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By Andrew Dickson ALLAN McGREGOR has retained his place in the Scotland squad despite his omission from the starting line-up at Rangers. After the 26-year-old sat out the last three Light Blues games, there was speculation his replacement Neil Alexander would take his national team spot too. Allan McGregor, ScotlandBut McGregor has been selected once more by George Burley for the crucial World Cup qualifier with Norway at Hampden next weekend. In Scotland's last game at the national stadium, the Gers star made an excellent penalty save from David Healy and that will have stuck in Burley's mind. McGregor is one of six Ibrox players chosen in the 25-man pool for the meeting with the Scandinavians. Kirk Broadfoot keeps his place in the group after he capped his excellent international debut against Iceland with a headed goal in the 2-1 victory in Reykjavik three weeks ago. David Weir has also been called upon and with Celtic's Stephen McManus suspended for this match, he could start in his place. Kevin Thomson gets another summons while strike duo Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd complete the Gers sextet asked to report for duty. FULL SQUAD Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Sunderland) ALLAN McGREGOR (RANGERS) David Marshall (Norwich City) Defenders: Graham Alexander (Burnley) Darren Barr (Falkirk) Christophe Berra (Hearts)Kevin Thomson, Scotland KIRK BROADFOOT (RANGERS) Gary Caldwell (Celtic) Jamie McAllister (Bristol City) Gary Naysmith (Sheffield United) DAVID WEIR (RANGERS) Midfielders: Scott Brown (Celtic) Kris Commons (Derby County) Darren Fletcher (Manchester United) Paul Hartley (Celtic) Shaun Maloney (Celtic) James Morrison (WBA) Barry Robson (Celtic) KEVIN THOMSON (RANGERS) Forwards: KRIS BOYD (RANGERS) David Clakson (Motherwell) Steven Fletcher (Hibernian) Chris Iwelumo (Wolves) James McFadden (Birmingham City) KENNY MILLER (RANGERS)

So after ââ?¬Ë?international weekââ?¬â?¢, the bears are back in SPL action on Saturday when we host Kilmarnock in what is a ââ?¬Ë?top of the table clashââ?¬â?¢. I hope that the break for the internationals hasnââ?¬â?¢t impacted on the momentum that we should have gained from the wonderful performance and result at the Towers last Sunday. That performance should be the benchmark for all our performances this season, that performance shouldnââ?¬â?¢t be a ââ?¬Ë?one-offââ?¬â?¢, but the standard that we must achieve on a weekly basis starting against Kilmarnock. The forthcoming home games against Killie and Motherwell are now as, if not, more important that the OF game. We need to continue to improve on the pitch and MUST secure 6 points from these two awkward home games. If we succeed in this, we can put more pressure on Celtc who will still be smarting from the comprehensive defeat dished out by The Rangers. As well as starting to look for consistency in performance, I hope that (injuries, suspensions and loopholes in contracts permitting) that the management team can now look for consistency in selection. I have to admit that the loss of Cousin is a blow as when he was ââ?¬Ë?switched onââ?¬â?¢ he was by far the best forward we had on our books. However, that ship has sailed and WS and his team require to decide on what pairing they think will be best for Rangers. I can see them plumping for Miller and A.N.Other. We have the strongest midfield at our disposal than we have had for a long time. Davis, Mendes, Thomson, Edu, Beasley, Aaron, Novo (although, Iââ?¬â?¢d like to see Nacho given a run through the middle), Adam, Whittikar (what has happened to him?) et al. Our defence also has a solid look about it, but I believe weââ?¬â?¢ll be without Davie Weir for a few weeks due to injury. That will see Kirk Broadfoot moving to centre-half to partner Bougherra (although, Edu could play there). So after the shock and disappointment of losing out in the CL qualifiers, the management team and the players have to set their sights on the SPL title and channel all there energy into consistently turning in scintillating performances akin to the latest humbling of the hoops. Cammy F

What a wee gem isn't he:fish:

