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When DM appointed PLG, along with all the fan-fair and 'look at me' and 'look what I've done', that surrounds The Mint's every appearence on TV, he promised us that this new era would herald 'Moonbeam's of Success' (or something similar) for Rangers. He promised that the arrival of PLG would be accompanied by vast investment that would 'shake Scottish football to it's foundations' that would ensure that Rangers FC would never again be in debt and that the new manager would see a 'substantial' amount as a transfer kitty. When PL was haggling over a new contract, David Murray informed us that if PL didn't sign his contract that we had two players lined up as replacements. He hinted that these players would be of similar, or better quality. When he told us that PLG was taking over for the much maligined (sp) Eck that this was a new era, the start of something special. The reality is that it is the worst and barkest time I can remember being a Rangers fan. We are a circus on and off the pitch, our enemies are still allowed free reign and our custodian sits in his new house not bothering his hint end. The Rangers we knew and love have died, and David Murray is the person who has killed them. I warned a few years back that this would get worse instead of better and I get no pleasure in saying 'I told you so'. Here is another bleak warning and take heed if you care - this will continue to get worse and IMO, we are close to the complete death of Rangers Football Club - David Murray could have gone down in our history as one of the best chairman we had, but at this rate, he'll be remembered as the man that Killed The Rangers. Cammy F

RANGERS chairman David Murray has ruled out a January transfer window swoop for Wigan defender Andy Webster. The former Hearts stopper has again been mentioned as a possible solution to the centre-back problems at Ibrox. He was the target of a �£1m bid by Alex McLeish 18 months ago, but Murray says he is not on Paul Le Guen's target list - for the moment. It is also believed Fifa red tape would prevent Webster moving back to Scotland just months after he became the first player to invoke their new employment rule. Webster served notice on Hearts he would be leaving after completing three years on a four-year contract. That allowed him to move for a nominal fee, set by a Fifa tribunal, to new employers outwith Scotland. The 24-year-old was snapped up by Wigan and, after a long process with Fifa because this was a ground-breaking case, he finally made his debut in October. But the Scotland star has played just three games and is said to be unsettled, sparking speculation Rangers were ready to move. "I know we were interested in him in the past, but not at the moment," Murray said. "How could we when we have no idea what the fee would be?" Murray also refused to comment on whether Rangers were interested in former Hearts captain Steven Pressley, who is also being tracked by Celtic, Newcastle, Southampton and Derby. It is believed Elvis is on Le Guen's list of possible January targets, and an interest has been posted with his agent Blair Morgan, but he is not the first choice. Le Guen has targeted two young centre-halves from Europe - one of which is believed to be Young Boys of Berne's 6ft 2in Ivory Cost stopper Steve Gohouri - a player the Gers boss has now watched twice recently. He could be available for around �£1m, but is also being monitored by a host of mid-table Premiership sides. Le Guen's funds for a centre-half are likely to be boosted by the departure of Julien Rodriguez. The former Monaco man knows he is no longer first choice and could be shipped back to France with Rennes, Nantes and Nice all interested. The likes of Lionel Letizi, Gavin Rae, Phil Bardsley and Lee Martin are all likely to leave in January as Le Guen frees up money for three quality signings. Meantime, young Romanian sensation Marius Alexi could be on his way to Ibrox in a �£250,000 deal. The 16-year-old plays with Dinamo Bucharest and is already a first- team player. Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool are all said to be looking at the midfielder, who will arrive in Glasgow shortly for a week's trial at Murray Park. A Dinamo spokesam said: "He is an exceptional player Rangers are very keen to sign." Bad news for us i think. Le Guen being interested in young Boys. I hope he now knows the type of CH you need to play in Scotland.

if boyd stays i have no doubt that he will beat larssons record but will take some beating to beat super allys

Seen in the Sun today that celtic are intrested in signing Jan Huntelar Hopefully not as he is another good striker that they will bring in If this is the quality that they are bringing in/ intrested in well we are fooked

Missed this article on Monday but someone sent me the link. Hard to argue against some of the points made. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-2461627,00.html

