craig

Smith is in the U-21 Euro qualifier squad - every chance Walter Smith felt it better he actually was playing as opposed to meeting the squad for a 2 day get-together..... however, flip-side to that theory is that I think the above squad will be what Walter Smith selects for the upcoming qualifiers - and in defence there are definitely poorer players than Stevie Smith in there.

But to be fair others have also gone and scored hat-tricks on their debut. He didnt have an easy debut but he was mediocre at best...... either that or Rangers defence was that good..... I don't think that he should have been given another year given that PLG seems to prefer the 4-2-3-1 which means he would be fighting Prso, Boyd, Sebo, (likely), Buffel (possibly) - there is nowhere for him to get a game. Not a bad player, but certainly not Rangers class.

Just back from this game and it is a TRAVESTY that the sheep got a draw !! Hibs al over them and then the sheep go up the pitch ad take the lead - by this time Hibs should already have been up 2-0. Hibs would have been good for a victory but somhow the sheep held out. Aberden were very poor and I will be very surprised if they finish above Hibs in the league. Has to be said that the standard by both teams was pretty poor - Hibs were playing nice stuff until they lost the goal nd then reverted to long ball tuff too often. I was looking forward to seeing Thompson and Scott Brown but have to admit that was more impressed by Michael Stewart (not as technically gifted as Thomson but that lad puts in a HUGE amount of work !!). The lad Benji up front looked useful too until he had to gooff injured after half an hour. And Stuart Dougal as a ref is PISH !!!

You said he WAS a Rangers player - and even NOW that is technically STILL not accurate !!

Your comment on the RCC Barry seems to lend support to what one of my friends went through - now admittedly he became a freemason a LONG time ago, probably 30+ years ago - so maybe I should have clarified that. I agree that it is more liberal these days. Sadly, IMO, they are incorrect in their beliefs regarding freemasonry (at least.... I am in the blues and they couldn't be further from the truth in believing that they plot against the Church). sory once more for digressing from the topic of the thread

And while I am at it (sorry, wrong thread I know), welcome back Barry

Depends on which order you are a member of Barry, but for the most part you are indeed correct - although the sash (the clothing, not the song) is very much synonymous with the various masonic orders. Often masonic orders are deemed to be "anti-Catholic" or similar and it is most definitely a false accusation - we have a member, actually a past master, of our lodge who is Catholic and his local church actually "dis-owned" him for being a mason. Anyway, another topic for another thread - sorry for the tangent I think I have edited this about 5 times !!!

Not if you ARE a mason But very valid point

Juventus have offered defender Jonathan Zebina in a swap deal for Newcastle United's Jean-Alain Boumsong, according to reports emanating out of France. The Old Lady lost both their star centre backs Lilian Thuram and Fabio Cannavaro to Real Madrid earlier in the summer and coach Didier Deschamps is trying to rebuild for the tough challenge that lies ahead. His team have been relegated to Serie B for the coming season for their involvement in the Italian match-fixing scandal and Deschamps has reportedly earmarked two French internationals to lead the back line. Monaco captain Gael Givet, who has also been linked to Villarreal, and Boumsong (pictured) were both part of the Bleus squad which made it to the World Cup finals in Germany and Deschamps hopes they can lead his side's resurgence up the leagues. "It is true I had contact with Juve and that the club wants to hire me for next season. But it is not the only trail," Givet told L'Equipe. "There are other clubs which have recently shown an interest. But I am under contract with Monaco until June 2009, and if the officials want to refuse my departure, I will stay. "On Thursday afternoon I talked with Marc Keller and Jean-Luc Ettori and they told me they absolutely want to keep me. On Monday I will take stock with my agent and the chairman and vice-chairman. "I know what I owe Monaco. If the officials offer me a chance to leave that would be fine, but if they refused categorically I would go back to work." Bianconeri are also reported to be chasing two Brazilians in Udinese defender Felipe Da Silva and Corinthians midfielder Ricardinho. "Felipe? Yes, we are thinking about him," Juve general manager Alessio Secco confirmed. No official negotiations have opened with either side yet, but Ricardinho has a European passport so there would be no issue regarding EU statuses. Deschamps has already announced that no more players will be leaving the Stadio Delle Alpi, but Spanish reports still suggest that Valencia are ready to offer Juve ââ??¬15 million (Ã?£10.2 million) for Argentinian midfielder Mauro German Camoranesi. Both he and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's futures remain in doubt. Story Tools: Print Email this page Messageboards

He has 2 yrs left on his contract so the gooners need to be careful that Chelsea don't just wait till the Jan transfer window in 2008 - still would only be 27 then !!