With the next challenge to our title winning aspirations being the toughest game of our SPL calendar, is it time for Walter to finally depart from the formation that served him so well last season. On first viewing, that opening paragraph perhaps seems like a ridiculous decision; why change a winning formula? However, many will agree that whilst the defensive 4-5-1 formation, with equally defensive, counter attacking tactics served us so well in our exciting run to the UEFA cup final, it also likely cost us important domestic games. While we were getting results, against arguable superior opposition, and but for the intervention of our own governing body looked odds on for an unprecedented quadruple, there were few murmurs of discontent. Though many were unhappy at the way we played the game and demanded ball playing midfielders were bought in the summer transfer window to link our stingy defence to attack. Onto this summer and the manager has brought in these midfielders, albeit a few weeks too late, in the shape of Mendes, Edu, Aaron and the return of Davis. Early signs were encouraging as Mendes ran the show on his debut alongside Thomson. With Davis returning to the squad in time for the Aberdeen game, in the first half some of the interchanging in the middle of the park was reminiscent of the Advocaat era. The one complaint being that for all that the possession football was pretty, chances for the forwards were still at a premium. With a wealth of options in midfield, the management's greatest excuse for employing the ultra-cautious 4-5-1. Now many have argued that with the right players this 4-5-1 formation actually becomes a 4-3-3 when in possession. However, our club's insistence on playing solid, less attacking and pacy midfielders does not lend itself to this malleable formation. Certainly the true, pacy, tricky wide players are available to the manager. Players like Beasley, Novo and Aaron. And in the case of the first two, they will also provide some defensive qualities when necessary, with a willingness to chase back. So, the central midfield players are there, the forwards/wingers are there if the manager so chooses to employ this 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation. The only question is do we have the lone striker capable of spear heading this formation? A formation largely made popular by Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. Where Makelele anchored the midfield, Lampard dictated the play through the middle and the likes of Robben and Cole supported Didier Drogba at the spearhead. And it is at the spearhead that Rangers fall down. Didier Drogba is a bit of a special case in European football. I am not arguing he is the greatest striker in the game, although at his peak he was certainly one of them. However there are very few like him that can single-handed trouble an entire back line. His combination of raw power, pace, skill, technical ability, aerial strength and shooting ability allowed him to perform the role of lone striker like possibly no other player could. Do Rangers have a player in the squad with similar ability and playing style to the Ivorian? Not as far as this author can see. Perhaps the one player who most closely resembles a player with these attributes is fellow African Daniel Cousin. The Gabonese striker is strong, relatively pacy, tall and with good feet. However he has a terrible attitude and is unlikely to feature for the club again. With Novo the best candidate to fill a right wing berth at Parkhead, the candidates for the lone striker role this Sunday are Kris Boyd, Jean-Claude Darcheville, Kenny Miller, Andrius Velicka and injury dependant, Kyle Lafferty. Despite being the one true goal-scorer in the squad, Kris Boyd will not be deployed as a lone striker, due to a lack of mobility and despite improvements in this area, a lack of ability to hold the ball up. Jean-Claude Darcheville has strength and pace in abundance. However he cannot be relied upon to last 90-minutes and is composure in front of goal is also in question. New-recruit Andreas Velicka has performed this role well against the Old Firm in his previous spell in Scotland. Heââ?¬â?¢s strong, can hold the ball up well and has an eye for goal. Unfortunately, perhaps due to his lack of rest in going directly from a competitive Scottish season, to a Norwegian season and back to a new season in Scotland, Velicka has struggled for form resulting in him being dropped for yesterdayââ?¬â?¢s game at Aberdeen. Kenny Miller, a man who if played, as this fan suspects he will, could do with a goal and thereââ?¬â?¢s no time better than tomorrow. However, his frankly embarrassing career stats suggest it is unlikely he would be capable of finishing if he found himself in a position to do so. You get 100% effort from Miller, he runs the channels, he works the defence and he has some pace. However, when this formation worked so effectively for Chelsea, the spearhead was a 30+ goals a season striker. Miller is more like a 5 goals a season striker. Lafferty, returning from a knock and being a relatively inexperienced player, has height, good feet and again a little pace. However he has played much of his career out of position on the left wing and is unlikely to be thrust into such a high-profile, high-tension game with all the goal-scoring pressure on his shoulders. It appears obvious to this fan, that whilst we may now have the defence and midfield capable of making this 4-5-1 formation an effective ploy, we do not have the key player at the business end of the field to make it successful. Recent upsets at Parkhead have shown that the way to get to Celtic and upset their game plan is to go at them from the first whistle. Not sitting back, inviting pressure and hoping to hit on the break as we have done with the 4-5-1. The obvious solution is to partner two of our attackers upfront in a 4-4-2. We have begun the season playing 4-4-2, picking up 2 wins and a draw that would be 3 wins but for our questionable officials. And whilst performances have not been thrilling, gelling a strike partnership takes time. For me it is time to pursue our best attacking partnership and give it time. Partner the goals of Kris Boyd with the pace and running of one of our other strikers, be that Lafferty, Darcheville, Novo (who I would however, start on the right v Celtic) or perhaps even Miller. Go 4-4-2, go with Boyd and a.n.other and go for goals. That is my wish for this weekendââ?¬â?¢s opening Old Firm clash. I do however predict the inevitable 4-5-1 with the goal-shy Miller ââ?¬Å?leadingââ?¬Â the attack.

