ascender

Thing is though Gribz, Walter used him sparingly at the best of times, so I don't think it made sense to either party for Novo to stay. He's a luxury we simply can't afford at the moment.

Hodgson has got him on a 4 year deal with 90K a week or thereabouts. I think he could be a very important signing for them, but it does remind you just how mental things are in the EPL with that sort of money being thrown around.

I think its a realistic model/way for us to run the club, make money and continue to be successful, although we might need to look at the longer term view/bigger picture for a few years to get things up and running.

The support (or otherwise) of guys like Adam has been a problem for a while. Hopefully the current problems will galvanise our support and see that now more than ever we need to get behind the younger lads.

The other issue I can see is that our scouting network has been derided by fans and those "in the know" for as long as I can remember. Have there been any signs of an overhaul of the scouting side of things?

Mike.

Thanks Frankie, will get right on it. For some reason I just couldn't find it no matter what search I tried.

Cheers!

I'm sure I've seen this message here when I've not logged in, something along the lines of "thanks for browsing, but please register to continue".

I'm trying to setup this for another forum but can't for the life of me find out how to do it - is it a setting in the admin control panel or is it a modification?

Thanks,

Mike.

I thought Fleck look very promising but then got a ridiculous amount of hype placed on him then his next game was at parkhead and WS played him on the wing where he was lost. It could have set the guy back a season!

 

He is 18 or 19 now so age is no issue, this season is big for Fleck to make an impact but he needs to play in his strongest position.

Sorry, didn't explain myself very well. I thought he looked poor at times, but also showed he had something, just not sure if that something is anything special yet. You're right though, they hype was ridiculous and he needs to play regularly in his strongest position. Trouble is, I can't see him being selected to play there unless he's given a chance to stake a proper claim for the place.

I thought Fleck looked very poor at times to be honest, but its hard to judge him given he's not really played that much in his preferred position. Its also hard to compare him to someone like Danny Wilson, because he came in and played alongside Weir whose influence is there for all to see.

I think there's a big difference between giving younger lads the occasional run out from the bench or in the odd league cup game as opposed to having them playing regularly from the start of the season, either as backup (instead of moving other players around to cover for missing players) or in some sort of rotation system.

We still have a core of good players in the squad, so surely the only way we're going to see if these guys are good enough is to start playing them more. Certainly in the SPL I'd say we could play more of the younger guys and still be expected to beat most of the other teams assuming our players turn up on the day.

Of course, its not as simple as that and there's two big problems with the ideas I'm encouraging. One is that over the last couple of years, we've struggled to beat teams who on paper, we should be doing so with much more ease. Of course, on paper counts for nothing, but often we've huffed and puffed our ways to wins, or taken the lead only to struggle to capitalise on it. In that kind of situation, would too much pressure be put on the younger ones? Or is that the sort of opportunity where younger players energy and enthusiasm might actually pay dividends?

Linked to this is the pressure on players from fans. In recent times we've been too quick to get on the back of certain players instead of getting behind them. We all know there's more pressure to succeed here as 2nd place is considered failure, but if we are going to rely on youth more then we need to get behind them 100% as a support and perhaps take the longer term view that while the football on display might not be the best and we're not thumping teams 5-0, we're building for the future?

Having said that, we've not exactly been playing attractive football for a while now apart from a handful of games each season, so do we really have that much to lose?

So, the Daily Record today are claiming that Thomson is wanting a pay-off from us as he's being "forced out".

KEVIN Thomson's �£2million switch to Middlesbrough was sensationally thrown into doubt last night.

Record Sport can reveal that Thomson is demanding a pay-off to leave as he feels he is being pushed out the door but Gers will be reluctant to pay him anything.

 

He is in Middlesbrough and will take a medical today but the midfielder won't agree to a move until he is given compensation for the final year of his contract.

 

And in another twist last night the Ibrox club's attempt to land Chris Eagles in a �£2.5m deal was also hanging in the balance. Burnley and Gers have agreed their part of the bargain but the 24-year-old midfield player headed back across the border to gather his thoughts. The former Manchester United kid went home to discuss the move with his family and Gers expect a yes or a no in the next 24 hours. Earlier yesterday it was assumed he would sign but he has asked for more time.

 

However, Walter Smith, who is committed to allowing Steve Davis to play in centre midfield, is determined to land Eagles .

And the boss clearly feels Eagles, who lost his way after storming through the ranks at Manchester United reaching Champions League level, could bring something different to Rangers.Smith said: "He is a good player. We watched him at Burnley and if he signs it could be a good help for us but we will wait and see."

 

Decision Eagles was once seen as the rising star of Manchester United but fell away and after having been loaned out he was signed by Burnley .

 

Now, however, he could grab the chance to get back to the top by regaining his best form with Rangers.

