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Could Didier Agathe not allow Paul Larkin to borrow his main battle tank? Apparently, it's perfect for travelling around west central Scotland whilst under threat from Rangers fans.

I'll never understand what people get from not only vandalism but the more extreme forms of it such as this.

From today's Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/these-football-times/2018/jan/11/benfica-academy-world-football-transfers A day inside Benfica's academy, the production line for European football Benfica have made more than £230m in the last three years from selling academy graduates. This is how they develop their young players By Alex Clapham for These Football Times, part of the Guardian Sport Network A few of Benfica’s academy graduates – including Bernardo Silva, Renato Sanches, Victor Lindelof and Ederson – have ended up in the Premier League. Composite: Getty Images, Action Images Alex Clapham Thu 11 Jan ‘18 14.52 GMTLast modified on Thu 11 Jan ‘18 14.57 GMT Look at Ederson of Manchester City. When he came to me he was just a lad from the favelas, too scared to leave his own penalty area. Now he takes bigger risks than anybody in the Premier League. Bernardo Silva is top as well. We sold him to Monaco and after a few weeks he was speaking French on TV, he’s an example. This club gives the boys life skills to grow.” Luís Nascimento, the head coach of Benfica’s under-15 team – who have been crowned national champions in four of the last six seasons – is talking to me at the club’s impressive Caixa Futebol Campus in Seixal on the banks of the River Tagus, a 20-minute ferry ride away from the south side of Lisbon. In 2006, some fellow by the name Eusébio opened the football centre, which houses 65 kids from around the globe. The factory boasts nine pitches, 20 dressing rooms, two auditoriums, three state-of-the-art gyms and – the crème de la crème – a “360S simulator” in a lab where players work on their technique, go through video analysis and do nutritional and psychological tests. The simulator is like the Footbonaut, first seen at Borussia Dortmund, but Benfica’s version has robotic-like players that move along the walls of each side of the cage. The youngsters are tested on their reaction speeds, vision and execution when aiming for the moving targets after controlling the ball inside the 10-foot circle. Madonna moves to Lisbon as son joins Benfica youth academy Read more “Youth football is a fundamental area for Benfica, with sporting, social and financial benefits,” says Nascimento. “We do not talk exclusively about ‘training’, we refer also to ‘educating’. The academic performance of our players is monitored and encouraged at all levels. The mission is to guarantee the quality of technical training and educational enrichment of players of all age groups, with a focus on the integration into the first-team, promoting human values such as respect, responsibility, solidarity, justice and tolerance.” The Under-15 team arrived to the training ground for their session and every single player walked across the office to shake my hand. They all greeted me with “boa tarde” – including the pair who were busy making fun of the security guard’s slightly balding hair, all in good fun. I was struck by the feeling that this is a special place and that I was lucky to be there, so just imagine how special these youngsters feel. There’s a level of respect around the club. Players are on first-name terms with staff, exchanging pleasantries with kitchen workers and holding doors for cleaners. While Benfica have gained a reputation as a selling club, these youngsters know their development is in good hands. At the end of last season, 54 of Benfica’s Under-21s were offered professional contracts, with the money made from outgoing players pumped back into the academy. In the last three years alone, Benfica have made more than £230m from selling academy products. The club has a clear pathway for players, who move through the youth sides before representing their B team in LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. The current reserve squad contains 16 academy graduates, who are now playing in a men’s league, where tackles are stronger, gamesmanship is rife and winning is everything. Benfica’s academy has a “Develop to Win” motto and it is clearly working. They have