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by Lindsay Herron WALTER SMITH has hinted that DaMarcus Beasley could be back into the Rangers line-up for Saturday's first home game of the SPL campaign against Hearts. Getting Beasley involved could be a big move as Rangers have been looking for more creativity in their play and the American winger can provide it. He was on the bench at Falkirk last week and should be ready now to come back in after recovering from a hamstring problem. Smith said: "Coming back from the hamstring injury you are always wary when a player goes out into his first match, but with another week's training under his belt we would hope that DaMarcus would be ready to play on Saturday. "Considering he missed most of last season, we would hope that he would be injury-free now. "You could see his worth to the team when he came back in for the Cup Final last season and with our other wider players - Chris Burke and Stevie Naismith - out at the moment he gives us a good option." The Rangers manager will have further options on Saturday as Davie Weir is free from suspension while Kenny Miller should be fit after a thigh knock. Kevin Thomson is also expected to recover from a similar injury sustained at Falkirk last Saturday. Smith added: ""We will have some decisions to make for Saturday. Davie is available again and I believe Kenny and Kevin will both be fine. "Madjid Boughherra came in last weekend and did very well. Kirk Broadfoot has been playing centre half since pre-season started more or less and he has been doing well too. "I think it is his best position. He played most of his games at full back last season because of the consistency shown by Carlos Cuellar and Davie. "He has had the chance to show what he can do this season and he has done well."

We have a little over 2 weeks of the transfer window left and there is STILL no new midfielders at Murray Park. Sometimes WS does his business on the quiet like the signing of Bougherra which came out of the blue - so we have a tiny bit of hope that a deal could be done somewhere but i wont hold my breath until i see a player in a blue shirt. I still think Davis is likely but we still need more than him. I can also see him being played out of position if he does sign. Davis had a few good games for us when playing next to Ferguson but signing Davis alone doesnt fill me with confidence. In that 2 weeks we couldnt face a tougher fixture card. Hearts at Ibrox and Aberdeen and Celtic away. Right now with that team that played at Falkirk i dont fancy us to get anymore than 5 points from that 3 games. With the Cuellar sale, the pressure is now at peak for Murray, Bain and Smith.

