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Having seen the two possible replacements mentioned in this thread, I am now firmly back in the 'give Clement time' camp!

I give up making predictions....... apart from that we will win nothing this season

I do find the fitness thing quite concerning. These are professional athletes, surely it only takes a few weeks/matches to get them to peak fitness. Clement has had more than half a season and a full pre-season, so I don't buy the excuses about previous managers.

His remit would've been heading up recruitment as well as the football operations - that's what DOF's do. Jurgen Klopp didn't want Mo Salah famously but Michael Edwards (the DOF) pushed it through and the rest is history. Brendan Rodgers wanted Christian Benteke and not Roberto Firmino. The days of managers making signings are long gone unless you're Dick Campbell at Arbroath or the like. GVB was probably offered Matondo and he took it, similar to Davies. That doesn't mean they were HIS signings, if you get what I mean. If he really was that involved in recruitment then we were more of a shitshow than I realised. Beale I understand because there wasn't a DOF or HOR (Koppen). Look where that got us.

The problem with that is that Celtc don't drop many points. If it takes us until September or October to get up to speed, the league may already be lost.

I think given the wastefulness and lack of quality on show from us, a draw isn't the worst result. However, many of the same issues from last season remain. Unsurprising when it was pretty much the same team but the manager simply has to find more from whoever is playing. We can't fault (most of) the effort but, as per last term, the tempo isn't good enough, our passing is dreadful and our attacking/defensive awareness is woeful along with an obvious lack of creative influence across the side. It's not good enough and I don't want to hear excuses.

I wish...

I'm hearing rumours that Shankland was at the Rangers game on Saturday. Make of that what you will...

Joint top undefeated after an away game against last season’s third best team. Good result with the players available. Just very disappointing that these are indeed the players available with Cortes down already and only the prospect of Pröpper to give hope.

That's some turd polishing.

Worryingly it's Hearts who are finishing this game the stronger and looking more likely to score.

I'd like to see them switch clubs.

This excellent vlog will be following the FA Cup from the beginning, when Great Yarmouth get knocked out he will be covering the team who beat them and so on. Of course, it's just about possible that Great Yarmouth could make it all the way to Wembley.

Never said that, but seen managers sacked with records like that.

I've had issues but just put it down to German sabotage and took the stiff upper lip approach. 😎

He was the TRIalist that tried to score from our three corners, but somehow failed to hit the target from less than a yard out. He sure is a natural scorer these last few years, but like every striker we have signed since Warburton, he would have to lead the line against packed defences, something he hardly ever does for Hearts. It would be a rather new environment for him and not even the Fates know how he would fare with us. Let him stay at Tynecastle till the end of the year and hope he'll hurt the Scum, then offer him a pre-contract in January. If anything, I wonder why Clement hasn't raided the Belgium or similar market. He and his sure know some cool old heads and talented youngsters.

Thats is a damning stat and just not good enough

Let's be honest though, it wasn't until Ange got a war chest in the January transfer window when we saw his style of play come to fruition. If we spend even half of what he spent in his first 2 seasons over the next 2 then our squad will look drastically different. As is we'll have to sit tight until then, can't really advise anything else other than backing the manager until he gets his own team.

It's open to interpretation but I think it's fairly obvious what Clement meant, having read Rousseau's post with the full question and answer. Clement does often say quite odd things but I think he's maybe a bit eccentric and English is also his second language, so it's maybe difficult for him to make his point sometimes.

It should, generally, but our medical/fitness have been mismanaged for several seasons, as Clement has repeatedly said. We've all been saying it for a while. We can't control what they do. We're half way there by offloading all the rubbish, but we've not made progress on adding to the first-team. I'm writing off this season, yes. That's just me. I think this is the rebuild we all wanted - but it won't be as easy as everyone seemed to think it would be.

Matondo is murder to watch. Just runs with his head down, with no awareness of what's going on around him. Also, how many times do our players get caught on the ball? Does no one shout "man on" anymore?

No goals conceded against super-top-notch striker this side of Saturn's rings, again. Never an easy place to go, the deficits in the team are not new, and need no repetition. Ceterum, peto ut mutanda ratio!

Clean sheet. Point away at Tynecastle. Not a bad result.

Tavernier asking everyone to concentrate after almost putting it in his own net ... again ...

Tavernier has two players through on goal with a single Hearts defender in the middle not closely covering anyone ... and he passes it to the Hearts defender!? Dafuq?

Is it fuck, you've got 5 subs. If Clement was proactive he'd make at least one at HT - it doesn't eat into the number of times you can make a change.

RANGERS: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Davies, Ridvan, Barron, Diomande, Lawrence, Wright, Cortes, Dessers Subs: Kelly, Matondo, Cerny, Dowell, Jefte, Balogun, King, McKinnon, Danilo. I'd call that 11 out of 11.

So its matchday and the new season is finally here. It'll be a rocky road to May and it'll either be a rocky road to success or failure. As always my heart says success, but my head says failure. Either way, strap yourselves in folks, here we go again.

Friendlies and the euros never quite hit the spot, Thank fudge the season is starting. C'mon The Gers

First competitive game of the season players should be raring to go but I did notice a couple of them looking shaged out after about seventy minutes anyway we’ve got a point on the board so it’s onward and upward.

I've not drawn any conclusion, I've agreed with Clement, we did miss Lundstrum today. I'm not the one trying to justify what he meant when he mentioned Lundstrum and never mentioned experience. I'd argue its not experience we need, it's quality. If a player has both, we've own a watch. As an example, I'd rather have Barry Ferguson in Advocasts 1st session (inexperienced) over John Lundstrum. I'd rather have Steve Davis over John Lundstrum (quality and experience). None of the above negates the fact that me missed Lundstrum today.

Mate chill. You are constantly in the trenches.

Who is the physio bloke we always see on the pitch - with the grey hair and combover? Whenever I see him, I expect the worst. Is he good at his job? Should Cortes have came back out for the second half? Are we just cursed with injuries?

In his defence they probably weren't his signings, Ross Wilson was partial to an EFL prospect and the Belgian market.

Tavernier's legs have gone. He can't do what his brain is telling them to do. Everything is just wrong with him.

Soutar did well there

Looked lost all afternoon

I think Cortes looks like he'll be really good when he gets going. Here's hoping the knee is okay.

That's really unfair: a wet wipe has decent internal strength.

First 15mins and we are all over the place. They look faster and sharper than us all over the pitch.

That squad is sadder that Todd Cantwell when no one gets his edgy social media posts.

We wanted a center half we got one so what if he’s thirty if we get five good years from him he will more than pay his way

He's gone, he's finally gone. Halle-feckin-luyah. £2M a year off the wage bill plus a fee. I am away to bet on us winning the league now that this serial loser, big-game bottler and half-time chucker is history. Well done big Phil in getting rid as I know he wasnt keen to leave.