overtaken rivals Sporting CP and Porto to lead the table of national youth championships won since Caixa Futebol Campus opened in 2006. With a 4-3-3 system that filters down to the Under-13 team, specific ideas are drilled into players throughout their teenage years. It’s not uncommon for youngsters to play in a different age group to protect the less physically developed individuals and challenge the bigger, stronger boys. From the age of 13, they spend seven hours on the training pitch and between 90 and 120 minutes in the “Lab”, where they work on psychology, physiology, nutrition, physiotherapy, video analysis and in the 360S simulator. FacebookTwitterPinterest English forward Chris Willock playing at the Caixa Futebol Campus for Benfica’s B team against Varzim SC in the LigaPro. Photograph: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images As each under-15 player greeted me for a second time before taking to the pitch for the evening session, an army of staff took up their stations beside the pitch. Alongside coaches, physiologists and physiotherapists, each team has a video analyst who records footage from each training session and game; not a single kick falls off the record. Something began to sink in as my hand became sore from all the high-fives with the players: the sheer number of them. From the Under-13 team upwards, each squad consists of enough players for three teams. This strategy helps the club attract the best players from each corner of the country, but it also to create a competitive edge. Everyone has team-mates fighting for his shirt. These are kids, but this is an environment that develops ruthless competitors. After the 34 players had carried out the equipment and warmed up with the physiologist, coach Nascimento called them in and gave out instructions. No coach has been at the academy for less than 10 years and, although standards and trust have been built, the “Mister” was far from content with what he saw after 12 minutes of play. This is a man who plans every last detail, admitting he has been known to spend an extra 40 minutes reworking a session after a player has fallen ill in the afternoon. With a cup game only two nights away, the session was about attacking from wide areas, with wingers creating an overload on one side before switching the play and bringing in an overlapping wing-back. It was a synchronised exercise and perfection was required in every touch, pass and movement. The players were recalled into the centre-circle and, following a seven-minute chat, they went back to their positions. What followed was as close to perfection as the coach could have imagined. Barking orders and encouragement to some more than others, the boss knew what he wanted, as defenders were lost before strikers finished from crosses, and rapid counter-attacks were set up to create a three versus two going the other way. The quality had improved dramatically but a further hour was spent on the exercise until it was like clockwork. “To get the best from players, you must gain their trust and make them understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.” Nascimento told me at the end of the day. “I’ve worked with these players since they were boys and know which ones to push. Wednesday’s opponents will defend with six players in a low block, creating compact areas and I need individuals to take risks.” “We spend so much time working with players individually and the video analysis is shown to each player to critique them. Once they’re correct as an individual, with the required understanding of their responsibilities and sacrifices for the group, we deal with them in a team environment, teaching them how to win games.” And that’s the key – alongside learning and developing as individuals, these youngsters are taught the importance of winning football matches. Benfica's production line in the last three years Player, age, team sold to and amount paid 2015 André Gomes, 21 Valencia £18.0m Bernardo Silva, 20 Monaco £14.2m João Cancelo, 21 Valencia £13.5m Ivan Cavaleiro, 21 Monaco £13.5m 2016 Renato Sanches, 19 Bayern Munich £31.5m Nélson Oliveira, 24 Norwich City £5.25m 2017 Nelson Semedo, 23 Barcelona £27.5m Victor Lindelof, 23 Manchester United £31.5m Helder Costa, 22 Wolves £13.5m Ederson, 23 Manchester City £36.0m Gonçalo Guedes, 20 Paris Saint-Germain £27.0m Guardian graphic | Source: IOC