Yes the start of the football season is back and Rangers have had a disasterous start to the campaign after being put out of Europe in the Qualifiers. That leaves us to fully concentrate on Domestic issues and to try bring back the league title as well as retaining the 2 domestic cups. The only positive thing to take about Europes exit is we wont be hampered by a horrendous fixture schedule of playing 68 games in the season. As mentioned its time to put the Euro exit to bed and concentrate on the SPL. But one asks if we are currently equipped with the right personnel to go on and take the title back. 4 new faces have arrived - Kenny Miller, Kyle Lafferty, Andris Velicka and Madjid Bougherra, are these 4 good enough to walk into the starting line up?. But the massive question from the fans is where is the new midfielders we need? All summer we knew the need for a creative midfielder and we did not purchase one. Instead we let our only player capable of this role - Thomas Buffel - depart the club. Then things got worse when Barry Ferguson picked up a bad injury rulling him out for the first few months. Yet the management still have not addressed the position and rather opted for strengthing the defence and forward line to make huge confusion to the Ibrox faithful. Steven Davis did well in central midfield last season but a fee couldnt be agreed with Fulham for his services. Other players which were looked at were Varynen of PSV(?) and former Ger Peter Lovenkrands - getting all 3 excited this bear. So lets have a look at our chances of SPL glory. Management: Walter Smith was brought into steady a sinking ship during the 06/07 campaign and he did a marvelous job in doing so. We finished that season strong and things looked good for 07/08. Last season his task was to put us in with a chance of trophies and he delivered the 2 domestic cups and for a few reasons already discussed he took us to within 1 game of the title. He is to be judged this season. Will he change his favoured personnel when they are in bad form or will he stick with them? Will he give youth a chance? Will he go away from his favourite 4-5-1 formation? All to be revealed! Ally McCoist: Everyones favourite former striker and club legend certainly brings harmoney to the club. He is being groomed by WS but its obvious he is still tactically inexperienced. Hopefully his finishing skills can rub onto some of the strikers as we need to start getting a couple of players who are capable of 15+ goals. I dont question Ally being in his role but I do wonder if WS misses an old experienced head in his management team at times. Keepers: Allan McGregor had a wonderful season last year. He turned from an average keeper to Scotlands No.1 IMO and I firmly believe we would have won the league had he not got injured at Parkhead - thats how good his form was. But talks of being as good as Goram and Klos were way exaggerated and a knee jerk reaction IMO. I always said he has to maintain this form into the next few seasons before he can be mentioned in the same sentance as the 2 former legends. A one season wonder isnt good enough. At the moment he is rusty and needs to get back to his form of last season ASAP. His deputy - Neil Alexander did a fine job when asked and he will be pushing AM at the moment for a start, he is a fine back up to have and many a bear would have him in between the sticks for the opening game this season. Defence: We have central defenders in Abundance. Davie Weir and Christian Dailly signed on for another season, Alan Webster is on the books yet seldom fit, Kirk Broadfoot has been featuring there and of course King Carlos Cuellar has not been sold. They are joined by Madjid Bougherra who can also operate in midfield. And if things get desperate Sasa Papac and Brahim Hemdani can move to centre back. Surely all bears are hoping to see a partnership of Cuellar and Bougherra to be formed. The full back positions is a concern. Only Steven Whittaker and Steven Smith are natural full backs with huge concerns over the latters long term fitness and footballing future. Sasa Papac has the LB role to himself at the moment. If Whittaker or Papac get injured then its obvious the full back roles will be covered by the likes of Dailly and Broadfoot - not too encouraging. Midfield: I could write pages about the midfield but Id also be aswell leaving a blank space. To start with Barry Ferguson misses the first few months of the season. It may be a blessing to tell the management we cant rely on 1 player and it also may give the skipper a long term rest that he badly needed. Hopefully he comes back to the player we know he can be as he was far too inconsistant last season and had more nad games than good ones. Other natural midfielders are Brahim Hemdani, Kevin Thomson and Dean Furman. WS doesnt seem to rate Hemdani and he rarely features in the SPL. Kevin Thomson is rated very promising by the management and fans but this season its time for him to step up and take some responsibility. Young Dean Furman is one who needs more games. On the left we have huge options. DeMarcus Beasley, Lee McCulloch, Charlie Adam and Kyle Lafferty are likely to be rotated all year. There are questions about some of their capabilities, Beasley is injury prone but he makes the team look better when he plays. McCulloch and Adam have been nothing short of dreadful recently and Lafferty is mainly a striker. Even Alan Gow is still on the books. But the problem is on the right side. With Steven Naismith and Chris Burke long term casualties it leaves only Nacho Novo to play there - who is a natural striker. The need for new players is a MUST. Strikers: WS signed 3 in the summer and only offloaded Sebo who was on loan anyway. If WS goes back to his 4-5-1 formation then there is going to be a lot of unhappy players on the bench. Daniel Cousin is still the best talent in the squad but whether he stays or not is remained to be seen. But the manager has Kenny Miller, Kris Boyd, Jean Claude Darcheville, Andrias Velicka, Kyle Lafferty and young Fleck to keep happy. Right now its guess work as to who will be preferred upfront. Key Players The spine of the team is always key and that wont change this season. Allan McGregor, Carlos Cuellar and Barry Ferguson should be 3/4 of the spine and ideally Daniel "ive changed my attitude" Cousin would be the final quarter. But with Ferguson out and Cousins future uncertain it means a few players HAVE to stand up. Noises came from Lee McCulloch and Charlie Adam in the summer but both are currently on dreadful form. IMO Kevin Thomson needs to grab the chance with both hands and if selected Hemdani is a key player. Upfront Velicka's strength could suprise us and he may be the key to unlocking defences. Overall: We have enough to win the league if we are consistant and the manager gets tactics and selections right. If we get that creative player then it may give us a different dimension and others may start to click. I dont think Celtic are better than us but they are currently much more organised. Prediction: The need for the title to come home and the early wake up call in Europe could be a catalyst in winning the league. If i was asked to put money on it then I would back us to be Champions for 08/09.

