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He's suffered a heart attack apparently. Get well soon Nacho.

Not every player can be a McCrorie or Tierney. It's important you have experience in the team as well and Murphy only turned 28 last August (see what I did there) and is about to enter his prime so he could have at least 3-5 years ahead of him. As such the value to the club could be in what he offers now as opposed to a future fee. We don't have the luxury of signing a Morgan and sending him back out on loan. We need results now.

I'm liking the new forum! Thanks Frankie and Blueflag.

1st login on the new forum. Looks good. -EDIT- Apart from my green avatar. I shall attempt to address that now. =)

If people don't like the subject matter, they don't need to open the thread.

We like to think the community that populated the Rangers Tax Case Blog dissipated, they didn't. They came to detest the bright light shone in their sordid corner. Cosgrove and Spence resent the exposure. The craftier crew decided to fly under the radar and determined to stymie Rangers attempts to climb back to the top. Dembele's proposed multi-million pound move to Brighton allowed a coterie of Sellik minded Journos to call Hove and throw in caveats about the penurious nature of Rangers finances. It will continue until our club Board set up a banking facility that allows an over draft. There was a piece from Pacific Quay CSC member, Chris McLaughlin earlier this season, on the determination of Desmond/Lawwell never to suffer the after math of their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat two seasons past. Dermot did not want to witness strange people in brown brogues celebrating again. Brendan was his weapon of choice. Further, there was an understanding that any Rangers progress would be checked and minimised. Chris did not specify the nature of this operation and I think that's why BBC Scotland quickly pulled the article. Last week, we drew the old firm game at ra Stydome and immediately the usual suspects provided the heavy artillery. Neil Cameron told us that it was the worst old firm game he had ever seen(of course Neil will tell us the second worst one too, won't he), followed by the Referee was the man of the match, and Tom English was concerned the the degree of fatigue threatening Sellik players. Martin Williams then told us not one penny of owed tax had been paid by Rangers, Cosgrove broadcast yesterday on the dilapidation of Ibrox and it's cost of upkeep. Even Spence had the temerity to blame the SFA's failure to secure O'Neill as manager on the SFA acting like the Ibrox Board. If we ever beat ra Sellik, the reaction will be nuclear. Jamie Murphy is a good signing, he improves our team. Thus, lots of analogies reference ginger bottles.

Until we get our finances in better shape, we'd do well to concentrate more on our academy and try to bring through youngsters. The good players get hoovered up at an increasingly younger age and we'll get the relative dregs of that market. If you go for guys like Sean Goss, all the past evidence of this type of deal points to a very poor success-rate. If there is a first team opportunity, better to look to play the likes of Barjonas. The other important part is once we have a player, is to improve him and add value. Over many years, we have failed miserably in this regard and generally reduced value (tbf it is more difficult in the era of Bosman). Lewis Morgan (topical) and Billy Gilmour both illustrate different angles of the costly mistakes and harsh financial reality that make it more difficult.

I'd take Docherty. Seems to be a standout player in the league -- although I've not been paying too much attention -- and a player we could use; box-to-box, creative, and can take the physical side.

The winter shut down is a load of crap!

Yes but this isn't summer football as they stop at precisely the same time. All they are doing is compressing thje games before and after.

Seems like a good plan although I don't know how you can sign characteristics and not specific players players.

We'll be installing a new theme or two over the next week or so mate...

We don't really want to know about your sex life mate. Everyone to their own.