KEVIN THOMSON is hoping he can play the role of lucky mascot tomorrow when Rangers face their oldest rivals at Parkhead. The midfielder was gutted to miss both meetings between the sides at Celtic Park last season, but sitting out the two defeats has left Thomson with a 100 per cent record from four Old Firm ties. Thomson grabbed the winner in a 1-0 win over Celtic at Ibrox back in March but was helpless as he watched his side slip to defeat twice in the East end of Glasgow in April. But he has tasted victory at Parkhead in a light blue shirt when he played his part in a 1-0 victory there in Walter Smith's first Old Firm game after his return to Rangers. And Thomson now admits he is desperate to continue his record with another victory on Sunday. He said: "I've got a 100 per cent record and I'm quite happy to put that on the line on Sunday and look forward to it and hopefully after the game I'll be able to say I still have the same record. "I got a win there in the first season after I joined when big Ugo scored. I don't know how he did it. Someone suggested it was an overhead kick but I'm not quite sure about that. "The league was dead and buried at that stage, but it opened my eyes to how much it means to the fans and to the players. "The manager said just last week that, no matter how early they come, matches away to Celtic are a big part of the season. They might not be critical to deciding the league but we don't want to give them a lead. "If they were to win it would open a three point gap but we can go there with every confidence and hopefully we'll have an advantage come Sunday night."