walter smith brought cuellar to ibrox and has now (presumably) sanctioned his departure. he's been one of the best players we've had in modern times, and i'm glad to have seen him in a rangers top. given that we're not in europe, though, you'll probably not need defenders as good as he is for the spl. if we do get any of the money from this, and get a midfielder, it may be the thing that wins us the league? grasping at straws loyal

So 15 invited fans speak for the masses now??!!! I dont think he should be sacked but this headline in the news doesnt nearly speak for the real fans. Bit in bold - I'll believe that when I see it!!! That should have been dealt with in June!

I hope Smith goes on the offensive as we must take all 3 points this weekend. my formation would be 4-4-2 McGregor Whittaker Cuellar Bagera Papac Novo Hemdani Thomson Adam Miller Boyd

Ive been disolusioned with our manager for quite some time now and have reached the point were i would like to see him quit his position at Ibrox. My expectations of our team are not being matched by Walter Smith and feel he is dragging the club down with his Negative attitude to the game and his tactical niavety. Having read some of the recent posts recently it is plain to see that quite a few others share the same concerns as I as to where the club is going. we are in dire straits. The Uefa cup run has now become a weight around the neck of our club and covers the cracks in our house of cards which i fear is about to come tumbling down around our feet in the very near future. There has to be big changes at Ibrox very soon if we are to stop the rot. walter has to go.

I know i bloody do.

In the R*cord. Clicky I think he's spot on with much of his appraisals of the players who started in Kaunas and again, seems to be repeating much of what fans have been saying for a long time now. Definitely worth a read despite some strange comments near the end.

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.