The magic of the Black Box. It works for players and managers. The magic of the black box The black box might sound like something from a JK Rowling adventure but it is crucial to the club's success. It is a live database, fuelled by six analysts and has records of Saints players at every level, which are audited every six weeks to check whether they are hitting their targets. But it is not just details of current Saints players that are stored in the black box - data is inputted into it from games across every major league. Into it are loaded video clips, performance and statistical data, plus information about the character, personality and injury history of a player. When Reed discusses a potential signing with the manager he has a range of options, all of whom he knows will fit into the style the club wants. "When you are trying to unearth potential that can be turned into excellence, you need lots of information," added Reed. "Scouts can spot a player if they are looking at Gareth Bale - but to find a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, you need more detail." Saints signed Hojbjerg, a 21-year-old Danish midfielder, from Bayern Munich in the summer on a five-year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £13m. The data in the black box helped inform them of the player's suitability for Southampton. They knew that Hojbjerg had been through an excellent academy system at Bayern, that he was bright academically and had bundles of skill and potential. "Performance data allows us to say technically if he is what we are looking for," added Reed. "Physical information is not just high-intensity sprints. It is whether they are in high-level competition, how they hold the ball up, what the first touch is like." A good example of how Saints' long-term thinking and attention to detail allowed them to overcome the loss of an important player revolves around the departure of defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama. They signed the Kenya international from Celtic in 2013 and, according to Reed, he had opportunities to sign a new deal for two years. "It was clear he was being advised not to. When those tell-tale signs started happening we began looking in the black box," said Reed. "Potential replacements for Victor had to meet certain athletic and technical requirements. One of them was Oriol Romeu." Southampton had started monitoring Romeu as a 19-year-old when he joined Chelsea from Barcelona. They kept feeding information into his profile during a loan spell at Valencia. As Wanyama's future became uncertain, Southampton took an additional interest when Romeu joined Stuttgart on loan in 2014. Twelve months later, they approached Chelsea themselves, paying £5m for the player who has this season become Wanyama's replacement. It had been the same with Lallana and Dusan Tadic. Tadic was in the system from 2010 because the club understood that Lallana was developing into the sort of player that other clubs might want to buy. When Liverpool bought Lallana for £25m in 2014, Tadic was one of several replacements the Saints had been monitoring for years. When Adam Lallana (centre) left for Liverpool in 2014 the club already had a series of potential replacements in mind Three interviews and a 50-page profile Eight weeks after Southampton won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in 2010, Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan won the Champions League final to complete the treble. Since 2011, the Italian side have not won a trophy or qualified for the Champions League. At the start of the month, Inter played Saints in the Europa League and lost 2-1. It was a match played just days after they had sacked manager Frank de Boer, who had himself replaced Roberto Mancini after he was dismissed in August. Reed said: "If they go after 80 days, fingers need to be pointed at the people who recruit. "When managers are appointed usually they want lots of changes. They want to bring their own staff, they want money to spend. If you go down that route you are putting everything you have built at risk. "Our manager is a coach. The process is, 'are we the right fit for you, are you the right fit for us?' That is why it goes through several stages." Reed has a dossier of potential coaches that is continually updated - and has been since the appointment of current boss Claude Puel - but he describes it as "very private" and only he has access to it. When the club's Argentine boss Pochettino left for Tottenham in 2014, some thought it would mark the end of Southampton's rise. In fact, they got better, improving their Premier League placing from eighth to seventh and then sixth under Dutchman Koeman. It was the first time they had finished in the top half of the top flight in three successive seasons since 1979-82. Reed did not expect Koeman to leave for Everton this summer - but he had to be ready when it happened. He said: "Succession planning is a major factor in big business. You have to be ready for the surprise. It shouldn't be any different in football yet that is how it appears." One newspaper picked 11 potential replacements for Koeman. Puel was not among them but it was the Frenchman whom Saints eventually appointed on a three-year deal. "Every candidate to replace Ronald was in the system a year before and had a 45- or 50-page document, with a profile. The interview criteria were four pages long. Claude went through three interviews to get the job." http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37954971

Hi Gaz As per the opening message from Frankie, tapatalk will be available again soon. We just having an issue waiting on them assisting us to switch over the registered url.(tapatalk support) Forums should look a lot better via mobile browser anyway now but as said we will try fix tapatalk soon as we can. Baz

Oooh, the notification is a nice touch. Yes, I checked that the spreadsheets work; they do. Good job guys!

I'm not having any issues (so far) on my iPad. If you press the heart, other options will appear. The heart is like, the trophy is thanks. A thumbs up for agree would be useful.

More accurate "footie lingo" would be to say that the courts acted like Scottish referees. They changed the interpretation of the laws to disadvantage Rangers.

