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By Andrew Dickson WALTER SMITH insists Hearts beat Rangers at their own game as they won 2-1 against the Light Blues at Tynecastle. Strikes by Marius Zaliukas and Laryea Kingston in quick succession gave the Jambos a commanding lead midway through the first half. Charlie AdamAnd although a Christos Karipidis own goal gave Gers a lifeline, the hosts packed their back line and held on to the three points despite having Lee Wallace sent off. A defensive approach helped Smith's men so often last season and he was frustrated at seeing his side stopped by the same tactic. He said: "Hearts did well but we made it easy for them and we didn't create an awful lot up front. "That was surprising because we've made a lot of opportunities in previous matches but never came up with any of note many here. "Hearts deserve credit. They had their players back in position and played very much in the manner we played in a number of games last season. They did very well. "We spent the last hour of the game almost entirely in Hearts' half of the pitch but never really created any opportunities to score." Smith was annoyed at the manner in which Rangers lost their goals, both of which came from poorly-defended set pieces. And he refused to hide behind the excuse that having key players such as Kenny Miller and Kevin Thomson out was a reason for a second away defeat of the league campaign.Steven Whittaker The manager added: "You're going to miss players of that quality but you're going to go through the season without some people and there are no excuses there. "We're still good enough without them. I felt in the first 20 minutes or so that we struggled in a defensive sense by giving away too many fouls. "That gave Hearts the opportunity to get the ball into our area and we ended up losing two goals from such situations. "With the consistency Celtic have shown, any points that we drop are a blow to us and it certainly means the three Old Firm games left are ones where the pressure is on us. "We deserve that because we didn't deal with set plays well today. Normally we defend well but against Dundee United we gave away two bad goals. "Those little bits of inconsistency have plagued us in games and that has been costly for us."

Review of the Season so far: Main site link: http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=711&Itemid=1

By Danny Stewart Rangers face a fight to hang on to Pedro Mendes.RANGERS FACE a fight to fend off a bid from Spurs for Pedro Mendes. Itââ?¬â?¢s understood Harry Redknapp is poised to swoop with a Ã?£5-million-plus bid as soon as the January transfer window opens. Redknapp sold the Portuguese star to the Light Blues for Ã?£3-million in August while still boss of Portsmouth. At the time, though, the renowned wheeler-dealer insisted he was forced to make the sale in order to balance the books at Fratton Park. Willingness Mendes, he claimed, was worth more than the fee received and had only been the one to go because of his willingness to leave Portsmouth. ââ?¬Å?I am really sorry to lose Pedro,ââ?¬Â he said then. ââ?¬Å?I love him as a fella and a player. ââ?¬Å?He is great pro and a great player but I had to get some money in. It is the rules of the game.ââ?¬Â Three months on, Redknapp finds himself with cash to spend and a need for an experienced midfielder to play alongside young stars Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone. Redknapp actually signed Mendes for Pompey from Spurs in 2006, eighteen months after heââ?¬â?¢d arrived from Porto. Having loved Mendesââ?¬â?¢ attitude in the three years they were together at Portsmouth, Redknapp has decided he is the one he wants. Rangers have the player on a three-year contract and donââ?¬â?¢t want to sell. Returning Mendes, who provided cover for the injured Barry Ferguson at the start of the season, has made a huge impact in Scotland, returning to some of the best form of his career. On top of that, while Ferguson is now back, his fellow Scotland midfielder Kevin Thomson has since been ruled out for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage. The problem Rangers will face is what happens if Mendes himself gets sold on the idea of a quick return to the English Premier League. The Portuguese has taken to life in Scotland and has expressed his admiration for Glasgow as well as the quality of the football played in this country. Without doubt, though, Redknappââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Ë?big projectââ?¬â?¢ at Spurs has captured the imagination of fans and players alike throughout the whole of the UK, and Mendes may be tempted to be part of it. http://www.thesundaypost.co.uk/postindex.htm

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/311110867?-11344 After another 2 points dropped at Fir Park last night, our team’s dreadful inconsistency has to be examined. Why do we struggle to go on any kind of winning run? Why does our form spike then drop like a Blackpool roller-coaster? Who is and isn’t taking responsibility for our patchy form? Right away, we see the same questions being asked again and again of our club. Let’s try and look at why another title challenge seems to be fading before our eyes. First of all, I’d like to raise the issue of leadership. From the very top of the club right down to the dressing room, there seems to be a complete absence of people capable of standing tall, and leading our club to the SPL title. We have an owner desperate to sell the club as soon as he can while apparently preferring to slag off his own fans instead of looking in the mirror and asking how his contribution is affecting the status quo. Next Sunday will see Sir David Murray’s twentieth anniversary at the club. Twenty years since he bought Rangers FC and started the Murray era. Are we any further forward since then? Should he be judged on his first ten years in charge where he oversaw an ambitious (and largely successful) attempt at dominating Scottish football, or should we concentrate on the second ten years where that dominance and ambition has largely disappeared? No matter our opinion of Murray’s tenure, the fact is we now lack a leader at the top and that immediately affects the whole club’s outlook. Of course the chairman will point to the funds he allocated to the manager during the summer and that brings us neatly to our next problem. Quite simply, as it stands, that money appears to have been gambled on players that have so far had little effect on being able to increase our quality and achieve winning consistency. Madjid Bougherra, Pedro Mendes and Steven Davis have all done reasonably well so far but the latter two especially don’t appear to be the type of player who can lead from the front when the going gets tough. The rest of the money was then spent on Kyle Lafferty and Maurice Edu – two young players with little experience of top quality football and the pressures therein. As such, the manager doesn’t appear to trust them to justify their fee by playing them ahead of injured or off-form players. Indeed, if we look at Smith’s other signings – Lee McCulloch and Kenny Miller to name but two, there has been a lot of money spent on players that one doubts can really change our fortunes. When the going gets tough we simply don’t appear the have the inspiration to change games effectively. That goes for the manager and his selections as well as the players who shirk responsibility when it’s most required. Nonetheless, our form hasn’t been that bad. I’d contend the football is better than it was last year and that we’ve deserved to win most games out with the dreadful losses to Kaunas and St Mirren. A combination of bad luck, good goalkeeping, defensive errors and awful officiating means we shouldn’t be too downbeat about the season so far. Surely the slightly better football will soon be accompanied by more goals, stronger defending and linesmen doing their job? Unfortunately, I don’t think it is as simple as that – and that’s where the article title applies. Too often over the last couple of years there have been false dawns. Several excellent wins – home and away – versus Celtic and passionate defensive displays to deliver a UEFA Cup final contest would have most people thinking our players would be oozing confidence and brushing their SPL opponents aside. But no, as soon as we get a good result, the merest hint of things going against us has shoulders stooping and heads dropping before more points are lost. We also seem to lack motivation at times and the urgency and pride to win games is often missing until it’s too late. Or even worse, it doesn’t appear at all. Who’s to blame for that and who can change it? Well, we all can of course. The fans – as usual – will be unmatched as they follow follow their team all over the country. It’s time the players, manager and chairman acknowledged and matched that commitment in the way they approach their contribution. Let’s make it very clear. Second best is not good enough. Not against Lithuanian teams. Not against provincial Scottish teams. Not against Celtic. And definitely not losing the SPL title four times in a row. I shouldn’t need to quote Bill Struth but it is time a few people at the club were reminded of his words and asked themselves if they are really welcoming the chase or are they hiding from it.

