Leaderboard

This is worth posting again imo. The Times Scotland @thetimesscot Steven Gerrard looks quietly terrified of the size of the job facing him in trying to mould Rangers into a force again in Scotland, let alone Europe, writes @GrahamSpiers (link: http://spr.ly/6010DSMyO) spr.ly/6010DSMyO

Oh! it could! the scum could get skelped oot tonight!

I watched half of today's game in a Glasgow pub, they surfed on a You Tube Russian link. I left at half time. Morelos was selfish, he lost his individual discipline because the collective discipline meant nothing to him. His team mates saved him from further humiliation. They appear to know the value of collective discipline(I understand Flannagan was also red carded, I cannot comment as I did not view the second half). Morelos should save the apologies, instead he must focus on a simple recurring behavioural trait. Today's game provided access to monies that have not been available to Rangers in eight seasons. The concept of the BIG picture does not register with Alfredo. I should be on an incredible high because my Club has been remorselessly kicked these last several years, and today's result is a real achievement. My anger will not subside because a continuance of such behaviour will highlight a weakness of leadership, that will be exploited. In my professional life, we parroted a mantra, 'no plan survives first contact'. I do not know how any objective appreciation can conclude a plan that includes the Columbian's current behaviour. Well done Rangers, a significant achievement was reached and should be applauded.

Most people already knew that Spiers is a bitter, twisted, useless, clown. Now EVERYONE knows it! ?

We've put together an excellent background team with an inspirational leader. Then the board have supported the football operation, who have done sterling work in the transfer window. All round, excellent management at all levels.

That was the problem on Sunday. We had too many players on the park.?

Think of how good we could be if we cracked the formula of finishing with eleven players ??

I’ve aged a couple of years in the last 45 mins.

Man up, gentlemen, man up. It is unbecoming to sound like correspondents to a teenage girls' agony column on Facebook.

Over the last few weeks my colleague Gordon at the Founders Trail has been digging into the story behind our ‘’ Light Blues’’ tag and what he’s discovered is remarkable. In the spring of 1877 a young Rangers team were to incredibly reach their first Scottish Final against the mighty Vale of Leven, it was literally men against boys. This attracted an astonishing crowd of over 8,000 to Hamilton Crescent in Partick with many more spectators outside on top of buildings and trees straining just to get a look at the Rangers. The first game ended 1-1, the replay a month later was abandoned amid controversial circumstances. What has recently come to light for us leads us to this conclusion. The series of games saw the young Rangers, mainly because of their diminutive frame and the fact that they’d managed to master the art of moving the ball very quickly between them, being referred to as ‘’The Light and Speedy’’, this through time changed to ‘’The Light Blues’’ and that’s where the tag came from. We have never worn a light blue jersey, our colours have always been royal blue. The team colours can be seen in the clubs bye-laws from 1875 below. Here is a selection of the articles recently discovered. Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Monday 12 November 1877 Athletic News - Wednesday 28 September 1881 Greenock Advertiser - Friday 14 March 1884

When and where is the draw? The draw begins at 13:00CET on Friday 31 August at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Who is involved in the draw? Arsenal (ENG) coefficient 93.000 Chelsea (ENG) 82.000 Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 66.000 Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 62.000** Salzburg 55.500** Villarreal (ESP) 52.000 Anderlecht (BEL) 48.000 Lazio (ITA) 41.000 Sporting CP (POR) 40.000 Marseille (FRA) 32.000 PAOK 29.500** AC Milan (ITA) 28.000 Fenerbahçe (TUR) 23.500*** Krasnodar (RUS) 23.500 Real Betis (ESP) 21.399 BATE Borisov 20.500** Dinamo Zagreb 17.500** Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) 14.285 Spartak Moskva (RUS) 13.500*** Standard Liège (BEL) 12.500*** Zürich (SUI) 12.000 Rennes (FRA) 11.283 Vorskla Poltava (UKR) 8.226 Slavia Praha (CZE) 7.500*** Akhisar Belediyespor (TUR) 7.160 Jablonec (CZE) 6.035 Vidi 4.250** Rangers (SCO) 3.725* 17 teams qualified automatically * 21 teams advanced from the play-off round ** 6 teams defeated in UEFA Champions League play-off round *** 4 teams defeated in UEFA Champions League third qualifying round league path How will the draw work? The 48 entrants are split into four seeding pots based on their club coefficients, with each of the eventual 12 groups to contain one team from each seeding tier. Under a new system, club coefficients are determined either by the sum of all points won in the previous five years or by the association coefficient over the same period – whichever is higher. No team can play a club from their own association, with the exact draw procedure confirmed before the ceremony. UEFA Europa League Player of the Season The 2017/18 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award will also be presented during the ceremony. Diego Godín, Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet are in the running. When are the group stage games? 20 September: Group stage, matchday one 4 October: Group stage, matchday two 25 October: Group stage, matchday three 8 November: Group stage, matchday four 29 November: Group stage, matchday five 13 December: Group stage, matchday six What comes after that? 17 December: Round of 32 draw 14 February: Round of 32 first leg 21 February: Round of 32, second leg 22 February: Round of 16 draw 7 March: Round of 16, first leg 14 March: Round of 16, second leg 15 March: Quarter-final & semi-final draw 11 April: Quarter-finals, first leg 18 April: Quarter-finals, second leg 2 May: Semi-finals, first leg 9 May: Semi-finals, second leg Wednesday 29 May: Final – Olympic Stadium, Baku

