as Motherwell, with United having a better goal difference. I fancy Motherwell to keep their good form going and get the win. Motherwell win. Hearts welcome Falkirk to Tynecastle and will be hoping that there recent run of form will continue against a Falkirk team that have lost their way this season. Hearts have in fact only beat Rangers at home this season with a loss to Hibs and a draw against Gretna the other scores. If Falkirk are wanting to avoid a relegation fight then they must start to find the form that gave them so many plaudits last season. I would think Hearts will come out on top on this one and continue to climb the league. Hearts win. Kilmarnock and Inverness meet at Rugby park and is in my eyes is the most difficult game to predict. Inverness have hit a vain of form winning their last two league games. Kilmarnock have been the strongest of the small teams for the last few years but they have been showing poor form of late, mostly lacking imagination to break down defenses. Apart from Hibs scoring four goals against Kilmarnock, they have been pretty solid at the back losing very few goals. I feel this could be the goalless draw game of the week. Draw St Mirren go up to Pittodrie on Sunday to meet an Aberdeen team riding on a high after qualifying for the UEFA group stages. This also means since Aberdeen played on Thursday evening and having had a journey home from the Ukraine, they may have a degree of tiredness in their legs. If I was Gus McPherson I would tell my team to keep the tempo of the game high, in the hope that Aberdeen tire. St Mirren are hard to break down and with Aberdeen having heavy legs I fancy another draw for this one as well. Draw, Celtic travel to fir park to take on bottom of the league Gretna and why Setanta have chosen this for their live game I will never know. Surely Rangers- Hibs or even Dundee united- Motherwell would be far better viewing, I suppose it is that Irish thing, Celtic are Also on a high after their win against AC Milan and will probably give some of their fringe players a place to rest other players. They may wait until they are a couple of goals up to make some changes though. I don�t think even the most optimistic amongst us think Gretna can get anything from this game. Celtic Win

Now I won't pretend I wanted you to win last night, but I will recognise an outstanding result and performance when I see it. I'll even concede it probably shaded Celtic's tonight, but a win over the defending European champions is also a great result for Scottish football. Lots of Scottish players in both sides. Add in the national team's win in Paris and their whole campaign and we have seen nothing like this from Scottish football in many years. I suppose we had Aberdeen and Dundee Utd's european ventures in the early 80s and two Glasgow teams playing a European semi final in 1972. Maybe have to go back to 1967 to beat the current efforts - Scotland the first side to beat the World champions, Rangers only losing ECWC final to Bayern Munich in Germany after extra time and Kilmarnock reaching the semi final of the Fairs Cup (old UEFA cup). I've not missed anything from that year have I?

Rangers visit to Fir park to meet the steelmen turned out to be a heavy metal affair. Motherwell had a Golden first half and Rangers looked like they had lead in their boots. Motherwell opened the scoring with a goal from Chris Porter but it looked like Rangers were carrying so much excess baggage, that it was us that needed a porter. In the second half we got back on level terms but we couldnâ��t grind down the steelmens armour. In the back ground Jean-Michel Aulas the Lyon Chairman sayâ��s heâ��s going to feed fergie a bottle of whisky before the Lyon game mocking our drinking culture. Funny coming from a frog as they drink wine instead of water. I guess he was jaked up on a chateaux d�©conner(bullshit). He should get a job as a stand up comic in an old folks home. He wonâ��t make people laugh but theyâ��ll still wet themselves Dundee United visited Parkhead and were sickened by McDonald. Well most of times I have been to Mcdonalds I came back with the schitters. Wee Gordie said after the game he played with the players brains. So now he is a miracle worker. What Celtic player has a brain? If he takes a pool of eighteen players he might have enough to make a babies rattle to play with. It was suggested over the last few weeks that the Celtic defense was weak. So they bring in the ex-minister of defense as chairman. If they had said there was a hole in their defense they would have brought in a bunch of Irish navies to fill it in. When asked if Nakamura would be fit for Wednesday Gordie said I donâ��t know he was eating a sandwich and he didnâ��t have an interpreter . Gordie if you speak slow and articulate we maybe understand you without an interpreter. Up at Aberdeen the Sheep were beating the marriage men but seemingly they only could think of Europe. Jimmy Calderwood said the Aberdeen team of euro winners is haunting them. It looks like every team in the SPL except Gretna is haunting them. It is so long ago since Aberdeen were in Europe that Jimmy tried to hire the Hindenburg Zeppelin for the journey. Hearts beat St Mirrren but were blamed for diving. Nah no chance, there were no Lithuanians in the team. Ohh were not allowed to mention Lithuanians and diving as Gordon Smith found out. He has been reported to UEFA . I suppose we will need to say, using the laws of gravity in the future. Funny thing is it was a St Mirren player booked for diving on Sunday. What a difference a few weeks and a new manager are making for Inverness. They beat falkirk 4-2 to leave Gretna stranded at the bottom of the league. Before the game John Hughes said he needed 4 new players. On Saturday he would have had enough with one. DENNIS WYNESS. The SFA have stopped a pet food manufacturer sponsoring Gretna. A spokesman said we couldnâ��t have Gretna players playing with Winalot on their shirts. Taxi!!!