Carrying on from Frankie’s brilliantly written and though provoking article, Rangers FC, A House Of Cards - http://www.gersnetonline.net/vb/showthread.php?t=8803 I thought that I would add to the dreachness of the morning by trying to establish why or club appear to be determined to hand the SPL title to Celtc. As I said in my rants early in the week, we are consistently inconsistent and I can’t remember a time where I have been as frustrated at our form as I am at this moment. Sure there have been times when we have been worse than this, there is no doubting this, but the frustration comes about having witnessed this squad dismantle Celtc at Parkhead, Hibs at Easter Road whilst playing a brand of football synonymous with Rangers Football Club. Then we have had to endure the dross served up at Love Street, Falkirk Stadium and last night at Fir Park. Once again last night we started with little urgency thus allowing our opponents to settle into the game and dictate the pace and flow of the game. Motherwell are a physical team and were quite happy with the ball being leathered from one corner of Fir Park to another. That is their strength, and it is also our weakness. We are outnumbered, out-muscled and more worryingly, out-played on the midfield area for the entire 90 minutes last night. We played to Motherwell’s strengths and had no-one either in the dug-out or on the pitch who had the capacity to change our tactics and play to our strengths. There has been a trend recently where when we are struggling to impose ourselves in games that we revert to the high ball / long ball game. This plays right into the hands of the opposition. 2 towering centre halves (the prerequisite for SPL teams these days), backed up with physical full-backs and tough tackling midfield players, lap this up. What they don’t like is football being played round about them. So instead of dominating games, establishing our pace, footballing ability, we get dragging into a war of attrition and inevitably drop points. So how is to blame for this trend? The players have to take their share of the responsibilities, but the management team appear to lack the leadership required to ensure that we can start a game with the necessary urgency to stamp our authority on proceedings. I understand that we have no divine right to win any game, we have to earn the right to win games and titles. However, I believe as we have been weakened on the pitch, teams in the SPL are no longer intimidated whilst playing Rangers. In our prime, we carried an aura with us – we weren’t invincible, but teams knew when they played Rangers, we are capable of destroying them playing football, but had the players who could and would stand up to a physical battle. Ian Ferguson, Stuart McCall, Nigel Spackman, Graham Roberts, Richard Gough, Terry Butcher, John Brown, Mark Hateley – all fantastic football players, but also players who wouldn’t be frightened to go toe-to-toe with anyone of the nature of the game demanded it. Those type of players won their battles and allowed players like Gazza, Laudrup, Walters, Wilkins, McCoist, et al to then play the football that would win us the games. Quite simply, we don’t have that mix at the moment, and clearly, we don’t have that quality at our disposal either. Currently, we are deploying 4 centre-halves in our back four. Our midfield consists of 3 centre midfield players and a front man pitched in for good measure. Our front two try hard and have differing qualities, but to be honest, neither of them score the crucial goals that win you games like last night on a consistent enough basis. We have played the majority of this season with absolutely no width in the team. Opposition managers know this and use it to there advantage, There were times last night where you could have thrown a blanked over our 11 players, they were so narrow and so close together. Walter Smith has another frustrating trait – his use of substitutions. Firstly, some are mind-boggling in the extreme and almost all of them are never a simple ‘straight swap’. Take last night as an example – Novo for Lafferty – looked like the correct move at the time (maybe 5 or 10 minutes later than expected, but the correct move none-the-less). Anyway, on comes Novo to play wide left? No, Novo moves into the centre, Miller moved out left? In saying that, the above deficiencies, whilst being glaring, are not unfixable. Compare them to the gross incompetence of the officials and they pail into insignificance (however, they are the only deficiencies that we have complete control over). The standards of refereeing and assistant refereeing in the SPL this season have been disgraceful bordering on the corrupt. It is safe to say that we have fallen foul to at least one controversial / crucial decision in almost everyone of our SPL games this season (another perfectly good goal wrongly chopped of last night) and at the same time, Celtc have been the beneficiaries of at least one controversial and crucial in almost everyone of their SPL games. I don’t think that the above statement sounds paranoid, as there are facts, pictures, video footage et al to back these claims up. So what can be done about these? Well, our club could be doing a better job in highlighting these decisions. We hear / see every other SPL manager (and in Celtc’s case, Chairman et al) banging on about all the decisions that go against them, so why not us? Well, I’ll tell you why not us, our Chairman doesn’t care. Ask him for a quote about the big, bad Rangers fans singing songs, or posting on websites and its ‘pens and Dictaphones at the ready’, I’ll give you enough to fill a 100 papers. Ask him to defend us, or challenge officials who are bordering on the corrupt? Silence is golden in Murray Towers. So, in conclusion, have we thrown away the league title this early in the season? Well, on current form, it’s impossible to believe that we can go to places like Tannidice, Tynecastle (both loaming large on the horizon), Pittodrie et al and gaining 3 points. It’s hard to see where Celtc are going to drop points. We are looking at an OF game at Xmas that could see us a trailing them by 4 points (at least) and stacks enormous pressure on us to deliver a performance and a result. Lose that game and it could be all over bar the shouting. Where does that leave Walter and his staff? Well, losing a 4th consecutive league title would be catastrophic, and I’d like to believe that it would mean (yet another) change in manager. Tough times ahead folks and we must no witness leadership from the top – are we going to get it? As is the case with Mr Murray’s last decade in charge at Ibrox, we are left with more questions than answers. Cammy F

MARK HATELEY has backed Rangers to get over the loss of Kevin Thomson through Barry Ferguson's return to the team. It's agony for ThomsonMidfielder Thomson faces several months on the sidelines after a scan confirmed he has severely damaged cruciate ligaments in his left knee. The 24-year-old's season is over and he will travel to London to see a top knee specialist on Wednesday as he starts out on the long road to recovery. While the former Hibs player will be sorely missed, it is likely club captain Barry Ferguson will replace him in the side after recovering from ankle surgery. Former Gers striker Hateley said: "Losing Kevin is a huge blow. We've seen how much he has improved since he came to the club and he was missed when he was out before. "He has been inspirational this season and his link-up play with Pedro Mendes has been great. They've been very solid and play well off each other.Barry Ferguson, Rangers "At the same time, Rangers have a quality player coming back into the team again in Barry and that is fortunate. "It is often the case that when a player becomes available again, the manager has a headache about who to pick and then one of them gets injured. "That has been the case here and now it becomes a simpler task to bring the skipper in once more. "The team could certainly have done without losing Kevin and it is never nice to see someone suffer that kind of injury. "It sent a shudder down a few peoples' spines when they saw the incident but at least there is someone to come into the side in his place. "Barry is a top-class player and has been for many years. When he's out of the side, the team is weakened but Rangers should get stronger when he comes back in." Lee McCullochWhile Ferguson is the obvious choice to replace Thomson, Hateley knows other players will be eager to come back into the team too. The likes of Lee McCulloch, Brahim Hemdani and Charlie Adam are likely to see this as an opportunity to challenge for a place. Hateley added: "When you look at the Rangers squad just now, most people are fit again and ready to play. "Lee McCulloch's available, Steven Naismith isn't far away from being fit again and Chris Burke is there too. "Steven Whittaker's another one pushing for a spot. He came on for a few minutes on Sunday and scored a great goal in that time. "It is great to have so many alternative options. The team has been short of them in the last couple of seasons but has an abundance of them now."