I would show him the videos, explain what he did, ask him what was going through his head, involve his mum and dad to explain to him that his behaviour was jeapordising his career and I’d give him another chance. I’d also expect him to apologise to the rest of the team on his own volition. But I wouldn’t do anything until next week. I’d put him on the bench for the scum and give him 15 minutes.

Drop him for Sunday and play Lafferty.

Speaking as a thoughtful contributor; Graham Spiers is completely, and utterly, clueless.

1.5M loss for a better chance of 55, no Brainer.

If they get pumped oot we get £3m, if they go through we get half that

We have just qualified , having played in Macedonia , Slovenia , Croatia and finally Russia , in all those 8 games we were behind not I repeat not a fucking single minute , let that sink in a minute , then smile , its great to be a bear .

on the flip side , results like today are priceless , team spirit and bonding will be off the scales after that performance , these players will die for each other now , (not literally of course ).

Simply stunning display of defensive football from us today. Against all odds and yet another corrupt official we have achieved what most if not all of us thought was impossible given the seeding situation and the rapid succession of games for an entirely new team. We we can look forward to a really tough draw tomorrow as I’m guessing we will be pot 4 but simply being there is sensational.

Don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of our team given the stakes and where we’ve come from. 4 qualifying rounds in Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia and Russia with 9 men. I genuinely feel that so long as the money men can keep us good that we are finally, finally back. We’ve had better teams but what a platform SG and his team have created in virtually no time and well done Dave King for what is looking like a master stroke. I’m really confident with the likes of Barisic and others we will get out of a EL group. Brilliant feeling tonight. Christ I’ve got to say sober but how can I do that now!

Brilliant! We lacked organisation in the first half at times but what a display for the last 30mins when down to 9 men after a disgraceful red card given to Flanagan for absolutely nothing.

If Morelos costs us this match he will find it difficult going forward with Rangers. Unbelievably stupid and irresponsible and putting pressure on his team mates manager. Raging.

When you read articles like this (and others from insightful authors), I really wonder if mainstream media looks at itself critically and wonders what it's purpose is. You would never ever get anything remotely insightful or interesting from any journo whether they be from the BBC or newspapers. If I was a sports writer I would be utterly embarassed and ashamed at the differential in value offered in comparison with these guys on the blogs who do it mostly for free. Excellent article, and very interesting. Great read!

Kent doesn't have much of an end product, yet! let's hope he starts producing more in the final 3rd! young Middleton has more IMO.

I can still remember some of my early visits to the dentist. It was terrifying. These days however, I'm quite relaxed and don't mind going. I can also remember how I felt the first time I started a new role at work. I was so nervous. These days however I can move to new organisations with very little concern. Thats the value of experience though isn't it. As time moves on you find ways to manage your anxieties and nerves. So why is it that my nerves this week are completely shredded?!? Is it because we are so concerned that our team may fail? I don't think so, because this team is more capable than those from the last few years. Is it because these games mean so much to us? Again I don't think so because all games against European opposition and Celtic are important. Could the reason for our collectve increase in anxiety be due to our expectation that this may actually be our time? I think we are all thinking along similar lines, that with a little bit of luck we could actually have a successful season, including a decent run in Europe. I'm trying to remember a time when I've been more nervous, and other than the end of the nine in a row season, and our UEFA final, I can't think of any time that I've felt like this about our team. 55 means more to me than any other achievement in the club's history. I think that's why we have built Sunday's game up so much in our heads. It's a sense that everything (including corruption, abuse, discrimination, bias) we've faced recently could all be worth it if we reach that magical league title again. Tonight however is our opportunity to ensure that this season is already regarded as successful. If we win tonight, we are guaranteed that our team next season will be further improved as a result of the increased prestige and funds coming to the club, and that finally the financial gap to Celtic begins to reduce. There's so much riding on tonight's game, and the weekend. This is what supporting our club is all about. This is the type of stage we've been desperate to return to. I feel it's our time. Rangers, please make it so. Let's go!

