ascender

McGregor clearly thrives on confidence and I think the difference between him and Alexander is that ability to pull off those incredible, how-the-hell-did-he-get-to-that match-winning saves. But I think Alexander is a more solid, workmanlike and reliable keeper 9 times out of 10. When McGregor's confidence is low or his concentration is off, he does flap and has cost us a fair few goals over the last year or so. Thankfully he's back on a high again, although as a whole team we're playing better just now.

I'd be happy to have either one as our number one, but if I was Alexander I'd still feel more than a bit aggrieved at the way he has been treated here to be honest. Every time he's come in for McGregor he's played incredibly well and has never warranted being dropped. While on the other hand, McGregor has been kept in the team at times when he's been making a lot of individual errors. I guess Smith feels he's definitely the better keeper and recognises he needs to play through his low-times to regain his confidence.

Ultimately I think being the number two keeper at a big club like ours (playing in the SPL) is a position for someone coming to the end of their career who is "happy" to spend some time on the bench. In my memory we've had quite a few occasions where we've had a couple of excellent keepers on our books, but one has been forced to leave just because they can't get enough games.

Its from the NOTW, what does anyone expect. We are getting to silly season on the rumours again though when the transfer window opens.

Thanks very much for posting those, some very encouraging words indeed.

I know Hateley hasn't made many friends with some of his columns about us in recent times, but I think he's speaking a lot of sense in his latest one. From today's Daily Record:

I love Nacho Novo. There, I've said it. And it may come as no surprise to learn the good people of Pittodrie do not feature high in my affection.

 

But I must admit to being disappointed in my wee pal the other day when he dropped his shorts and lifted a finger to the locals in the wake of Rangers' defeat at Aberdeen.

 

Don't get me wrong. It's not that they didn't deserve it.

 

How can these morons stand spewing their filth at a football player for 90 minutes, in front of their own children and wives, then act like horrified innocents at the sight of a pair of underpants?

 

What do you think scars a five-year-old kid more?Watching his dad behave like a foul-mouthed lunatic every Saturday or seeing the Spaniard flick out a gesture as he runs the gauntlet in front of the baying mob?

 

So spare me all this c*** about Novo's actions causing offence. If these people are so worried about the sense and sensibilities of their offspring or their women folk then why were they still inside the stadium at the end of the game? Surely as soon as the first vile chants of "Nacho Novo, f****** homo" started up they would have headed for the exits or, even better, made for the cops to register their complaints on the way out.

 

Don't make me laugh. No one gives it out the way the punters at Pittodrie do and, speaking as someone who was assaulted by one of their knuckle-draggers as I stood signing autographs for kids in wheelchairs outside the front door, no one knows better than I do just how twisted some of them can be.

 

But that STILL doesn't excuse the actions of Novo. I'm sorry to say this Nacho, but you really should be better than that. In fact, the way Rangers performed in the Granite City as they blew the only unbeaten record in British football merely summed up what I was saying about these players in these very pages last week.

 

I'm told some of them did not take too kindly to my appraisal of their shortcomings following the end of the Champions League campaign. A little birdie tells me a few threw the rattle out the pram when they read what I had written about their lack of backbone.

 

Well they really showed me, didn't they? Another 90 minutes, another perfect example of a team with no guts.

 

If you know you're heading into a battle you might as well make sure you swing the first punches. But not this lot. In fact, as awful as it is to admit, we are now watching a side that allows itself to become intimidated and I never thought I'd see the day.

 

This latest capitulation was just another damning indictment of players who are not strong enough to handle the pressure.

 

And I'm afraid Novo's silly gestures merely proved the point. I'm willing to bet the little fella is every bit as disappointed with himself because he really is one of the few players in the dressing room who can cope with wearing that shirt. But he cracked and that is a sign of weakness. I remember when I played up there and got the same level of abuse he suffered. Maybe even worse. But I'll tell you the truth, I absolutely loved it. I couldn't wait for those games to come round because I fed off all the hatred.It was the same as playing at Parkhead.There was nothing I loved more than scoring then running away with a huge smile. Nothing.

