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A long read but have fun... http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=645&Itemid=1 It’s cold and wet outside, the transfer rumours are starting up again and tennis/cricket seem to be taking over the sports bulletins – the football season must be over again! Let’s have a look over the season that, in Spring promised so much, but by last week delivered so little… Firstly, I think it’s important to say that last August, if we’d been told we’d qualify for the Champions’ League Group Stage, draw with Barcelona, beat Lyon 3-0 away, make it to the UEFA Cup Final, take the SPL title to the last day and win both domestic cups, I feel most bears would have been happy with that given the dearth of quality/success in recent years. Unfortunately, when one considers the way we threw away the chance to win the SPL title, our poor performance at home against Lyon and a pretty tame UEFA Final display, then that positive outlook starts to become a wee bit more unrealistic. Some will choose to point to fixture congestion, dubious game call-offs, key players becoming unavailable and/or numerous officiating mistakes but generally we have no-one to blame for not winning the league but ourselves. The season started brightly enough. We made several decent signings in the summer on a budget that we hadn’t seen for a long time. The jury was out on some of them but by early September after a faultless start in the league and CL Group Stage qualification secured, the signs were already there that we could provide a decent challenge to Celtic in the SPL while testing ourselves in the toughest club competition abroad. In contrast, the next two months actually foretold what would happen in 2008. September and October showed exactly the kind of inconsistency that would belatedly curtail our chances of league success. Defeats and draws against Hearts, Motherwell, Dundee Utd and Hibs suggested our squad wasn’t strong enough to compete in Europe while maintaining a high enough quality domestically. Was our league challenge already stuttering? Fortunately, we managed to improve our league form as the year closed while Celtic also struggled to match their reasonable CL form with domestic results. By Christmas we were top of the league again and on an unbeaten run that would cement our status as genuine challengers. Meanwhile, in Europe, we had lost our early advantage in our group by losing away to Stuttgart (DaMarcus Beasley injured for over 6 months as well) and eventually went out in disappointing fashion at home to Lyon – that game actually in some ways being decided by our striker’s late miss, just like what would happen in Manchester the following May. However, UEFA Cup qualification was a decent alternative and this gave us a few months to concentrate on the league. Our form improved in that regard and even although the impressive Alan Hutton had moved south to Spurs for a club record fee, the fans still felt confident we could regain the championship. After all, we wouldn’t do much in the UEFA Cup, would we? Yes, we could actually and soon the debate was what trophy we preferred to win or could we do the unthinkable and win a quadruple? Certainly, the initial signs were very positive – impressive, but unglamorous, wins against Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen and Sporting Lisbon, coupled with important league wins against Celtic, Hibs and Hearts meant we were suddenly in a position none of us could have dreamed of just 6 months earlier. By early April, we were effectively 10 points clear in the league and in the semis of the UEFA and Scottish Cups! Of course doubts remained about whether or not we could cope with the punishing run of games that we now faced. Earlier in the season, we had already struggled badly to juggle our European commitments with league matches. Again, these cracks were starting to show with replays needed to beat Partick and Hibs in the Scottish Cup while we just managed to win the CIS Cup with a penalty win against Dundee Utd. Nonetheless, March had been a good month and April was upon us. Indeed, this was the month that would prove crucial in determining the league title. Two games away to Celtic, extra time needed in both cup competitions and an away game against a Dundee Utd team aggrieved by the league cup final loss the previous month amongst the difficult schedule. Two points dropped at Tannadice early in the month was the first sign that perhaps we were struggling. Our defence didn’t look as sound as it had previously and fan confidence took a hit. This was compounded by back-to-back losses away to Celtic in two games affected by some strange officiating decisions. Further pain was literally inflicted with injuries to Allan McGregor and Lee McCulloch in the first match while Chris Burke and Steven Naismith had also fallen in the Scottish Cup semi. Not only were Celtic back in the title hunt but our squad was stretched further, creative players almost non-existent and the SPL adding to our woes by refusing to extend the season. The writing was on the wall. Suffice to say May was little better. Our incredible run in the UEFA Cup was ruined by an impressive Zenit side in Manchester (not to mention the actions of a few thugs amongst a historic 200,000 fans who travelled down for the game). Meanwhile, two positive wins at home with superb backing from the real Rangers fans couldn’t precipitate enough confidence and energy (mental or physical it seemed) to catalyse the players into managing any further wins in the games that mattered. The league was gone, our UEFA Cup achievements seemed distant and the Scottish Cup win against a determined QoS outfit little consolation for our woes. It was easy to become depressed and react overly negatively to this extremely disappointing end to the season. However, I think it’s important to concentrate on the positives – even if the above wasn’t easy reading. [CONTINUED]

