ascender

I hope they are fake as they look piss poor and the blue colour seems way off. I wish we'd get Nike back on board to design & make our stuff.

The PLG situation is a strange one. On one hand because of the pressure of the job and the fact that finishing second is seen as failure, the odds were stacked against him and who knows what his long term game plan for the club was. On the other hand, he's going to be judged by his signings and the way things are going, all of them could be gone by the start of next season. WS obviously hasn't seen much in guys like Sebo, Svensson or Sionko as they've all been kept on the bench at best. Sebo's had a bit more involvement, but I'd have thought he'll be gone too. Also, I'd have hoped that a top class coach would have sorted out our defensive problems, but PLG didn't seem to think there was anything wrong. WS seemed to make that his top priority, but when PLG could have done the same by signing Pressley, he wasn't interested. In the end its worked out better IMO as I think Weir is a better player than Pressley. We all know that when you come here you are straight in to the spotlight and you just don't get time to settle. But usually with players who have tough starts here, you see something, a flash of potential or they do something special that makes you think they'll come good in the end. Unfortunately with many of PLG's signings that's just not happened and we've ended up giving them the benefit of the doubt time after time. Its worrying that a top class manager who is rated highly, can sign that many players who just aren't suited to the SPL. A couple of them have also said that they underestimated the Scottish game which is very worrying for professional athletes to admit to. Our squad is probably at the weakest its been in my living memory to be honest. We're in dire straits and really need to rebuild this squad both in terms of quality and quantity as a matter of urgency. Unfortunately I don't think WS will get the money required to do it and that next season will be another really long one for us. Unless there's a significant amount of money available to WS, the rebuilding will take another year or so at least. There's just no way we can afford to sign the number of good players needed to even bolster our squad at the moment. When you add in the players who will leave in the summer, we're in an even bigger mess. As for the BF thing, I think the thing is that no-one is blaming him for the mess we're in, but because of his profile as our best player, captain and one of our more experienced players, he's first in the firing line. I still think the way that PLG left was an absolute embarrassment and something we should be ashamed of. There's no doubt that he walked away after DM opened the door for him, but the players role in it left a bad taste in my mouth. When PLG came and started to emphasise the importance of fitness, diet and overall lifestyle, there were grumblings almost immediately which came out through the usual sources from the players. This unhappiness seemed to remain throughout his tenure and we even had the foreign players admitting that the Scottish lads didn't really socialise with them or make them feel part of the group. Then we hear that there's still a drinking culture amongst the Scottish players and the foreign guys can't believe how they live. I really had high hopes for PLG when he started, if only because I thought he'd get the players in to great physical shape. Which is really important in the SPL as its a long, hard season, especially over the winter months and when you're playing lots of games against opposition teams who are set up to defend. But what hope did he have if there was a number of the players who just didn't seem to want to change? WS admits that times have changed since the team drinking days of 9IAR, but I really hope that he can get some sort of team spirit back in to our side, both on and off the pitch. That's what we've really missed over the last few years I think. We need a captain with fire in his belly who drives the team on and unites them, leads by example. I just get the impression that the squad is still very disjointed and when we're losing or finding it tough going, there's no-one really motivating the team on the park. Its the same sort of lacklustre atmosphere that we've become used to on occasion under AM and which has hung around now for 3 years or so. I just don't know what the answer is though.

The flip side to that though is that Fergie is one of a core of players who have underperformed and been posted missing in action when the chips are really down, under Alex McLeish, Paul le Guen and Walter Smith. Maybe part of the problem is that Fergie looks like a shadow of his former self and as such he's having to work harder to win over sections of the support. Not sure about that though. The amount of stories which seemed to come from or around BF far outnumbered the rumours which came from PLG's side of things. End of the day we just don't know what happened, but many of the rumours about his behaviour which came out during that embarrassing episode have been around for a good few years now and we'd all heard them before. I do think he's a fantastic player, probably the best all rounder we have just now by a long distance, but I just don't understand a lot of his behaviour and how he plays on the pitch at times.

Who's blaming him for our demise? I've been one of his biggest supporters this season, but I also think we should expect more from him as he is our "best player" and I certainly don't think he behaves like a captain should. I don't think anyone on here is just coming on and saying "he's shite" or anything like that. As for our poor performance yet again this season, that's down to the poor standard of player and weak squad IMO. DM needs to be made accountable, but we also need to look at the players in that squad who have now under-performed for three managers.

I don't think so, but we have played better without him at times this season and if you go back through the archives you'll be able to find the times where we did. When he doesn't play well though and gets dragged out of position, it really has a big negative effect on the team. I'm a big fan of Fergie's but I wish he'd grow up, cut the petulance out and his constant moaning which doesn't seem to be motivating anyone.

That's a good post Calscot and confirms that he has steadied the ship. Its been truly baffling that it only took WS a matter of days in the job to sort out our defence when AM and PLG thought it was doing just fine over a space of a few years. Totally agree that we just needed to stop the rot and he's done that. 2nd place is looking much more comfortable than it was before he took over. This summer is the big challenge and one which I don't envy him. Unless he's given approximately 10M to spend, then we're in for another very long season next year. If DM backs him with that much cash, then I think he can make some good progress with the squad rebuilding this year. If not, then its going to take another few transfer windows to get things turned around I think. When you actually sit down and look at the squad on paper and then consider how many of those players have been found lacking over the last few years, you realise just how many new players we need. As for the argument that WS is crap in Europe, I'm still optimistic. He definitely improved during his time with Scotland, I think that fact's unquestionable and the results spoke for themselves. Of course, he's shown some tactical naivety again this year, but I'm prepared to wait and see what happens next season as IMO, the bunch of players he had to choose from are some of the poorest in the last 20 odd years. As for PLG, although his team played some excellent footy at the start of the season, as time went on, we were finding very few positives to take from matches and at the same time were dropping points. Maybe given time he would have got it right, but when you have first team players saying that they thought the SPL would be easy, something wasn't right behind the scenes. And don't get me started on the BF fiasco.