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=693&Itemid=2 As our forum regulars will know, I had this article planned last week anyway due to the recent comments from a range of people about the effect of unofficial websites based around football. Fortunately, BBC Radio Scotland also had a debate on this last night, so the topic gains even more relevance. Essentially, of late we’ve had people from Sir David Murray, to Walter Smith, to the likes of Richard Gordon and even that fearless objective crusader at ‘The Times’, Graham Spiers highlighting the role of unofficial sites in the current climate of the obsession with ‘bile’, sectarianism and discrimination in Scottish football. All these people suggest these sites (which I can only assume include this one as they don’t have the courage to name names) are cauldrons of hate – cooking up an intensity of spite and intolerance via misinformation and unchallenged anonymity. Now, I think it is important to acknowledge that some sites do have an element of that. Some forum posters or blog writers may not share the eloquence of the ‘genuine’ Fourth Estate and it’s easy to find non-constructive contributions on most sites. However, I think it’s important to retain objectivity when viewing the overall picture. Firstly, I completely reject any accusation towards Gersnet of sectarianism, bile or anonymity. We write here honestly, openly and always from a (reasonably) balanced view point. We certainly do not allow social intolerance or lies about individuals and we can be contacted easily and effectively via the site. Indeed, Rangers FC are fully aware of who runs this small fansite. To move immediately on, it’s important to discuss why the people/organisations above are now intent on reducing the credibility of such places - even if I don’t think this site is the target of any criticism. 1. Money Quite simply, as the stats from independent news-wire sites such as NewsNow will show, unofficial websites cost clubs and the media money. Why would supporters visit their bland ‘official’ websites or buy their offline products when they can access the same information for free? This site often out-performs the orthodox media/news sites and as such we are taking their customers away. We provide genuine competition and they don’t like this. 2. Access to Debate Football fans of every club have for years complained that their club doesn’t gain the attention it deserves in the media or that that attention is flawed: e.g.; non-Old Firm supporters complain of West Coast bias, Old Firm supporters complain about imbalance. As such, it’s obvious to anyone that when we can set up our own sites of debate, people will gravitate to these. Perhaps if the clubs and the media groups offered similar official forums (online and offline) for discussion, the need for unofficial ones wouldn’t be so great? 3. Quality of Debate Spelling mistakes and grammar errors notwithstanding, unofficial sites also compete in debate quality terms. It’s extremely arrogant and unfair of our critics to suggest that isn’t the case. Football phone-ins and most media platforms are hardly the epitome of accuracy and neither do they attempt to reduce hyperbole of any given subject – particularly sectarianism. In fact they add to it and the contributors do not take responsibility for their actions either. As such it’s rather hypocritical of them to complain about our contribution. 4. Hypocrisy It’s interesting to hear these figures complain of such sites so also imperative to note their double-standards. For example, they criticise us publicly but in the background they contact us to publish their latest RSS widget, offer competitions/adverts or even send staff to post on our forums. Most importantly, they suffer from the same alleged problems they accuse us of – inaccuracy, lack of balance, poor quality writing and ill-informed sensationalism. They just don’t like us pointing this out. In conclusion, it’s obvious the competition aspect is what the media (in particular) fear from places like this site. They know our contribution is as good (if not better) than anything they have to offer and they feel the pressure from that. This pressure manifests itself in their flawed attempts at discrediting us where in actual fact, they should accept our competition, and use their unrivalled resources to outflank us. Thus, instead of complaining about such places; rise to the challenge and improve your own services. Revamp club websites. Provide genuine supporters representation. Take our complaints seriously. Report accurately on subjects. Be balanced in your coverage. Offer supporters access to proper informed media debate. Provide value for money. Work with the supporters – not against them. Maybe, just maybe, if you stopped passing the buck, Scottish football supporting wouldn’t be as bad an aspect of the game you paint it out to be. Unfortunately, as it stands, the complainers above are not offering solutions but simply pointing the finger of blame. This always seems to be the case so it any wonder division arises? Perhaps if you take responsibility for your own actions then supporters may just stop questioning your own credibility - which is why ‘unofficial’ websites exist in the first place.

Have a read of this, some quality stuff. http://www.redcafe.net/f6/celtic-fans-guide-evening-223976/

by Lindsay Herron THE WORLD of football paid tribute to Ian McColl today when his funeral took place following his sad passing on October 24 at the age of 81 Team-mates and rivals joined together with family and friends at St Paul's Church in Milngavie to remember the Iron Curtain defender, who played 526 games for Rangers. He was one of the last remaining links to a golden era for Rangers in the aftermath of the Second World War when football boomed. The period was dominated by Rangers and Hibs. From 1946 until 1953 they had a stranglehold on the title; Rangers winning in 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1953 and Hibs triumphant in 1948, 1951 and 1952. Other than in 1949 when Dundee were runners-up, Hibs were second when Rangers won and vice versa. Hibs boasted the Famous Five forward line of Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Willie Ormond and Eddie Turnbull while Rangers featured the Iron Curtain defence of Bobby Brown, George Young, Jock Shaw, Ian McColl, Willie Woodburn and Sammy Cox. It was a fascinating and fearsome match-up, but it does not imply that Rangers were toothless up front at that time - far from it. Willie Waddell, Torry Gillick, Willie Thornton and Jimmy Duncanson were among the top class Rangers forwards of the time. "Rangers against Hibs? Now you're talking," said Bobby Brown. "We had fantastic games against them in that 1940s and 1950s period and Ian played a huge part in these matches. "They had the Famous Five forward line and we had the Iron Curtain defence. Many said they would have loved to have seen the two combined in the Scotland team but it never quite happened that all of us played at once. "Of course, we had brilliant forward players then too, like Waddell, Thornton and Duncanson as well as Jimmy Caskie. "But there was something special about the Iron Curtain defence. We all seemed to click perfectly and we got on well together. It seemed natural to us. "We used to go to Easter Road and play in front of crowds in excess of 50,000 and that could be doubled when they came to Ibrox." In a 10-year period Rangers averaged less than a goal against per game which is indicative of just how strong the defensive line was. In these days the formation as 2-3-5 - two full backs, three half backs and five forwards (two wingers, two inside forwards and a centre forward). McColl was right half and a first rate defender beside the mighty Woodburn and in front of the colossus that was Young. However, he could play the game too and that is not lost on goalkeeper Brown, who, coincidentally, also became Scotland manager in his later years. Brown told me: "I remember Ian was very strong in defence but he was also good on the ball and was adept at turning defence into attack. "My great memory of him was his fastidiousness at improving his passing. In these days training was basic and all we had was the running track around the pitch. "Ian used to play one-twos against the wall and did other things to try to improve his game. He was very dedicated in that regard. "We had many fine moments in the League and in Cups but my abiding memory is a bleak November day when we went to Methil to play East Fife, who were a powerful team at that time and regularly finished in the top five. "The game had a 2pm kick-off to help the local miners in terms of their shifts. They would be down the pits at five that morning so they could see the game in the afternoon - a game that had been sold out for weeks. "Ian was superb that day. I think he cleared two off the line, but he was wonderful in defence and we won the match 2-1. "There is no doubt he was a great servant to Rangers and it was with great sadness that I learned about Ian. "He didn't have the greatest quality of life in his latter years and that saddened me too."