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=507&Itemid=1 In the last year Rangers fans have reacted magnificently to eradicate problematic chants and add-ons within sections of our support. Not satisfied; good old, neutral BBC Scotland ensure the sectarianism debate continues unabated by now claiming other songs are now also unacceptable. If you feel like a laugh, the debate is ten minutes into the following clip: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/player/?item=4449133 The excuse for this incredibly poor analytical piece is the release of a forthcoming new book. For some reason, the BBC seem to happy to advertise this new book in order to discuss the usual tedious stuff about whether or not 'The Sash' and 'Derry's Walls' are sectarian. Laughably, in the interests of balance, the only offensive Celtic song the BBC can find to equate to the supposedly sectarian Rangers songs is 'You are my Larsson'...!!! Yes, in a week where the Celtic supporters were again caught singing about the IRA and huns, this is the only song the BBC care to mention. Graham Walker is supposed to a respected author and academic while Newsnight is supposed to be a respected analytical current affairs programme. That piece last night was embarrassing for all concerned. If the book contains a similar standard of 'debate', then its chances of success are even worse than first thought. Can we now assume the 'offensive by context' argument means national anthems such as 'Flower of Scotland' are now also to face challenge? Why is is that only one side of the sectarian/bigotry/tribalism (call it what you will) debate is held to account for their actions? Every set of fans in Scotland display such traits yet it only ever appears that Rangers (and their fans) are held accountable. Any decent Rangers fan welcomes debate and discussion about the challenges we face. Indeed, by doing so we have responded extremely positively to such debate and are moving into the future while others still remain free from question. Can anyone answer why we remain the only club under scrutiny?

Since the start of the calendar year Walter Smith has came in and installed stability into the Rangers team again and we finished last season strong in the league. There was huge question marks in the summer as to whether David Murray would stump up some cash so we could add to our thin squad. We werent asking for Henry and Rooney but just enough to improve and start climbing the mountain again. Murray supplied the cash and we now have players in abundance. Not every player will be a good buy but when money is tight at Rangers its important the manager buys well and id rather go for more experienced players than potential talent. There isnt wrong with having 1 or 2 potential talented players in the squad and let them gain experience and gradually build up the younger ones. But I have to question a couple of Smiths buys. Thomson just hasnt done it for me. He has had a handful of good games but I now think he is struggling. Whittaker reminds me in a Smith buy from the 90s when we were able to throw a few million at players who dont work out but the RM isnt near settled and he looks a terrible buy. It is early days for him and we hope he transforms this soon. Naimsith is a player whom we chased and chased - He hasnt featured much so cant be really judged but he hasnt started too badly at all. The other SPL talent that was bought havent kicked a ball - Gow and Broadfoot. The latter was always going to be a squad player but many thought Gow could play apart and his game is a attack minded with creativity - something we havent had this year. Now Im not for one minute slamming Walter as we are sitting nicely in all competitions but we got a few reminders last season with poor draws towards the end of the season that complacieny (sp) must be eradicated from our play. We have had 2 away games in a row in the SPL and turned up poorly twice not looking like a team who has played together. Our next 3 games are Hibs, Celtic and Dundee Utd - 3 of the 4 sides making up the top 4 in the league along with ourselves. I think Walter needs to work out his best team sooner rather than later and he MUST start bringing others in who deserve a chance. We dont need major re-shuffling, just a wee tweak here and there. The CL games will differ from SPL matches but only in the shape of the side which would mean a couple of changes at most. Our chopping and changing should be left until forced upon us with injuries and suspensions and for the League cup games. I think everyman and his dog would have Novo in the team right now. he offers 110%, wants to play for the shirt and scores goals. And there is a huge shout for Hemdani to play again. Gow and Buffel need to get mileage onto them again so id be bringing them on for the last 30 mins of games until they are ready for a start.