Spurs are apparently interested in Scott Brown, while us and Celtic are both still very keen on him and Everton are keeping tabs. It'll be interesting to see what happens here as obviously the Premiership will be able to offer more cash to the club and the player, but Brown is young enough that he might prefer to stay in Scotland just now and then go down south later in his career. Mpenza is being linked with us yet again, so expect to hear Robbie Fowler's name mentioned within the week.

Yip, but he qualifies for us as well.

But 9 times out of 10, the stories about us and our support in the media are sectarian related. Whether its our staff, players or fans, they nearly always have a sectarian slant. Cut out the sectarian stuff, then we shouldn't be such an easy target.

Lol, it was nothing exciting! I'd just tried to post a couple of the daily rumours from the papers, did a search for the Transfer Rumours thread and posted in it before I noticed this was in the footy forum, not the Gers one.

Exactly. So if we don't keep giving them their easy headlines, they've nothing to write about. Then they'll go on to find someone else to write about.

Another good post Frankie. Its a very good point and its really depressing that its not picked up on and run with by the press. Its also annoying that we get such a slating from other fans for some of the folk songs which are sung which shouldn't be offensive to anyone. And then there's things like The Great Escape and Dambusters, which let's face it, I bet 99% of the fans signing them because they're just great songs. I'm still confused as to why DM or MB haven't defender our club and fans more staunchly in the press. However, I think they're now taking the view that until we sort our own house out, we can't complain about anyone else as they'll just throw that back at us. If this latest initiative is a success, then I think we can all be very proud and then expect appropriate action to be taken against other clubs.

I think that's the problem, he seems to lack the basic skills needed to succeed as a commanding centre half. I think he has shown signs of improvement, but he still seems to be clumsy with the ball at his feet. His first touch is often awful and seems to struggle to pass the ball even over short distances. Having said that, a few of our recent signings also seem to lack basic skills. He's still young and obviously has potential, but at the moment, with the players we're signing, I think the writing is on the wall for him. If he would go somewhere within the UK on loan for a season, then I think his game would come on. I can understand how he feels, but when he signed I thought PLG considered him one for the future rather than a starter. I guess Svensson thought differently!

Its one of those typical, standard interviews from a fed-up player or more likely his agent. Maybe he will be for the off after all to boost the transfer kitty? That might make sense with Weir being first choice and us having a few candidates who could come in alongside him. Besides, if Webster is going to cost us �£500,000 or so, we could pay for him from Svensson's fee and have money to spare. Taken from the Daily R*cord:

Davie Weir for me.

Remember that according to FF, the deal for Gattuso to return was a done deal, so you just never know.

I think Smith's far too young and inexperienced to be captain. Could do much worse than Weir though.

How many centre halves do we need exactly?

Totally agree with that. Where do we go from here? I think that all depends on just how much money WS will be given to spend in the summer and how much he can generate by selling players. At least the wage bill will be further reduced by Klos moving on. Its been a pretty low season for us and the BF debacle was the lowest point for me and while its been swept under the carpet now, I think its done a lot of harm for us as a club. DM's continued silence on that issue and his reluctance to defend us is another baffling feature which just makes me so angry and disappointed with the current regime. Unfortunately though, unless someone comes in and is willing to spend some serious money, I think we could be in for another season without winning the SPL. Any CL revenue we make must surely be ploughed back in to the club, but I have a funny feeling that won't happen until the following season. If Celtic spend even a fraction of the money they appear to have available, they're going to strengthen their squad further and could walk the league again next year. When you look at our squad, I just can't see how any manager can expect to rebuild it in one season. I think we're looking at 12 months or so until we're seriously challenging for the SPL again.

Svensson's club are keen to take him back to Sweden, maybe on loan, with a view to him returning stronger and having played a whole season.

Wrong forum. Oops

I think that's a positive move and would like to see him link up with Webster in the middle next season. Sounds like he's enjoying himself and despite being older, he's much more mobile than Ehiogu and also seems to read the game better which is crucial when you start to slow down. Clicky

A top player at 31 should still be able to give us 3 years of good football in the SPL. Our squad is pretty thin though, so as well as needing a couple of very experienced and classy players, there's quite a few more potential starting players required, not to mention some strength in depth needed.

I think you've explained it much better than I was trying to Gribz!

No, I don't know what is happening under WS and Ally, but what I do know is that the same core of players have shown worrying signs that their attitude hasn't changed one jot. Its almost as if they are choosing which sides they really need to bust a gut to beat whereas others they are happy to coast through on auto pilot. For our captain to be in that group of players is a disgrace. I'm just trying to put some ideas out there about why we're still suffering from some of the same problems we were under AM. As for Fergie, he's been a shadow of his former self since he came back and every time we think he's showing signs of what he used to be able to do, they never seem to last very long. If you think that's controversial then have you been watching the same Gers team as I have? Seriously, we scored against ICT and then never looked bothered until they equalised by which point it was too late. WS has definitely steadied the ship, but I think we need big changes to personnel if we're going to move on from the mire that we seem to be stuck in. Scott Brown is a step in the right direction, but I don't think he's the answer to all our problems by any stretch.