"To win a crowd is no art; for that only untruth is needed, nonsense, and a little knowledge of human passions." - Kierkegaard Murray is clearly a master politician. Like most politicians, and men of his intelligence, he is no stranger to logic and rhetoric, and certainly is not ignorant in the art of manipulation of human passions. What he says, he says convincingly, and eloquently - saying all the right things, it would seem, at all the right times. You are left with the impression that to disagree with him is to have a petty minded grudge, or to have ill thought out your position. This isn't even a criticism - without these attributes Murray would not be the immensely succesful businessman that he is. Without these attributes I would suggest that we would have not enjoyed a great deal of the success we've had in years gone by. But these attributes immediately shift the burden on us to analytically consider what he says, so that we may be sure that we are not being hoodwinked. I've spoken to many fans who "have this feeling" that we're being done over, or think Murray is clearly at it, but who can't state clearly what the problem is. So, in the next few paragraphs I'm going to consider Murray's statements, and argument, on what I consider to be the main issue surrounding our team: the lack of quality players in the side. I just don't think a great deal of the players playing are good enough, and that no amount of formation tinkering is going to change that. This sentiment has been expressed by fans and the media in asking "is there going to be significant investment?". The rest of the post considers this in a little more detail. Murray, in response to questions of investment, answers along the lines: "Would you rather see us in millions of debt like last time, or would you prefer, as I suggest, we only spend what we earn?" This is intricate rhetorical craftmanship, and to properly unwrap it, it is helpful to be able to clearly, clearly state what is wrong here. To be able to say precisely where the misdirection lies. To this we turn to logical fallacies, formal and informal. 1. The bifurcation fallacy Now, I've crafted his response in the form of a question in order to highlight this point. I think I have fairly represented his argument, so can't really be said to be setting it up in a certain way to knock it down. Basically, the bifurcation fallacy asks you to accept one or two options, when there are more options available. They are often emotionally loaded, and are used by politicians quite a lot. For example, Tony Blair might say "Would you rather let Saddam kill innocent children than go to war with him?". Basically, it says that if we don't want to go to war, we want innocent children to die. But the question is crafted in such a way as to rule out other options that may equally stop Saddam killing inoccent children: assasinating him covertly, applying international diplomatic pressure, or a whole host of things. The point being, that the only two options the question presents are not the only two possible options. Bringing this back to Murray, he forces us into two options: either spending what we earn, or spiralling back into uncontrolable debts. He sets it up so that those who oppose his vision (spending only a percentage of our profits) wish to see the club in hopeless debt. But these are not the only two options - the economics of business must account for being able to reasonably speculate to accumulate. Even if it turns out that this is not feasible in our current condition, we should be shown how and why it isn't possible without having to accept on faith that some decent investment in the team is going to bankrupt us, by being forced under faulty logic. 2. The non-sequitur This is another way of stating the above, but Murray basically asks us to believe the following: 1. Spending causes debt 2. We should not be in debt 3. Therefore we should not spend The non-sequitur fallacy means, in latin, "doesn't follow". That is, we can believe 1 and 2 without neccesarily believing 3. A quick example of a valid argument would be: 1. If I'm human, I'm a mammal 2. I'm not a mammal 3. Therefore, I'm not a human This is valid, because 3 clearly follows from 1 and 2. There is no room for ambiguity. However, this is not so with (my outline of) David Murray's argument. Spending does indeed cause debt (well, overspending), and we, indeed, shouldn't want to be in debt. But these things do not necessarily combine to mean we shouldn't spend. Why? Because you can agree that spending causes debt and that it would be ideal not to be in debt, while still thinking that the best way forward is to spend. As above, this is common in business, and may best suit us (or may not). Conclusion I'm not saying that spending some hard cash to improve the team is the best way forward. I'm only saying that the rhetoric that comes from Murray is not air tight. He could very well be right on both accounts - perhaps only spending what we earn IS the only option other than steamrolling back in to debt, and perhaps in practice we SHOULDN'T spend. But the talk, the arguments themselves, the words that come out Murray's mouth are not enough to prove this. Without the supporting evidence and adaquate explanation of the facts and figures we are left with nothing but rhetoric that is persuasive to the passions (no rangers fan wants to see us so badly in debt), but logically unsound.