I am sick to the stomach at last nights outcome after the sheep put in there 2nd goal i had to leave the room as couldnt keep my composure any longer we gave it to the tims on a plate. Who is to blame the SPL who could not afford us 1 measley game off against Dundee Utd in fear of offending the Mopes in the east and the conspiritors. causing us to play an unamaginable amount of games in the shortest period of time , i tell you if the sock was on the other foot and timmy was in the same situation there would be cries from the rooftops too get games postponed. Walter Smith ??? We have heard enough about 4-5-1 but his indesicion on making subs during games drives me up the wall he leaves it far too late bringing them on. His persistance in playing D.Cousin - this guy is not a Ranger and does not deserve to pull on the jersey - get him shipped out asap. Sticking with the same team week in week out and not giving youth a chance. I think Walter and co have done a great job and is the right person for Rangers but he is not without his faults The Players. I cannot really fault our players as the games they have had to play must have been gruelling and energy sapping but not everyone gave 110% all the time chasing lost causes and winning 2nd balls, winning 50-50's apart from a select few Cuellar,Weir,Thomson,Novo,Fergie,JCD i thought the rest could have given more to the cause in the run in. I think it is a mixture of all of these , i will never forgive the SPL for this season they showed their colours well and true, all Rangers fans should boycott every away ground next season and hit them were it hurts IN THE POCKET see how the SPL like it then. Hopefully with a few quality signings this summer we will be back stronger next season and win the Title on our own terms. Bitterly Dissapointed but in a No Surrender frame of mind W.A.T.P

What have you guys got on Setanta? I had Aberdeen v Rangers advertised all week on Goal TV which gets the setanta feed and they have just switched it to the Dundee utd v Celtic game live with the Aberdeen v Rangers game show right after it. Im going to watch the Arabs hopefully do us a favour and not look at our score until I know the first result.

Hi again guys, just to let you know i'm not dead Well Manchester was a great trip, sea of red , white and blue every where you went. Driving down on the Tuesday was great, every second car you passed was decked out in the colours, tooting the horn and giving each other a wave, stopped at the services and fans singing, brilliant. I was in Albert square, was a fantastic day in there, my mates from Manchester came with us and said it was amazing, one of the best experiences they have ever witnessed. We toke over that city last week, although Manchester council/police couldn't handle it. There was hardly any police in/around Albert square, no police walking the streets. The bars and shops opened early doors so everyone could be drinking for 10 hours before the game even started, one PUBLIC toilet in Albert Square for thousands of fans, so police just let everyone pee against any wall that there was. The trouble in Picadili Gardens, i never seen but apparently the screens haden't been working all day, so surely they could inform people to go some where else before the game started. Also heard tat there was already riot police there 5 minutes before kick off so they knew the sreens werent going to work and there could be violence breaking out. Although i am still disgusted at our fans behaviour, actually did i say fans, i am disgusted at those people's behaviour. None of them who acted like that are supporters of our club, which Martin Bain got spot on, there is a rumour going around that football casuals done this, but i think thats just looking for excuses. Even with the screen not working, how can you get thousands of fans to another fanzone with a click of a finger. After the game there wasn't any trams/trains etc put on to et te fans get away from the city centre, it really was a shambles how the city handled the few days, they weren't expecting these numbers. Anyway like i said my second european trip and it was very enjoyable, hope everyone else had a good time, was gutted about the result but i'm over it now. I was gutted about last wednesday but Saturday there was just more sickening, great first half performance and we screwed it up. Don't really want to talk about it, i'm going to the game tonight and if we have got any chance of getting the 7+ goals we need, we need to start very atacking and get a few goals in the first 15-20 minutes, if we are not going to win this on goal difference we need to hope and pray Dundee Utd help us out, but why should they, we beat them in a cup final and after what happened last week , they have no right to help us. I don't know, there is still hope there, hopefully we can win tonight, preferably by a large margin, then beat the sheep and hope Celtic drop points, sounds s easy doesn't it. Saturday, i think we all know what the result will be Anyway i probably won't be on here before the season ends, got an exam tomorrow and thursday, wish me luck, have safe trips to Love Street, Aberdeen and Hampden guys. Keep Believing

I know we have to go and take care of St Mirren first but whats everyones views on Celtic going to Tannadice and us going to Pittodrie. I just have the feeling Dundee Utd wont get out of 1st gear as they are pissed off with there game against us last week. We all know Aberdeen are going to give 200% against us. We do only have ourselves to blame for the last 2 league game results but its still not impossible. We need to thump St Mirren on Monday and they give ourselves a chance. But who knows, we might get a favour off Dundee Utd yet!!

