ascender

I can't get MW so am on-line too. They're saying its definitely not a case of over-hyping a story, so is it something to do with our captain, manager or chairman?

On other forums the smart money seems to be on something to do with Fergie.

Its due at half time in today's games from Radio Scotland, so, what will it be?

PLG has realised we can't defend and is signing Goughie?

DM has left?

We're close to making a signing that will "rock Scottish football" but never actually happen?

PLG is to be given decent cash to spend?

Another total non-story from Chick Dung?

What do you think?

And today Kris Boyd has come out and said the players must shoulder the blame amongst other things.

And he stressed the blame for the club's wretched domestic campaign lies squarely with the flops who are failing to produce for their manager on the field.

 

Boyd said: "He picks the team and tells us what he expects us to do. There is no communication problem.

 

"We go out on to the park knowing what is expected of us and we are the ones who are letting the manager down, the fans down and the club down.

 

"Yes, it was nice to be back," he said afterwards as he slumped in a chair inside the media room. But it was a half-hearted remark from a player who appeared to be experiencing some kind of inner turmoil before our eyes.

 

"But once again it was just not good enough," Boyd added without pausing as he launched into a scathing assessment of his team. "We should be beating sides like St Mirren at Ibrox.

 

"It's even harder to accept when you see Celtic slipping up. Every time they drop points we seem to do the same. It's not good enough.

 

"We created chances against St Mirren but didn't take them. That's down to the players at the end of the day."

 

Boyd heaved a huge sigh and dipped his head towards his shoes. At that very pain was almost palpable. Indeed, from the outside at least, some seem to hurt a little more than others inside Le Guen's dressing room these days.

 

While the manager stumbles around in a permanent state of bewilderment some of his players appear not to have a grasp on what all the fuss is about.

 

Not Boyd though. He is embarrassed and ashamed to be a part of this debacle and is burning up with a desire to put things right.

 

"Everybody is hurting. Some people just show it in different ways," Boyd insisted although without being entirely convincing.

 

"We need to pick ourselves up and go again against Motherwell. That's not going to be easy either after the result they got against Celtic at the weekend.

 

They will make it difficult for us too."

 

Right now Rangers are reeling from one crisis to the next. It is not what Boyd envisaged just 12 months ago. He said: "I came here because I wanted to win stuff so it's not what I expected so far.

 

"But when the time comes that we are winning trophies maybe this will help us enjoy it even more."

 

He's probably right. What does not kill you can only make you stronger and it is possible that Rangers will recover and return as a credible force.

 

It's just that, right now, that day looks a long way off. Boyd said: "The table doesn't lie. We are where we deserve to be.

 

"To keep dropping points the way we are is obviously not good enough for a club of this size. When you play for a club with history like this one has we need to be doing better as players."

 

Boyd is adamant it is the players who are under-performing which is both fair and honest but also more than a little charitable to a manager who promised great things but who, thus far, has delivered only mistakes.

 

Le Guen is under serious pressure now to prove his worth which will be difficult given the state of his team and the paucity of quality at his disposal.

 

But Boyd remains sure that - even now - Rangers have more than enough talent to beat the likes of St Mirren no matter who is in charge.

 

He said: "The manager is quite right to be angry. He has put a team out there which should be good enough to go and win most games. But we have not done it.

 

"I don't think it was through lack of trying. We created chances but we were just unfortunate in front of goal.

 

"He picks the team but at the end of the day it's down to the players when we go on the park. We have to go out there and do our best.

 

"The manager picks the best team he can but once we've crossed that white line there's nothing more he can do. It's down to us to make a difference.

 

"It's even more frustrating when we go out and beat the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen who are up there challenging at the top of the table.

 

"That's what is probably just keeping us above the likes of Hibs at the moment. We are able to beat them but then we go and drop silly points to the likes of St Mirren, Dundee United and Inverness. It's obviously not good enough."

 

Time and time again Rangers have failed to deliver since Le Guen took control.

 

He inherited what was arguably one of the worst sides in the club's history but has not managed to improve it. In fact, if anything Rangers have deteriorated still further.

 

On Saturday they left the scene of their latest criminal capitulation to the sound of their own fans' jeers.

 

And that sound cut through Boyd like a knife to the heart.