Most Rangers fans face a bit of a quandary when it comes to our defensive line up. Whilst Weir currently forms our strongest available centre back partnership with summer signing Madjid Bougherra. However it is suggested that playing the veteran Scot leads to some of our troubles against better quality opposition. Due to Weir's advancing years, whatever pace he once had is beginning to dessert him. Weir was never an exceptionally fast player. But with his reading of the game he was not often exposed for a lack of pace. Weir has performed admirably for the club since Walter Smith brought him back upto Scotland and can be proud of his performances for the club. He formed a water-tight back line with Cuellar and has struck up an excellent understanding with Bougherra already. However many fans have questioned whether his lack of pace causes a back line to sit too deep and invite pressure onto our defence. However Saturday's game at Hamilton exposed another potential issue for our defenders. Hamilton forward Offiong gave both Weir and Bougherra a torrid time with his strength. Every high ball played upto Offiong stuck. Any ball chest or head height was won by Offiong and played off to a team mate. Fortunately Hamilton didn't have the squad to take advantage. Unusually for Weir, who normally relishes the physical battle, and Bougherra who looks like a big strong centre back, they just could not match him for strength. I was actually relieved and a little confused when billy Reid decided to withdraw him when he'd had so much success in the first half. It reminded me a lot of a game in the past few seasons when we played Hearts and the centre backs, I believe they were Weir and Cuellar, again just could not compete in the physical battle. He ran amok and it's not the only such incident. Kenny Deuchar won a move to MLS football off the back of a a bustling centre forward performance against us were he bruised our defence all game and managed to get on the score sheet. Whilst many are worried about David Weir, his lack of pace and who his successor is I think we also need to look at why our back line struggles so much against big bruising centre forwards? With the game in Scotland being very much a physical battle you have to match the work rate and commitment of the opposition before your superior tecchnical and tactical ability can win through. It is also worrying when you look at the forward options available to Celtic, the only other contenders for the league title. Samaras, Hesselink and even Killen are all big guys. And whilst none of them should unduly worry us, if Strachan identifies this potential weakness in our team and lines his team up appropriately we may find ourselves struggling in the OF games.

Graham Spiers Even when things get as mad and agenda-driven in the sectarianism debate as they did last week in Scottish football, some aspects remain crystal clear in their need of condemnation. That is, if people have the courage to say so. Celtic, streets ahead of Rangers when it comes to cleaning up their act, nonetheless will find it hard to fully divorce themselves from their benighted city rivals unless that clump of idiots in their away support who croon about the IRA can be silenced. The Celtic Park club, and in particular their chief executive, Peter Lawwell, have spoken out about it before, but perhaps another public push on the matter is essential. The fact is, the IRA chanting is galling for Celtic, given that the club have led the way over the past 15 years in eradicating bigotry from the vast swath of their support. For years now Celtic Park ââ?¬â?? unlike Ibrox ââ?¬â?? has been largely free of sectarian or racist chanting. Over at Ibrox, the latest favoured chant to pollute the air deserves open condemnation from Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, if only he can find the guts to do it. The so-called Famine Songsmacks of a brain-dead racism of the type too many Rangers fans simply cannot leave behind: antiIrish and antiCatholic. No wonder Strathclyde Police are now threatening to make arrests at Ibrox for racist behaviour. And it is inconceivable that, in private, Bain does not deplore the song, though he canââ?¬â?¢t bring himself to say so publicly. I have only one measure of sympathy for Bain, who in every other sense is a decent man and a talented football executive, and it is this: he must be weary of the prejudices of the white underclass which continue to infect a large minority of the Ibrox support. Rangers have suffered humiliation upon humiliation in recent years ââ?¬â?? in Villarreal, in Pamplona, in the Uefa prosecution over bigoted chanting, and most recently and shockingly in Manchester. Just what must it be like being this clubââ?¬â?¢s chief executive? That, however, does not excuse Bainââ?¬â?¢s timidity last week over the Famine Song. Of it, without a word of condemnation, he said: ââ?¬Å?Clearly some of our supporters feel aggrieved that a song they believe to be no more than a ââ?¬Ë?wind-upââ?¬â?¢ of Celtic supporters should be singled out like this...ââ?¬Â Iââ?¬â?¢m sorry? Unfairly ââ?¬Å?singled outââ?¬Â and a mere ââ?¬Å?wind-upââ?¬Â? Given the recent tradition of the bigotry problem at Rangers, I fear this latest dirge about ââ?¬Å?Irishââ?¬Â or ââ?¬Å?******sââ?¬Â being sent back to Ireland deserves something slightly more withering than Bainââ?¬â?¢s folksy ââ?¬Å?wind-upââ?¬Â claim. The song is trash, it is racist, and he should find the guts to say it. Back in 1972 ââ?¬â?? yes, it goes this far back ââ?¬â?? when the Rangers fans rioted in Barcelona and got the club flung out of Europe, you didnââ?¬â?¢t find the then Ibrox manager, Willie Waddell, indulging in this sort of obfuscation. On the contrary, facing his own supporters and with the steam coming out his ears, Waddell went straight for the jugular in condemning those who embarrassed his club. ââ?¬Å?It is to these tikes, hooligans, louts and drunkards that I pinpoint my message,ââ?¬Â Waddell said. ââ?¬Å?It is because of your gutter-rat behaviour that we [Rangers FC] are being publicly tarred and feathered.ââ?¬Â Every football club chairman or chief executive, like Bain, needs to keep reasonably ââ?¬Å?on-messageââ?¬Â with his own customers. But racism and sectarianism need to be condemned, not shirked. The madness of last week, involving BBC Scotland headlines and pages of the fall-out in many Scottish newspapers, had its own peculiar evolution. We have now reached the stage where organised bodies of Celtic and Rangers fans, often via those modern lunatic asylums called fans websites, are in a race to land the first propaganda blow. I must admit, when last weekââ?¬â?¢s story first broke about alleged ââ?¬Å?Irish diplomatsââ?¬Â poking their noses in by ââ?¬Å?getting in touchââ?¬Â with the Scottish Government about the chanting of Rangers fans, something wasnââ?¬â?¢t quite right about it. Just who was stirring which large pot here? There was something strained and farfetched about the way the story developed. Personally, it made me suspicious, and it only fed the now-rampant paranoia that goes with wearing a Rangers scarf. Then, predictably, something even more ludicrous happened. A group of Rangers fans, voraciously casting around to find someone ââ?¬â?? anyone ââ?¬â?? to make a similar complaint about Celtic, came up with the dubious figure of Gregory Campbell, a Democratic Unionist MP from Northern Ireland, who duly expressed his inability to venture to any Celtic game due to some supportersââ?¬â?¢ unsavoury singing. You could almost hear the underground clamour: ââ?¬Å?Quick lads, weââ?¬â?¢ve found an equaliser, get this Campbell bloke on to the TV stations!ââ?¬Â And so the whole daft scenario unfolded, tit for tat, jibe and counter-jibe. In terms of addressing sectarianism, last week was not one when our media covered itself in glory. One other fallacy needs to be debunked here. No one is suggesting that football chants should have either a squeaky, Mary Poppins air about them, or that they should be strictly football related. On both counts, of course not. Football largely enjoys the colour and daftness of its fans, and any killjoys in this regard should be kept well away from the debate. But neither bigotry nor racism is funny. If only someone, somewhere, could teach a section of the Rangers fans to love themselves, rather than hate others, a huge step forward would be taken. And another thing... Quiet times are over for Calderwood at Pittodrie Are we not about due another Aberdeen FC crisis? Itââ?¬â?¢s almost four years now since we had a thoroughgoing palaver at Pittodrie ââ?¬â?? far too long a period for those of us who had been accustomed to one every 18 months or so. Aberdeen managerial crises often had their own unique quality, with a venom unmatched even by the Old Firm. Iââ?¬â?¢ve seen the environs of Pittodrie positively spluttering with invective on such occasions. There were the dramas of Roy Aitken, Paul Hegarty, Alex Miller and Stevie Paterson ââ?¬â?? all managers who came a cropper amid a hot-breathed northeast lynch mob. It is quite a spectacle. Now Iââ?¬â?¢m starting to worry if this might not be around the time for ââ?¬Å?Jabberingââ?¬Â Jimmy Calderwood to fall into the trough. Calderwood, notwithstanding the odd close shave, has had quite a serene time of it these past four years, but I smell a set-to on the horizon. In their four home Premier League games now, Aberdeen have won none, drawn one and lost three, and their fans were haranguing Calderwood on Saturday following the 1-0 loss to Dundee United. On top of everything, more than a few of them still begrudge him his alleged Rangers leanings. It may be time to look out the hard hat, Jimmy. Lawwell shows how to survive at top table Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, left, surprised quite a few last week by turning down the offer of the same position at Arsenal to stay at Celtic. But one thing Lawwell did get right in his decision-making was avoiding the nightmarish real estate problem at their former ground at Highbury, which Arsenal are struggling to resolve, and which would have fallen Lawwellââ?¬â?¢s way. I still say Lawwellââ?¬â?¢s longevity at Celtic is amazing. Thatââ?¬â?¢s five years heââ?¬â?¢s clocked up now, in a job where, previously, the men in white coats arrived with the strait-jacket roughly every three years to take them away. Weââ?¬â?¢re talking here of a born survivor.