 

That sickened them more than anything and Nacho should know by now it's the ONLY way to shut these morons up.

 

But there are times when we can all snap.

 

It's happened to Beckham, Zidane and Cantona and if it can get to them it can get to anyone. But that doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye.

 

The bottom line is,the bigger the player,the bigger the club,the bigger his responsibilities.

 

And, for me, too many of this Rangers crop shirk those responsibilities.

 

Novo, though, is one guy who never, ever goes hiding.That's why he was the last man on the pitch the other day when so many of his team-mates couldn't wait to get into the safety of the dressing room.

 

The little man has a huge heart and I'd guess it wasn't just the defeat or the abuse that made him lose it - I suspect the frustration at not getting a fair crack of the whip simply, finally boiled over.

 

Novo has sat there all season watching the likes of Kyle Lafferty, Kenny Miller, Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith being moved around like deck chairs on the Titanic. And no matter how poorly they perform he's the one sitting on the sidelines the next week.

 

And that's why, if I were Walter Smith, I'd be thinking long and hard about starting Nacho at Falkirk on Saturday.This is a player who WILL stand up and be counted.

 

He's a man with a point to prove after the furore of the past few days and he'll be more desperate than ever to get back in the good books.

No, he can't be recalled, but I think I read somewhere that's a UEFA/FIFA directive rather than an oversight on our behalf.

Thanks for posting that update from FF. Always interesting to see stuff from BarryBaldy.

Cheers,

Mike.

Wilson has done nothing wrong so shouldn't be dropped IMO.

Mike.

Anyone else hear McCoist on the radio before the game? Apparently Boogie was always coming back today and they had no plans to play him anyway.

Who knows what's going on.

Cheeky f*ckers at the Daily Record can't resist to put in a pointless line about Celtic at the same time.

It is the second time in the space of four weeks Bougherra has gone missing after being on international duty.

And it's in stark contrast to the professionalism shown by Georgios Samaras, who arrived in Athens at 4am after helping Greece win their play-off in Ukraine only to catch a flight to London then Glasgow in time for training with Celtic that same morning.

HTF is that relevant to the Boogie story?

Cheers,

Mike.

With the way things are going, we'd be lucky to get 3M for him Frankie. If he doesn't want to be here, punt him now.

Can we recall Webster? He's been fit and playing well for Dundee United.

Very difficult to judge at the moment given the state of our team and how we're playing.

I do think that one of WS' failings is that he does seem to have his favourites who are never dropped regardless of how they perform. I don't think it does players any harm to be put on the bench occasionally if they've not been performing. Gives them something to prove when they get their chance next and also might be a chance for a reserve (regardless of age) to show why they deserve a run in the team.

I don't think there's any doubt that Burley and the SFA handled things badly, but surely this could all be sorted by someone (be that Burley or McGregor/Boyd/Ferguson) being the bigger man and just asking to speak to the other about it. Or maybe it really is different now and players aren't that bothered about playing for their country. I know when I was growing up the thought of a Scotland cap seemed to be just as big a deal as playing for your club.

Just seems like a lose-lose situation for all concerned at the moment.

Boyd for me, I thought his all-round game was very good yesterday and obviously he got the goals too. Encouraging to see Wilson & Fleck playing well too, the more experience they get the better.

We do have more of a worldwide support than many other clubs, so should be doing more to exploit it. I've lost count of the countries I and other Bears have been in and you walk in to a sports shop and there's Celtic kits for sale with no sign of our stuff.

Having said that, they should sort out the UK first, its been a disgrace in recent times how hard it can be to find Gers kit for sale in JJB sometimes.

Actually, scratch all of that, first priority is for us to have someone in charge who will stand up to the press and defend our club, fans and traditions.

I think the league has been there for the taking for the last 3-5 years to be honest. I can't remember a time in my memory when both halves of the Old Firm have regularly dropped so many points to other sides in the SPL.