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=642&Itemid=1 Nacho Novo....

Smith wins Writers award! No surprise. Levein and McGhee have both done well with Dundee Utd and Motherwell respectively this season but Smith has hit a huge height.

About a month ago I wrote a good article (if i dont say so myself) about how the need for the Scottish game to be revamped and how it would benefit as a whole. Some things included were: Restructure of the league format (number of leagues / poss regional) Increased number of top flight teams meaning a few more free weekends Summer Football League Cup played Aug - Octo Etc I also stated that the country had taken a huge stand still in the game with not all of it being our own fault due to TV money in the bigger countries but with the countries top 2 teams doing a very decent job in European competitions in the last few years and the national team punching above our weight you'd expect this to be a spur in the right direction. But how on earth are we supposed to go forward when we have imcompetent people running the top flight game. Rangers chairmen SDM was perfectly correct in saying there latest decision to not assist a club of there's in a bid for European success as laughable. The SPL are already being laughed all over the place for the current league structure which see's a split in the league for the last 5 games of the season meaning some teams end up with a huge disadvantage of having 1 more away game than others who receive 1 additional home game. The most recent example of this is in this current season which see's Hibs and Dundee Utd going for a european place yet Hibs have had to make a 3rd trip to Tannadice this season while Dundee Utd have only had to go to Easter Rd once. It can work out with some teams getting 17 home games and 19 away games and vice versa - Its nothing short of a farce that those incompetent clowns continue with. Next up one of the SPL's own see's themselves in a European final. Their Russian opponents have had all forthcoming games postponed in order to allow their team to prepare for the final - the biggest game in that clubs recent history. Yet what do the SPL do - pile misery onto Rangers and make things hugely difficult just so they dont upset a handful of fans, laughable media reporters, supposed football directors, players and managers from Aberdeen, Edinburgh and the East of Glasgow to name a few places. Yet at the same time there has been good luck wishes from all these places. The SPL never fail to baffle us with crazy decisions, decisions which is holding a national game back because those who sit at the top of the organisation have self interest at heart instead of the good of the game. They prefer to drive about in flash cars with flash salaries and help themselves to tickets for any game they want rather than set out an agenda to raise the profile of the SPL. Karma does exsist and it wont be long before it somes round and bites - I just pray it is with 4 fat trophies sitting gleaming in the Ibrox trophy room in 19 days time!!!

Taking a look back over the last few weeks Rangers qualified for the Scottish cup final by beating St Johnstone in the semi-final. If St Johnstone had gotten through to meet Queen of the South we would have had the first ever Old farm final. News coming out of Parkhead was that Artur Boruc had auditioned for the BBC West-end talent search� I�ll do anything.� He heard they were looking for the right Nancy. Wee Gordy fancied himself as the artful dodger. And Peter Lawwell could be Fagin. Artur Boruc has applied for planning permission to build a completely round house. Seemingly after the old firm game he has developed a fear of corners. Jan Venegoor of Hesselink has become known as Jan Vinegar of Castlemilk. After the last two old firm Games, Assault and Vinegar would be more appropriate. After the last old firm match a link has been made between the Murphy�S and the Cambells. Neither will wave at a McDonald. Steven Whitteker was looking for a Brazilian name after his goal against Sporting Lisbon. He came up with Daya. It makes him Whitt daya ker. Talking about Brazilians, Ronaldo has made himself one of the hottest properties in Europe. Seemingly he can keep three men busy in little room. David Murray had asked the SPL to cancel Saturdays game against Dundee utd at the weekend, in the light that Zenit St Petersburg had games cancelled before the UEFA final. He was turned down. I guess the Russians had a better Advocaat. A primary teacher starts a new job at a school near Parkhead and, trying to make a good impression on her first day, explains to her class that she is a Celtic Supporter. She asks her class to raise their hands if they, too, are Celtic supporters. Everyone in the class raises their hand except one little girl. The teacher looks at the girl with surprise and says: "Mary, why didn't you raise your hand?" "Because I'm not a Celtic supporter," she replied. The teacher, still shocked, asked: "Well, if you're not a Celtic supporter, then who are you a fan of?" "I'm a Rangers supporter, and proud of it," Mary replied. The teacher could not believe her ears. "Mary, why are you a rangers supporter?" My mum and dad were born and raised in Govan, so my mum is a Rangers fan and my dad is a Rangers fan, and so I'm a Rangers fan too!" "Well," said the teacher, in an obviously annoyed tone, "that's no reason for you to be a Rangers supporter. You don't have to be just like your parents all of the time. What if your mum was a prostitute, your dad was a drug addict, and your brother was a car thief, what would you be then?" "Then," Mary said, "I'd be a Celtic supporter." The old ones are the best. Taxi!!!!