Can't agree more he really is a quality act.

A player of "limited ability" saves a manager of limited ability?: Time for braver management. After George Burley's embarrassingly ill-thought out comments regarding Rangers' right back Kirk Broadfoot, he should be both apologising to the utility defender and thanking him. The opening line; "A player of "limited ability" saves a manager of limited ability?" was actually a text I sent to a few friends at half time in the Iceland game. How better for Kirk to shut up his detractors and throw more egg in the face of Burley for his managerial inexperience, than to come up with the opening goal in what was already a make or break game for both Scotland's World Cup hopes and for George Burley's tenure as the national team manager? Some journalists actually praised Burley for his straight talking, perhaps in an attempt to prevent this creating any further distractions in the Scotland camp prior to the beginning of an increasingly important qualifying campaign. It is a shame therefore that these same journalists did not do any "straight-talking" of their own. His commments were foolish at best and showed up his inexperience for dealing with players at the highest level. However I digress. My real reason for posting this is that it has reinforced a long standing belief I have that there are very few "brave" managers in modern football in this country. This is based on two major forms of decision making required by a football manager. Namely, squad and team selections and making substitutions. The situation with Broadfoot accurately sums up the first point. Scotland is a small footballing nation, with fewer players at grass roots level than the larger European super-powers of football and consequently fewer world-class or elite level performers. Take out Ferguson, Hutton and maybe even the two keepers, Gordon and McGregor and we really are struggling. Consider the players comprising the squad for the Macedonia and Iceland games to illustrate this point. With Alan Hutton out injured, their are few in form right backs available to Scotland of genuine quality. Burley called up just two players to cover this position. Alexander and Broadfoot. Alexander is an average journeyman-pro who is likely a beneficiary of the Berti Vogts era where caps were handed out like jelly babies. There are numerous players who recieved caps during the dark days of Vogts time. Some who even served us fairly well. However, we do have a stronger group of players now and these older stalwarts' time has come and gone. Alexander is a 36 year old, Championship defender with Burnley. Whilst he perhaps once was a useful back up player in the squad, with his ageing years and a question mark over whether he ever truely was good enough for the international scene, it's time to look to players who can carry us into 2010 and beyond. And this is where the lack of "bravery", as I see it, comes in. In a straight choice between Alexander and his younger, more athletic team mate, Burley went for "experience". Alexander undoubtedly has greater international experience. However, Broadfoot has played consistently for one of Europe's biggest clubs, competing in the Champions' League and even a UEFA cup final. Broadfoot is also currently playing th better football, combining solid defensive displays with a willingness to get forward that is just not possible for a man of Alexander's years. Burley however, hid behind the banner of "experience". Alexander as a more senior member of the squad got the nod as he had previously been capped. Ignore the player's' ability. Ignore their current club form and the fact that one of the club's has been operating at a higher level of football including elite European competition and instead take the easy option of picking the guy who has the most caps. Burley is not alone in doing this. It is a feature of management throughout Britain and perhaps across the globe. I am not advocating throwing a whole team of untested players into a team for games of such importance. But what happened to the saying "if you're good enough, you're old enough". It's not as if leaving out Alexander for Broadfoot would greatly affect experience in the squad. Not with guys like Gordon, McFadden and Fletcher who have experience of Premiership football, European football and two victories over a decent French side. Not to mention the fact that whilst Broadfoot may not have international experience he has significantly more big game experience than Alexander. The other area in which many manager's show a lack of bravery is in making substitutions. Waiting until there's 6 minutes left to change a game when it's been obvious since half time that the current tactics and line up just aren't working. Expecting a striker to come on, get up to pace with the game and slot away a winning or equalising goal in the last few minutes, when the rest of the team couldn't do it in the previous 80-minutes. Something also demonstrated by Burley when he waited til the last few minutes to throw Boyd on to rescue the game against Macedonia. Certainly this approach of waiting and hoping for some fluke occurence or refereeing decision to throw you a lifeline rather than taking control and trying to change the game for themself is not solely the preserve of Burley. Neither is his treatment of Boyd. Former Scotland manager McLeish was guilty of that, as is Walter Smith at Rangers. If you don't trust a player to perform from the first minute and demonstrate that to the player by regularly leaving him on the bench, don't continually expect him to save your arse by doing what everyone knows they do best. Although here I'm getting into another well trodden path of arguement. The only manager I know of who is prepared to change a game early when it's not going right is Jose Mourinho. In one Chelsea game in which they were 2 down at half time he made a triple substitution and they were 3-2 up midway through the second half. Obviously modern football is a results business and it is the manager alone who lives and dies on the results he achieves. However I feel the success of Broadfoot and Hutton in replacing their more decorated peers (in terms of caps earned) shows that a modern football manager has to show bravery and sometimes it is necessary to put your faith in the up and coming star at the expense of the ageing journeyman.