Nowhere near as low as scrawling it in the first place. IMHO of course.

Paul is confused. The threat was from his Maw, telling the forty-something to leave the parental home and get a job. Pray for Paul.

Clearly a publicity stunt to drum up ticket sales. Facilitated by the Sun. And they wonder why fewer and fewer folk buy any newspapers any more?

Can't understand why you'd be prepared to miss...... for this..............

I fail to have sympathy for someone receiving death threats when they use a sign saying "Bobby Sands Way"

It didn't work out at Hibs because Hibs were taking the piss out of KT. They were abusing the fact he is a Hibbee and has a desire to be involved in the game. He was playing for free in both his 2nd and 3rd stint at Hibs, had an agreement with them that if the club did well he would be compensated appropriately - they made the League Cup Final in which he played, got beat by Ross County - and the club offered him a derisory bonus (He told me the amount but I won't divulge - but I can say that, for a team reaching a major final in Scottish football that the amount stunned me - was very, very paltry). Whilst he was at Hibs the 3rd time he was, again, playing for free. He was training in the morning, then would train in the afternoons again privately to get himself in top shape, would head home for dinner (lives close enough to the bypass for a quick drive to their training facilities) and would be back out the door to go and either coach their development team or manage their game. All of this was being done for free and at a time when his wife (who is a really, really nice person too) had just had two small boys - his kids are 7 and 5 - so at that time they were 5 and 3. And was doing all of this for free. That was in 2015/2016 and 2016/17 - he then started his own Academy in November 2016 - one of his best friends is a silent partner in the Academy - and it took off very quickly. He started out doing 1-on-1 sessions, then moved that up to having 2 kids per session and he now has 4 kids per session - he also has a full time coach along with him - a guy who was in the Hibs Academy with him back in the day, and who is his brother-in-law - real nice guy who played pro too, for smaller clubs. KT is very organized - he told me a few months ago that when he was running his sessions he wasn't just assessing kids ability but also how they interacted with each other - basically he was working out which kids in the Academy would be able to train with other kids so that ALL the kids got the best out of their sessions. I have seen this with my kid because the kids he trains with they all get along as if they are very good friends, despite only seeing each other for an hour a week. His organization skills are excellent. Vignal is moving over here I think - his family are staying in France though. Yes, I believe that this is the work of Mulholland

https://www.krismcgurk.com/single-post/2018/01/10/GREEN-BRIGADE-ATTACK-LOCAL-PUB---WILL-IT-BE-THE-LAST-TIME

MOH making the right noises in his interview, up to him ,to back it up though.

I don't think I have ever had a useless wank.

Not sure if you're being sarcastic here or not, but I don't get why our own fans need to abuse our own players. I am not a fan of MOH and some others but I just don't understand what fans get out of doing this

More likely to end up with an empty sack looking at that!

It would appear so. It's a shame, as I think he could do a job -- we're not exactly flush with forwards either! Hopefully he works hard and perhaps forces his way into contention. He's still young. I'd like to see Burt get some game time too, if he can push on.

A case where the journalist, Jack Haugh's best outcome is to be called an idiot. Ironic that the first line in his article includes "suffered humiliation". Of course the other possible scenario is that he's deliberately twisted the facts. The lad may go on to do well because Boris 'clownboy' Johnson was sacked as a journalist for making up quotes and that seems to have been helpful in his subsequent career.

Wouldn't be like the media to get things wrong now, would it

Finished 2-1 to us with Dodoo and Dallas our scorers.

He is saying the same things we heard. I really bought in to that stuff at the start

Anyway, let's focus our disgust on the culprits - not posters on here or folk going about their daily basis. The real scum follow Celtc.

Size and strength is important in most players but if they want to be successful at a reasonable level, they'll need to develop their technical game. Successful smaller players at a decent level tend to be strong as well. Big, small good or indifferent,.......It's really a matter of working as hard as you can on the areas in which you may lack. A professional and determined attitude to this can carry you far. The triumvirate of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta was a once in a generation combination.

Dodoo would seem to be quite away from the first team picture, currently around 4,200 miles.

Think the Beatles were big Zappa fans, so no problems using the image.

New Faces Settling In Well https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/new-faces-settling-well/

PS: Another day, another negative story about us. They are seemingly going into next gear ...

Again, someone who sure has studied to get her job and is well able to throw facts about, choses to shame our club's name with false information. Ban the Scottish Sun from any access to Ibrox, Auchenhowie and the players, Rangers.

GRAEME MURTY has provided an injury update ahead of the Florida Cup games against Atletico Mineiro on Thursday and Corinthians on Saturday. https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/murty-ross-ryan/

Some info from FF about Docherty and Jones ... Rangers have made contact with Hamilton. Hamilton have named their price. Down to us now. Docherty is on Clyde phone in tomorrow night. + I don't think the price is gonna be a problem with Hamilton. Info today was he would be tied up before next weekend. + £600k was a price i've heard. + (Info from where?) From very close to Docherty. Not gonna throw the name on here but the info was that this should be concluded before next weekend. And Jones will leave Killie this month, for well below 1m ... There’s a good chance he’ll end up at us. We’ve been in talks with killie about him for afew weeks https://www.followfollow.com/forum/threads/transfer-target-info-thread.4733/page-6

Peter Blake designed the album cover. Wonder what he'd make of it?