Shit Dundee just hit the post had the ball headed off the line. Boruc flapping all over the place.:fish:

Well no points for guessing where I�m going to start on taxi this week. Yes it�s the one and only: Arturs Ridiculous Terrible Utter Repulsive Blunders Oversees Rangers upturn Celtic. Even Al Capone couldn�t have got anyone to throw a game any better than (butter)fingers Boruc. Seemingly after the game Artur asked the police to arrest the ball for inciting a riot. He said it kept crossing the line. Wee Gordie was at first worried that Boruc may have goalkeepers disease, but then realized big Art had no chance of catching it. Well I suppose Artur�s had enough for one week so I�ll drop the subject.(oops) Wee Chesney was in brilliant form after the game, saying, Celtic played their best game in Edinburgh since he took over. It is a pity for Hibs the interview was done in the tunnel, if he had of spouted that manure on the pitch, Hibs would have had the greenest grass in Scotland for their next home game. Gordie suggested that, Easter road seems to be the Bermuda triangle for Goalkeepers. Nah! Gordy, even the Bermuda triangle has got three points. According to reports Celtic and OJ Simpson have a lot in common. They both lack a strong defence Craig Leveign took the Arabs to Fir park to meet Gretna with the chance of going top. The Sultan wanted his men to play like Arab warriors but instead they played like a bunch of camels and got humped. Gretna pulled them on to the cold steel, or was it the hot Irons. The Gorgie Herdsmen of Hearts took their flocks up to Inverness to feed on Lush thistle. It was big Craig Brewster that caught them grazing, and administered a lethal jag. Russell Latapy scoring for Falkirk against Motherwell meant that the two oldest codgers in the SPL had scored this weekend. Certainly a case of age before beauty. Graham Smith had a wee flap at the goal. The next time he should try for the ball Kilmarnock and St Mirren fought out a boring 0-0 draw. It was said, only the empty seats enjoyed the game. Troubles started for Aberdeen hours before the Rangers game. An Aberdeen supporter and his girlfriend were stopped from travelling down to Glasgow. The girlfriend was found to have the bluetongue sickness. A spokesman for the club said "if she was found to have a blue nose she would probably have been culled." As Jimmy Calderwood was walking to the bus, he was asked when Aberdeen kicked off? About every twenty-five minutes he replied. After their 3-0 defeat by Rangers Jimmy admitted even in defeat. " I still find these players are my wonder players. Every time I pick them I wonder WHY!!!!!" TAXi!!!!!

Just saw this article on the UK's top 9 clubs. Gers sit at No.8

Ha Boruc with two blunders. European Champions! Aye right Arthur.

Tougher one this weekend. But after a quick look at the coupon I fancy my luck to change this weekend and will have a crack at all Sunday games: Newcastle v West Ham - Draw 11/5 Villa to beat Everton 11/10 Hibs v Celtic Draw 5/2 Blackburn to beat Portsmouth 4/5 Spurs to win at Bolton 11/8 Man U to beat Chelsea 5/6 I'll have 4 of them but not sure which ones yet