So with a day to go, Id sell Boyd and Darcheville if possible coz they dont play 23 mins. Id keep Hemdani and Cousin coz they are quality players.

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=668&Itemid=1 Boring old Spiers wannabe Roddy Forsyth certainly showed he's capable of taking up the corduroy mantle with a glaring school-boy error in today's online Telegraph. As Forsyth prevaricated over the pathetic behaviour of the Tartan Army booing the British national anthem (well sung by the ever boisterous away support) he, as usual, felt the need to bring Rangers into his usual poorly-written attempt at a tediously polemic article: “It was a splendidly surreal spectacle to witness the NI fans performing that Rangers speciality, the 'bouncy’, while wearing green and holding up a banner directed at the Ibrox chairman’s anti-sectarian efforts. The message read: 'Thank you, Sir David — our culture is not a crime’.” As expected, with the continual errors of the Scottish Fourth Estate, it was no surprise to find out Forsyth had got it wrong once more. In this context ‘Sir David’ is actually the nickname the away support use for star-striker David Healy. The banner reference was of course to the similarly pathetic and hypocritical moaning from some Celtic fans because he’d indulged in a bit of pre-season banter in Fulham with the more tolerant members of the away Celtic support – after which Healy was forced to apologise for mimicking the playing of a flute. Only in Scotland would the booing of our own country's anthem being excused while the playing of a instrument as a riposte to wind-ups about July 12th be a subject of outrage. Forsyth enjoys being at the forefront of such faux moral comment - just don't ask him to be balanced or accurate in his criticisms, even if, like Spiers, he's supposed to be writing for a quality broadsheet newspaper. Even so, I wouldn’t normally waste valuable bandwidth of the likes of the attention-seeking Forsyth (a place on the Radio Clyde phone-in panel must surely beckon?) but in this instance, I’m sure any decent football supporter will join with me in pointing and laughing at this joke of a journalist. Must try harder, Roddy! :D

I was at the match today and must admit our midfield has just been transformed with the arrival of pedro mendes!, I listened to the phone-in today on the way to the match and the Harry Redknapp interview!, well the guy was spot on with his interview about mendes saying he knew where his passing was going before he even got the ball, of course he has worked well with the player! Well he was spot on!!! Mendes took control of our midfield! it was great watching him today, other than pulling up later with cramp, but other than that the guy ran his socks off!!! Quality player 10/10 for me..

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=663&Itemid=1 Carlos Cuellar has gone then and going by recent years it’s extremely unlikely to be a case of ‘The King is dead; long Live the King’. The 21st Century has seen a large number of quality players leave the club with the chairman proclaiming they will be replaced with players of a similar standard. In almost all cases – particularly with regard to our midfield – that has not been the case. From the Van Bronckhorsts to the Reynas, to the Numans, to the Amorusos; the decline in quality has been a steady one since our club’s downsizing began in earnest. It’s now reached the stage where not only the continuity of the team is threatened but the very future of the club is being brought into disrepute. What options does that leave us with? Do we protest or will our apathy contribute to our downfall? Firstly, I think it’s important that we address the issue objectively. It is far too easy to be vocally critical and while that may satisfy for a short while; it won’t do any good without solutions for the problems we face. One of the biggest and most valid criticisms of the Murray reign at Rangers is that of short-termism. We shouldn’t be guilty of the same flaw. Thus, if we are to protest – and I certainly empathise with that view – we need to be careful in how we go about it. ‘Murray out’ is the cry from many. ‘Walter Smith’s time is up’ is even more prevalent. Fair points as both deserve a lot of criticism for their work recently. Unfortunately, neither is likely to be replaced and I see little alternatives offered by those who shout loudest. Quite simply, while it may be agreeable that it’s time for a new owner (none more agree than Sir David Murray), we don’t have a knight in shining armour with a spare Ã?£100million to put into Rangers. Let’s face it – any new owner(s) would need around Ã?£20-30million to buy the club; Ã?£20million to underwrite the existing club debt; and at least Ã?£50million in reserve, to not only supply an annual transfer budgets equalling the last two years but to implement the various improvements we’d all like to see to the club. A new ticket office, a better youth system, a museum, stadium development (not to mention upkeep), improved retail/marketing and a genuine worldwide scouting system would need considerable investment just to get off the ground; never mind run on an annual basis. Not many investors have that kind of money to hand – especially when one considers the market we operate in. Even if we discount the problems we face on the field, the last paragraph shows just how serious things are at Rangers. The most positive supporters can surely now see how the under-performance of the club generally is affecting the general malaise at the club. There’s no doubt while some people may exaggerate some of these issues; there’s also no doubt the challenges we face as a club are serious ones and need urgent attention. In fact, most of them have needed attention for a number of years but it’s only now some supporters are awakening to them. And that’s where my concern is. Realism regarding the financial climate needn’t be an acceptance of under-achievement and inefficiency. Football fans – and particularly Rangers fans – are demanding sorts. Success should be regular, failure is not an option and everything is measured by an SPL title-winning barometer. This is how many supporters view our club but in my view it’s far too empirical and it’s this flawed vision that has helped put us in the position we are today. More seriously though, it’s not just the support that is guilty of this – the Rangers board of directors are similarly short-sighted and far more culpable. My single biggest criticism of Sir David Murray’s Rangers’ tenure is one which goes against how the man made his impressive business reputation. After a successful initial period, investment into the club (out with transfers) wasn’t enough, was only ever based on the short-term and failed to ensure our club’s position as the number one football club in Scotland. Remember we were Ã?£30million in the black around 1998 and only a few short years and Ã?£100million later we were Ã?£83million in the red - with next to nothing to show for it. Sure, at the insistence of Dick Advocaat, Murray Park was built but even that has taken a number of years to deliver while only showing inconsistent performance given it’s not the Youth Academy many believed it would be. Where are we then? Are we any further forward than late 1988 when SDM bought the club? Of course there are lots of positives during those 20 years and they shouldn’t be forgotten or ignored in the haste to vilify. However, the fact remains, the last 10 years of the reign have been inconsistent, lacking in quality, ambition has been lost and our future bleak. Much like what was happening under Murray’s predecessors it could be said. Protest is the answer then? Yes, it is, but probably not in the way some agitators would prefer. Firstly, we need to ensure that our support of the team and players isn’t compromised. While Walter Smith is just as much to blame for our current woes as anyone else and while we all agree certain players are simply not good enough to play for Rangers, difficult times require extra support – not less. I’m not suggesting blind loyalty – that would be equally wrong – but enough support to help the team regain the confidence and form to win matches. After all, not winning the title would only make things much, much worse. However, I’ve already said winning titles should not be a barometer of how successful our club is. After all, we didn’t win the title last season but generally it was a successful one in terms of European performance and incoming finance. Importantly though, it’s how we use this success that really matters. And that’s where we’ve failed this summer and in previous times. We’ve simply not achieved consistent domestic and European success. Ergo, that’s where any protest must be focussed. Thus, while bizarre 60 minute walk outs may indicate our displeasure; and while fans reps in the media provide further obvious methods of channelling our frustration; neither will be successful without constructive alternatives. By all means protest but it has to be done at the right time and place. The status quo is unlikely to change because a few hundred fans walk out unnoticed or because a few congregate outside the front door. That will only result in further division and problems. Genuine protest has to have a goal behind it. While the ultimate goal may be one of regime change, that’s not one that is immediately possible or one that would yield immediate results anyway. As such, any protest should have aims that are possible. Obviously, that is also much more difficult to achieve. What can we do to improve the club? How can we reach the people to responsible for that improvement? Can we catalyse them via workable solutions? That place is the Rangers AGM in the next month or so. That’s where ALL the guilty parties will be present. That’s where ALL the relevant questions should be asked. That’s where ALL the board of directors can be brought to task on their under-achievement. That’s where the manager can be challenged. That’s where positive change can be implemented. That’s where the Rangers supporters can rise to the challenge. That’s where leadership can be sought in the presence of ALL the people who can make the difference. We can help shape our future. We can never be accused of not being loyal or being supportive of the club through difficult times. Let’s continue to do so by cheering the team to victory over 90mins and keeping our criticism for the place where it really matters.