 

He said: "It's frustrating to hear the fans boo us off the park but they pay their money and they are entitled to do whatever they want.

 

"We have not been good enough and that's why they are angry.

 

"They are used to watching a winning team and we are not doing that for them at the moment."

Regardless of what you think of Maclean, I think that article has a lot of home truths in it and probably sums up what we've all been thinking. But, we just have to get behind PLG and the boys 100% through these times.

What is baffling me most is there has been no change since last season. Even with a few new signings and double training sessions we still cant get the basics right.

Exactly Gribz.

Spot on Gribz, we need some older, experienced players to steady the ship. Even if they're near the end of their careers, get some guys in who have proven themselves at a higher level. We've obviously got our wage bill way under control now, so wages shouldn't be a problem. I know that people complain about short-term signings, but we have problems we need to sort out now to make sure we get second place.

His agent has now released a statement saying that Webster is going nowhere and wants to stay to fight for his place. Of course, we all know how trustworthy agents are, but it kind of puts a dampener on this one.

Last season I thought there were major things going on behind the scenes which weren't helping us on the pitch. This was because of what was being reported in the media, the rumours, little comments, the general lack of team spirit etc. In the end we didn't learn much other than there did seem to be elements within the team undermining AM and even a talking-to from DM didn't seem to change the players' attitude much.

Fast forward to this season and its much the same. I could be totally wrong, but there still seems to be major problems in our squad. I don't buy in to the media conspiracy, that they're all against us, every fan I knows thinks that the papers are against their club.

We've had some of the same rumours as last year and stories in the media about dressing room unrest, PLG not settling, thinking about leaving etc. Its pretty clear on the pitch that there's a lack of leadership and team spirit. Only this week we have Svensson admitting that there are distinct groups of players in the dressing room who socialise together. While this is a long way from disruptive cliques, I don't think its a good sign and I'm starting to wonder if there's more to the story than meets the eye.

We've also seen PLG making some strange comments to the press about Ferguson, the goal-keeping situation earlier and seemingly struggling to find a good word to say about Boyd. We're not at Christmas yet and DM has had to have a word with the players about their performances. IMO he should have been telling them their wages would be donated to charity until they pulled their collective fingers out, but I'm guessing it was a general kick up the arse kind of talk which has so far fallen on deaf ears.

I really hope I'm wrong here, but something's not quite right and it seems to be the same sort of atmosphere we had last season. The manager has changed along with a lot of the backroom staff, so its even more strange. There's usuall no smoke without fire although we all know that we do have a lazy media who will report any old nonsense, but I just have a bad feeling about all of this.

Time to concentrate on the game against St Mirren which is, like the rest of our league matches, a must-win fixture. Time to get behind the team and PLG and let our voices be heard.

Again, I see Webster as a fairly low risk signing. He's not going to cost too much in wages and has SPL experience. Bit of a no brainer surely?

There's been rumours around for a while that PLG would be the one to decide when to quit/move on and this was before the story that was run in some of the papers.

I thought he would go to Charlton after his medical. He is a player i think we should have pulled out all the stops for. That toughens up Celtics average defence by a mile.

I'm gutted we weren't in for him, short term or not, he would have helped shore up our defence. Unfortunately a lot of Bears seem to think the realistic alternatives to Pressley are players like John Terry.

Does anyone know if Lee Martin is still on loan?

I heard he's gone back to Man Yoo as well, but I could be wrong. Kind of academic though, if he's not gone already, it can only be a matter of days.

Right tell me would you like a nutter coming in like the guy at HEarts. I certainly wouldn't. There is no on else to come into the club so just give it a rest

I don't think there is a large Q of possible buyers and investors, otherwise DM would be gone by now. So surely DM needs to realise that he must invest in the playing staff to stop the slide?

This is a guy I thought we should have signed some time ago. He wanted to come to Ibrox but our offer was short and we wouldn't pay the extra bit needed to secure him. Then at the start of this season I thought he wouldn't be up to the standard of Svensson & Papac, but now I'm not so sure.

Looks like he could come back to a Scottish club on loan until the summer where he could then sign on a permanent deal.