I never like going to the Piggery but was very downbeat driving to the game today, even with the tunes on in the car. It was weird walking up Springfield Road as the whole grassy bit has been fenced off and we had to stick to the road. The usual burger vans were not there because of this and therefore I bit the bullet and bought a burger and coke inside the ground. We think Azure is bad? The coke was flat and the bottom of the roll was brick hard and the burger tasteless. I was sitting near the back of the bottom section. Iââ?¬â?¢ve never sat there before. What an atmosphere with the top stand overhead. It still moved up and down when we did the bouncy. Can it be 100% safe? Congratulations for 2 crackers of banners. Firstly to TBO for their Ambulance Chasers ââ?¬Å?since 1888ââ?¬Â and the CDL for their ââ?¬Å?God save our Queen, God save your Queenââ?¬Â one. Both excellent efforts, guys. Well done. To be fair, I thought the Bungle Boys ââ?¬Å?Hereââ?¬â?¢s what you could have wonââ?¬Â with Bully was quite clever, but the one with the priest (presumably Walfrid) and something about ââ?¬Å?inclusionââ?¬Â lost me. And who says Celtic fans donââ?¬â?¢t do irony. Team selection was one that nobody could have predicted with Adam being brought back and Miller and Cousin starting upfront. As it happened Adam gave the team some balance despite not having the best of games, but ideally we could do with more width in the future. Cousin was up for it and gave a great performance, which resulted in a superb goal using his strength and speed to skin Mark Wilson on the right wing and then drive it past the hapless Boruc at his near post from what appeared to be an impossible angle. Despite Rangers starting the brighter, Celtic were slightly the better team at this point in the game. Celticââ?¬â?¢s equaliser two minutes later was a comedy of errors from the Rangers perspective. Firstly Mendes lost the ball in the midfield when he incorrectly assumed Davis was taking it from him, then Broadfoot failed to stop the cross from our right, Weir seemed to miss the ball when it came to his feet which meant that Papac didnââ?¬â?¢t expect the ball to fall to him and he hit it off-balance to Samaras who easily put the ball away. Maloney turned 2 Rangers players and tried to curl the ball into the net early in the second half, but Rangers responded with the much maligned Kenny Miller scoring his first goal on his second spell at the club volleying a cross from Thomson which Boruc was unable to keep out despite his ample size. Remember the fuss that was made when a paper cup was thrown at a Celtic player at Ibrox? I wonder if the same fuss will be made about the beach ball that was thrown at a Rangers player? I doubt it though as the bal was thrown back into the crowd on numerous occasions to allow them to do it again. No action was taken by the stewards, so obviously this sort of action is condoned by the club. Rangers third goal was a peach. A corner was played back to Mendes who was standing 30 yards out and he hit it first time low and hard straight into the bottom corner. Referees have been quite correctly been getting stick for their pro-Celtic decisions and today was no exception, although thankfully it didnââ?¬â?¢t affect the result. Rangers were denied two stonewall penalties with Adam being brought down just before half-time and Cousin being brought down in the lead-up to the second goal. In the second half the ref also seemed to have decided to penalise Cousin for every challenge which resulted in a booking for consistent fouling. Two fouls later and het got his second yellow for a challenge that he actually won. He can be clearly seen concentrating on the ball and went for it so how a foul was given against him is beyond me. Thank fully the ref couldnââ?¬â?¢t avoid sending off JVOH a minute later for his two petulant kicks at Broadfoot. With both teams with 10 men, Rangers scored their 4th from a Boruc blunder as he fumbled a straightforward Broadfoot cross straight to Miller who couldnââ?¬â?¢t miss the open goal that he had been presented with and send the good guys in the stadium into delirium. Celtic scored a consolation second in injury time although most of the Celtic fans had left the ground by that point. McGregor seemed to take this out on Miller for reasons that escape me other than perhaps he has fallen into the trap of some others by blaming Miller for everything. It was a team performance and Smith had everyone pumped up for it. mcGregor looked more assured than some recent performances. Broadfoot struggled a bit with McGeady but, on the whole, did fine. Papac put in some crunching tackles. Bougherra looks sound. The midfield and attack did a power of running, with Mendes shading it for man of the match, despite his part in their first goal. All in all, a great performance and a great day. A great airing of the Pedro Mendes song,and I particularly like the new Edu song. Iââ?¬â?¢m sure Iââ?¬â?¢ve heard the tune somewhere before.....

cousin - about 40 yards out and pretty much at the touchline he was running the ball seemingly into the corner, away from caldwell (i think). he was keeping a hold of the ball shoulder to shoulder - round about ten yards from the touchline he took at touch goalwards. caldwel lunged; cousin got away. with the penalty area being flooded, instead of cutting it back he slotted it past boruc at the front post. miller - it looked like adam (i think) got brought down in the box, just at the left-hand corner, with his back to goal. ball fell out to thomson and he just swept it up quite high and across to the other side - it seemed to hang in the air for an eternity and as it dropped, km shaped up, quite like novo's last year, and rattled into the far post. mendes - after a period of pressure we got a corner. penalty box was stowed with humanity. corner played along the deck out to mendes about 30 yards out and in line with the near post. without even taking a touch he stuck his foot right through it - went through someone's legs and straight into the bottom corner. from the corner to the shot, the ball never went over two feet from corner spot to bottom corner of the goal. kenny miller 2 - broadfoot galloped down the right hand flank, as wide as is possible and right on the by-line. he swung the ball in with some venom, and boruc took it low and just dropped it at kenny miller's feet. time stood still. miller took two ridiculous touches and finally just stuck it away. that's from memory, though - i'm too excited to remember properly.