Thank fook it starts tomorrow - its easy the best league in the world for entertainment and great coverage of live games so Im looking forward to it. Got 5 live games on tomorrow including Arsenal, West Ham and Liverpool so Im looking forward to seeing these 3 in action. I had a read of Skys preview and as much as people are writing Arsenal of I can see them being right up there going for the title in the first few months. Its when they start to get injuries the question is whether they have the quality in depth - but people would be crazy to write Wenger off. Liverpool are being talked about as potential champions. They do this every season and I can see them slipping back to the usual 4th place although they may be a bit closer this season with Keane. Difficult to predict but: Chelsea Man Utd Arsenal Liverpool --------------- Aston Villa Spurs Portsmouth Everton Man City Newcastle West Ham Sunderland Blackburn Middlesboro Wigan Fulham Bolton West Brom Hull Stoke

Thomas Jordan Evening Times EMBARRASSING. Disgraceful. Shameful. Diabolical. Just some of the words that could be used to describe Rangers' performance as they crashed out of Europe. However, the biggest criticism you could level at Walter Smith's players is that not enough of them cared. Not enough of them wore the blue jersey with pride. And not enough of them were willing to go the extra mile. Yes, they were hurting as they faced up to the prospect of being directly responsible for one of the worst, if not THE worst, result in the Ibrox club's 52-year European history. But, by then, it was too late. How can a team that was playing in the Uefa Cup Final just 84 days ago find themselves not only knocked out, but outplayed and outfought by a team from Lithuania? Kaunas shouldn't have got close to Rangers regardless of whether they were without their two best players in Barry Ferguson and Carlos Cuellar. Or even the fact they are well into their domestic season before Smith's men have even begun theirs. Quite simply, there can be no excuses. Today, the Rangers legions will be selecting their targets and deciding who is to blame. The chairman, David Murray, will be chastised for failing to open his cheque book. Their chief executive, Martin Bain, was forced to run the gauntlet at the end of the match and, as the man who now controls the purse strings, he will also be criticised for failing to fund transfer deals. The manager will have his team selection held respon-sible along with his failure to bring in more new faces. Maybe the three of them can be held to account. But, you know what, none of them come close to the players. Had they found themselves facing a European outfit of genuine quality, then there is not much you can do when playing against better players. However, they were up against guys with a fraction of their ability and with a wage packet that is small change compared to their bulging pay packets. Quite simply, something is far wrong. From front to back, questions will be asked. Goalkeeper Allan McGregor should, on reflection, feel he could have been better at the opening goal when he was beaten from all of 35 yards. He was also extremely fortunate that he wasn't punished when he completely misjudged a Rafael Ledesma free-kick which flew wide of the post. At right-back, Steven Whittaker wasn't even as good as awful. From the first whistle to the last, he constantly gifted possession back to Kaunas and looks like a fish out of water as he struggles to find form. At the heart of the defence Kirk Broadfoot, standing in for the injured Cuellar once again, was steady enough, as was Davie Weir up until he lost Linas Pilibaitis for what turned out to be the winning goal. The 38-year-old has been in the game long enough to know you can have a stormer for 89 minutes of the game, but switch off just once or make a mistake and that's what you are remembered for. At left-back, Sasa Papac was reasonable enough. But, as feared, it was the middle of the park where Rangers struggled the most. Rather than go with just two in the centre, Smith went for three in the engine room at the expense of a second striker. In the holding role was Christian Dailly. Never someone you could accuse of not giving his all, he gave it everything he had but, in a game where Rangers enjoyed a fair share of possession, he was never going to get the ball down and dictate play. It was his lack of control at the end of the game - when he tried to bring the ball down with his chest - which handed Kaunas the corner from which they scored their winning goal. Beside him was Lee McCulloch, who once again allowed the game to pass him by. Kevin Thomson was slightly better, scoring the opening goal but never does he really grab a game by the scruff of the neck and accept the responsibility for being the main man. For all his critics, Ferguson does that on a regular basis. Out wide, Nacho Novo troubled Kaunas with his pace and gave a decent account of himself, although his final ball could have been better at times. On the other flank, Charlie Adam was another who contributed next to nothing. Where has the goal threat he carries gone? And playing the lone striker's role was Kenny Miller. He had another golden opportunity to open his Gers account second time around when he found himself through on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat, but tried to chip the ball and missed the target. Not good enough. Andrius Velicka climbed off the bench and missed a great chance with the scoreline locked at 1-1, and Kris Boyd and Kyle Lafferty arrived on the scene with just minutes remaining and far too late to offer anything to the game. Criticism will not go down well. But the 500-odd supporters who spent their night sitting in the pouring rain watching the players go through the motions, offering up a display that wasn't even as good as mediocre, deserve far better and are entitled to vent their fury. As far as Europe goes, Rangers' chance has gone. If this level of performance and result continues during their quest for domestic honours, then it should be the players who should be on their travels - out of Ibrox.

with the start of the spl days away can you see rangers getting anything from it? for me it's simple no quality..... no direction....no class...