In Pete's absence I'll quickly do this: Saturday, 22 September 2007 Falkirk v Motherwell, 15:00 Gretna v Dundee Utd, 15:00 Inverness CT v Hearts, 15:00 Kilmarnock v St Mirren, 15:00 Sunday, 23 September 2007 Hibernian v Celtic, 14:00 Rangers v Aberdeen, 15:00 Mark McGhee's Motherwell have been impressive so far this season and following their win in Aberdeen last week they make the trip to Falkirk who are conceding goals for fun despite trying to play a bit of football. This game doesnt look attractive on paper but probably wont be a bad match for the viewer. Id say a narrow 2-1 to Motherwell but a draw wouldnt send any shock waves. Gretna are now finding their feet in the SPL and may be getting used to playing at Fir Park. They entertain Dundee Utd who were my tip for a top 5 finish this season. Craig Levein has got something about him with this team and they are IMO back as a top 6 team where they belong. They have a winning streak about them and the chairman is getting on well with the manager and morale is high. I cant see anything other than an away win here. Hearts have finally kicked off there season with 2 good wins at Motherwell then against Rangers. They play a Caley side who are being beaten every week despite Craig Brewster returning to the team. Brewster has been a bit unlucky fixture wise since returning with trips to Hibs and Celtic so will expect better in his first home game in charge. I can see a draw here although Hearts will start as favourites. Kilmarnock v St Mirren - This has to be a banker home win. Killie have started well and have a chance to open up a gap between them and the bottom clubs here. The Saints are a never say die team but they dont have the quality to win every other game. 2-0 to Killie. Easter Road arguably has the game of the weekend on Sunday. Hibs are playing well again this season and are tough to beat at home. They have started well and like always will fancy there chances of getting something when the Old Firm come to the captial. Celtic are coming of the back of another away loss in europe despite a good winning run in the SPL. Should be an entertaining game and a score draw would be my prediction. Finally the other game of the weekend see's rivals Rangers and Aberdeen meet. The home side are on a high after getting their champions league campaign off to a winning start. They lost last time out in the SPL for the first time this season so that will be in the back of there minds and spur them back onto winnings ways. The Dons travel down to Glasgow with a disappointing return to Europe. They only managed a 0-0 with there Ukrainian opponents and now have it all to do in the 2nd leg. They havent won at Ibrox since 1991 and that will remain the same - I cant see anything other than a banker home win by 2 or 3 goals.

Well we got our first wake up call against Hearts. I have been cracking jokes over the last few weeks calling the Hearts players Herdsmen. Unfortunately we turned out to be the Goats. After Stevie Frail called for the players to start mixing socially a few weeks ago, the Hearts players invited him for a celebration drink after the game. He said he couldnââ?¬â?¢t go because he had a bad back. A Hearts player said ââ?¬Å?Donââ?¬â?¢t worry boss Rangers had four bad backsââ?¬Â Deciding he would go for a drink he felt sorry for Walter Smith and asked him to join him for a pint. Sorry said Walter I canââ?¬â?¢t manage. That doesnââ?¬â?¢t matter said Frail, come for a pint anyway. In the pub Walter was asked what he wanted to drink. Iââ?¬â?¢ll make it an Amdy Faye. An Amdy Faye said frailââ?¬Â what is that?ââ?¬Â Just one half and Iââ?¬â?¢m off. Over at the piggery Arthur Boruc has been shouting that Celtic can get to the European cup final, well exaggeration has never been a weak point at Porkhead. I suppose they will be taking the 10 million supporters that were at Seville in their make believe final. Motherwell went up to Pittodrie and came away with all three points. Seemingly even Jimmy Calderwood couldnââ?¬â?¢t watch to the end, leaving early to go to Russia. By the time he was on the airplane he was definitely seeing red. Aberdeen have booked with Easy jet for their Euro games. In and out of Europe in 90 minutes Falkirk and Hibs fought out a one each draw but the referee made all the headlines by producing nine yellow cards and three red cards. If he had of sent off one more player there would have been less on the field than people watching the Gretna-Kilmarnock game. Seemingly there are so few Gretna fans travelling up to games because they are frightened to go on the train. They say they keep getting points failures. TAXI!!!!

Looks like they are continuing their usual CL group stages away form then.... 2 goals in 8 mins and should have been 3 apparently, offisde given when the goal should have stood.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6981446.stm Kinda surprised no-one has posted about htis yet. What do we think about this, sort of like the Home Internationals, but with ROI instead of England (who doon want to take part cause they don't want to get beat all the time!). Not sure of the name of the cup tho! British Isles Cup might have been better...

