craig

Nakamura is denying it... doesn't mean his denial is heart-felt though.

I would liken Thomson to Clement, except I would actually rate Thomson higher. Has a bit more pace than Clement, has more drive, more determination, better passing. I was impressed with Clement when I saw him against Dundee Utd in the 2-2 draw early season but was just as impressed with Thomson when I watched him the week before against the sheep at Easter Road. I would have preferred Brown too, but also wonder if he might be on the cards too.......

Keeper can wait till the summer though as even though we know Klos is going he can still be called upon, and it saves us wasting wages for a THIRD keeper for 6 months when we have an assured keeper getting 30k a week for doing nothing.

Yes, you have.....

I dont think he is Pete. Did we not get just the 2 UEFA spots this year, us and Gretna ? I can't remember to be honest.

Just 4 short weeks ago we had not much to shout about with our team and general squad depth. But is Walter slowly but surely getting things right ? If Thompson does sign and if McCulloch does sign then we are looking at a potential starting 11 of ---------------------------------McGregor------------------------------ Hutton---------------Ehiogu------------------Weir-----------------Smith Burke/Sionko-------Ferguson----------------Thompson----------McCulloch -------------------------Boyd------------Prso--------------------------- At the beginning of January our starting 11 was ooking something like : ---------------------------------McGregor------------------------------ Hutton--------------Svensson---------------Hemdani--------------Smith Burke/Sionko-------Ferguson----------------Clement----------Adam -------------------------Boyd------------Prso--------------------------- Now I know that we have only added a couple of new faces but I think that these new faces will make a BIG impact on our team. Yes, Weir and Ehiogu are old but they are solid and seem to have looked after themselves and they certainly are more commanding than we had in the team previously. Then in midfield I think we get an upgrade with Thompson over Clement (I liked Clement but I think Thompson is still an upgrade) and I think that McCulloch is an upgrade on Adam too (don't think there are too many doubts on that one). Let's not forget that Thompson will be available for the UEFA too (I think....) And if we do still get Hartley then we have what looks to me to be a very solid midfield more than capable of competing with Celtic. All we need now is one forward and I think we have the making of a very strong, dependable team AND squad. This bear likes to look on the bright side of things. I think WS is slowly but surely improving our playing staff. Hopefully he can get one or two more in before the window shuts !

Wouldn't mind seeing a striker in either though !

I woudl go for Brown on the right - the one thing that Thompson does is give us balance in the middle of the park. Thompson is left footed, Fergie right footed so you have a natrual balance in the middle of midfield. I would like to see a midfield 4 of McCulloch/Burke-------Thompson------Ferguson------Brown/Burke Obviously Burke can't play on both wings, but he would be competition for both McCulloch and Brown, to keep them on their toes. I would prefer Brown to Hartley as if we have to spend 1.5 mill for Hartley then it is money gone (30 yrs old, cant sell him on) - I also think 1.5 for him is too much. Brown is much younger and will only get better, so he is the pick for me. Although, when I watched Hibs v the sheep on opening day Michael Stewart was better than Thompson, and he ran Brown pretty close for MOTM on the day too.

No worries my man

Not quite true buba. His club in Norway, Brann, aren't interested in keeping him so he IS looking for another club. He isn't here just to sort out family problems ! Both he and Robbie Winters are being let go by Brann if a club will pay them 40,000 quid. Brann have also said that neither player are in their plans for the new season which is about to start in Norway.

Completely disagree. Until such point that we have no chance of making the finals he has to stick with experience. Also, if he made wholesale changes and the team get beat then he would be slated. If he picks by and large WS Scotland team and it gets beat then he won't face quite as much criticism. But either way, there is a time to bring the kids through and I am not convinced it is when our national team is top of its group with a chance, albeit slim, of qualification.

Stevie Smith is still injured juffery - but I see your point. Is it commonplace to have almost half your squad made up of defenders ? A 30 man squad and 13 are defenders whilst you only take 4 recognised strikers ?? Surely we should be having more than 4 strikers in a squad ?

To be fair though Jim, Falkirk are maintaining that they could make the top 6 with Gow in their team and if that is the case they reckon having him with them till the summer would be worth more than the amount we have bid. They are playing a tricky game though. Personally I would just get him on a pre-contract - I reckon we don't need him to secure 2nd spot and therefore it would be wiser to just get him for nothing in the summer, and get him working in pre-season with the team (which will probably be full of new faces by then anyway).