Isn't the winter stop a waste of time as it is supposed to give the players a break. Why then hit them with 4 games in 10 days after the restart. I don't get the point of that.

He should pay us to play for us. Injured wee git.

Docherty is a central midfielder and I was also told we've contacted his club. Hence the reason we couldn't buy Murphy outright.

I was midway through typing a reply and it happened again. IOS 9.3.5, iPad 2 (4yr old) Happens a lot on FF, just comes up with a page must be reloaded error message. might just be my iPad is too old , been thinking of replacing for a while now, this might hurry me up to get a new one!

I think that ship has sailed. Apart from anything else, we've yet to go on a decent winning run, never managing more than two on the trot before Murty managed four. Unfortunately, that was followed by two defeats. We need to be winning eight or nine games on the bounce several times a season before we can even think about challenging. A solid second place and at least one victory over the yahoos would be a successful end to the season from here. Having said all that, stranger things have happened.

I haven't given up hope in winning the league just yet. I think teams have sussed Celtic.

At least there's football on elsewhere. I'm a supporter of summer football.

Excellent! It's a nice wee feature.

It was a countdown of sorts untill we reached the winter break PSG 7 PSG 5 Hearts/Astana 4 Bayern 3 Hibs 2 Anderlecht 1 The only team of Invincibles that got beat quite a bit.

The new forum formats and flows smoothly so good job lads. However would it be possible to add an option either in the user CP or at the foot of the log in page to alter theme as some of us tend to have difficulty seeing/reading the lighter coloured themes (my suggestion might be Infinite dark theme) or if there is already an option could I be directed to it?

Apparently Jamies' signature!

I think this is it but i am not sure. 59. Subject to Regulations 64, a Club shall not: - (i) at any time have an aggregate of more than four Players Scottish FA Registered with it on the basis of Standard Temporary Transfers and Emergency Temporary Transfers combined;

The extent and wide-ranging fall-out from Murray's decision (or heavy gamble) to go down the EBT route has proved to be mind-boggling. There are a thousand and one angles and characters that have emerged. Bottomline - it was an awful decision by the Murray Group to take the risk in the manner and to the extent it did. - HMRC/legislation should be more cut and dry and not provide endless loopholes and grey areas. - high earners should pay the appropriate tax and NI.

Hope this is true!, cracking wee player

It's the approval queue for mod actions (i.e. certain members may have to have content approved should be set that up). I think there are a few historic threads that need to be deleted to remove that.

Pete, Can I volunteer to do the Dandy Dons preview for the 24th January?

Welcome back. As far as I know all banned people will remain banned so I guess there was another problem with your login.

Not that I recall mate but welcome back...

It's a good deal: We get to try him out, guaranteed to get him at the end of the season if it works out, and we don't have to fork out all the money now. Most importantly, he improves the first-team; very few coming in have actually done that.

I watched the Fleetwood v Leicester match yesterday and he was rank rotten!, can't judge on one game but he was pish!

Whatever 3rd parties may or may not have done wrt communications within this transfer deal, the obvious and not surprising point is that we don't have a cashflow position that will allow for much frontloaded spending this month. It will be difficult to complete deals for transfer targets that other clubs with money (eg. English Championship) want the same player. However, it's good to see Jamie Murphy at Ibrox and we really need him to hit the preverbial ground running. Given his lack of gametime this season, he should be fresh and eager to do so.

Like driving down a 40mph road for ten years, then its changed to 30mph and they fine you for driving at 40 for the previous 10yrs. Obsession cant just go away. It lingers for years and takes over some peoples lives. It must be annoying the media prick who approached this 'judge'.

Yeah it doesn't annoy me or make me mad, it's just so boring now. It's been the same chat now for 6 years.

hi all be gentle.

the lad has plenty of potential , hope he gets a good run of form going

Thank feck!

Don't fancy Naismith myself - would prefer Jones. Also worth noting now we're live again that the Murphy deal seems to be changing to a loan with the option to buy. Hopefully that will go through soonest.