By Andrew Dickson PEDRO MENDES has been handed a massive boost ahead of Sunday's Old Firm derby with a recall to the Portugal squad. The midfielder is one of 18 Rangers players who have been called up on international duty next week. Many of those selected were expected to join up with their national associations for World Cup qualifiers, African Nations matches, youth games and friendlies. But Mendes wasn't anticipating a summons after winning his last cap for his country more than five and a half years ago against Italy. His early form at Ibrox following his move from Portsmouth appears to have found favour with new Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz. And the former Manchester United assistant manager has selected him for matches with Malta and Denmark in the coming days. The staggering tally of players who will be away from Murray Park next week is largely down to the number who will be in Scotland's squad. Allan McGregor, David Weir, Kevin Thomson, Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller have all been picked for meetings with Macedonia and Iceland. Kyle Lafferty and Steven Davis will also be on their travels for Northern Ireland's games against Slovakia and the Czech Republic. DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu will play for the United States of America as they visit Cuba for the very first time. And Madjid Bougherra and Brahim Hemdani will team up for Algeria in their home African Nations Cup preliminary match against Senegal. Sasa Papac is in Bosnia-Herzegovina's squad to face European champions Spain and Estonia. In addition, four Light Blues youngsters have been asked to appear in selected age group matches around Europe. Steven Lennon, currently on loan at Partick Thistle, is in Scotland's under-21 squad for UEFA Championship qualifiers against Slovakia and Denmark. In the same competition, Giorgos Efrem will represent Cyprus against Belgium and Andrew Little will play for Northern Ireland against Germany. Arturs Vaiculis, Rangers' under-19 goalkeeper, completes the jet-setting pack when he joins Latvia for two friendlies with Belarus at that level.

By Andrew Dickson RANGERS' 100% record in the SPL Reserve League came to an end this afternoon as they drew 0-0 with Hearts at Murray Park. Tommy Wilson's men were the better side, particularly after the interval, but couldn't convert any of the chances that came their way. Failing to break the deadlock means they've now taken four points from their first two matches after the 5-0 win against Falkirk a fortnight ago. The first half was a fairly even affair, with Gers shading it for the extra possession they enjoyed. Things might have been different had William McLachlan seen a red card rather than the yellow he received for a late foul on Hearts' Branimir Kostadinov after just 90 seconds. Indeed, it was a shaky start by the home side and Craig Sives should have headed the Jambos ahead with six minutes gone but somehow nodded wide from two yards. Rangers hit back and Rory Loy, who scored a hat-trick against the Bairns, drove low at goal but saw his effort smothered. John Fleck then skipped past two men as he cut across the 18-yard line and found the target too but also had his shot held. Paul Emslie was proving to be influential for the Light Blues and he had a go himself but his rising drive was always flying over. Hearts responded through Kostadinov and Jordan McMillan had to react sharply to block his teasing pass across goal. Rangers continued to have more of the ball after the break but while Fleck almost struck at one end, Juho Makela should really have broken the deadlock at the other. The best chance so far then fell to Spanish winger Aaron, who had experienced mixed fortunes in the opening period. He showed the class that tempted Walter Smith to bring him to Ibrox on loan from Valencia when he burst in from the left past two men and curled just beyond the far post. It was an opportunity he created from nothing and if he keeps producing like that, it won't be long before he is pushing for a first-team place. Gers were getting closer and it seemed Loy had finally given them a lead with 25 minutes remaining after Fleck and Andrew Shinnie combined to play him in. But just as his shot across Jamie MacDonald was sneaking inside the far post, the keeper stuck out a strong hand to divert the ball wide. Loy saw a similar attempt trundle past the frame and with that, frustration started setting in. Wilson threw on Giorgos Efrem and Andrew Little for Aaron and Loy in a bid to make his team's pressure finally count. But they couldn't get themselves a lead and had to settle for a share of the spoils instead with their capital opponents. RANGERS: Gallacher, Lowing, McLachlan, McMillan, Dailly, Emslie, Shinnie, Adam, Loy (Little 83), Fleck, Aaron (Efrem 68). Substitutes: Robinson, Furman, Craig, Harvey. HEARTS: MacDonald, Kelly (Thomson 67), Armstrong, Park, Sikes, McGowan, Kostadinov, Stewart (Copil 67), Makela, Wallace, Templeton. Substitutes: Bjornsson, Balatoni, Mulrooney, Docherty, Mackie. Referee: Ross Haswell.