Copied from FF- This was sent out to various media agencies today, I wonder whether it will be picked up by the Scottish Press? Calton Resources press release: Celtic FC in secret deal with fans to 'tackle terror problem' Calton Resources has received worrying information about an attempted "secret deal" between Celtic Supporters Groups and Celtic Football Club. It has uncovered a meeting between Peter Lawell, Celtic Chief Executive, and representatives from Celtic Supporters Groups. Mr Lawell has insisted to fans representatives that the meeting remain top secret. The supporters representatives suggested to Mr Lawell, that in the event of Celtic fans singing any racist or sectarian songs, they would be met (and drowned out) by a chorus of "Hail Hail". Mr Lawell was in total and emphatic agreement with this idea, and insisted that the media be led to believe that the idea came from the Celtic Supporters as opposed to being a joint initiative with Celtic Football Club. He requested that instructions be posted within ALL Celtic Fans' football websites, including (but not restricted to) Celtic Minded, Kerrydale Street and Jungle Bhoys. All of these websites are crammed with sectarian and bigoted references to fans of Rangers, and indeed, Protestants in general. With IRA supportive insignia adorning members profiles. The continued references to "Huns", "Orange Bastards" etc, would indicate, that while Lawell is happy enough for Celtic's fan-base to frequent and indeed, run these websites, he wishes the wider community to believe that sectarianism in Glasgow is a one-way-street. At any rate - Celtic have at last admitted they do continue to have a major problem with fans supporting terrorism. http://www.caltonmedia.com

Just seen bmck comment on a thread there saying BJK shouldn't be sung So what are your thoughts on it, i actualy like it when its sung, gets the fans bouncing for some reason. But the main thing it's bieng sung is that Celtic is trying to hide the truth when we shouldn't be letting them, they continue to sweep it under the carpet, i think now BJK is spreading, everyone seems to know now, hearts fans toke a BJK banner to Parkhead last week but got it toke of them Whats your thoughts ??

Just watching Celtic Tv this now and Ian Wright is playing for Celtic. Against Dundee away Febuary 2000 Thats maybe why because i was only 8 back then Awk well am not at school today and a learned something new

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=492&Itemid=2 Since its international week (good luck Scotland!) and Rangers news seems thin on the ground, I think now is as good a time as any to discuss the ongoing relationship between our club and the Scotland team. Itââ?¬â?¢s fair to say in recent years the Rangers contribution to the national team has not been as valuable as in the past. The Dick Advocaat era, as well as the cheap, foreign Bosman import meant not as many Scottish lads were coming through of a quality to make the Rangers first team. As such, the numbers in the international squad also dwindled. From the days of having Richard Goughs, Ian Fergusons, Ally McCoists and Andy Gorams, we went to fewer and fewer players being involved. Indeed, only Barry Ferguson could be considered a genuine regular in the first XI this century. Is it no coincidence that our qualification for the big international tournaments has also become pretty much non-existent? Obviously, in more recent years our club have struggled from financial problems. While this has resulted in 6 years of sporadic domestic success and a few years of downright underachievement; one good thing that may come out of this bad spell is the re-emergence of Scottish players at our club. It certainly appears obvious that Walter Smith is building his team around a home-grown spine and not only is this helping Rangers currently, Alex McLeish will also be delighted. If we start in defence, well no-one can doubt the quality in the current Rangers team. Craig Gordon is certainly a fine goalkeeper and it was not much of a surprise when Sunderland paid Ã?£9million for him. However, in the last year, Allan McGregor has certainly come of age. Consistency is his best quality and while he may not be the best at dealing with crosses, his overall game is very good and he is now a very capable goalkeeper. Certainly, the most obvious deputy to Gordon available. At full back Rangers also have 2 fine young players. Alan Hutton was excellent for the majority of last season and has taken this form into the new campaign. Athletic, strong and excellent going forward, he has all the hall-marks of being the Scotland right back for years to come. On the other side, Steven Smith has also done well in the Rangers first team. Unfortunately, his progress has been held back with a bad pelvic problem but when he retains fitness, heââ?¬â?¢ll be another player capable of staking a claim for the national left-back position. In the centre, one of the main features of Rangersââ?¬â?¢ return to form has been the experienced figure of David Weir. Now 37 years young, the big centre-half has shown age is no handicap to quality. While he has never been the fastest of players and his distribution not his strongest point, his sheer presence and composure has already helped Carlos Cuellar no end. Andy Webster should also benefit from this experience and go onto to regain his place in the Scotland central defence if, as expected, his loan deal at Rangers becomes permanent. Midfield is more hotly contested in the Scotland squad right now. Darren Fletcher and Shaun Maloney are both fine players and while not out and out regulars in their respective EPL teams, their quality cannot be denied. Similarly, Scott Brown has made a decent start at Celtic and although there may well be an element of hyperbole about his early contribution, thereââ?¬â?¢s no doubt he should be part of any Scottish international team. His Celtic team-mate Paul Hartley hasnââ?¬â?¢t had as good a time at club level in recent times but has done reasonably well for Scotland so will also always be looking to feature. As such, the Rangers contingent in the Scottish squad frame has a lot to live up to. Thankfully, Steven Whittaker, Barry Ferguson, Kevin Thomson and Lee McCulloch have all done well so far this season. A more solid midfield is difficult to name and all four will become important parts of future national squads. The forward line is another area that will provoke further debate. James McFadden, Kenny Miller and Garry Oââ?¬â?¢Connor have all scored important goals of late and all 3 can lay claim to a first team berth. Again though, we have two Rangers players more than capable of challenging them. A better goal-scorer than Kris Boyd we do not have and while his overall contribution may detract from his international chances, already heââ?¬â?¢s shown if we need goals, heââ?¬â?¢ll get them - at any level. Steven Naismith is a more rounded player and his SPL form of recent years suggests when he does make the step up to the ââ?¬Ë?Aââ?¬â?¢ Squad, heââ?¬â?¢ll be difficult to ignore. If we put this altogether, then the following international side is not out of the question if injuries and suspension affect the national team: ________________________McGregor_________________________ Hutton___________Weir__________________Webster________Smith Whittaker_______Ferguson_______________Thomson____McCulloch __________Naismith___________________Boyd_________________ Obviously, as much as this team looks attractive and extremely solid, itââ?¬â?¢s also unlikely to happen. David Weir is too near his international retirement and a few of these guys too far from consistent national selection to see a complete Rangers/Scotland merge in the near future. However, what is clear is that the Rangers contribution to our national game is increasing. Add that to Walter Smith turning around our fortunes in such a short period and Alex McLeish following on rather nicely, the Rangers/Scotland connection is rapidly coming back to the days of old. Letââ?¬â?¢s hope this starts with qualification for Euro 2008. This should then give these players exactly the kind of experience required to substantially increase our chances of a Scotland appearance in South Africa in 3 years time. Thatââ?¬â?¢s good for Scotland, good for Rangers and good for our game as a whole.