Once again putting them on the spot well done.

Biggest worry after first leg is having decent referee.assistants.

Stewart McDonald's language is over the top in response to Adam Tomkins' tweet. Sounds as if cages may well have been rattled.

https://mobile.twitter.com/alanjhorne/status/1035196828613058560

With the euphoria of the result I am inclined to forgive Morelos. I suspect his teammates will also forgive. I would have him on the bench for Sunday and play Lafferty.

Their goal was offside, not by much, but clearly so, and at this level of football, a European tournament, no less, I expect the linesmen (Asst Referees, Ah ken, Ah ken) to be competent enough to see it. Mind you, the officiating overall today was of a standard poor enough to match that of the SPL. Let us hope that we get classier adjudicators in the Group Stages.

Yeah TV money in group stage doesn't work that way. All the money from each nation represented in the group is combined then split between the four teams upto a limit of £5m So we want one English team and o e German team please??

Credit where credit is due

Go tell the Spartans, passing strangers, 300 of them, But only 9 of Rangers. (Got the idea from Bet 365, I confess).

Actually I was cursing SG coz he didn't take him off at half time, him being on a yellow with a dodgy ref.

Morelos: Invited the ref to send him off. European competition often see rules employed for those types of things, eg. Whittaker / Malmo. Flanagan's second yellow was softish. Ok if it's a first yellow but harsh for a second. As WalterBear says, let's enjoy for now.

Just to add.. we're also still unbeaten ,and given today's circumstances, that's no mean feat.

The Gerrard express steams on despite severe obstacles. We made it. This is incredible.

The Ref booked him twice on the spot. Take the booking you know you're going get and shut the f&*k up Alfredo. I'm angry with him for that. Cruising in an EL away game he gets mouthy gets himself sent off. Puts his team mates under pressure that they seriously dont need in this game nevermind with important game coming up on Sunday.

why can he not keep his head. idiot

Watching it on facebook. RangersTV has come on but 2 minutes behind facebook1

Kent's persistent desire to cut in is only really a problem when he plays with Flanagan, because neither wants to cross from the byline. If Kent plays with Barisic , who obviously has a wicked cross, it could be very effective.

http://www.standardscommissionscotland.org.uk/codes-of-conduct/routemap-for-complaining and http://www.standardscommissionscotland.org.uk/uploads/files/1531127491CllrsCodeofConductJuly2018.pdf may help in that regard

It would be interesting to note what if any s75 obligations will accompany this transfer of land. Come to think of it, with regard to the disposal of said streets to enhance their estate footprint back in the '90s, it would be of equal interest to note what s75 agreements were put in place. I could be wrong, but I don't recall Celtic building any primary schools as part of 'planning gain'. They seem to be in the business of demolishing primary schools. Anyone on here work in Development Control in George St that could enlighten us?

Another real test for this squad in hot conditions on an artificial surface tonight. Attached is my probable XI and I think Lafferty, Halliday & McCrorie will be important as game goes on. Extra time a nightmare possibility. Recent weeks has asked a lot so getting a result tonight will be all about 14 players rather than the usual 11. It's a demanding schedule but this is the level we need to play at. Fingers crossed we stay unbeaten into next week which would be a superb achievement.

Aye, he's only cup tied for the qualifying rounds.

If all of these signings come to fruition I believe we have an excellent chance of winning the league this season. Winning on Sunday would be glorious in so many ways. Not only would it lay down a marker it would throw them into further turmoil and help alleviate some of the pain from recent results. But the Russia jaunt has come at just about the worst time it could have, our enemies couldn't have planned it any better. Given a choice of winning one or the other it's difficult to decide which match I would most prefer to prevail in. Probably Ufa since this is a one off and a path to up to £10 million. Lose it and that chance is gone. Lose to the yahoos and that doesn't mean the league is gone.