ascender

That's a great signing and is anybody else reassured by the fact that Caixinha appears to have spotted the blindingly obvious problem with our defence being unable to defend and has taken steps to sort it out as his first signing?

Does your friend know if he had a return ticket?

Great minds think alike... That's exactly what I asked him.

Here's one for the conspiracy nuts... a friend of mine has just flown in to Doha and who should be on the same flight but a certain Mr McCoist.

I get the view that it was worth a try, but does it not just waste time & money and potentially prejudice future appeals by making us look like a club who appeals everything? Just speculating.

I'm not sure why people still think the EPL is the be all and end all of management in the UK. When you look at Rangers and Celtic in particular, you've got clubs with massive history, a good chance of European football and trophies every season, massive supports, sold-out games and massive expectations. Even now, players who come up here on loan or to stay pretty much all recognise that the game isn't as easy as they think its going to be.

There's a lot of potential for somebody with the right mindset who is maybe looking at the bigger picture or for their longer term career (and I think the same can be said for players too). I also don't have a problem with someone who is honest enough to say they see us as a stepping stone to different things - there's a way to be open about that sort of ambition - and they're only going to get a move if they're a success here. And you can never rule out the fact that someone may move up here, fall in love with the club, the country etc and be happy to stay.

Someone with a bit of passion to get the lads fired up sounds exactly like what's needed at the moment.

And I still maintain if they can just sort out the basic errors and get some semblance of a solid back-line in place, second spot is still there for the taking.

"Rangers need investment"....

He really doesn't do irony or self-awareness, does he? Some of those comments are shameless and embarrassing at best and that's not withstanding the fact he was actually manager for a period of time when his reliance on the jobs-for-the-boys (overpaid boys at that) approach did nothing other than waste the golden opportunity we had to instil a whole new philosophy and approach to the playing and coaching side of things.

As others have said, I'm guessing "Ally needs investment" which is why he's popping up all over the place at the moment.

I think everything that needs to be said has been already in the comments. But as someone who clearly knows how the media up here works, why on earth is he giving any interviews, let alone to rags like the DR?

And why now?

I don't know why we appealed that to be honest. I thought it was a red at the time and as with many of Kiernan's misdemeanours, it was a baffling decision by him and a totally needless foul to give away.

So another week goes by and nobody outside of the board appears to know anything. Let's face it, there's been zero leaks and quite a few of those "solid" rumours posted online now, none of which have come to any fruition and none have really been picked up by the press other than in a passing mention.

You could read it a number of ways. It could be dragging-on because actually the Board have got their first pick for DOF but need to agree compensation with their current employers. Or a more negative spin is that their first pick has rejected and they're on to their 4th or 5th pick. But you could argue that process would actually be quicker as presumably they've sounded peoples' interest out before making moves for them.

You'd think DOF would have to approve manager, so its possibly all linked and them wanting to make an announcement in one go.

If you take the more positive view about the delays, it could explain why there's still not been a move to appoint an interim boss.

But who knows! I'm in the camp that is quite excited about change and that the board appear to be trying something new, albeit with a long-term plan/idea again.

600k compensation due for Caixinha is the latest story.

That'll be him ruled out then.

Why do you say that?

As much as King made an ar$e of his statements around what money would be invested and how, the board have stumped up cash for fees and wages when there's obviously been solid reasoning behind it. I'd imagine if there was reasonable compensation needed to get their new management team in place, funding would be forthcoming.

Most of the stories in the news and social media are coming about as part of a vicious circle. Someone posts on twitter or a forum... journo picks it up as a story... gets reported as a "story" on other social media and gathers pace.

The betting odds are so volatile because people are putting money on names because of the stuff they're hearing as a result of the above. Its nonsense. The Board appear to be playing a blinder in terms of keeping the candidates names confidential.

The Ross Wilson for DOF seems to be the one consistent rumour from the outset though.

There's no way Eck is the answer to the medium/long-term manager question. I just don't get that thinking at all, unless literally nobody else better qualified has applied for the job which I don't believe for one minute. Short term I still think he'd shore things up and make us more difficult to beat, but maybe with the Board taking their time on this they've also revised their expectations for the season and will be happy to see us finish in the top four meaning Europa League football?

Is it unreasonable to expect Murty to be doing better than he currently is? We have seen footballers being chucked in at the deep end to manage clubs who have risen to the challenge. Murty is a coach with years of experience and he looks completely clueless.

I think it is unreasonable when you look at the criticism that Warburton has had when managing a team he's put together plus our expectations and reactions towards some of the much more experienced names who've been linked with the job. This is a guy who has been the coach of our U20s. I would expect more if he'd been involved with the first team week in, week out, but even so, you're talking about a group of players who have looked totally disinterested and shambolic for most of this season.

That said, the board are in a tricky position when it comes to the players - at what point do they come out and criticise that squad for under-performing? Or at least acknowledge it? Its a risky move that one..

I think it's a really positive thing that there's clearly no leaks going on just now, but I do think the board needs to come out with a statement just now, even if it's to just give Murty some backing as he's been hung out to dry IMO with a thankless task given his lack of experience and this bunch of shysters on the pitch.

And another copycat goal by the opposition, it's Ike Groundhog Day with these goals we concede, it really is.

Not necessarily. It just means there are no leaks.

 

Perhaps new manager isn't available until the summer and Murty will remain in charge

Yes, definitely good about the leaks, but you'd have thought even confirmation about Murty would be the first step in steadying the ship so to speak.

Its certainly all gone quiet on the managerial front, for both the expected short term appointment and what we're going to do longer term.

The fact the DR have reported it in the first place tells you all you need to know about the "standards" of their rag. Seriously, who gives a f&*k what this no-mark thinks.

On a side note Gilks has been playing exceptionally well for Wigan. Playing out his skin yesterday. Another one bombed out by MW!.

Gilks looked good for us but wanted regular football, I don't think you can blame MW for that one. I don't think GK is anywhere near the top of the list of things needing sorted out to be honest.

Why the negative comments about Murty? He's been hung out to dry by the splitters and has had hardly any time to work with the squad, the same squad that everyone is tearing to pieces.

I'm with those who say we have a decent basis for a squad, but it looks like we need a few strong characters to form the spine - a commanding CH, a CM (or DCM) and string CF. I think there's some decent players who are young enough that they should be able to be improved by a good coach, but I think there's quite a few unremarkable players who need to either step up or be shipped out. I also think there's a few imposters there who should be moved on at the earliest chance.

The whole team seems to lack shape, discipline and even a common understanding of what tactics and game plan they are supposed to be playing - an experienced manager should be able to sort that. It's difficult to judge just how good or bad some of those players are given the state of the team and lack of direction.

That was a really difficult watch but unlike some other games we've turned around, 2 goals instead of 1, away from home is going to make it even tougher. The same weaknesses we've had since last season are still there and Murty isn't going to be able to change those overnight. But surely between now and the next match he has to make us tougher to break down and tighten up the back-line.

*sigh*

We really are that predictable now aren't we. Even down to the exact type of goals we concede.

It's good that we're not rushing in to anything although I really thought some announcement would have been made about what's happening until the end of the season, even if it is just to say they're showing faith in Murty.