GOALKEEPER Roy Carroll yesterday pulled out of the Northern Ireland squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Latvia and Iceland to concentrate on rebuilding his career at Rangers. The former Manchester United shotstopper made his decision after talking to international manager Nigel Worthington. Carroll, who moved to Ibrox in the summer after a difficult time at West Ham, will remain on standby but Celtic's Michael McGovern has been drafted into the squad. Looks like the big guy is bursting to get playing for the Gers,I hope he has a long wait,only meaning that AMc will be playing well by that comment.He's had a bit of a nightmare in recent seasons,but IMO he's a good keeper and still relatively young

Just a little warning about Red Star before we close the chapter on them for this year. Red star is in Dutch, Rood Ster. The word ster is also used as a slang word to describe the anus. If Rangers are playing Ajax in a pre-season friendly next year, before the CL draw, and a big Dutch guy asks if you would like to get Red Star, think twice before you answer. Reports have been going round all week that Jimmy Calderwood was on his way to Leicester City. With all that carrot sun tan lotion he will blend in well with the Foxes. He won�t be a wolf in sheep�s clothing , but a fox in sheep�s clothing. John Hugh�s said his Falkirk players need to stand up and be counted. I suppose he didn�t realize that he doesn�t have enough fingers. Wee Gordy was in the news again for wrong reasons again. After running on to the pitch to pick up something the physio dropped. The fourth official squared up to him, but Wee Gordy backed off. It seems he didn�t have the bottle. Bobo Balde had the Celtic board furious on Friday when he turned down a move to Sunderland. He preferred to sit back and enjoy his 32.000 a week to sit in the stand at the darkside. Now nearly everyone is baldy(e) at Parkhead as they have all been pulling their hair out. Gordon Strachen said he did not drive Kenny Miller out of Parkhead! He only ordered his Taxi.