 

Meanwhile, Ibrox chairman Alastair Johnston insists any possible sale of Thomson would be Smith's decision and the manager has not been forced to offload players . Johnston claims Smith is not under pressure to drive down the club's debts and says the veteran boss, along with chief executive Martin Bain, would sanction any potential move.

 

He said: "The decision on who stays and who goes rests with the manager. "It is not being imposed upon him by the board.

"We are also not in a race to spend more than the competition. "We want to be smarter about it but there is money available. "It is not just automatic that if you have got money you go and get a player tomorrow."

Piece today with quotes from AJ in the Evening Times.

Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston today hit back at claims Walter Smith was forced to sell Kevin Thomson to drive down debts at Ibrox.

 

Thomson is expected to seal a �£2million move from the SPL champions to Coca- Cola Championship club Middlesbrough today after a personal issue delayed his arrival on Teesside last night.

 

Many worried Gers fans fear Smith had to offload the tough-tackling Scotland midfielder in order to reduce the club’s bank debts. However, Johnston, at the Open Championship in St Andrews this week, where he is working for sports giants IMG, insisted that was not the case.

 

The Rangers supremo stressed the decision to sell the player to Gordon Strachan’s side lay with manager Walter Smith and chief executive Martin Bain.

 

With Steven Davis, Maurice Edu and Lee McCulloch still on the payroll at Ibrox, Rangers can arguably afford to offload the highly-rated player.

 

And Johnston stressed that Smith does have funds available to him to strengthen his squad before the SPL season kicks off next month without the need for sales.

 

He said: “The decision on who stays and who goes at Rangers definitely rests with the manager. It is not being imposed upon him by the board at all.

 

“Personally, I heard about it (the sale of Thomson) when they told me that the deal was about to be done and that was it. There was no imposition of it.

 

“Martin and Walter did it together. They made the decision and it was entirely consistent with what the board would have expected them to do.

 

“Walter and Martin are highly talented professionals who have been doing this for a long time.

 

“For the board or myself to impose our own opinions on things would not be very constructive for the operation of the club.

 

“Everybody is aware of the ramifications of who is going and who may come in – it is carefully thought out, it’s not spontaneous.”

 

The loss of Thomson follows hard of the heels of the departure of top scorer Kris Boyd – who also joined Strachan at Boro – and DaMarcus Beasley, Nacho Novo and Stevie Smith who also departed under freedom of contract.

 

Many Rangers supporters are growing increasingly concerned about the strength in depth of their club’s squad ahead of the defence of the title and their Champions League tilt next season.

 

However, Johnston revealed that Smith is working on deals – and Rangers will not be rushed into business in reaction to what Celtic are doing as Neil Lennon’s revolution continues to gather pace.

 

Johnston added: “I think Walter said it right earlier on this month. We are not going to dive in to do certain things just for the sake of doing them.

 

“It just means that, in this financial environment we have at this moment in time, we have to be doubly careful about how we use our scarce resources.

 

“I think that is important, and all Walter is saying at this moment in time is that we are not going to go in and spend money for the sake of spending money.

 

“We are not in a race to spend more than the competition. We want to be smarter about it, but there IS money available.

 

“Martin made that point several weeks ago and there us nothing inconsistent about that.

 

“But it is a question about the money we have to spend, the requirements that we need for the squad, and the availability of the player at the right price.

 

“It is not just automatic that if you have got money you go and get a player tomorrow.”

 

Johnston also knows that a lot can happen next month as the transfer window starts to close. There is also the added factor that Rangers could land an extra Ã?£2.5m windfall from Uefa if Celtic don’t come through Champions League

 

qualifiers as they would be Scotland’s sole representatives and bank the entire TV pot set aside.

 

He added: “I think a lot of things happen in August. The season has already started and you get a better idea of the way things are going to play out in time.

 

“Celtic are involved in European competition early on. We have to look at what the competition is, how they start. Are these factors? Of course they are factors.”

In some ways it might make the selection process easier for Walter and he can give Edu a run in the middle with Davis alongside him. Edu needs a good run of games to establish himself and improve. I always got the impression that Walter didn't quite know how to fit everyone in to the midfield without playing one or more out of position.

Like Gribz says, the squad is dropping in size, as many have rumoured would happen for some time now.

I can see both sides of the Thomson argument and obviously we don't know all the details, but it still smacks of short-termism to sell him for 2M given his age.

Will be interesting to see if we go for someone like Eagles, or someone from another Scottish club instead which would surely be a cheaper option.

Perhaps selling Thomson, allows us to keep Davis.

 

Who else has 1 year left?

Not sure why that would be the case, unless we have been told a lot of shite by all involved tbh. I thought that we had money to spend and there was no pressure to sell anyone, from a wages or fee point of view. We should be well under with the wage budget as well.

Someone's telling us porkies, but I think we all suspected that.