I make no apoligies for requoting this great post from the Gub on FF. There may be many detractors of the way demonstrations are handled etc, and there is a fairly wide held belief that dismisses any kind of protest as the work of cranks, FF radicals etc etc. The fact is, it isnt. The following gives, for me, a perfectly correct valid and true summation of the last few weeks of the way the club has handled some affairs. It doesnt include the lack of defence of the support or the club from paper attacks (like the Papish Nazi park invader etc) but gives a flavour. It is based on facts and facts alone. People need to understand that these "cranks" that have been subjected to all sorts over the last few weeks, have been living and breathing these facts for quite a while...anyway, enough rambling from me... "How much lower can we actually go? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To say the last fortnight following the fortunes of our club has been something of a trial is to understate the point. First off a yahoo scumbag with a Hitler Youth t-shirt was allowed to run some 100 yards from his seat in the East Enclosure to the goal at the Broomloan end without so much as a ââ?¬Ë?Hey were do you think youââ?¬â?¢re going sunshine.ââ?¬â?¢ If nothing else it does highlight the quality of our security and the hired goon in charge of it. Then there was a defeat to the crap at the bottom of the table after getting a goal of a start. And of course the first time in our 134 year history that a side from a lower division knocked us out of a cup competition at home. Ouch, ouch and thrice ouch. However that is the good bits. Last Monday I was informed of the death of Bobby Shearer, a Rangers great. A true blue, 100% died, in the wool Ranger and lifelong bluenose. Sad as Mr Shearerââ?¬â?¢s passing was, it was common knowledge that he had been ill for a time. The people running our club however took a sad song and made it worse, much much worse. They caved in to west of Scotland yahooery and told us that there would be a minuteââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Ë?applauseââ?¬â?¢ at Ibrox before the League Cup tie that (last) Wednesday. Truly nauseating; ONE-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR years of tradition wiped out in a heartbeat. Itââ?¬â?¢s the way of the world the club told fans who mailed or phoned up to complain. One Rangers fan I know was told ON the Monday afternoon by a club spokesman after complaining, that the club came to the decision of a minuteââ?¬â?¢s applause after consulting with a few ââ?¬Ë?former captains.ââ?¬â?¢ How do I know this? Well, because I was in his company and he was actually on the phone and I saw his reaction as the conversation ended. Another good Rangers fan and respected poster I know got a hold of Sandy Jardine again on the Monday afternoon and was told by our former player that ââ?¬Ë?Traditions changeââ?¬â?¢. That is TWO different reasons/excuses given by the club on the same day. I have saved the worst for last. Again last Monday afternoon, another well kent and respected Rangers fan on this site got through to Sandy Jardine and he was told that the reason that there would not be a minuteââ?¬â?¢s silence was because (wait till you hear this one) Rangers fans reacted badly to Aberdeen fans when they booed the minuteââ?¬â?¢s silence for George Young at Ibrox back in January 1997. Rangers fans reacting badly to the actions of a motley shower of filth is the reason why the club were going to have a minuteââ?¬â?¢s applause for Bobby Shearer? You just couldnââ?¬â?¢t make it up. Not only was this excuse beyond the pale, it was lies pure and simple. If Rangers fans reacting to Dolly was a catalyst within the club back in 1997 to change our stance on minuteââ?¬â?¢s silences, then Why a minuteââ?¬â?¢s silence for Diana later in 1997? Why a minuteââ?¬â?¢s silence for the victims of Omagh in 1998? Why a minuteââ?¬â?¢s silence for Jim Baxter in 2001? Why a minuteââ?¬â?¢s silence for the victims of 9/11, also in 2001? Why a minuteââ?¬â?¢s silence for Bobby Murdoch on 2002? How many lies did we get last Monday? 1 ââ?¬â?? The former captains made the decision. 2 ââ?¬â?? Traditions change and aââ?¬â?¢ that 3 ââ?¬â?? It was Rangers fans fault for being unchuffed with Dolly Does anyone still want to argue that the minuteââ?¬â?¢s applause for Bobby Shearer was at the ââ?¬Ë?behestââ?¬â?¢ of his family? Last week, the club I love hit the gutter and looking up at the stars was and is not on the agenda. Letââ?¬â?¢s see now; Manipulating a family in mourning to make sure the managementââ?¬â?¢s pathetic cop out regards a minuteââ?¬â?¢s applause was bulldozed through last Wednesday The clubââ?¬â?¢s official website praising fans that were happy to wreak violence on fellow Rangers fans on Saturday The worst part of all of course is that there will be Rangers fans on here reading this that would rather wish and hope I was telling lies rather than confront the awful truth as to the levels David Murray and the incompetent shower of ne'erdowells he employs at Ibrox are dragging us down to. Yours, With a heavy, heavy heart."

QUOTE : "Le Guen described last weekââ?¬â?¢s victory over Maccabi as a ââ?¬Å?great team performanceââ?¬Â. It wasnââ?¬â?¢t. There was a magnificent performance from captain Barry Ferguson, and solid showings from the likes of Brahim Hemdani, Jeremy Clement and Nacho Novo, but it was a poor quality game against disappointing opponents." As the saying goes, 'you can only play the team put in front of you'. This would be the same 'disappointing opponents' who gave Liverpool such a hard time. Who beat Auxerre. And who the same Press were saying just a few days ago, could provide us with our hardest game. Link to full article : http://www.sundayherald.com/58890