The following article on the Rangers website: Steve Davis. My Rangers Delight suddenly got me thinking about our summer transfer dealings. I don't want to discuss the fact that it was done far too late. We all know that, there's not going to be any interesting views raised on that point. I also know it's too early to judge players, i'm merely talking first impressions. However approximately a third of the way down the page is the following paragraph: Immediately I thought that's a fairly impressive transfer spree and I wondered what everyone else thought of the inidividual signings and how they have improved or otherwise the squad. Beginning with Davis then. As long as he's not played on the right he could be a great signing. Needs to rediscover his form of his first few games at the club and the signs last night suggest he's in good form. Competition for places in the middle of the park is incredible. Kye Lafferty - A vastly inflated transfer fee, although it suggests signs of forward planning and long term thinking from the club. the only way this transfer made sense to me was to buy up a young rising star on a long contract, showcase him at a big European club and in Europe (ok not thsi season now but in future) and sell him on at a profit. His qualities as a player do not suggest a �£4million pound player, but if we can sell him on for more than that after a couple of seasons of good performances then it could be the way forward for a club that does not have the mega bucks of a bigger league. Is a risky strategy that relies on the ability to spot players. Andreas Velicka - Looked a very good prospect in pre-season. In fleeting appearances he did more than some of our other forward players. A physical presence with an eye for goal. Outwith Boyd perhaps our only other genuine goal threat from our strikers. Madjid Bougherra - Huge boots to fill with the departure of last year POTY. Should have seen the writing on the wall regarding Cuellar when Madjid was brought in. Early signs are promising, strong, defensively sound and comfortable on the ball. With the realisation that star players with such large transfer fees as Cuellar will be sold on the club has to be able to bring in replacements at a reduced fee that the management believe can pcik up where the old player left off. Can madjid do this. Who knows, but certainly we might have struggle to find a better replacement. Need to find him a long term partner now. Pedro Mendes - Again hard to comment with just one appearance to go on. What an appearance though. MOTM in his first game, running the midfield and therefore the match. Forged an excellent understanding with Thomson immediately that will be encouarging to all fans. Again adds to the excellent choices in the centre of the field. Will be really exciting when Ferguson is back to link up with the former Pompey star. Aaron - An unkown to myself, but highly rated in Spain. Sounded very exciting in a bounce game with killie. Could really light up our play down the left flank and help us lose the winning ugly mantra. Will Smith trust a relative youngster though? Edu - Signing will hopefully be confirmed tomorrow as a work permit is agreed. Again an unkown but already a international and few players seem to leave the MLS for multi million pound fees suggesting this player may have something different to your average US player. Worried by the noises that he is a utility player though. Look at Dailly and to a lesser extent Ian Murray to see why. Miller - �£2mil wasted on a goal-shy forward. A significant part of our early transfer spending wasted on him that no doubt contributed to our early European exit, costing us approximately �£12million. Getting what we expect. A lot of running but little end product. The headless chicken act. Law of averages as a forward player for Rangers you're going to have the odd good momment such as the run v Hearts to create the goal that sealed the points. Needs to show a killer instinct if he is to win over the fans, but his career suggests that is unlikely to happen. Why some fans and supposed experts of the game laud a player for trying hard and running about a lot is frankly mystifying. 8 signings, 5 of which impress me with 2 i've yet to really see. Obviously all have a long way to go to prove themselves at the club but the early signs are encouraging. Yet again we have the strongest squad in the country, on paper at least. Without the distraction of an extended European run we have to fancy ourselves to win back the title and anything less should not be tolerated.

I didnt know Christophe Berra was scottish. I cant believe Callum Davidson is back in the squad. Not sure if id have Whittaker near the squad. No Maloney or Hutton? McCullochs form has obviously been picked up on. Not at all sure about Barr, Morrison, Commons or Clarkson. Im glad its only a friendly as if this was a qualifier against the Dutch id be panicking.

Their are a lot of posts flying around different topics about how we're going to set up when everyone is signed and fit. The formations I've seen have been: - Flat 4 4 2 - Diamond 4 4 2 - 3 5 2 - 4 5 1 / 4 3 3 All though I wasn't a fan of the 4 5 1 / 4 3 3 last season I believe we now have the players at our disposal to play this formation alot more successfully and pleasing to the eye. Also with the amount of midfielders we now have it'll be the easiest way to fit them in and keep unrest amongst the squad at a minimum. My preferred fully fit first team would be: ..................................................McGregor ............................Whittaker.....Bouggera...Papac......Smith ............................Beasley..Thomson.Mendes.Fergie..Aarron .................................................Lafferty