Awe Naw man !!! My 100 quid bet on Cole being a Gooner come Sept 1 aren't looking too good now Phew, I never managed to get the bet on - lucky escape for Craigie boy.

Couldn't agree more Wija... he has already been spotted taking in games at Easter Road, Fir Park and on Wed at Parkhead. That is pretty thorough to be taking in "meaningless" (if you listen to the Tims) friendlies.

Inter and Fiorentina have also been credited with an interest in the Ukranian.

Looks like it's going to happen, more than likely next week though. http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/66786.html

Sure, why not..... though I think it might get ignored again too, lol

Unfortunately it will be the SPL Chris.... I agree,I think Boyd will be top scorer - 7/4 for that bet the now

Dunn is right about the odds on Sebo being 7/1 to be top goalscorer - but in that thread someone (Andrew I think) was also right that if the someone wants a bet the bookies will give you it - it isn't an indicator that the player has signed

Another bet I like is Hibs without Rangers, Celtic & Hearts - 9/4 is pretty good odds for that bet - it will be close but I quite like it !

Gers to win SPL & UEFA - 50/1 Gers to win SPL & SC - 4/1 Gers to win SPL & CIS - 4/1 Gers to win SPL, SC & CIS - 10/1 Gers to win SPL, SC, UEFA - 100/1 Gers to win SPL, CIS, UEFA - 100/1 Gers to win all 4 - 250/1 Hope that helps all you budding gamblers out there

Those special bets are usually a pretty good indicator of how many the bookies EXPECT a player to score - so at 16/1 for 50 goals they expect him to score probably 40. 50 goals is far too many IMO - although...... at 16/1 it might not be too bad a bet - might stick a tenner on that

The only specials I have found on Kris Boyd so far are related to FIFTY goals..... To score 50 league goals - 200/1 to score 50 in total - 16/1 Will keep looking

Yep, I think Rae has a chance of making the starting line-up

In looking at your "Celtic 11" Danny GK - I will give it to Boruc but only because we haven't seen enough of Letizi and he has his doubters. I think our defence is better than theirs - Smith is a much better option that Camara, whilst I would rather have Hutton over Telfer (but we still need to strengthen there). If I were a Tim (thankfully I am not) I wouldn't be overly confident with the Caldwell/Balde pairing either - whilst J-Rod when he came back from injury was one of our better performers last season and was very solid. Defence to the Gers IMO Midfield - I think the midfield is an area which looks pretty equal to me - but they will be playing a different shape to us anyway so it is difficult to compare. I think that Fergie and Clement will be a very strong pairing in the middle for us whilst Sionko and Burke look like very good options on the flanks (assuming one of them has to play LM - another area we need strengthening). Attack - we have a guy that scored 37 times last season and another guy (Prso) who can score a lot of goals but also brings other players into the mix. Their front line needs time to gel but right now it hasn't been working in pre-season. Again, Attack goes to Gers IMO. Manager - not worth discussing, blatantly obvious. I think we have a stronger starting 11 than they do and with the tactical nous we expect from PLG we should have the upper hand - we might fall due to lack of depth but as a starting 11 I think we are stronger. However, the caveat is that there are still over 4 weeks of the window to go and both sides may see movement. I just hope that Celtic don't sign players of THIS quality before it shuts - but even if they do, it is STILL all about what WE do !

I agree Danny - they are very serious about siging these players by all accounts. What remains to be seen is if the players want to go to Parkhead. Hesselink is also wanted by Porto (so they may get scuppered there) and I am sure that with the news Celtic are in for him there will be others monitoring the situation too. As for the Ukrainian guy... who knows if he will have other suitors too. The thing that worries me is that WE need to be strengthening - we are still a couple of players short of a very good starting 11 (RB and LM spring to mind as well as a striker). But as things stand right now I think we look better than THEY do - so hopefully we are also still working behind the scenes to move the dead-wood on and get a couple of players in too.

I agree Dunn that it isn't JUST Rangers - but that is the problem - Rangers as a club have to keep their own house in order. It is NO defence to say "ohhh, but Mr UEFA, Celtic do this too so please punish them as well". UEFA have set their stall out and need to now be even-handed - but even if not, I can't believe ANY fans will use the "those Celtic B$%#%^ are doing it and getting away with it so we should be able to as well" - that is just burying our heads in the sand !!!