Does anyone else think he's worth a punt? I know he's not the commanding centre half we badly need, but he's got SPL experience and on the basis of what we've seen, I think he's better than any of our current centre halves. Of course, whether PLG would want to sign him is another thing entirely, but I'd rather see us signing someone who really wants to play for the club and knows what's expected of him at Ibrox.

Didn't realise he'd made so few appearances. As the season has gone on, I don't think we've missed him that much, Hutton has improved a hell of a lot this year and I don't think our full back positions are much of a problem in the scheme of things. Distribution and the final ball needs to be worked on, but we have much bigger problems to sort out first.

.... why don't you say what you really think about PLG!

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=why-le-guen%2Ds-got-to-go%26method=full%26objectid=18344203%26siteid=66633-name_page.html

We were kind of in the same position last year and then, as now, we're seeing the same sort of posts on here and other forums which are saying that protests are for Celtic fans and that its a disgrace. I'm starting to wonder if we have any options left though?

Besides, you can still demonstrate against the Chairman while fully being behind the team and manager.

Part of the problem must be potential returns on investment. Unless you get someone mega-rich who can afford to write off large sums on transfer fees & wages, they're going to struggle to get any money back due to us being in the SPL. What we need is a Bluenose who has a lot of spare cash to burn and is looking for a new challenge. Otherwise I don't know who is going to come in and turn things around with significant investment.

Maybe he needs a run in the reserve team to get his confidence up? If he starts scoring, then promote him back to the first XI. He looks to be in a vicious circle at the moment of not scoring and totally lacking confidence.

We need investment and I think its time for PLG to demand it. The only worrying thing is that over the last few months its been reported that PLG doesn't want to bring in too many players and upset the balance within the squad. On the basis of his foreign signings, should we trust PLG with a load more dosh?

Also, Murray isn't stupid, surely he must see just how poor we've become and the impact that's having on the value of the club? A transitional season in the SPL should still see us being able to get 2nd place, but for the second season in a row its looking like being a long, tough fight. Depressing.

I see today that Collins was complaining that the linesman got it wrong and Shiels didn't punch Gordon. Even if he didn't surely an aggressive push to the neck area is still a sending off? Bizarre how being a fan can cloud the judgement as I've seen some really strange posts trying to defend the guy.

We'll obviously miss Prso, but more because we don't have anyone on form to replace him, rather than missing him because of who is he is if that makes sense? I don't think Prso gives us something special that we can't do without as its pretty obvious he's past his best. If someone could come in and put the work rate in that Dado does, we should be fine.

I have never seen in Scotland or Holland the two centrebacks picking up two strikers and the fullbacks covering the space behind them.

 

At least one fullback always has to mark a man in my vision.

But unless you're playing a high defensive line, there won't be space behind them. I thought the two centre halves in any team, more often than not, pick up the forwards, unless you have a situation with an incredibly talented midfielder who needs man marked, but the denfensive midfielder might do this role. The whole team needs to defend and it just keeps the natural shape if they pick up their natural opponent. Obviously full backs go forward and their positions need to be covered by midfielders or defenders.

I was just trying to make the point that you can't have a single CB who is supposed to deal with all the high balls. The other one at least needs to be capable in the air and he just isn't at the moment. If you've seen even just a few of our games this season you can see that we're really struggling because we don't have commanding centre halves. I'd put a bet on that more than 50% of the goals we've conceded this season has been down to basic, poor defending and a lack of aerial ability.

Again, in a slower paced, more technically proficient league, you might get away with playing a spare man, a true sweeper, but I just don't see it working in the SPL and in the games I've seen, we've certainly not been playing that system which is traditionall a back 3 or back 4, with a true sweeper behind them.

Depends if you play zonal or man marking.

4 defenders suggests the CBs pick up the two strikers with the full backs marking the two wide midfielders/wingers. Then central midfielders picking up their opposite numbers?

TBH I've not really heard that system where you only mark with a few of your defenders leaving one spare, apart from the sweeper system. Zonal or man marking and if its man marking then you might see some defenders pulled out of position a bit more than with zonal.

One centre back on his own can't be expected to deal with high balls or you'd have him crossing over to the area that's naturally being covered by the other centre back. If that was the case he'd be pulled all over the field and you'd struggle to cover for him.

TBH I'm a bit confused by what you're trying to say, I think I've missed something somewhere.