ascender

You can't argue with the trophies he's won for us, particularly at a time when we've been down-sizing massively in terms of fees and wages. But is it wrong to ask if another manager could get more out of the players we have or get them playing more attractive football?

I only say that because we are still the second-biggest spenders in the SPL yet over the last few years have struggled to beat teams who spend significantly less than us.

Most of the rumours these days are nothing more than someone posting nonsense on a forum. Its amazing how quickly they spread and you end up with people passing them off as their own or some big exclusive.

I'm with Juffrey on this one, much as I'm sure I could find some negative thoughts, at least he's putting people in place early so obviously knows what he's looking to do and where he thinks he can improve things.

I'd rather start with Healy to be honest.

I thought the rumour was that McDowall and Durrant are happy in more traditional coaching roles and so Ally would bring in a number two to be his assistant.

Just being involved in the first team on match-day is a step up for such a young player and all part of the learning experience. Not sure if that's the best game for someone to actually come on in for their debut, I'd have been more disappointed if we were 3-0 up at home and Hemmings didn't get on in that situation.

Does anyone here actually bank with Lloyds?

No, but I'm working for them for the next 6 months......

With all the merger-type work they've committed to doing by August there's nae chance of anything else happening until after then.

I'd feel sorry for McCoist if he didn't get a chance as he's certainly served his apprenticeship. Besides, how else will we know if he's going to manage in his own mould and not just be a clone of Smith? That said, he's part of the management team which seems to be struggling with some of the basics just now.

Unless there's a new owner with new ideas and money, I think the realistic option is for McCoist with someone else alongside him.

The majority of fans still want some sort of success in Europe and remember, those same fans see finishing second in the league as failure. Those are very difficult demands to satisfy if we're ever going to give a new manager the time required to really change things around in terms of the football we play, youth development etc.

If a new owner comes in and makes the conscious decision to try a completely new, more mainland European approach to things by hiring the right people, how on earth are they going to be given the required time given the demand for instant success?

I know that Rangers will outspend all other teams apart from Celtic which should mean a good manager would be able to achieve 2nd place even during such a time of reconstruction, but given that 2nd isn't good enough, how are we ever going to change things for better in the long term?

I think we're almost at the point where the only way we're going to go forward as a club, both on and off the pitch, is to make a clean start in all respects. Otherwise we're going to find ourselves in the same position in a few years time. All we've been doing over the last 5 years or so is papering over the cracks by having a successful team winning trophies.

The same problems we've seen on and off the pitch for that time period are still there. There's a lot of knee jerk reactions after defeats such as yesterday, but I bet if you look back at the Gersnet forums over that time, while we've been grateful for the titles, we've always noted an air of caution because everything has clearly not been right.

The time for action was probably a few years ago, but if the various supporters groups can't unite now then there really is no hope and we might as well just give the ball back and head home.

I think Gersnet is one of the last places you'll get a big knee jerk reaction to a defeat which I've seen on other Gers forums time and time again. I agree, we should take Smith's achievements in context with what's going on at the club just now and be grateful for the trophies he's delivered.

The flip side of the coin is that Smith has made mistakes, some of which are painfully obvious to all (some of the players signed and fees paid) and some of which could be argued we have no right/authority to criticise him about as we're not a manager - players out of position, reluctance to drop guys who aren't performing, use of squad, tactical choices etc. Many just seem really illogical to me and we often don't seem to play to our strengths and seem scared to attack teams in the SPL.

I admit, I don't know the facts and I don't have his experience, so that's my caveat to what I'm going to say, which also isn't a "Smith is crap" which isn't true.... Is it too much to expect, given how much money we've spent on wages and fees compared with every other SPL club, bar Celtic, for us to be playing a better standard of football and more comfortably beating those other clubs? Would another manager be better able to motivate and use the players that Smith has at his disposal? That's been bugging me ever since Smith came in and steadied the ship so to speak.

It didn't take very long to put in place though did it?

How long has this tax thing been knocking around for now, 6 months+ at least? I can't remember tbh.

Whether Murray is going to sell or not, this is something that needs resolved, its not an issue that would just disappear.

Diouf impressed me yesterday and Brown seems to be taking lessons on how to conduct yourself from his manager.

Same old shite. Maybe if he conducted himself a bit differently, he wouldn't attract so much abuse from pretty much everyone, regardless of who they support or where they come from. I remember the treatment he got at Ibrox as a player would be highlighted by the media, but he would get the same at every other ground in Scotland, just for being an unlikeable wee prick.

And yet I was speaking to someone whose brother signed for Celtic youths recently and has nothing but praise for him in how he much time he has for the younger players there.

* Awaits for the inevitable pedo comment...... *

Congratulations to Cammy and Mrs Cammy!

I'm as skeptical as most about Whyte, but as far as I'm concerned, no news is good news. What would the point be in drawing things out for this long if he was a stooge or a time waster? And the other thing is that when Ellis appeared, people linked to the club (and not) were pretty vocal in saying his bid would come to nothing from very early on. That hasn't happened with Whyte.

The bottom line is that no-one knows what the hell is going on and that goes for the status of this bid and also how our club is being run, regardless of what the internet experts and journos would have you believe.

What an utterly bizarre signing.

It wasn't a dig at you Danny, just a general comment how people can't seem to agree on what level the Championship is actually at.

I agree that we're light all over..... So in my world, I'd be looking to sell McGregor, Lafferty and Beattie to free up funds and wages to bring in a defender, midfielder and striker along with a backup GK if WS has no faith in the young keepers on our books.

Or on the flip side he's an experienced campaigner at Championship level which is considerably higher than the SPL.

The exact level of just how good/bad the Championship actually is seems to depend on what argument someone is trying to make at the time.

As a 6 month deal he can't be any worse than what we have and you do need some players in the squad who know what's expected of you when you play for Rangers, but its just a strange one when we have a few forwards not really doing much or playing at all and the squad is light in other areas.

That would at least a one million pound loss on Beattie (including wage) as we'd have to free him.

 

I also can't see many teams being interested in Lafferty who has to be one of the most frustrating players I've ever watched play for the bears.

We seem to be paying him to do nothing as it is, so unless WS starts playing him alongside Jelavic, I think we've lost that money already.

As for Lafferty, in my respected position as an armchair manager of some experience, I can't see why we're persisting with him. Any one of a number of other players must surely be capable of bringing more to the team than he currently does. Would someone take him for 1M? Doubtful

Or we move on Beattie & Lafferty and use the nominal income and freed-up wages to get someone in who can be a first team regular and actually make a difference.

A bid for Edu? Is this the same as all these bids for McGregor which have come in so far. What a load of tosh.

Now where did I put that transfer window bingo nonsense thing.......

Commons is now saying there was never an offer from us, that it was all paper talk.

And meanwhile I got a text from a mate saying Riordan has signed. Its not on the beeb, so 'm guessing someone has posted it on a gers forum somewhere or he's just making a hilarious practical joke?

I don't think he'd be too bad a signing and seems to chip in with goals fairly regularly for someone in his position.