Ok, it's agreed, the team isn't good enough - but paradoxically most of the players are getting reasonable write ups at least every few games, they're mostly internationals or have played for big clubs and won stuff, so the question is, which ones are really not good enough? Letizi - He's played for years with PSG and so been around but he's not inspired much confidence, however he doesn't seem to have been too much at fault for most of the goals and he's not responsible for the inability to create chances and score against mediocre opposition. I think the main accusation is you could aim at him is that he doesn't save us in games. He doesn't pull of the top notch saves like Goram and Klos that keep the clean sheet that allows us to grind out that 1-0 win which is necessary to win titles. I personally don't think he's good enough and certainly worse than our other options. MacGregor - We'd all like to see him play in the first team but he's not quite proven himself yet. Can he step into Goram and Klos's shoes? Time will tell but he seems like one baby we shouldn't throw out with the bath water. We've no money and so could do worse than putting him in goal instead of Letizi. Klos - No-one can accuse Der Goalie of not being good enough. No-one. The guy is a class player and has proven himself time and again with Rangers. His last run in the team coincided with us losing about 7 goals in half a season. We don't know the true story here but the fact we're pay a guy who has saved us tons of points about 30 grand a week to do nothing, is to me, highly symptomatic of what is wrong at the club. Hutton - Showed early promise, it's rumoured he has a bad attitude and has not been the same since his injury. He's played better of late receiving a bit of praise, but his passing and crossing still leave a bit to be desired. Not the worst offender in the team but he is part of a defence that is leaking soft goals and doesn't seem to be the one who's getting the tackles in or shutting down the attacks from the right. In fact Novo had to cover for him in the against Motherwell. He's SPL standard but not quite Rangers standard except maybe as back up in a better first choice team. Bardsley - another one with an attitude problem and with his commitment only short term, I can understand why patience for him would be short lived. To me he doesn't seem to be any better than Hutton appart from the odd free kick. We really need a proper right back. Papac - An international who seems pretty solid and our defence has improved since his arrival. Quite willing to go forward too but maybe that's why we can get caught on the break. Still not cured our problem of dealing with cross balls. An improvement over other central defenders we've had recently but shows no signs of being a McLiesh, Butcher, Gough or even a Moore. Svensson - A young international who's had a terrible start to his Rangers career, although his freefalling reputation has been arrested by a good display in Italy. It's either get rid time for him or develop him for the future. Rodriguez - An experienced player who to me flatters to deceive. Seems to look solid in some games but we're losing goals almost every game and I can't remember many clean sheets this season. To me he's a mediocre player who could do a good job for the likes of Aberdeen, but not up to the job at Rangers. Smith - A young player who looks to have genuine talent, he's our best defender by far but I think would look even better in a decent team. Thrives on a good relationship and understanding with a talented left midfielder and looked better with Martin in the team. Seems to be one of the players committing to the game plan. Definitely a keeper. Burke - Brilliantly talented but so fragile that we only see him for glimpses. It's always so much more exciting when he gets a lot of the ball and he's also good at tracking back and helping out the defence. I think we'd have less problems if he was fully fit most of the time. Sionko - Looked like a young Kanchelskis in his first couple of games but from then looked like a Kanchelkis close to retirement. He's now injured and it's hard to tell if he's the real deal or not. One thing is for sure, he hasn't contributed to the cause at all this season. Hemdani - Gets loads of plaudits without to me seeming to do much. If he's doing so well, why are we not dominating the midfield against the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen? To me he's maybe a squad player but no more. His plaudits are more to do with how badly the rest of team are playing rather than how good he is. We need a genuine ball winner in midfield more on the lines of Keane, or Stuart McCall. Clement - Looks to have great potential without setting the heather alight, while he's injured the jury is out. Ferguson - Supposed to be back to his best and has definitely stamped his presence on a few games. But why are we still not dominating the midfield and why isn't he scoring goals every other week like he used to? A good player to have but I think we all lie awake at night thinking about who we could have bought for 5 million quid in these cash strapped days. Rae - a reasonable player who would do well for another SPL team but doesn't seem to be getting a shout at Rangers although we seem to be crying out for a no nonsense midfielder. Not sure if he's really good enough and PLG doesn't seem to rate him but I'd like him to get more of a chance till the other players show they are worth a pick. Adam - seems to have loads of potential and has a habit of popping up and doing some great now and again but he seems a bit light weight for a first choce and would be better as a backup to a more experienced player. Martin - shows great skill and pace - very promising youngster but he's greedy and too often we have nothing to show for his darting runs and displays of ball control. He'll grow better with age but seems a poorer, less effective version of Burke who doesn’t defend at all and seems very light weight. He’s not even a left footer. I can’t see him becoming a permanent transfer and so maybe he should be replaced by a proper left midfielder. Prso – a great guy and player but really looks to be on his last legs. Has the odd great game but too often looks slow, tired and lacking in touch. Hustles and bustles but struggles to get the ball into the net and should really have more assists. To me he should become a super sub and come on when the opposing defence is tiring to give them some hassle. Boyd – Does what it says on the tin – scores goals but not much else. He’s improving his all round play but it’ll take a season to make it natural for him. He’s the leagues top scorer and we’ve won more games with him in the team. Definitely should be first on the team sheet despite his faults but needs someone big to partner him upfront. Novo – was complete pants for a year but seems to look really lively now and rediscovered his confidence and as a result his form. Our best player against Motherwell but didn’t get enough service and seems a bit out of position. If he keeps up his form he’s definitely worth a shout at least as a sub. However he’s not the kind of player I’d like to see long term at the club, I’m hoping for a bit more quality. Sebo – doesn’t do what it says on the tin and really hasn’t fitted into the team at all. Looks like he works hard but provides little except one goal and a couple of unawarded penalty claims. Looked good for Vienna so don’t know why he’s turned so bad overnight. PLG seems to think that if he keeps playing him he’ll come good but he’s part of the reason we’ve dropped points when we couldn’t afford to. Maybe he needs to get up to speed in the reserves. Buffel – a complete enigma. Obviously has shed-loads of talent but can’t finish to save himself and fades out of games far too often. A luxury we can’t afford and definitely one of the players who is just not doing it for us. My conclusions: Out: Letizi, Rodriguez, Bardsley, Rae, Sebo and Buffel are the ones who should be shipped out. Klos will be going anyway. Squad players Hutton, Svensson, Hemdani, Sionko, Adam, Prso and Novo should be used sparingly as back up, with the youngers ones being developed. Martin could perhaps be kept as a backup winger to pad out the squad for a season. First team MacGregor deserves a proper chance in goal. Papac, Smith, Ferguson, Burke, Clement and Boyd are the only others I would keep in first team. In A big, experienced centre back who can dominate the area, especially in the air and organise the defence, perhaps even be captain. A mobile right back who can defend well, cut out attacks down the right and break out quickly and deliver telling crosses or passes down the line. An experienced, strong left midfielder who can beat his man, interact with smith, deliver crosses and track back and cut out the left hand channels. A tall, strong, experienced centre forward, target man, who wins everything in the air, holds up the ball and lays it off to Boyd or a midfielder or turn and beat his man. He should be adept at flick-ons and knock backs, and knows his way to goal and can finish with aplomb. A creative midfielder/forward who plays in the middle and can link play between the midfield and attack while also strong enough to be the first one to counteract a break. He needs to have a killer pass which creates goals and be able to shoot and score from 20-25 yards as well as nip in to support the strikers for the odd tap in.