Poll to follow: Rangers take the spoils with solid - if unspectacular - display against hard-working Hearts at Ibrox. * Allan McGregor - 7 One spill late on but superb double block just after half-time helped secure the points. * Kirk Broadfoot - 7 Generally did very well as once again he found himself playing full-back. Very solid defensively. * Madjid Bougherra - 7 Helped create the opening goal and looked very impressive at the back. Excellent distribution. * David Weir - 7 A decent game from veteran but lack of pace was again evident as Hearts pushed for equaliser. * Sasa Papac - 7 Mr Reliable put his usual unflappable shift in at left-full back. Could attack the ball more at times. * Lee McCulloch - 4 Seemed to pick up leg knock very early in game and struggled to get into match after that. Will struggle to feature very soon. * Pedro Mendes - 8 Started brightly and after fading slightly towards half-time did even better in second period. Sublime touches on the ball and looks an exciting prospect. * Kevin Thomson - 8 Incredible graft and work-rate as he was permitted to do the dirty work and allows others to create. * Kyle Lafferty - 7 Always struggling with hamstring but worked very hard and took goal superbly well. Good touch and looks dangerous on the ball. * Andrius Velicka - 6 Flitted in and out of game but has to be stronger against tough SPL defences. * Kris Boyd - 5 Didn't have the best of first halves and didn't improve after the break. Brought one good save out of Hearts keeper and slotted penalty away nicely which should help obvious lack of confidence. * Kenny Miller - 6 Unusual right midfield position for Scotland man but he performed well under spotlight from many fans. * DaMarcus Beasley - 6 Did pretty well when he replaced Lafferty and will feel he deserves starting spot for next game. * Jean-Claude Darcheville - 3 Late sub not seen at all.

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."

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.

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

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.

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

I think it's fair to say I'm one of the more optimistic posters on here. I try to see the positives in most situations and am also careful not to become embroiled in the continual negativity about every and any subject. Unfortunately, the 'midfield' (if we can call it such a thing) last night means my patience is really starting to run out. First off - we should have signed another midfield player well before now. Barry Ferguson didn't have a great season last year, Thomson is still developing, Davis/Faye left after their loans and our other options are inconsistent and/or inexperienced. The injury to Ferguson only made the situation worse but didn't change the fact we needed another midfielder - a creative, mobile player capable of breaking down teams. The fact we never - and are now risking our CL and financial future on such a decision - means several people at our club are guilty of gross negligence. They now have a short time to change this in a few different ways. 1. Again, sign a new central midfield player. Surely we have realistic targets if Davis (still not sure he's the answer anyway) cannot be signed immediately. Not doing so is completely unacceptable - budgetary requirements or not. 2. In the mean-time, we should play people who will break teams down and supply the strikers. Christian Dailly is not that person. Neither is Lee McCulloch. Charlie Adam does have a modicum of flair but quite simply he is not good enough as his decision-making and consistency are still well short of the standard required. That's after a season of being a first XI player and playing at the highest club levels. 3. That leaves Dean Furman and John Fleck - our next available options. We're all well aware of the risk regarding playing inexperienced players. Will they adapt physically? How will they cope with often unrealistic supporter expectation? Can they hit the ground running? What if they don't do the business? Poppycock, is what I say!!! Give them their chance and let them provide what their peers are not doing. Would we really be any worse off? Finally, it's easy to carried away after last night's poor result. We can (and still will IMO) win the tie but we need to maximise our chances by playing the correct players at the correct time. Rustiness and bad luck can only account for so much understanding. Bizarre personnel choices were equally to blame. Ironically, it could be argued an away tie deep in Lithuania isn't the time to bring in young lads or new players. Maybe so. I'll contend it is exactly that kind of pressure environment that will bring the best out of our young hopes while giving them the kind of immediate experience that will stand them in good stead for the future. No excuses, indeed!