If just a few more of these overpaid professionals would do something similar a better place the world would be. Well done Ulises !!

I just read Ivanauskas' response about Hartley and Gordon being left out. He said that they had been left out for "football politics, especially Hartley". That to me is a definite indicator that Hartley was left out against us as he is the subject of a bid from us - otherwise why the "especially Hartley" comment ??

I think if we got Hartley just now and Brown in the summer with one LM then we would have a very strong midfield. Brown-------Fergie-------Hartley------A.N. Other That looks like a strong midfield to me - and I think with the 3 we have in there we could afford to utilise Burke out on the left. A midfield 4 full of Scots with pace (Brown and Burke), creativity (all 4 IMO), drive (Fergie and Hartley) and goals (Fergie, Brown and Hartley too).... I would take that any day of the week. We would also be much more potent at set pieces with Hartley in the team - that boy can hit a great free-kick and corner.

Asides from playing for one of the top sides in Europe the main thing in choosing Arsenal would be in your last sentence Gav - he would be 1st choice. That is huge when a young keeper is looking at deciding on a club - Lehmann won't last much longer and there is no doubt Gordon would be 1st choice. I am not sold on Neilson - except we do need cover/competition at RB. Hartley I would take.

Iwas impressed with Sebo's effort yesterday when he came on - pacy, chased everything down. The only downside is that as a striker he was doing all of his work outside the box. Not his fault though as he was chasing balls into the channels. But I thought he did some excellent work and obviously wants to do well for the club - I am starting to think that,given some games to improve his confidence, that Sebo will come good. As for the excellent work and industry the same has to be said of Novo - mid 2nd half there was a Hearts break after one of our corners and who was the player that chased the ball down in the RB position at the corner flag ? Novo. Great effort.

If he improves our team then buy him. Although I would prefer Brown I think Hartley would improve us - shame for Hemdani though as I would see him being the one to miss out.

Again, according to sky sports Hannover want to sign Rangers midfielder Thomas Buffel. The Bundesliga side believe the 25-year-old can bolster their midfield, but Rangers boss Walter Smith may be unwilling to part with the Belgian during the transfer window. Hannover's Sporting director Christian Hochstatter is believed to be set to fly to Glasgow in an effort to secure a deal for Buffel, who cost Rangers �£2.3million in 2005. Head coach Dieter Hecking said: "I�´m not the right person to ask to say whether a deal is possible before January 31. "But if we fly over there, I'm sure there�´s a chance for him to play (for Hannover) in the second half of the season." However, Smith has already indicated his desire to increase his midfield options after losing Jeremy Clement to Paris St Germain. "At this time of year, it's not ideal to lose someone unless you can bring someone else in," said Smith.

WS putting him in the shop window

According to sky sports. To be honest I wouldn't be overly concerned if he left - hasn't done much anyway ! http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=444383&CPID=14&clid=67&lid=7&title=Le+Guen+chases+Sionko&channel=& Former Rangers boss Paul Le Guen is keen to raid his old club for Libor Sionko. Paris Saint Germain chief Le Guen has already brought in Jeremy Clement from Rangers and he is looking to be reunited with Sionko. Sionko has endured a disappointing first season at Rangers, as he has struggled with a series of injuries. St Etienne are also thought to be chasing Sionko, but the player's agent Pavel Zika admits Rangers are reluctant to sell the Czech Republic international. "It is true that some clubs have shown their interest in Libor," Zika told CTK "However, Rangers don't want to release him. "It is not impossible though, that we will return to talks during January or in the summer."

Probably because they have nothing to lose.

I agree with your comparison to him and Gio - but how was he sneaky ? At all times he said that he came to us as he wanted to follow PLG, he always said that he was using Rangers as a stepping stone - so by his asking to leave after PLG left isn't, IMO, being sneaky.

Maybe so, but if he follows PLG around I have a suspicion he will have achieved more success than had he stayed at Ibrox..... but only time will tell. However, I agree that with his comments in the last weel or so, from this bear, he can GTF, although I rated him better than average - and he has a lot of time ahead of him. I felt he was a decent performer for us for the most part, when not injured.