Thanks for clarifying that.

I guess the other hope would be that any parties coming in would try to generate more revenue and improve our "global brand" which is an awful term, but its something we seem to have been dreadful at doing this far.

The papers are quoting that we have 30M of debt. Given the cost-cutting that happened when McLeish was here and the new wage structure that's been in place for the last few years now, are we now "living within our means" in terms of an average season's turnover?

What I mean is, if someone comes in, buys the club and wipes out the 30M of debt, so we're starting from scratch, are our outgoings under control so that any further investment in new players could be accomodated assuming this new consortium writes off some money to be spent on player signing fees?

I guess anyone proposing a bid will have a detailed business plan, but I was wondering how the club stands just now. Are we in this mess mainly because of over-spending on transfer fees following Kaunas, or does it go back a bit further than that?

I know what the collective opinion is amongst our fans as regards the various sports writers up here, but over the last week, nearly all of the well known ones have come out and said that they seriously doubt whether Walter will stick around long enough to see the club under new ownership. Walter's clearly not stupid and his remark about Lloyds running the show was obviously intended to provoke the reaction that it has.

So are these journos all just jumping on the bandwagon, taking 2+2 (his comments along with the hard time he had at Everton during cost-cutting) to make 5, or are they basing their stories on info received indirectly from Walter? We all know that the Scottish football community is pretty small and there's no way to keep a story underwraps for too long before it leaks out.

On the one hand Walter clearly loves the club, hence why there has been mention that he'd continue to work without a contract. On the other, is his resignation maybe just his next planned step to force some sort of end-game from Lloyds, MIH and a prospective new owner?

I've no idea about Dave King's consortium. Do they even exist? What are there plans for the club? Like I said in the other thread, we seem to be jumping the gun here.

Just had the email through about this....

How do the groups know that Dave King is definitely behing a bid? If he is, is his the only bid on the table? What's the details of his bid and where he wants to take the club?

I didn't think anyone had shown their hand yet and there's obviously been a fair bit of dubious press about him and his business dealings in SA, but much of it seems to be hearsay, so it would be good to read some accurate press on him.

I'd have thought Lloyds and MIH desparately want to get rid of Rangers and if there's a serious bid on the table, it'll be considered. Its not like someone's come out and said that their bid has been rejected because of those organisations being unreasonable.

Just seems to be a bit premature and pointless, that's all. I'd have waited until more information came out and there was something concrete to throw our collective weight behind.

Does this mean we're now going to have rumours worse than the usual transfer window crap? Only difference will be Souness' name instead of Fowler's.....

At least something appears to be happening now, even if we don't quite know what that is! Has Walter's comments put the cat amongst the pigeons?

By all accounts we can't afford to hire anyone new and who'd want to come here with zero money available for buying players or even paying wages for loan/bosman signings.

Interesting to see mention on here and other forums about how we need someone to take us forward in Europe again. Fuck Europe as far as I'm concerned, we need to get back to dominating the SPL first.

There's so many problems at the club just now, but look at the players in our squad. Even while lacking depth, they are "better" than those at any of the other SPL clubs and certainly paid more (Celtic aside).

So I don't think its unreasonable to wonder why our management team is struggling to have these players outplay teams like St Mirren for example. Surely we have a good enough squad to comfortably finish 1st or 2nd in the SPL, by some way? Supplement the current first team with some young players and we're good to go?

Why are we still looking so mediocre, disorganised, lacking in team spirit, lacking in ideas, lacking in enthusiasm, lacking energy, lacking the will to win etc?

My initial reaction is that I am impressed with what he had to say there.

 

He talks in very positive terms and obviously feels he has something different to offer, which is most welcome. If he can work out the future landscape he discussed then he will, in fact, be able to position the club in as attractive a way as possible for the next owner.

 

Short of new ownership structure, this is exactly what we need so I welcome him aboard.

Agree, very positive start from the guy.