Fifteen years past, on another Bears' website, far, far away. The social media content of the brother of BBC Scotland commentator, Liam McLeod was exposed. I am not interested in visiting the sins of Rory upon Liam; however, the conditioning of both brothers must be up for debate. Both middle class, tertiary educated, and Aberdeen supporters. Rory had lots of vile references to the Ibrox Disaster on his social media. Liam is a long term employee of BBC Scotland. Last season, Rangers visited Pittodrie in September'16. The team coach was parked in the car park of the Hotel used by Rangers. On the morning of the game, there was a two foot high engraving on the side of the coach, mocking the deaths of 66 football supporters. The car park is well covered by CCTV cameras, there has been no arrests. Now, I am sure it was reported at the time, Rory was a serving Polis. It's like Justice Minister, Michael Matheson sitting in the North Stand at Sellik Park and two effigies are hanging by their necks for in excess of an hour, to his half right. Strange fruit twisting in the breeze. The Match Commander at that old firm game congratulated the crowd for their exceptionally good behaviour. Michael refused to comment, but three arrests ensued. Ra Sellik have already returned season tickets to two of those charged. Eighteen months on, do we believe the third will ever see the inside of a court? Michael continues to believe the Hokey-Cokey to be a sectarian song.

McCrorie particularly has taken a good few heavy challenges in the last few games. No surprise to hear an old injury has flared up.

This. There's confusion over the winter break. Some pundits laughably think it's to do with avoiding bad weather and have a moan when it snows or freezes in February. It's nothing to do with weather and all to do with giving the players a break. It's meant to allow players who have been playing with injuries to get them addressed, either through an op or through rest. As supporters we're often critical of players commitment without realising that most players play with ongoing injuries. Either playing through the pain barrier which can lead to their performances being compromised or with pain killers which can lead to injuries getting worse. Hopefully these are nothing too serious and both can get over them within a couple of weeks.

You can see and understand why we kept playing him but it doesn't make it the right thing to have done. I get paranoid when it comes to our better young players and injury because of what has happened in the past. These things can obviously happen but you should do all you can to prevent them.

I suppose that's what the Winter break is all about: giving the players a rest, both physically and mentally -- hopefully with the latter they can get over their Ibrox hoodoo, although I don't want to jinx it! The most important thing is we get them back to full fitness for the next League game.

Can't help but think of a Viz type character in a weekly comic strip. Terry Tank Commander (with sellick tap) battles against his imagination .

“Those are two historical ones that have had, not relapses, but we are taking our time with because we want to make sure that we don’t push them too hard and we give them longer-term problems." -------------- Sounds as if we have already pushed McCrorie too hard after he first suffered the injury. He's the type of guy who will just keep going until he's well and truly f**ked so we need to carefully look after the young man, both for the player and the club's best interests.

RANGERS whose ground is Ibrox, their support never waivered even going down to lower division. "Like a boxing champ, they won every division to get back to the top" Comments from the commentators there.

When we win 55 there is going to be a massive TIMplosion

If they don't get the automatic promotion spot I don't see them beating an SPL opponent in a play off no matter who that opponent is.

For whatever reasons, it was fairly plain that Pena wasn't for applying himself or particularly interested in doing a professional job with Rangers. Facts prior to him joining were that he had been good enough to play for Mexico and that in more recent times had had issues outwith the game that might have been a factor in a sustained lack of form. The signing was a distinct gamble. Pedro Caixinha was to be the man who was to get Pena back to playing the way he had been when capped by Mexico. If he did, we'd win a watch and have an excellent midfield bargain with sell-on value....The real gamble had been Pedro Caixinha. What we got was a Pena who wasn't particularly interested or bothered in applying himself. Caixinha left and the writing was on the wall and if there was any doubt about his attitude, we got yesterdays video tweet