That's depressing news if true. 2M is a ridiculous fee given his age and potential, even given his recent injury problems. I suppose its more indicative of the SPL than anything and our well publicised financial problems aren't going to help us in negotiations.

I thought he was happy here though and looking forward to a contract extension? So either that's bullshit or the bank are still forcing us to sell.

The other thing is that I'm sure all our players have been "available" for about 2 years now. Its nothing new to suggest that suddenly we're being forced to listen to offers for our whole squad, its just sensationalist nonsense imo.

Don't panic!

I think Thomson is the best we have at the moment and given his age and apparent happiness here, is one we should be looking to keep. Like Frankie says, his inconsistency has been very frustrating, but you have to wonder how we'd replace him for that kind of money.

On the other hand, would it make Walter's team selection a bit easier and give a chance to someone else to establish themselves in there?

4M would surely be a minimum for him and they can keep Lee Miller.

Daily Record are running a story today saying Strachan is interested in Thomson and will offer Lee Miller as part of the deal. Of course there's no quotes whatsoever, but the worrying thing is that its one of those stories that keeps coming up.

I predict if he does poorly we'll see "told you" and if he does well it will be "he's found his level".

They've been saying the deal is nearly completed for about a week now.

Jambos certainly don't rate him at LB, but he appears to be a physical, no nonsense centre half. The only reason I can see us signing him though is if Bougherra and Wilson are away and as usual, there's lots of conflicting reports about that pair in the media, so all I'm sure of is that I've no idea who's going to be staying or going.

I have a couple of concerns about Lafferty. One is that he seems extremely naive, which you could put down to his age, but some of the ways he goes down trying to get other players booked or sent off is embarrassing. Its not like he even learns his lesson from previous incidents. If it was an opposition player we'd be up in arms about some of his antics.

And secondly, no matter what position he plays in, for every time he does something good, he'll do something laughably poor. He seems to look ungainly and uncomfortable at the best of times, but just when you think he's improving, he'll go and blooter the ball towards row Z or manage to tackle himself when trying to beat an opposition player.

And that's fine, all players have moments like that, but he seems to have more than his fair share.

Don't get me wrong, I really hope he comes good, but I think a lot of people got over-excited by his end to the season and glossed over the negatives in his play which were still there for all to see.

Its another WS baffling decision in how little he used Novo. But then he's just delivered the SPL again, so who are we to question him?

Not according to his professional starting record or goals tally, you are not suggesting that Walter is somewhat out of touch with KL's footballing ability/position.......are you..

Not quite sure what you're getting at tbh.

Anyway, I was wrong it seems. I remembered the quotes from WS, just had them completely the wrong way round it would seem.

Or was I?

Feck knows, but he looks like a really awkward, gangly player who doesn't know what he's doing for most of the time when played out wide.

And he has seldom been used in his favoured role through the middle.

 

Smith said: "He has played the majority of his career wide left but I see him as a striker.

"That's his best position - he plays there for the national team. He will perhaps need this season to find his way.

But then....

ââ?¬Å?I think he has been caught between a couple of positions,ââ?¬Â Smith said. ââ?¬Å?Kyle played all his football as a youngster in a wide-left position. And you see that he can still do that and he has his moments when he shows up really well. But his proper position is centre forward and he has not had enough games there. Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller have played there in front of him, so the number of games heââ?¬â?¢s had in his proper position have been limited.

 

ââ?¬Å?I feel he is needing a period of time to settle down in the centre-forward position to try and learn all aspects of the position, but heââ?¬â?¢s not getting that.

What is that position...

Straight through the middle. Not out on the left.

Lafferty isn't a wide player, but was deployed in that position by Burnley. However, when we signed him, Walter said that we wouldn't be playing him out of position.

Lafferty is still young, but my problem with the signing was the fee. We simply can't afford to be spending big fees on players "for the future" unless they're something really special. And if they are going to be used now, then at least play them in their preferred position.

Maybe his bluff back-fired on him? He was waiting for a big increase from us or for Birmingham to come back in with a 30K a week offer and neither happened? Not only that, but Smith comes out and says he's leaving before any deal is in place, so he's no option but to go.

Taking your wife and kids(if he has them) to a country with such big cultural and social differences is very difficult, even for a few years. While Boyd would be at training his wife would be stuck at home not being able to talk to anyone. The kids would need to go to a Turkish school or have a tutor keeping them within the 4 walls of his house

Believe me I know how difficult it is to move to a country with a different language and I didn't have the cultural differences to overcome, he would have faced. He may have got through it being involved at the club but it would have been a hell for his wife.

Of course it can be difficult, but unless you give it a go, who's to know how it will turn out? it doesn't have to be like that scenario either, but there's always been stories from the start that Boyd didn't want to move far away from home. Maybe its one of those things that he may regret passing over when he's older.