And I'm not being kinky here... Scotland have a tradition of keeping poor quality managers in a job for a long time after their sell by date, so let's make sure we don't lose a prime quality one. Let's be honest, Walter Smith is not really among the best club managers Scotland has produced. He had great domestic success at Rangers but it was at a time when we were spending far more than our opposition and had possibly the highest wage bill in the UK. Celtic were in turmoil and Smith took advantage. Don't get me wrong, I think Smith is a good manager, worse managers than he would have lost one of those titles in the 9 in row years despite the gulf between teams. But one CL run apart, his European results and his struggle with Everton albeit with financial problems, showed where his level lies. Good and solid, well above average, but not a world beater. However Scotland have been very poorly mismanaged for two decades - since Roxburgh took the reins. We had a very good team at the time and although he got us to a couple of finals, we would lose to the likes of Costa Rica through terrible tactics and an overcautious approach. Brown was a slightly better manager but still average at best. He too couldn't bring the best out of a reasonably talented squad and he couldn't do that at Preston either. Vogts, just didn't have a scooby. He confused the players tactically and made them feel inferior, telling them how poor a crop he had to choose from almost on a daily basis. He also capped players who should never have donned a dark blue top. However, Smith seems to have galvanised a bunch of so called journeymen into a team with great self belief, who know if they work hard and do their job they can get results. It's night and day over those previous managers who would spin us tales of caution against the likes of the Faroes and then struggle against them. Walter has taken a team who ply their trade in the English Premiership (whom some would have you as the best league in the world) and in the top half of the SPL, which is still a decent league by European standards. The players are plenty good enough to give a team of postmen and bankers a good thrashing, and for the first time in my memory, they did so. We should definitely be better than the likes of the Balkans and Walter has taken us to the best of them and won soundly only letting in the most spectacular of goals. The win against France was unexpected, but we all expected the team to have a decent go (I was very optimistic for a draw) and history suggests we can claim the odd win or draws especially at home against the greatest teams in the world if we play to our full ability. History is littered with Scotland wins, draws and unlucky losses against the likes of Brazil, England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Holland. I think we've always had the players who could do something reasonable if they played to their strengths, but what we lacked was consistency and a bit of luck with the former being down to the manager. Walter Smith was always good at man management and basic strategy without being a tactical mastermind ("What's a tactic?"). He can definitely make a team play as a team. This really lends itself to international football as you only have a limited time with the players so intricate training sessions are a waste of time as are very unorthodox formations and tactics, since the players are more used to their different club systems. He has an advantage here over more tactically astute managers as he knows the stuff that really counts on this stage. This could make him achieve more acclaim as a Scotland manager than his many trophies for Rangers. He's shown what he can do, even that the job was made for him, so lets enter a period of stability and let him steer Scotland into an era where we at least punch our weight for a change. Give him a long contract and let him become a Scotland legend.