The pervading feeling of negativity is not merely a knee-jerk reaction to a quite shambolic early European exit. The humbling result allied to two woeful performances is merely confirmation of a many of my views. I wish there was a ââ?¬Å?first and foremostââ?¬Â, but there are that many pressing issues it is hard to know where to begin. I will merely discuss them as they come to me so apologies for a lack of structure or any incoherencies. Striking options So onto my biggest gripe, Kenny Miller, or perhaps to look at it another way Kris Boyd. One is our best striker, the other a footballing impostor who has swindled a living from a game he has no ability to play. One is lauded for his willing running and always giving his all, when many a more gifted player are derided for a similar attitude with cries of ââ?¬Å?any man in the stand could offer the sameââ?¬Â and possibly more. Miller is a more fancied Nacho Novo despite the former being an inferior player. The both give 100%, they both never stop running. But Novo benefits from being a luckier player and crucially, as a striker, providing a genuine goal threat. Be that scoring himself, as several important European strikes last year proved, or turning provider as he did tonight. Indeed contrast his performance tonight with Millerââ?¬â?¢s. Novo looked dangerous every time he got the ball, although all too infrequently considering the success he was having and set up Thomson for his strike. For his part, in the opening quarter, Miller was offside twice, missed a couple of chances but had a couple of nice touches. He then disappeared until about the last twenty when he had a nice run before putting a tame cross near the keeper. Millerââ?¬â?¢s inclusion ahead of Boyd is frankly baffling to me. In fact any other striker in the squad should be picked ahead of Miller. Those who support him and deride Boyd, including the manager, have it arse about face. They talk of Millerââ?¬â?¢s willing running to create chances for other players and Boydââ?¬â?¢s inability to do this. But their criticism is misplaced. Why do we insist on having goal-shy strikers to set up midfielders instead of the other way round. When did football become so ââ?¬Å?cleverââ?¬Â and complicated. In any case we donââ?¬â?¢t have any Gerrardââ?¬â?¢s or Scholesââ?¬â?¢ in our team to be the goal scoring midfielder. Why donââ?¬â?¢t we do something novel and have the other nine outfield players doing their job, and the goalscorer doing his? Since we donââ?¬â?¢t have the attacking midfield to feed off of Millerââ?¬â?¢s expert link play (no laughing at the back) how about we look at building a team to feed one of our few plus points in the game; an out and out goalscorer? (On a related note what is Pat Nevinââ?¬â?¢s agenda with the co-commentary virtual blowjob he was giving Miller. Why was he patronising the viewing public with ridiculous claims of an outstanding performance from the largely anonymous player? And this behaviour was not limited to Nevin, just best exemplified by him). An impotent midfield It is my experience that those fans who communicate on message boards do so to confirm their own misguided views on the game and then patronise the non-internet obsessed fan on his views because kingbilly1690 agrees with him. It is this kind of clique forming, mutual ass licking behaviour that lead the internet uber fans to come to the opinion that we are a better team without Barry Ferguson, albeit this is not so much a gripe with this website. To anyone else it is plainly obvious that when Barry plays, the team plays better, even if Barry is having a stinker. Often it is worth it playing the captain for his influence alone. However this leads us onto another issue. With Barry out 3-4 months who will we bring in, and with tonightââ?¬â?¢s disaster, can we bring anyone in? Of the rest of the midfield only Thomson is really worth keeping with maybe McCulloch and Adam as squad players, although this is Adamââ?¬â?¢s last season of good grace as a relative youngster. Christian Dailly Joint with Miller for first player I would like to see kicked out the door. Between the pair of them they pretty much cost us the tie. Daillyââ?¬â?¢s errors though were more glaring due to him playing further back. Continuously gave away silly fouls, can barely find a team mate and his laughable control gave away the corner for the second. When you consider it was his foul that lead to the freekick for the first itââ?¬â?¢s hard to see how he gets a game. And yet the management would have you believe heââ?¬â?¢s in the side for his experience. Donââ?¬â?¢t make me laugh, played like a youth player tonight. This idea of experience makes me laugh though. Being older does not necessarily make you a better player. If your extra experience is experience of being crap and costing your team regularly, what use is that? Walterââ?¬â?¢s Army The painfully bad sequel to Dadââ?¬â?¢s Army. Why this unbending loyalty to older players regardless of ability, particularly those from his time as Scotland manager, who routinely let him down. Miller and Dailly as discussed and to a far, far lesser degree; Weir. I actually have nothing to criticise Weir as of yet, although when I do, I know he will still be a first name on the team sheet for the manager. A regretful admission Iââ?¬â?¢m a student ,still, who works part time and am not well paid. I have to think long and hard about where I spend my money. When I turn up at Ibrox I do my best for Rangers, I join in the songs, I applaud the team, I will them on. I never boo a player, I never boo the team off the pitch. I try not to let a negative utterance leave my mouth at the game. Unfortunately with the growing costs of living and following football, I now have to really consider if I can attend when I cannot guarantee the stewards of the club do the same. Clearly Mr Murray does not appear to, but now I wonder if Walter Smith does. I can no longer afford a season ticket or the time off of work to make use of one anyway. But even if I could, or have the opportunity to attend individual games, can I justify Ã?£20-30 to watch Rangers when the manger wont even pick his best players available. Watching the laughable performances of Miller and Dailly just is not worth that amount of my money and I cannot see myself being at ibrox to watch these two jokers rip off the fans and the club. I actually find it painful to watch my team with these two on the field. If we get beat and play badly but have put out our best available XI then, yes, I'm not happy. But I can bear it. Right now I really, really struggle.

Who i would like to see try and transform us. I have backed WS over the last season and a half, but to have a squad badly needing strengthened in important areas and to ignore this in the gamble that we will be ok and sign people we dont want or need in the face of supporters concern smells of pure arrogance for me. I for one spent almost 2K last year following us and cannot put up with this crap anymore - Go now Smith