....do something historic this season?? Firstly, credit has to go to Walter Smith, Ally McCoist and the baldy one (KM) for what they have done to Rangers in the last 14 months. They have turned arguably the worst Rangers team in 20 years round into the frontmen in Scotland again and pushed us into the last 8 of europe. Yes it has not been pretty in certain games but recently the moaning has stopped about performances due to the progression the team in making in the competitons we are in. Thats what it is all about from March onwards - winning football matches. We are coming into the business end of the season with finishing lines in sight and still in a wonderful position. Our Green friends from the other side of Glasgow along with a few of the so called "balanced 4th estate" must really be beginning to panic with what we could achieve this season. However there is still a lot of football to be played and as good as getting to the last 8 of the UEFA cup feels we have to come back down to earth as we have not won anything yet. We still have 3 old firm derbies to play which will no doubt decide if the league flag comes back to home to Ibrox. We are in pole position for these games with the next meeting to be played at Ibrox. We also currently have advantage of 3 point lead with 1 game in hand, thus depending on the farcical situation of Gretna. All attentions can be turned to the league cup final on Sunday where we need the lads to produce yet another solid defensive display and do enough in Dundee Utd's half to take the first trophy home. The Scottish cup will come around again and with all due respect to Partick Thistle we should be looking forward to facing either St Johnstone or St Mirren for another date at Hampden. That leaves the UEFA cup. We fear no team in the here. Bayern are the favourties but we'll see what the draw brings us. One game at a time is what is required at the moment and who knows what we will be celebrating in 2 months time. :cheers:

Saturday, 19 April 2008 ---------------------------- Time----------TV Celtic v Aberdeen------------15:00 Falkirk v Gretna--------------15:00 Hearts v St Mirren-----------15:00 Inverness CT v Kilmarnock----15:00 Sunday, 20 April 2008 ------------------------------Time----------TV Dundee United v Hibernian-----14:00---------*** Celtic v Aberdeen I don't think anybody outside Pittodrie think that Aberdeen will take anything from this game. The only ray of hope we have is that in the same fixture last year Aberdeen won but by that time the league was well sewn up. Celtic will have gotten a burst of confidence from their win on Wednesday and know they are still in a must win situation,so they will throw everything at the Dons. Aberdeen are at a low after their defeat to Queen of the South in last weeks Scottish Cup game and only the slender hope of an UEFA Cup place will give them something to fight for. I, like most don't expect any favours from Aberdeen but who knows after a peak comes a trough so maybe Celtic will hit a trough and Aberdeen a peak. Celtic win. Dundee United v Hibernian. Only one goal separates these two teams with United having let in one goal less than Hibs. They both will be hoping to leap-frog Motherwell, who do not play this weekend due to Rangers playing in the Scottish cup. The fight for the UEFA cup place makes this a game worth winning for both teams. A draw will have Motherwell a laughing third party. Dundee Utd have been playing some excellent football of late Whereas Hibs seem to have taken a more long ball style since the arrival of Mixu Paatelainen. United should win this one having the home advantage. Dundee UTD win. As Gretna are already relegated and only really pride to fight for in the bottom six i am not going to waste many words on it as i don't really think anyone cares to be honest. Possibly not even the teams themselves. I will go for a: Falkirk,Hearts and Inverness win.