... underestimated the quality, pace, passion and strength of the SPL? IMO, he has and this can be seen in some of his signings. He signed players like Svensson on merits that are not suitable for the SPL. A centre-half that cannot head a ball might look class in France, but in the SPL, he looks like a Sunday League player. Leading on from this, we had a very interesting conversation on the journey home on Saturday about the merits of employing an 'assistant manager' from Scotland. Look at most 'foriegn' managers in the EPL, they all have 'English - English based' assistants and when Souness signed for us, his first signing was Walter Smith. Cammy F

A NIGHT RANGERS WILL NEVER FORGET 10:00 - 26 August 2006 As the latest clutch of mostly uninspiring European matches found their way onto our screens this week, a radio phone-in debated one of football's mysteries: how is it that Glasgow Rangers have won just a single European trophy? That victory arrived on May 24, 1972, at Barcelona's Nou Camp, when Rangers produced a glorious performance in the first hour of the Cup Winners' Cup final to lead Moscow Dynamo 3-0. Although the Russians rallied and scored two late goals, it wasn't enough to deny a group of players whose names were to be etched into the club's folklore. Author and journalist Paul Smith had a distinct advantage in his quest to interview Rangers' 11 European heroes in his entertaining To Barcelona and Beyond, for his father Davie was widely regarded as the man of the match on that epic night. Smith has written an intimate and, at times, moving portrait of the lives of the eleven before, during and after their European experience. Unlike the current Rangers team, as cosmopolitan a bunch as there is in British football, the 1972 vintage were all Scots. Most played for their country and, in an era when Scotland produced a good proportion of Britain's finest footballers, players such as John Greig and Colin Stein remain legends for club and country. Smith's stories of lesser lights including goalkeeper Peter McCloy and full-back Willie Mathieson highlight the strength of an unusually loyal team bond which has lasted more than three decades. Of course, there were also mavericks. Alfie Conn moved to Tottenham soon after the European triumph having been deemed surplus to Ibrox's requirements. Despite playing fewer than 40 games for Spurs, he became a cult hero, fondly remembered as the player who sat on the ball during a particularly fraught encounter with Don Revie's Leeds. Conn played in the North American Soccer League, as did Willie Johnston, two-goal hero in the final. Johnston's career post-Barcelona included one of the most notorious episodes in World Cup history. He failed a drugs test following the embarrassing 3-1 defeat to Peru in Scotland's opening game of the 1978 World Cup. Despite his protestations of innocence and his exemplary career, it's a millstone which he has had to carry around with him for nearly 30 years. On reflection, there seems to be too little recognition for the team that won Rangers' only European trophy, which seems bizarre considering the quality of opposition they had to overcome. In addition to Moscow Dynamo, effectively the Russian national team, they dispatched Rennes and Sporting Lisbon in the opening rounds before defeating a very strong Torino outfit in the quarter-finals. Yet perhaps their greatest victory was the 3-1 aggregate win over Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. Bayern were about to embark on a hat-trick of European Cup triumphs and half the side, including Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller, were to become part of the West Germany team that won the 1974 World Cup. Poignantly, Rangers' triumph arrived little over a year after 66 supporters died in the Ibrox Disaster and it became a fitting memorial. Nevertheless, Uefa deemed the exuberant celebrations of Rangers' supporters on the Nou Camp pitch a suitable case for punishment. The club was banned from defending its trophy the following season. Meanwhile, that second European success has yet to arrive??? What memories!!! Dave Smith one of my schoolboy heroes. I wish we had him and Tom Forsyth in the team today.

On reading the BBC on-line fitbaw page this morning, I noticed Coventry City have reportedly tabled a 500,000 bid for wee Nacho. Surely we have to accept that, 1/2 million in the hipper and freeing up some wages. He did okay for us initially but, I wouldn't imagine he'll see much 1st team action now. With the quality that's at the club now, he'll be way down the pecking order. So if the bid is genuine, IMO it would be better for all parties concerned that ourselves and Nacho accept the offer.

Dosent sound like he is getting impatient as the mhedia suggested earlier in the week, just another example of how the gutter press turn things around to make a decent story.

A team that is worth watching i full expect the atmosphere at Ibrox to to take a much needed turn for the better. Critics argue that the banning of sectarian chants and all will kill off any atmosphere at our stadium but this couldnt be further from the truth. The real reason Ibrox has been like a morgue is down to the fact that the quality of football over the last couple of seasons has totally abysmal. Think about it. when was the last time you sat on the edge of you seat buzzing with anticipation and the adrenalin flowing through your viens? Answers on a post card please. The truth is weve all been sitting with our heads in our hands in our hands watching the games through our fingers for as long as i remember. Even when we did get a result under Mcleish the football wasnt pretty. But that time is gone and weve served our sentence and it looks like the good times are gonna roll again. Let them, I say because we the supporters deserve them.