There are a few issues spliting the fans at the moment. Some are calling it a negative attitude yet some call it plain facts. The season has not even kicked off yet but this far we have looked very untidy in pre season and in our first competitive game of the season. On Tuesday we have a huge match against Kaunas to make it into the final qualifying round of the hugely important Champions League. I'm going to try and elaborate on a few topics that the fans have issues with. 1) Summers Signings In / Out: Plenty eyebrows have been raised because WS brough in 3 strikers and then concentrated on the defence when the midfield is the most obvious position needing filled. We have forked out near on 10 million on 4 players for upfront and defence yet we are reluctant to spend a penny on the midfield. We have recouped a small fee for Buffel and Sebo thus far. I still question the Buffel sale when all we needed to do was pay a fee of approx 400k which makes more sense than paying 3-4 million for another player of this type. Its ok bringing in strikers but so far none of the current forwards have left the club leaving us with a large forward line. There is still 28 days left of the transfer window so in no way can this topic be concluded yet although its imperative we sign some midfield players soon. 2) Style of football: Last season this was brought up on many occasions. Some want to see total football yet others are perfectly happy with a grinding 1-0 win as its winning that matters at the end of the day. For me a bit of both would be better. I dont expect 5-0 thumpings of teams every week with playing out of our skins, but with the level of SPL opposition we really should be seeing off teams by 3 or 4 goals on a more regular basis. Going away from home to the tougher teams is when we should be happy to grind out 1-0 wins. Some put direct blame on Walter Smith, but for me the dead wood has been there before he arrived. In McLeish's latter days most of PLG's matches we were dreadful to watch at times. Walter Smith hasnt changed much other than the fact we are very difficult to score against. Basically Walter sets out not to lose a match rather than win it. I think we are bit away from knowing our first choice XI and I actually think WS doesnt have that. He prefers to have maybe 14 players who will be shifted around in a few positions every week. 3) Loyality to players: Fans will never agree on team selection and we dont have any right to have a say in team selection - thats what the manager lifes and dies by, but we are certainly in our right to an opinion and currently a number on here picked out the Walter is very loyal to certain players. He was like this in his first reign also. You have to wonder is he happy to play safe or just to afraid to change things. Maybe its personality clashes with other players like the rumours suggest. But IMO that shouldnt come into, if a player is good enough he should be given a chance. Im not afraid to name names, but the likes of Broadfoot, Adam, Burke and Boyd will never be good enough for Rangers and having average run of the mill SPL players is a huge reason behind our lack of championships this decade. Johnny Foreigner doesnt hide from this aswell, we have had too many guys picking up a nice wage packet and not doing it on the park. 4) The threat of going Backwards: Despite last seasons run on all fronts where winning and not was a thin line, we are on the threat of moving backwards. The squad may look stronger in numbers than last year but the starting XI doesnt. I was hoping for 3 or 4 players who would come in and be definate starters but so far it seems our signings are no better than what we have. Add that to the fact if the unthinkable happens on Tuesday and we dont make the CL then we are in for a long season with not much incommings. Nothing has been decided yet and the season hasnt kicked off but the concern is there. 5) Board level: The main 2 issues here is the stadium and the lack of a ticket office at the club. Ibrox: Its still a fantastic arena but at 25+ years old the Copland, Govan and Broomloan are feeling a bit dated. When your inside them they feel it aswell compared to when you visit a modern new stadium. The rumours are for a super complex to be built, that would be fantastic but I for one wouldnt mind Ibrox just getting modernized and not to any great length. The insides of the stands could be developed along with the screens being taken out and replaced by seats bring the capacity up to near 60,000. It the roofs of those 3 stands could be raised a little and say 10 rows added then that would be fantastic also. Ticket Office: I find this embarrassing. A club who gets 50,000 people at every home match does not have a ticket office. I remember the mid 90s in my teens before I had a season ticket Id go along to Ibrox regularly and at times picked up tickets from the old ticket office across from the Copland stand. I would be in and out of the que within 5 minutes. Now we have a shed with 2 ladies handing out envelopes to 1000s of people and causing fans to miss there first competitve kick off of the season - horrendous stuff!! I can only say - Bring Back the ticket office!!! Feel free to add the other issues at the moment and as Gersnet always does we will debate them openly and maturely.