RANGERS could face 14 fixtures in the final six weeks of the season if they stay on course for glory in the Scottish Cup and UEFA Cup. The Ibrox's side's outstanding trips to St Mirren and Motherwell have still to be scheduled and if Rangers do progress in both competitions it will be a challenge for the SPL to find suitable dates. Here is how the fixture line-up looks for Rangers: April 13 - Partick, Scottish Cup quarter-final replay (away); April 16 - Celtic, SPL (away); April 20 - Possible Scottish Cup semi-final v St Johnstone (Hampden); April 24 - Fiorentina, UEFA Cup semifinal 1st leg (home); April 27 - Celtic, SPL (away); May 1 - Fiorentina, UEFA Cup semi-final 2nd leg (away); May 4 - Hibs, SPL (away); May 7 - Motherwell, SPL (home); May 10 - Dundee Utd, SPL (home); May 14 - Possible UEFA Cup final v Bayern Munich or Zenit St Petersburg (Manchester); May 18 - Aberdeen, SPL (away); May 24 - Possible Scottish Cup final v Aberdeen or Queen of the South (Hampden). TBC: St Mirren (away), Motherwell (away). Fook me,it's quite frightening when you look at this list

Sunday, April 27 - Celtic (a) ko tbc Sunday, May 4 - Hibs (a) 2pm Wednesday, May 7 - Motherwell (h) 7.45pm. Saturday, May 10 - Dundee Utd (h) 12.30pm Sunday, May 18 - Aberdeen (a) 1.30pm I knew tims would be first...

This is what we have pencilled in: 3rd April - Sporting H 6th April - Dundee Utd A 10th April - Sporting A 13th April - Partick A 16th April - Celtic A Who else do we need to play to make up our games in hand, I thought we had 2 more league matches to fit in?? Is it 33 games before the split and we have played 29?? Crikey - its going to get mad, we could still have another 2 UEFA games after Sporting then St Johnstone in the cup in the likely event we get past Partick. Then 5 more games in the SPL between Mid april and mid may - its nuts!!!

Ive got the choice of Scott Booth at Dundee Utd v Motherwell or David Pleat at Spurs v Pompey just now. 2 plebs in there own right. Booth lasted 2 mons before I had to turn over, and ive got to put up with the factual Pleat.

Saturday, 22 March 2008 -------------------------------Time------TV Dundee United v Motherwell-----12:30----*** Aberdeen v St Mirren------------15:00 Hearts v Falkirk-----------------15:00 Kilmarnock v Inverness CT-------15:00 Rangers v Hibernian-------------15:00 Sunday, 23 March 2008 --------------------------------Time-----TV Gretna v Celtic-----------------14.00-----*** The great thing for Motherwell this week is they don't have to play at fir park, which gives them a bit more certainty that the game will go ahead. This game can probably be classed as the best of the rest as Dundee utd, Motherwell and Hibs fight it out for the third position. Motherwell haven't really hit the same heights as they did before the turn of the year and the tragic loss of Phil o"Donnel. Dundee Utd played brilliantly in the CIS cup final against Rangers last week and were only minutes away from winning before a lethal mistake from Mark Kerr threw Rangers a lifeline with United losing out on a penalty shoot-out. If United play anything like last week they should make the best of their home advantage. United win. Aberdeen have been on a free-fall the last few weeks and will be struggling to get in on a top six place.From what seemed to a good season for them suddenly went pear shaped. Knocking Celtic out of the Scottish cup could offer them a platform to bounce back. St Mirren have given some gutsy performances this season but with the reduction of points from Gretna their season is as good as finished. nothing to lose and nothing to gain. Aberdeen still have things to play for and should be more hungry. Aberdeen win. Hearts v Falkirk is the topper in the fight for the last place in the top six. Falkirk are holding all the aces at the moment but there are only three points between them ,Hearts and Aberdeen and who would not expect Hearts to make a final sprint. I expect Hearts to win this one but Falkirk will stay top on goal difference, although that will also be minimal. Hearts win. Kilmarnock v Inverness CT has again lost any real interest with the demise of Gretna and Killie have only really pride to play for. Caley could still fight to top the bottom six but in reallity these two teams can start to look to putting things in place for next season. I can see this ending in a draw. Draw. Rangers v Hibernian is surely the top game this weekend and why setanta have chosen to show Gretna v Celtic beats me. Surely a case of pure inflexibility in programming. This is one of the most important games we will get in the run in to the title. As i believe that the old firm will roughly share the points in the head to heads the games against the sub-top teams will become more important.Barry Ferguson will return from injury putting off an operation on his ankle to the summer months. Whether you like him or not he certainly has a great Rangers heart. I will surprise everybody and say i am glad he is back as i don't think this is the game to experiment. Hibs beat us last time round at Ibrox but we have stepped up a notch since then and we will hopefully return to form for this one. I can't go against Rangers as it is a must win game for us. Rangers win. Gretna v Celtic. can't really say much about this game as i think it is a non-event and only good for celtic to take advantage and build up their goal difference but we live in hope. Celtic win.