CELTIC seethed last night after Bobo Balde knocked back a move to Sunderland. The Guinea defender snubbed the chance to face Manchester United tonight in the Theatre of Dreams, choosing instead to continue pocketing �£32,000 a week for doing nothing. Celtic are desperate to get Balde off their payroll and were happy to agree a season-long loan deal with Sunderland boss Roy Keane. But the club's delight turned to fury when Balde - who has not played a first-team game since Boxing Day last year - KO'd the chance to kick-start his career. The player has made 229 starts since he signed for Martin O'Neill in 2001 but will continue to be the highest-paid spectator at Celtic Park. Unlike Balde, Kenny Miller grabbed the chance of Premiership football when he passed a medical and sealed a �£2.5million switch to Derby. The deal is smart business for Celtic who got him on a Bosman from Wolves last year. What a shame for the unwashed,dying to get him out of the piggery

Thomas Gravesen has returned to Everton on a season-long loan from Celtic, just over two years after his shock move to Real Madrid. The 31-year-old Dane was always a favourite of the Goodison Park faithful but since quitting Merseyside, his career has endured somewhat of a downturn in fortune. Everton boss David Moyes has been in the market for a midfielder ever since his move for Manuel Fernandes from Benfica collapsed at the weekend. Gravesen, who never really established himself at Celtic, is delighted to be back. "I am really looking forward to coming back to Everton, it is a chance to play top-flight football in the Premier League again," he said.

Saturday, 1 September 2007 Dundee United v Falkirk-----------15:00 Hibernian v Inverness CT----------15:00 Kilmarnock v Aberdeen------------15:00 Rangers v Gretna----------------15:00 Sunday, 2 September 2007 St Mirren v Celtic-----------------14:00 Monday, 3 September 2007 Motherwell v Hearts--------------19:45 John Hugh�s was furious with his team last week after their shock loss to St Mirren. After losing 12 goals in three games and losing to one of the teams they would hope for points from, the question is, will Hugh�s adapt a more defensive formation for the Bairns visit to Tannadice. Dundee Utd had defender Lee Wilkie as an Emergency striker last week and may stick with him after he set up two goals, getting pulled down in the box to give the Arabs a penalty. I can�t see past Dundee Utd for this one. Craig Brewster scored twice against Hibs last week and will be looking to do the same for Caley this week. If Ma-Kalamat(b)ay plays like he did last week then he may get his chance. John Collins was quick to defend his keeper last week, pointing out his keeper has had seven clean sheets from eight games and that his keeper will have learned from his mistakes. I�ll bet he needed another clean sheet on Sunday morning thinking about the game. I don�t see Inverness getting much of a chance against a Hibs team who can be awesome when firing on all cylinders. Jim Jefferies will be hoping his team can bounce back from their defeat against Rangers and according to Jim his wife will be as well, as he admitted he is a grump on a Saturday night if they lose. The million dollar question is, who will Stevie Naismith be playing for on Saturday? Kilmarnock or Rangers. Aberdeen were rocked after taking a two goal lead at Easter Road only to get a 3-3 draw. SUPER SUB Dean Shiels scored the equalizer in a six goal thriller. This has a draw written all over it. Rangers should get over their tired legs by Saturday and will be looking to keep the momentum of their great start to the season going against a lowly Gretna. The Black and Whites have stiffened up of late but Rangers should have the hammer to bend them over the anvil. I expect Walter Smith to rest some players for this one with the likes of Nacho getting a game. Davie Irons will have to watch from the Stand, after he kicked a bag of balls in anger last week, complaining about the sending off of Craig Barr, and getting a red card himself. Rangers Win. Celtic travel to Love Street which may just be the surprise banana skin we wouldn�t have dreamed of a few weeks ago. St Mirren lost doggedly against Motherwell and Rangers, but have bounced back to secure six points from their last two games. With Celtic having a tough 120 minutes in their legs from yesterday, who knows maybe a gutsy performance from the Saints can earn them a draw. Probably only dreaming. I have to go for a Celtic win but not an easy one. Hearts who have become the joke team of Scotland with horrific displays of late will have to improve 100% if they want to get anything from High flying Motherwell on Monday. They look more like heading for the drop rather than the top as Vladimir Romanov predicted when he took over at Tynecastle. The steel men are showing fine form and only daylight robbery against Kilmarnock, stand between them and an equal top spot with Rangers. With all the Tynecastle dressing room baggage, and low confidence after their 5-0 drubbing at Parkhead, I can only see one winner in this one. Motherwell win.