Does anyone think WS doesnt actually know what starting XI he would like? I think he doesnt know what formation to use either which throws his decision. I think He knows his back 4 plus keeper but thats it. Im worried he is going to use Whittaker as a midfielder next season which baffles me. If you take our current personnel then 4-3-3 is the best choice for me. I dont know enough about Lafferty yet to comment but im hoping the 3.5 million price tag lives up to expectation. But at the moment id look at something like this when Ferguson is fit: ________________________McGregor_______________________ _Whittaker__________Cuellar________Weir_____________Papac_ ___________Ferguson______Hemdani_______Thomson__________ _______Novo______________Velicka______________Beasley_____ I like Cousin as a player but obviously his attitude is wrong, but if that was sorted then he would be accomodated in the team for sure. Cousin and Velicka would be a great pairing. However you know Miller, McCulloch and Adam will feature at the moment. I liked McCulloch before but since the turn of the year he has been so sluggish. Miller is a good worker and I like him but I think Velicka and Cousin are by far better. Adam....almost no comment! He is nowhere near good or consistant enough.

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: McGregor; Whittaker, Weir, Broadfoot, Papac; Novo, Hemdani, Thomson, McCulloch; Darcheville, Miller. Subs: G. Smith, Dailly, Velicka, Boyd, Adam, MacLachlan, Emslie, Furman.

What has happened to Rangers fans nowadays? "We're crap", "Walter Smith is a twat (or worse)", "We won't win the league", "Everyone is out to get us", "We've no money", "Our strips are poor", "Player X is an embarrassment" etc etc etc - I could go on all day! And I thought I came online to get away from the boss' or the wife's moaning? Let's begin by saying I totally understand why some fans are feeling a wee bit pessimistic. No league wins for 3 years and the disappointments of last season's failure to secure the title mean even the very best supporters amongst us will find it difficult to be overly positive. Add in a few injuries, a few signings that don't really excite and a few people stirring the pot; then we have a support that is suddenly in a negative vicious circle of the kind that breeds negativity hourly. But, we have to drawn the line somewhere surely? I'd like to take issue with a few of the more hysterical claims, if I may. 1. The last two matches have been pre-season friendlies: you know, the kind of games we've all played in. Walking pace, lack of sharpness, warm weather, tactical experiments, personnel tests, niggling strains and less than impressive results against minor sides. Generally, games that don't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things - ask Chelsea after we hammered them last season at Ibrox. 2. Injuries. Love him or loathe him, Barry Ferguson will be missed. His injury is a worrying one but it might also enable others to step out of his shadow. The other injuries don't concern me as they're not serious anyway. I'm just glad we've got them now - not when the real games start. By that time, Beasley, Lafferty, Cuellar and McGregor will all be back playing. Four damn good players nice and fresh for a long season! Smith wont be long behind them. 3. Signings. Sure, they're not Laudrups, Gascoignes, Goughs or Hateleys. However, they are all internationalists, have shown decent pedigree at club level and a couple even do the business at international level. Sure one we may not want to have seen at Ibrox again but I think the other two are interesting enough. Lafferty particularly will be a good bit of business IMO. The management team have also said they're actively pursuing other targets. Patience is a virtue in that regard. 4. Midfield creativity. I certainly empathise with worries about the dearth of this in our team. Losing Ferguson won't help and with Burke/Naismith both out until next year, we're once again short in this area. However, was I the only person to see John Fleck sneak on the flight to Germany? Did no-one else feel a funny twinge when he showed his class in a short Scottish Cup final cameo? I'm sure he started last night and played well as he scored his debut first XI goal also? Obviously, we can't base our hopes on a 16 year old raw teenager though? I mean, none of us have said it's about time we played the youths... Bears, I don't blame you for being worried. I am as well. We do need a couple of other players - a centre half and a midfielder would go a long way to quelling our fears. Imagine our Carlos with a aerially dominant partner with a bit of pace. Dream of Thomson winning a tackle and passing to a midfield dynamo who can run at the opposition. Do you really think Walter Smith - the man who led us to 9IAR - won't share those thoughts? Pull the other one! As I type this, the date is approaching the 18th of July. This is a month that ends with our first competitive game of the season; with the SPL starting again 10 days later. Over 3 weeks until we can really judge our position and even then it won't be too accurate. In that time we can moan more, we can panic more, we can slag each other off more and we can generally go against everything that is supposed to be about being a supporter of the Rangers. Or we could accept where we are, draw a line and move forward. "The cry was No Surrender" if you like.

Nacho seems to forget that Fergie played last season and the creativity wasn't that great either. Smith saying we are in no rush for a midfielder. Help!