ascender

To be honest i can see us doing better without Fergie.

That's kind of what I was thinking too. You could have played Thomson as the holding midfielder, with Hemdani getting forward. Then two up top.

Problems at the moment though are that we don't have a front two pairing who can play well together and who understand each other. Of course, we don't have much time to practice with a pairing as we need to get 2nd place sorted.

As for the other players, a lot of them have been so erratic this season that its difficult to rely on anyone to play to their max potential from game to game, particularly if they're asked to play in a new position or system.

I really think this season is going to continue to be a sticking-plaster solution. Doing the best we can with the players we have, just grinding out results and then trying to move things forward in the summer.

Random thoughts....

For most of the first half it was as if we were playing with 10 men. They were closing us down all over the pitch and we just couldn't get in the game.

The lack of movement across the pitch was shocking. I lost track of how many times players all over the pitch had no options and ended up passing back or losing possession as they were closed down. Pretty basic stuff.

Really frustrating as well that Hemdani looks so comfortable on the ball and was trying to be positive tonight, yet we still played him very deep. Going on his willingness to get forward, I'd have swapped him and Fergie around. Ferguson got dragged deeper and deeper in the first half particularly, which left us with 3 defensive midfielders.

Strange that our defense looked all over the place at times. In the replays for their goal, the marking was very slack and Ehiogu seemed to be trying to marshal the other players but they seemed to be ignoring him.

Klos had a couple of excellent saves, the sort he used to make really. I still think that he's head and shoulders above McGregor, but we all know its not as simple as that. I have to say, it was good to see him back between the sticks though.

I thought Alan Hutton played well after getting that booking, but yet again his short fuse almost cost us. There's still a bit of a temper problem, a petulance, that seems to dog him, Fergie and Boyd. They could do with that knocking out of them as its only going to cost us, particularly in Europe.

Hemdani's goal was a peach and on the basis of this season, I hope we hold on to him as he is one of the few class players we have. but if we do, we need to play to his strengths instead of stifling them which we've done for the majority of his time here.

Boyd had his usual game but even by his standards he looked isolated up front.

Prso and Sebo both had some nice touches when they came on, but even Novo couldn't really get in to the game.

I think we need to go back to a 4-4-2 as Fergie gets drawn far too deep when things aren't going his way, for this current system to work.

I also still think that a lot of our problems are down to a lack of a truly attacking midfielder who can grab the game by the scruff and actually turn it when its not going our way. There's a huge missing link in the side just now which means that no matter who plays up front, we're going to struggle to score, especially against better opposition. We're just not creating enough chances at the moment and a good start would be to get some decent cross balls in from either wing.

1-1 gives us a fighting chance, but we'll have to be a lot better than we were tonight. The players just didn't look interested and in the end we were lucky not to be on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.

Great clip.

I don't know but it all depends on if we fly out the traps right away, pin them back and make sure they don't breach our defence

 

I sense a draw or a 2-1 loss. (depends on klos)

Exactly. The way we started against Tel Aviv set the tone for the whole match, so if we have the same tempo and attitude, it could be another great night.

I'm hoping we might get the odd goal from corners now with guys like Weir and Ehiogu coming up from the back.

2-0 hopefully, Boyd and Weir.

The other thing is that we've been moaning for years now about us spending & wasting money on unknown foreign players who are often past their best. So lets get right behind the club's new direction of signing promising, young, Scottish talent.

Let's look on the bright side, its another promising young Scottish player who is used to playing up here and won't break the bank.

Much appreciated.

Thanks very much Frankie.

But so is Karl Svensson.

Good point!

I guess his budget will also dictate the sort of players he goes after. If we are buying Scott Brown then there's 2M or so gone already.

I've just signed up for an event where I'd like to use the opportunity to raise some money for charity through sponsorship. I was wondering if anyone knows where to start when it comes to the Gers, I was thinking about asking them to see if they could donate a signed ball or strip that I could then auction for example?

I've heard good things about him, but I'd have thought he's one for the future. Assuming Webster signs, I'd have thought WS would be looking for someone older and more experienced to play alongside him, with guys like Svensson and Broadfoot as backup.

I think Broadfoot is very good in Football Manager, so what more do you want? ;-)

No TV evidence, no case. 2 games is light considering it was for violent conduct, but I guess that means there's a decision to be made about who plays between the sticks for the next few weeks.

If Hemdani added an end result to his midfield play, whether that's goals or goal assists, he'd be a shoe-in for this award.

I thought Novo's contract was up next season?

He's a trier, but he lacks skill and composure. However, in tough times like we've had this season, his workrate and other attributes count for a lot. It also highlighted how little effort some of his team-mates were putting in though. I've never thought he was the long term solution since he signed, nothing he's done since has changed my mind tbh.

McDonald is a strange one, I thought we might have only been interested in him on deadline day as Falkirk wouldn't budge on Gow. I guess if he is signing, then its as a squad player. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing really as we've hardly been blessed with great players recently, so maybe he's worth a risk?

I'm sure Walter is aiming as high as budget and reality will allow. Certainly with the wage budget under control and Klos leaving, the cash should be there to strengthen all areas of the squad with some good players, but I think its all going to come down to how much money DM makes available.

Fergie or Hemdani would be the only ones in with a shout I'd have thought. Smith might get a mention in the young category, but his injury has put pay to him being in contention for the ypoty award.

So he's just signed and is banging them in for a Championship side. Why would he even consider leaving?

We're now more difficult to beat and have stopped leaking really stupid, easy goals. However, its also pretty clear that its just a temporary fix until the summer.