Joey Barton has ended speculation about his future by signing a new four-year contract at Manchester City. Barton has had a stormy relationship with City over the past few months after he handed in a transfer request in January. City were keen to tie Barton down to a new deal, with just one year remaining on his previous contract. Barton has now signed a four-year deal at Eastlands, shunning interest from Middlesbrough - who were the only club to really make a move for the midfielder. "It is great that everything has been sorted out," admitted Barton. "I am grateful for the support and faith the manager and the chairman have shown me by offering me this contract. The support I have received from City fans has also been a great boost. "I am ambitious and so is the club. I said if the club would sign quality players I would commit my future to City. The club has done that and I am a man of my word. "Since we came back from the pre-season break there is a real mood of optimism at the club. I have always given my absolute maximum for this football club and I am looking forward to the new season and helping City challenge at the highest level." City boss Stuart Pearce added: "This is excellent news. "I have always maintained that Joey's future lay with this football club and the player is very happy here. "Joey is improving as a player and I am sure with continued hard work on his and our part, he can achieve his ambitions at Manchester City."

The fact Duff is considering going to Spurs only reinforces what I've always thought, that if ourselves and Celtic were in the Premiership, we'd make an impact. With the added TV money on top of our gate receipts and following, you can only imagine the quality of player we could attract (and afford) to Ibrox. It'll never happen obviously, but its nice to dream sometimes.

What does everyone think? I cant decide between 2 Argentina goals. Firstly Cambiasso's goal vs Serbia and Montenegro. Brilliant possesion, one touch, give and go football with about 40 consecutive passes. Eventually they exploited some space, moved the ball into the box and an excellent finish into the top corner by Cambiasso arriving late. A goal for the purists. Secondly there's Maxi Rodriguez's volley vs Mexico. Given the context of the match i.e 2nd half of extra time heading for penalties, and the sheer audacity and quality of his chest and volley from the corner of the box was simply outstanding. Often players get too caught up with making sure they dont make a mistake that they forget to that a goal in extra time might win the game without the lottery of penalties. There were lots of other good finishes and some spectacular strikes from outside the box but those two, for me, stood out...

So, it's nearly over, just a couple of games to go. And in my opinion, it really hasn't lived up to the hype. For every Germany v Italy there seemed to be three Switzerland v Togo games. And as for the top players in the world, not a single one of Henry, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney or Shevchenko set the heather on fire. There have been some good preformances - Riquelme looked pretty decent at the start but in games against better quality opposition (Mexico and Germany) didn't seem able to take a game by the scruff, Zidane was absolutely immense against Brazil but that's been pretty much it from him, although I'm crossing my fingers for Sunday. Unfortunately, it seems that the whole tournament has been marred by negative tactics - Portugal, Italy, France, England and even the mighty Brazil all playing their quarter finals with a lone striker! The consistently best performances this time round have come from full/wing backs - Zambrotta, Grosso, Cole, Miguel, Sagnol. And the tournaments outstanding player has been Fabio Cannavaro, a central defender. Well, here's hoping that Sunday's game makes up for Portugals dirty tricks, Englands boring negativity, Peckerman's bizarre substitions that ruined their chances and some truly terrible refereeing decisions. Mon the Italia!!!!!!!!

Don't think this has been posted on here before, I haven't seen it anyway. The quality ain't the best but it's still an awesome wee video clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGw4esCV1gM&search=glasgow%20rangers