From Lindsay Herron in Kaunas WALTER SMITH admitted Rangers were not good enough as they crashed out of Europe at the first hurdle after a shock defeat in Lithuania tonight. After hitting the high of 19 games in Europe last season and reachng the UEFA Cup Final Rangers suffered the horror low of going out at the first time of asking. Smith was shattered and admitted that his players did not reach the required level to progress. He sadi:"Steven Whittaker and Kirk BroadfootIt's obviously a huge blow for everyone. We didn't do well enough over the two legs and we have paid the price for that. "It's a reasonable excuse to use that the effects of last season are still with the players but I don't think it is a relevant one. "I think the importance of tonight's game should have been enough for us but we haven't reached the right level so far this season. "We could have extended our lead when we were one up but I didn't feel we ever looked comfortable in the game. "The goals we lost we were well warned about. Kaunas's biggest danger is from set pieces and they have scored from a free kick and a corner and that's the biggest disappointment. "In fairness to Radzius he hit a good free kick but we should have cleared the ball before the second goal went in, "We have to look at ourselves but that was not good enough and it's up to everyone to stick together and get that right as quickly as possible. "The biggest blow for us is that we are out of Europe completely.

He came back steadied the ship.Won a few Cups got to a European Final and lost the league by 3 points. Most people would be happy with that but most of us saw through the lack of tactics and basically the poor football on show was not good enough. Today we are out of Europe completely.Humbled at home to Liverpool in what has been a very poor pre season for us. He has spent over 8 million pounds on 3 strikers and a centre half[who can play midfield hoo raa].We are three days away to Falkirk in a potential sticky fixture and not one of us on here can name a starting line up we would be confident in taking the 3 points. So 18 months on where the hell has Smith taken us to...?? My opinion is we are no better off than before,we have no system,we are overloaded with centre halfs and strikers,we are in free fall. Our Captain is out for another few months,midfield cover is poor,Carlos will be sold either now or in January and we are left with nothing more than average players. It needs a revolution from top to bottom. Murray out,Smith and his backroom team out and sadly the majority of the players out.

Let's play a game of 'Fill the Gap'. What must the following people be thinking, now more than ever. Tonights lineup got me thinking even before the result, but more so afterwards. There must be almost a whole teams-worth of players wondering what the hell is going on right now. Not least of all Carlos Cuellar and Barry Ferguson wondering how on Earth a team can fall apart so easily without them. This is in almost rant form, so this will be in no order. Alan Gow As we've come to expect, not even in the squad tonight (never is). Clearly Smith sees something there to make him go against giving the lad a chance.. but could he really do any worse than Charlie Adam and the likes? Brahim Hemdani Not a popular choice among everyone especially with his somewhat mediocre form in the latter stages of last season, but again the question is, how much worse can he be than Christian Dailly? He showed in the past that in these kind of games he can get hold of the ball, keep it and distribute it more efficiently than anyone else in our team. Kris Boyd This has gone on forever, but he must still be thinking about what on Earth he has to do to be given a chance. It's almost an embarrassment to Walter Smith's tactical nous that the sole purpose of Boyd is to come on after the 80 minute mark when we're chasing goals. That's Plan B. And that's it. Youngsters I'm sensing a pattern here.. but could the likes of Fleck and Furman really do any worse? Furman is a natural central midfield player with bags of ability if not experience. Lee McCulloch, while experienced, is everything but a central midfielder. As for Fleck, people say he's too young. 2 words. Wayne Rooney. Debuted at 16, became first team regular and look how badly that went.. Walter Smith I could go on forever about how Steven Smith must feel fighting back from injury only to be given no sign of a look-in. How Kyle Lafferty must be wondering how the hell he can justify his �£4m pricetag from the bench or even what someone like Thomas Buffel must be thinking looking at our team which is crying out for a creative midfielder after he was told to bugger off even with a year left on his contract. But the daddy of them all is this. What the hell is Walter Smith thinking? One of his long-term defendants, I have scratched my head over his tactics and team selections one too many times. I know I'm not the only one.