Come On Utd :cheers:

http://www.rangerssupporterstrust.co.uk/rstsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=183&Itemid=1 This Sunday sees Rangers given the chance to win their first silverware of the season as they take on Dundee Utd in the CIS Cup Final. With the game already a sell out, the RST has managed to get hold of a pair of tickets for the game which can be won by new (or exisiting) members of our exciting Rangers Lotto agency. Join the Trust agency before Friday evening at 9pm and you'll be in with a chance of winning the tickets! As the RST are sponsors of Rangers Youth Development, and have joined forces with Rangers Lotto on a few different projects over the last 12 months, we at the RST have decided to further build our own Rangers Lotto agency. The cost can be from as little as �£1 per week that would be paid by direct debit directly from your bank account. For your �£1 you have a chance to win a weekly prize of �£9,000 plus numerous smaller prizes. The RST will benefit to the tune of 12.5% commission for being the Rangers Lotto agent & Rangers Lotto will benefit by being able to further support Rangers Youth Development, as 100% of their profit goes directly to supporting our youth teams. All you have to do is send Scott ( scottrst@hotmail.co.uk ) your name & address and he will get the forms sent out to you. Once you receive them fill in your details and return the form in the prepaid envelope. The winners will be contacted before Sunday's game with information on how they can pick up the tickets. Good luck!

I listen to his program with my breakfast on a sunday morning just to hear clowns calling in. What nonsense he mentioned himself near the start - he said WS and AM dont want Rangers to be in the UEFA cup at this moment as a) we cant win it and b) its a hinder for the SPL. I disagree with both points. Winning it would be difficult due to the likes of Bayern Munich being in it but its not the champions league with the top sides. I certainly dont fear Bremen this midweek and if we get past them then who knows. A last 8 or last 4 finish would be great for us. I also dont think its a hinder to winning the title. The SPL / SFA are the hinder with fixture congestion they throw up. The league cup should be finished by October like it used to rather than being played until easter and if they got there fingers out and make sure pitches etc were in good condition then games wouldnt get cancelled and we'd have enough time to prepare better. The countries footballing bodies are the ones hindering there OWN clubs chances of progression with there schedule - a disgrace. Also, WS needs to use his squad more. If he has a first time memeber who he cant rely on coming in and doing a job then punt them. Those who havent featured recently (who we all know) should be involved. If its a money thing with Buffel then thats a disgrace also - he could be the difference between success and "nearly" again. Anyway, id rather have UEFA cup semi final than a league cup final against Dundee Utd. Ok winning a trophy again is huge for us at the moment but I believe the title and scottish cup will bo ours. Plus the 2 are different competitions and there is no reason why we cant have both.