The positivity of following Rangers seems to be ebbing away bit by bit over the summer. At present we're without decent fullbacks who can get forward, no wingers in midfield who can take(and beat) their opposite numbers and more importantly no midfielder who can control the game or routinely take the ball forward and create something for the strikers. Cousin who I think is best striker at Rangers (with the exception of Velicka who is still to prove himself) is no where near the last 2 team selections. Boyd hasnt got a chance in the present set-up, he needs a constant supply of quality deliveries into the box which I cant see happening with the players at disposal. Cousin/Velicka seem the only option to attack defences. Even then its folly to rely on them without decent support from midfield. Signing Davis would be a start but we still need at least 1 or better two attacking wingers to drag this team into something resembling a potent attacking side. Hopefully Wednesday and today have had the effect on the exposing the glaring weaknesses to those in charge and kick starting the effort in sorting it out If these additions aren't made then im dreading the coming season as potentially we could be out of europe and suffering a irretrievable deficit in the league before key players come back from injury. Im far from confident about this teams chances on Tuesday and if we lose and forfeit any decent CL income then the whole season is a failure before its even begun. Thomson, Cuellar and McGregor will be made available to be sold on to scrape back the losses. Apologies for the negativity but im completely fed up about the current squad

Any other Rangers' supporters out there that took a perverse pleasure in the Liverpool result? There can be no excuses. Rangers were outplayed by a squad that has something in abundance that we have in the rarest of flashes: skill. How hard should it be to expect a professional footballer to pass a ball to a colleague? It's like expecting a doctor to be able to give an injection or diagnose death. You don't mind so much if a committed defender intercepts a pass, but when it simply goes astray you have to wonder why these guys earn more in a fortnight than many do in a year. Charlie Adam is a fine example. He gestures like John McCrirrick on race days, then his corners either fail to clear the first defender or clear everybody. Why is he paid at all? Weight of pass is another issue in quality teams. They generally get it right. Rangers don't, unless it's wee triangles in insignificant areas of the park where no pressure is applied. Instead, we use the "hump it forward and chase" technique, a strategy fatally flawed when there's only one target and five defenders. We managed to take a corner on Saturday and within about five seconds we'd contrived, unassisted by Liverpool, to have McGregor in possession! So what positives might we take from the game? #1. Brahim Hemdani was the only player that appeared composed during the humiliation. #2. Kyle Lafferty looks a big, strong character with some ability. Why is he playing on the left wing though? His success has been as a striker with Northern Ireland so playing him out of position seems foolish. #3. Kirk Broadfoot, given a chance, will become a very decent centre-back for Rangers. Sure he made a stray pass that had unfortunate consequences but there were very many stray passes from Rangers' players. He was a poor but committed right back. In his correct position, he can become an asset if the boo-boys let him. #4. Kris Boyd was like an armless man at a banquet. It wasn't that he couldn't eat or that he lacked appetite; nobody fed him. #5. An opportunity has been presented to Smith and McCoist that spells out a simple fact: if you do not pose an attacking threat against a quality team, you'll get humped. Starting with Miller and Novo... not really my idea of a serious attacking threat. #6. Whittaker... a decent performance. He has potential if he's played in the correct position. The negatives... #1. Miller... apart from one decent pass, he did nothing, but did it with enthusiasm. A mistake bringing him back, and that judgement is not Celtic-influenced. #2. McCulloch... Words fail me. I do not understand why the man is at Ibrox. I wouldn't let him bang the drum in the band. #3. Darcheville... Like wringing out a dry cloth. #4... No, that'll do. Kicking a dead horse isn't cruel, but it is pointless. I fear that unless Smith adopts a positive team formation against Kaunas, we will struggle to get through. If he fails, his days are numbered and he will have no one to blame but himself. *************************************************** The above was copied from BBC forum and I think it is an excellent read.

http://cultzeros.co.uk/ Found this site, quality it is. Basically you pick a picture of a player, choose your size, shirt colour, and picture colour. You then choose what you want it to say underneath. I've got 1 and have 2 on the way, very good quality. I got Ehiogu, (Rangers 1-0 Celtic), Novo (Manchester, brace yourself) then underneath the face (Rangers are coming!!) and the other shirt I ordered was Cuellar, (Rangers centre-half).

I am writing this thread as a true Rangers fan who would like to see a change at the top of the Ibrox tree as do many other fans, I am not going to start slagging David Murray as i respect what he did for our club throught the years but i fell his time is up and the sooner a buyer is found the better, The buyer must have the clubs best intrests at heart, but personnally i feel we are going backwards under Murrays leadership he clearly has lost intrest in the club with his lack of financial backing of the team this season its early days and we could still see some serious money beng spent on 2 or 3 quality players i am not asking to put the club in the debt that we had before but to spend some of the earnings from last season on improving the 1st team to battle for the SPL and a decent Champions League run What happened to thi supersized new Ibrox - All will be revealed in April another smoke screen from Murray to sell season tickets. my opinion and thats only what it is , is the guys heart isnt in it anymore and he wants to settle down on his vineyard with his partner. I would just like to see a Breath of Fresh Air at Ibrox. Anyone Agree/Disagree ?

Exclusive by Andrew Dickson ERIK BO ANDERSEN believes the way has been paved for Rangers to take a place in the Champions League - but has warned them not to underestimate Aalborg. Bruce Rioch, manager of Aalborg BKThe striker played for the Danish side before leaving them for Ibrox in a �£1.5million transfer in February 1996. Although the 37-year-old is now working in politics rather than football, he has continued to monitor the progress AaB have made in recent times. The Jutland club, which appointed Bruce Rioch as its new manager in the summer, won the league by nine points from FC Midtjylland last season. Despite that win, Andersen thinks Walter Smith's Gers will have too much for them if they get past Kaunas and into the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Of course, Bosnian outfit Modrica could yet beat AaB to the final preliminary stage if they can overturn the 5-0 defeat they suffered in midweek this Wednesday. But it is almost certain the Superligaen outfit will progress, giving Rangers a potential chance to take on a team from Denmark competitively for the fourth time. Although Andersen is sure the Scots would then advance to the group stage, he has stressed it won't be easy for them to get so far.Thomas Augustinussen of Aalborg BK Aalborg beat Sampdoria on away goals last season to reach the group phase of the UEFA Cup then drew with Anderlecht and only lost by a single goal to Spurs and Getafe. Andersen said: "This is a good draw for Rangers. They will be the favourites if the teams meet, there is no doubt about that. "If the teams played each other 10 times, there is no way Aalborg would win at least five of those matches. "At the same time, it would be stupid to think this will be a walkover for Rangers because Aalborg have a good side. "Collectively, they are a team that works hard with no real superstars in it and that is their big quality. "On their day, they can compete with a lot of big sides. They were unlucky to lose at Tottenham last season and with a bit of luck, could have had a better result there. "Aalborg also went through on away goals against Sampdoria after drawing 2-2 with them in Italy to get to the group stage. "If they are on form, they are a hard team to beat. I would still expect Rangers to see off Aalborg but they will have to work hard if they are to win overall." Jeppe Curth of Aalborg BKAndersen has picked out forward Jeppe Curth as the man Gers need to be wary of if they find themselves pitched against the Danes. The 24-year-old was the leading scorer in his country's league last season and he is someone Smith will want his men to snuff out. Andersen added: "Curth is a good striker. He is not the tallest but he is a dangerous player. I think he scored 15 or 16 times last season and has shown a lot of potential. "He went abroad to play for Feyenoord when he was quite young but is back in Denmark now and is making good progress. "In midfield, Thomas Augustinussen is one of Aalborg's best players too. He is very tall and creates a lot of things. He holds the team together very well."