Let me start off by saying I watched the whole game, I know how poor we are and yes it's really starting to p*ss me off - and the txts from my timmy mates are not helping BUT.. after the rollercoaster ride of last season had died down the hard cold fact was that we did not win the league. Now with Celtic chasing 4 in a row it is imperative that we win the league this season. Last season was a one off, it's not going to happen again for a long time and even though I fully understand the financial bonus's and midweek excitement the champions league games bring maybe a team fully focused on winning the league is what we need this season. Lets face it we looked knackered tonight, its obvious last season's 68 games are still taking there toll. Maybe tonight will give SDM the kick up the backside to spend big. Walter Smith is not new to this game - he must see the frailties in our midfield, he must have identified players he feels will make a difference to our "midfield" so now SDM must back him in his plans. We all remember Faubert last season. Out of nowhere we were willing to spend big bucks on a player who genuinely looks an exciting prospect and I for one believe the same will happen before the end of the transfer window. I'm not saying I'm happy being out of europe, I grew up with the 9iar team and hold very high standards for our football club..it's just my opinion that it's not the be all and end all and could be a very strange blessing in disguise.

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.

From the official site.... "WALTER SMITH has moved to strengthen his squad by signing powerful French-Algerian centre back Madjid Brougherra from Charlton for �£2.5million." Clicky

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sport/football/article-1039747/Leave-Kenny-Rangers-manager-Smith-tells-Millers-critics-grip.html?ITO=1490 One quote here that gets me " That's an opinion - mine is different and it is mine that matters. That is how I look upon it. Every supporter is entitled to think what he wants." Kind of pig headed Walt... considering that should we Rangers fans stop going to Ibrox, Stop buying the strips, Stop Buying the season tickets, then Your opinion wouldn't matter either, whilst in line at the dole office!

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."

RANGERS Chief Executive Martin Bain has spoken for the first time on a number of important topics as the new season opens. He revealed record season ticket sales, explained the reasoning behind the five per cent charge on the sale of away tickets and insisted work is still being done to bolster the squad ahead of the new campaign. During the interview, the Chief Executive also announced exciting plans for Ibrox that will make it amongst the most cutting-edge in European football. He said: "We are well on target to set a new record of 44,000 season ticket holders which has been achieved as a result of our new ticketing strategy enabling a higher saleable capacity within the stadium. In the past four seasons we have reached highs of 42,500 but on the back of last season, the demand for the coming campaign has been such that we will hit the new record figure. "Last season was a journey beyond all expectation for Rangers supporters and was what we all aspire to, which is Rangers competing at the highest level in Europe and on all fronts domestically. The last day of the SPL season was our only downside. "Our new strategy aims to make football more affordable to families, and to maintain and create a great atmosphere in the stadium where supporters are safe. It wasn't just about pricing however, we also wanted to provide some additional benefits to season ticket holders. The first of these takes place on Friday with a free training day which will be a great day out for families. "To date the initiative has resulted in an 11 per cent rise in juvenile season ticket holders with many more on the waiting list and we are absolutely delighted with the ongoing response from the fans. "We had 19 European games last season and with the financial pressures in our economy today we could not have asked for more from our supporters, their commitment has been second to none. Tickets for tomorrow's Kaunas game are going really well and the Liverpool match on Saturday is fast approaching sell-out. "Last year we identified the need to address the playing surface and other aspects of the stadium infrastructure, resulting in the commitment of capital expenditure for an interim overhaul. We have ensured that the items invested in are easily transportable should our long term development plans come to fruition. "First on the agenda was restructuring the pitch and Walter Smith told me yesterday that he is delighted with the new playing surface. "Despite the inclement weather in Scotland we are confident we will have no problems with our pitch this season and let's hope it is the same scenario at every other SPL ground. We have invested in our pitch and it would be good to see the other clubs investing in a similar way to avoid the problems of last season. "Our next priority was to introduce a fully integrated stadium entertainment system. This will be phased in from the first SPL home game where our new state of the art LED perimeter advertising system and LED scoreboards will be unveiled. "The perimeter advertising will run the complete length of the Copland, Broomloan and Govan stands. In September we will install LED jumbotrons, giving Ibrox one of the most ambitious media and entertainment systems in British football. We plan to introduce the system into the concourses thereafter. Even the dugouts, uniforms and Club ties are changing!" Rangers begin the SPL campaign on August 9 against Falkirk, one of four clubs who have refused to accept the Old Firm plan of a five per cent charge for the sale of away tickets. Bain remains unrepentant at the approach taken and commented: "It is incredulous that despite our attempts to explain this rationally to other clubs, some of them continue to refuse to accept our approach. Rangers supporters travel the length and breadth of the country, often paying premium prices for grounds which are often found lacking in their overall facilities. This is about our fans. I believe they more than pay their way in Scottish football and we want to alleviate some of the financial pressure. "I am also disappointed at the other clubs lack of understanding of our continual efforts to make it as easy as possible to distribute their tickets with minimal cost and effort on their behalf. We help maximise ticket sales for SPL away grounds to the region of �£2.5million, but accept that this comes at a cost, hence our proposal for the reciprocal arrangement. This would allow us to remove the costs currently borne by our fans. "I am surprised that other clubs have failed to realise that we have maintained a core fan base for away matches and that base may drop off given the convoluted systems they are operating to sell tickets to Rangers fans. "The actions we have taken have been in the best interests of our fans and the Club and we hope this is recognised by our travelling support, despite the complicated and difficult route that may now exist to obtain tickets for fixtures that were once easy to obtain." The Rangers Chief Executive hopes that those who choose to sell to Old Firm fans directly will ensure that they take all the responsibilities which accompany this decision. He said: "The SPL guidelines are such that every person who buys a ticket has to supply their name and address, and I now look to the SPL to ensure that while these other clubs have taken it upon themselves to sell these tickets that they record all these details. That said, it is unfortunate that I won't have the same level of awareness of whom the tickets are now being sold to. "At this stage Falkirk, Hibs, Hearts and Dundee United have indicated that they will sell tickets to our fans themselves and we await confirmation of the official response from the remaining clubs." Although the signing deadline has passed for tomorrow's Champions League qualifying match with Kaunas, the Chief Executive insisted that work is still being done on the playing front. He said: "We are still working hard to make sure we have a squad capable of challenging on all fronts. "The nature of Rangers is such that we are constantly linked with players with no foundation. But we are used to that and know what our priorities are. I am confident through experience of transfer windows in recent years that there will be movement, both in and out, in the weeks ahead. Walter has a core squad to meet the immediate challenges, although we are disappointed to have picked up a couple of injuries at this early stage." http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~1353740,00.html