-----------------------------Time--------TV Hibernian v Celtic------------12:30------*** Falkirk v Motherwell----------15:00 Gretna v Dundee United------15:00 Inverness CT v Hearts--------15:00 Kilmarnock v St Mirren--------15:00 Rangers v Aberdeen----------15:00 To a certain extent the roles have been turned around as from Wednesday, with Rangers supporters looking for an Edinburgh club to do us a favour. Celtic make the journey to Easter road hoping to avenge their defeat there earlier in the season, thanks to two blunders by Boruc. Hibs have returned to form since Mixu Paatelainen took over the reigns. Easter road is always a difficult game and has been a nightmare for goalkeepers of late. Celtic will put the pressure on Rangers by moving to within one point if they win but will give us an extra reason to fight for the win if they drop some points. I am hoping for at least a draw here but a Hibs win would be fantastic. Draw. Motherwell have had a dip of late only picking up one point in their last two games against Hearts and Aberdeen. Falkirk lost to a rejuvenated Hibs on Wednesday so both teams will be looking to get back on track. I will take Motherwell to shade this one as i feel they can play as good in away games as at home and they have simply better players. Motherwell win. Gretna v Dundee UTD. Remember all those games ago Dundee United could have topped the league by beating Gretna. They failed then against a Gretna team that had hardly won a point. Gretna have been showing a bit of form recently losing to Rangers with a good performance and beating Kilmarnock 4-2 on Wednesday. Personally i think Gretna are the hungrier team at the moment and i think they will pull off another shock. Gretna win. Inverness get a visit from Hearts and this looks like the best draw on paper for me. I feel Inverness at home will be good enough to hold a Hearts team who have just sold their top goal scorer.I don't see Inverness strong enough to beat Hearts so that leaves the draw. Draw. Killie against StMirren is another of those games that could go either way depending on the teams that turn up. In the last two games Killie destroyed Aberdeen but got drubbed by Gretna. St Mirren were robbed of a point against Celtic and luckily took a point against Dundee Utd. I am going for the Mirren on this one St Mirren win. Hopefully with Rangers and Aberdeen both teams will run to form. Rangers have won their last ten games and Aberdeen have taken one point in eighteen. If Rangers hit the form we did against hearts they can put our name on the SPL trophy but unfortunately until now this was together with the Celtic game at Ibrox, more of an incident than a regular happening. Aberdeen always step up a gear against us but hopefully we are starting to show the stuff champions are made of. Rangers win.

--------------------------------Time Aberdeen v Motherwell----------19:45 Celtic v Inverness CT-----------19:45 Dundee United v St Mirren------19:45 Falkirk v Hibernian--------------19:45 Gretna v Kilmarnock------------19:45 Hearts v Rangers---------------19:45 Motherwell head up to Aberdeen to take on the leakiest defence in the SPL over the last few games. Aberdeen have indeed lost their last five games and have slumped to fourth bottom of the SPL. Jimmy Calderwood has stated he will build a complete new team for next year which could have a positive or a negative effect on his team. Motherwell will be glad to get away from the ploughed field at fir park and get back on track after their 1-0 defeat to hearts. With the Aberdeen confidence at an all time low, Motherwell should take full advantage and take all three points. Motherwell win. Over the years Inverness have been a bogey team for celtic and beat them 3-2 last time out. Craig Brewster will be hoping his players come out the start block better than against Hibs on Saturday, as they were 2-0 down after four minutes. Caley actually played better than Hibs but never recovered from the poor start. Celtic had all the luck of the day on Sunday when it looked like StMirren were taking a share of the points. The referee was the only one on the park who saw a foul as Shunsuke Nakamura fell easily to the ground. Nakamura does have a gift in taking free kicks and scored in the 87 minute. I fear Celtic will be too strong at home for Caley but we live in hope. Celtic win. St Mirren were fuming at losing to Celtic at Love street and will be hoping they will be luckier on their visit to Tannadice. If Dundee Utd had taken half their chances against Falkirk they would have won by a country mile but time and agin they failed to put the ball in the net. They too will be looking for a little bit more from lady luck. Difficult one to predict this as St Mirren are capable of surprising most teams but i think Utd should just edge it at home. Dundee Utd win. Hibs visit Falkirk after their win against Caley but Mixu Paatelainen will be hoping his team play for more than ten minutes as they seemed to do on Saturday. Falkirk are a start stop team this year and no one knows if they will blow hot or cold. I am going for a draw in this one. Draw. Gretna against Killie would have had a far greater importance if Killie had not taken three points from Aberdeen on Saturday. Gretna are a much improved team since the transfer window but it is most probably too little too late for them. I think Gretna will beat Killie tomorrow and if they had the same players for the whole season then Gretna may have survived. Gretna win. Rangers will be looking to avenge our 4-2 hammering at Tyncastle earlier in the season. Hearts have been improving since Stevie Frail has been given full control but will probably losing Andrius Velicka to Viking Stavanger before the game. Hearts dominated against Motherwell on Saturday and will probably come out and try to shut the midfield down and get in the Rangers players faces. This is the games our top players have to stand up and be counted. These are the games we can judge them on. Barry Ferguson has to come out and lead and if he does we should get the win. This game depends on the mentality of the Rangers team. if we are up for the fight we should win but Hearts will not make it easy for us. Rangers win