We're still not as tight as we should be at the back; need a creative forward to play alongside Boyd; another left sided winger/attacking midfielder and someone with drive and attacking flair to play in the centre or in more of a free role in the midfield.

Apart from that, we're in fine shape!

Main thing is that we're winning when not playing well and are looking tough to beat, so that's a huge step in the right direction IMO.

Unbelievable. I couldn't believe it when McNee mentioned it, so its great to see the RST pulling him up on it. I just hope the club take a strong line against him and make a stand about this sort of nonsense.

New site? Published? Name in lights? I thought I was just having a good moan.

Must pay more attention and read the stickies!

Firstly, I'm defining success as being still in Europe after Christmas and I'm talking about the media and general public taking it for granted.

I'm fed up hearing about how poor Tel Aviv were from the media. Yes, they played poorly, but every time Scotland play or we come up against an unknown side in Europe, we hear that there's no such thing as an easy game in Europe. So after losing 2-1 in the first leg and destroying them at home in a superb display, I see lots of negative comments in the media and from people on forums, at work etc saying that we were playing a crappy team. Very little was said about just how well Rangers played.

Besides, if I remember rightly, it wasn't too long ago that pundits were moaning consistently about the OF in Europe. How we were a disgrace for signing lots of foreigners and never managing to make it past Christmas in Europe. Every season the whinging from the usual characters was the same. They even complained that it was our fault the national team was going downhill and because we were always winning the league, no-one else was getting a chance to experience European football.

And now? Suddenly they've forgotten all of the above. Rangers in Europe after Christmas? Nothing special apparently. 9 Scots starting? Hardly mentioned. A powerful victory to get through to the last 16? Weak opposition.

I don't think there's a particular agenda in the Scottish media against us as every club's fans think the press has it in for their own club, but I do believe the industry is full of lazy journalists, some of whom do have their own unique views about us. These guys will never give us due credit for results on the pitch and even any attempts to improve the issues we have off the pitch. The just seem intent on spewing forth any nonsense in the name of a headline. Has anyone seen McNee's comments about the bouncy, which he's chosen to print again today for example?

The Billy Boys is banned and after a few shaky matches, its gone. That should have been a monumental step forward for the club and been heralded from all corners of the press, public and even Holyrood. But there's been barely a murmur about it. Instead, we get even more negative stories about the remaining songs we're singing. The remaining songs, which don't contain even a trace of an *** and have been given the all-clear by UEFA. They're considered folk songs and shouldn't be offending anyone, so why are they constantly mentioned in newspaper reports and by other fans?

More to the point, why isn't the club doing more to promote to the press about the good things we've achieved? Bain finally said some positive things about the support this week, but that's well overdue. When the infamous red hand salute raised its head again, why didn't the club come out with a very strong line? Firstly, name & shame the guys in Israel and ban them. How about pointing out that in this case, it really is a minority of fans involved? How about saying that the club will take a zero tolerance approach to this and ensuring that anyone doing it from now on is ejected from the ground? (I understand that this would involve the polis and stewards actually growing a spine and doing their job for a change).

Bain could even have come out and quoted articles which we've all seen, which seem to prove that there is no such thing as a red hand salute. Lets educate the fans who still think they're just upholding the history and tradition of our club before taking the heavy handed approach outlined above.

Why don't the men at the top of our club stand up for us in the public eye? With the press. With parliament. With other clubs and their fans ffs. Its not difficult. Most fans of other clubs don't like us as a club or a support. So there's nothing to lose. Week in week out we take a slagging and no-one stands to fight our corner. Part of the problem is that we live in such a paranoid and parochial-minded country that success does breed a hell of a lot of jealousy.

The recent comments from Romanov about corruption within the game have shown exactly that. What should be dismissed as the mad ramblings of someone who is too used to getting their own way, are actually greeted by lots of fans as relief that someone is actually standing up to the OF and telling it as it is. What do we do in response? Not very much as it happens.

Given the down-sizing that's been happening at Ibrox over the past 5 years or so, I think the loyalty shown by the fans has been tremendous. I think its now time for the men at the top of the club to repay some of that loyalty, show they have a set of balls and start standing up for the club we all love.

Man, where did all that come from? Time for a lie down I think.

Aye, but i'm worried about his attitude, does he really give a fuck?, you're right there's no doubt he's class and i would play him now but i'm just not sure he's interested, i mean what are the reasons why he hasn't been playing?

Part of the problem is that we don't know what really happened yet. I posted about this a while back, I'm really interested to know what was the last straw for him and/or the manager. Something must have happened as he was very happy here at one point.

Was he in PLG's plans until he got injured in the summer? It was a clean slate with AM leaving, so I thought he might have come back in to the team then, but bad luck saw to that.

Bottom line is that we're not talking about a choice thing. McGregor is banned, so I think we're better off giving Klos a run-out ahead of the Osasuna game. We have fit keepers, so we wouldn't get special dispensation to sign someone on loan, so its just a matter of whether you want him to have a run out before the UEFA match. Or matches.

Maybe go for one defensive midfielder instead of two? Have Keane with Cantona instead of Viera maybe?

You could easily pick 2 or 3 pretty amazing looking teams out of the list of available players though.

Fulham were very unlucky, but it was pretty impressive to see Man Yoo in the last ten minutes just surging forward in numbers at every opportunity. They can't be far off the title now, if they could win at Anfield then I think they've got it in the bag.

I'm a bit confused, nothing new there though. Is an appeal against a decision the same as putting a case to defend the player? It was reported on TV tonight that they wouldn't appeal but that they were putting a defence together? Does that mean we're ready to appeal against anything more than a 1 match ban rather than the sending-off itself?

BTW, remember what happened when Klos came in against Celtic last season after having little to no first team football?