well, i`ve done a review before each game, so i thought i may aswell continue to do so as maybe it`ll bring us some luck tommorow. this is englands biggest game in 2 years and it`s PAYBACK TIME. portugal stuffed it down englands throats when they beat them in the euro semis 2 years ago and i`ll tell you now, every england player that was there has been waiting for a chance of revenge for what they seen as a great opportunity lost to go on and beat greece in the finals. sven got it all wrong back then and i must admit HE is the one weakest link i`m concerned about. time and time again he has been proved to be too defensive and tactically naive. now, in this world cup, another boy blunder sees his inability to , 1. pick a squad consisting of players capable of performing in all positions and, 2. an amazing way of screwing up games by making the wrong substitution during the game. in my honest opinion, he owes england and it`s fans, BIG TIME!!! £5 million a year for him is insulting the england fan base as he has arguably only taken england forward a small step. it was the wrong decision to appoint him, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and i don`t think many people at the time would`ve disagreed with the f.a`s decision to give a big name foriegner the job for a change. i believe he knows that he should owe england a big game and this HAS to be it. theres no point in being negative in this game because if they do approach it negatively, portugal will capitalise and it`ll be the same result as 2 years ago. this is possibly the hardest line up to predict of all the games england have played so far. there are a few doubts and imo sven SHOULD be paying a bit of attention to the portugal side because of the loss of deco. i think ronaldo WILL play. so, i REALLY want to see john terry go into him hard in the first 5 minutes, as theres no way he`s fully fit. i`d personally play a 4/4/2 diamond, but i just know it`s going to be a 4/5/1 defensive shot again. yes, it worked(arguably) last game v ecuador but portugal may also play a 4/5/1 and this is set oout to be a war of attrition. the line up i expect is.... ...............................................robinson............................................. .......g.neville...................................................................a.cole.......... .............................r.ferdinand....................j.terry............................... ...................................................................................................... .......beckham........................gerrard...............................j.cole............. ...........................................lampard.................................................. .......................................rooney..................................................... ....................................................crouch........................................ things may alter with a few doubts over gary neville, rio ferdinand and who`ll play in the anchor. paul robinson....he needs a big game to prove he`s the undisputed england number 1 as the last game v ecuador he was flapping all over the place. i`m actually a fan of his since he joined spurs he`s improved tenfold. he needs to dominate his box tomorrow. gary neville....if he plays and he`s fully fit then england have just added a new dimension which hasn`t really been present at the world cup. the neville/beckhma overlapping and support down the right could be an integral part of how england get a goal with quality crosses played in for crouch or rooney/gerrard and lampard to latch on to. ashley cole.... only had one decent game this world cup. it`s been rather disapointing from him. i was hoping hed show hes the best left back in the world but he`s been caught out by wingers skill in this world cup, but he always can rely on his pace to get back and tackle. rio ferdinand.... i just don`t rate him at all. he may be worth 30 million to man.utd but i always am waiting for a big accident to happen with him. you`d expect for such a big guy he`d be a threat at free kicks, but it`s amazing how many headers he gets off target. he needs to stand up tommorow and LISTEN to what john terry is telling him to do. john terry.... he`s been silently briliant in this world cup so far. yes, he was poor v ecuador but in the three group games he was england saviour and it might all have been different if he hadn`t saved englands bacon a few times. i`m hoping he shows pauleta who`s boss and proves to the world he`s the best there is in that position. michael carrick....(if playing)... i rate this boy highly and i`m not siuprised man.utd have offered 15 million for him. aswell as being the back fours cover he has an uncanny ability of playing brilliant balls through to the strikers. i really hope he plays. jamie carragher.....(if playing)......not jamies best postion the holding midfield but thers hardly anyone else i`d rather see on your side. will give 100% for their cause if he plays. owen hargreaves...(if playing).... he`s actually come on a bit and showed he can play if he trys hard enough. at times he appears to be dreaming and he is just not the guyi`d want playing as a holding midfielder as he`s too often m.i.a david beckham..... becks has arguably been englands most efficient player in this world cup. he`s scored one and created umpteen more chances. one of the few times i actually enjoy watching him play is when gary neville is there helping him as the two of them know each other inside out. needs to be a big man tomorrow and motivate that team. stevie gerrard..... he`s one of my all time favourite players. he`s mr reliable. he`ll make it appear like theres four of him on the park. absolutely stoncking player and i wouldn`t be suprised if he scored at some point. my ideal midfielder. frank lampard....he`s had the most shots at goal in this tourne but i actually thin he`s been very disapointing. if i had my way i`d be playing a 4/4/2 and he`d be dropped. he needs to prove to the world that he is the player we see at chelsea, and do it on the biggest stage in the world. he`s got that chance and i really dont expect him to let us down again. joe cole.... on the left although he actually prefers playing on the right, or his best position is in the hole behind the strikers, i just hope that the two coles are solid and up for it tomorrow. if thers anything of a weakness next to ferdinand it`s the lack of physique that the two coles have meaning players can push there way past them in a flash and i fully expect ronaldo to be making a nuisance of himself on this side at most of the game here. joe`s pretty average at defending and his game is going forward. i just hope ashley cole lets him do this tomorrow. wayne rooney.....what can you say that hasn`t already been said? he`s like a bull in a china shop the now and he`s desperate to make up for going out injured when he was the top scorer at the euros in 2004. he`s got such a quality midfield behind him and i expect gerrard, lampard, cole, carrick, beckham to use him correctly and not to be playing high balls for him to run onto to. a potential matchwinner and a massive bonus to have him playing here. gave the whole squad a lift when he came on in the group stages. peter crouch....i used to like him when he played for saints. but he`s taken a long while to be comfartible in a world class team like liverpool and to be honest he`s the only other man england can really have playing up front because of erikssons incompetence. if england go out tomorrow witout scoring eriksson is in for the roasting of his life for not taking more strikers"i told you so" springs to mind. he does have some uses as he showed v trinidad and he`ll have to cut the nonsense out of hs head tomorrow and be thoroughly 100% professional the whole game. if he scores he can do the robocrouch though it`s going to be a hard game tomorrow and i`m hoping upon hop that we can do this. i`ll go for 1-1 after extra time. england to win on penalties. good luck lads:D

can someone make a top quality banner for my forum like something up the top thanks in advance