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=598&Itemid=1 ...as well as the perpetually offended people in the world today. According to the police after they banned a Dublin Loyal banner: "Notwithstanding Article 14 of the Ground Regulations imposed by the Scottish Football League, Scottish Football Association and Scottish Premier League states that any song which could or might cause annoyance or offence is not permitted within any Stadia." As such, let's help them provide this haven of safety by addressing the main issues! Let's start by removing the disgraceful song below from the stands at Ibrox. Quite simply it has noplace in modern football as it could cause annoyance or offence to several groups of people. * 'Every Other Saturday' First off, given the references to women as objects of desire this song is clearly sexist. Add in it's choice of male name (Jock/Joe) then we clearly have a song that is anti-women. Why not the name Jo? Not having such a choice, means the song is anti-homosexual as it suggests women can't find other women attractive. Then we have the adjective 'wee'. In today's climate poking fun at the vertically challenged amongst us smacks of intolerance while the less vertically-challenged are ignored. Either way, this is annoying and sung to cause offence. Next, the song tells us how the singers 'love to see the Rangers score'. How dare they! The opposition fans won't like that as that suggests they will be beaten. This biased reference to winning is out of the question surely? It's not just this song that could cause problems of course. I dare any vegetarian to find a tofu-based product at the stadium - plenty meat pies but no houmous salad! Then we read of the Rangers owner and board directors obviously forcing Dundee Utd reps into toasting the Queen before a recent game at Ibrox. What would their proud nationalist supporters think of that? Add the Union flags at games (no Rainbow flag flying high obviously), then I can see many Braveheart fans not being happy as they sit under their Saltire in the away end. All of the above has no place in the modern game. After all, how can we solve bigotry, anti-social behaviour, ill-health, knife-crime, poor education standards and poor policing if we sing songs to annoy people. In a football stadium of all places! Join me now in backing Kenny Scott and the police by submitting what annoys and offends you at football stadia. Is it the colour of the opposition strip? Perhaps we should take the element of winning out of matches, ensuring a draw is the final result? What about referees - their spectacle sponsor pun cannot be tolerated surely? Submit/post your issues now! :box:

I think i started the same thread at the start of the season and the majority was pretty much that we expected to challenge for the league and at least go for a domestic cup. If we were in Europe after Christmas then that would be a bonus. So as things stand at the moment WS has ticked all expectations and possibly beyond that with a 4 point lead in the league and sitting in the league cup final and a favourable draw in the Scottish cup. Plus up next week is Panathinikos in the last 32 of the UEFA cup. What happens now if we a) go out of europe b) dont win the league? Will people jump on a bandwagon saying it was thrown away simply because of the good position we are in? My personal take on it is if the league goes to the wire then we have to look at it in the way that we have came on strides this season. However I believe we will go on and win the league. Domestic cup wise I think we will beat Dundee Utd in the League cup and get past Hibs in the Scottish Cup. Celtic have a tricky tie at Pittodrie and could get knocked out there. In Europe, I feel a Rangers team should be strong enough to get past Panathinikos. Id be very disappointed if we got knocked out due to negative play and poor tactics. If we went out despite giving all then I think we'd all accept that. However once again I think we will get through to the last 16, after that its either Werder Bremen or Braga with the Germans likely to be favourties there and thats a very tricky tie should we look tha far ahead. One thing that isnt going to help us is the fixture back log. The next few weeks is going to test the size of our squad and lets hope WS uses it to its full potential. Expectations for me are to lift the League Cup, get to the Scottish cup Final and take that game from there. I expect go all the way in the SPL and take the league flag home as I think we are good enough and better than Celtic as things currently stand. In Europe a last 8 finish would be a good run but who knows!!! Thoughts from others?

This week has been a bit embarrassing IMO for us and the bad management has came right at the very top with SDM. We are pushing a home grown player, who has been far out best player this season, out of the door AND paying him to leave whilst missing out on transfer targets left right and centre and end up with a striker back at the club who wants to leave. The Roy Carroll transfer is another uncertancy with him basically sitting in his car to make the journey to Derby when we sign another keeper yet we havent done this and cant even clinch a keeper from Dundee Utd!!! Now we want Derby's reserve keeper in a swap deal according to the papers - what did we sign Graeme Smith for? IF the Samaras deal had went through yesterday we may have been left with him and Cousin along with all our other striking options at a time when we are screaming out for a creative midfielder and some defensive cover for Weir and our full backs - especially since Hutton seems to be on his way to Spurs. What is going on :admin:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/7210980.stm We're being linked with the Dundee Utd keeper Szamotulski. Thoughts?