We'vejust got away with a decent penalty shout apparantly. It is attacking though but still no creativity, says a lot when Adam is probably the one getting more of a mention....

Rangers are considering a move to sign Sunderland's Nigerian international midfielder Dickson Etuhu. Etuhu, 26, joined the English Premier League club from Norwich City in July 2007 for �£1.5m and made 20 appearances for Roy Keane's side last season. The dynamic box-to-box player won the first of his five international caps for Nigeria at this year's African Cup of Nations tournament. Etuhu was born in the northern Nigerian city of Kano but grew up in London. He began his career at Manchester City but started just 11 league games before signing for Preston in 2002 for �£300,000. He played nearly 150 games for North End before joining Norwich after a loan spell at Carrow Road. Manager Walter Smith has only strengthened his strikeforce so far this summer, with Thursday's Champions League signing deadline looming. Forwards Kenny Miller, Andrius Velicka and Kyle Lafferty have all arrived at Ibrox. But, with time running out to recruit more new arrivals ahead of next week's crucial second qualifying round against FBK Kaunas, Smith has yet to add to the trio. Press speculation has linked the Ibrox club with a variety of transfer targets, including Portsmouth's Portuguese midfielder Pedro Mendes and Cardiff City's Dutch defender Glenn Loovens. MY SPORT: DEBATE Should Rangers sign a player before the deadline? Highly-tipped Middlesbrough left-winger, Adam Johnson, 21, has also been touted as a possible loan option for Smith. And the Glasgow club are thought to be still locked in discussion with Fulham over acquiring the services of midfielder Steven Davis. The Northern Ireland international enjoyed a successful five-month loan spell in Glasgow last season and, with captain Barry Ferguson missing the start of the new term, Smith is keen on securing the services of the 23-year-old on a permanent basis.

Yet again a player who so called cost us nothing has cost us at least a million + without playing a game. keep going Walter your doing well.