ascender

I think that about sums it up for me. Even before that when we were signing lots of internationalists under Souness it was pretty exciting, especially as the first we usually knew about it was when they were paraded at Ibrox.

According to the Mail, he's been told they'll listen to any reasonable offers for him, but its the usual story while being a non-story with no direct quotes. I know he's had his critics, but he can't be faulted for his work-rate, enthusiasm, fitness etc and has been one of those who does put in extra work on the training pitch. I also think he has improved a lot since he's been here, but I can't see him becoming a permanent fixture in the first team, so would he want to hang around if he's only going to be used as a backup player? I'm sure its not all about finances and we could work a deal out if we really wanted him to stay. Maybe he'll move elsewhere and find his level while getting a regular game at centre half. Whatever happens, I'd wish him all the best as quite a few of our players could learn a bit form his attitude if nothing else.

Until we find out who's leaving and whether guys like Adam are going to get another chance, its going to be difficult to try and second guess what WS is going to do in the summer.

I was reading that earlier, but what's the point? We never use loan signings to their full potential, so why would we bother again? I'm disappointed that WS hasn't made more use of his relationship with Ferguson to try and get some United youngsters on loan. I guess in the summer we might free up some money for transfers by getting in token fees for players and getting them off the wage bill. But I'd expect us to be spending under 1M each on individuals which might mean WS picks up a few from within the SPL. My reservation about that is the same as the loan one as we all know what's happened to guys like Gow & Aaron for example.

Of course Fergie isn't the only one at fault, its been a very long season with some very disappointing performances from players who are capable of much more. Some people do seem intent on hanging him out to dry, but there's other players like Boyd who attract just as much flak from fans. Think about some of the abuse Broadfoot has had (and still gets) on fan sites for example. Even Steven Whittaker, who has been playing well recently, has had all sorts of abuse thrown at him online. I seem to remember Kevin Thomson getting a right slagging when he was settling in, yet most fans now can't wait for him to get back to first team action. We're a fickle bunch alright. What I would say is that debate on here seems to be much more reasoned that on some other forums I've seen and criticism is backed up with an actual viewpoint rather than just calling certain players useless or resorting to personal insults. Ferguson was always going to be up against it when he came back from Blackburn, hoping to emulate the form he showed in his last season for us before leaving. He's also one of the highest earners & the club captain, so expectations are bound to be higher. I think the frustrating thing for some fans is that he has repeatedly told the media how much being Rangers captain means to him, yet his performances over the last while seem to lack the passion and determination that he so often talks about.

I'm not condoning any abuse of him or his family. Unfortunately that's part and parcel of playing for the OF in Scotland which is a sad reflection of things. I know that his brother has to say something as he's contracted to the channel, but its just I've heard it all before and would rather he said his brother was sorry and left it at that. Maybe its because we're being told again that Rangers means everything to Ferguson just after an event where it appears he's behaved in a manner not exactly becoming of the club captain. Its a self-perpetuating problem though as the media lives off stories like this and won't let them die. But we all know that so why bring it up again in this interview. I don't see having a drink as a problem, but I thought this was more of a long "session" from what I've read. 3 and a half days before an international seems like a long time, but I wouldn't have thought many pro athletes would do that much boozing that close to a game? Its not so much the alcohol being in your system, its the knock-on effects of how you feel, the lack of sleep etc. Then again, maybe they didn't drink too much. Its difficult to tell with our media being what they are. No doubt the SFA handled it badly as well and I agree that its hardly the crime of the century, so why didn't the pair of them just behave in a dignified manner? I've been a critic of Ferguson's for a while now, but only because he seems to be past his best and while we get lots of fighting talk or excuses for his lack of form via the media (spot the irony), he never seems to just let his play do the talking.

Sorry for being cynical. I agree, what else did I expect, of course he was going to stick up for his brother, but its almost like he just took his press release from the PLG debacle and changed the title at the top of it. I'd rather he and his brother just kept their mouths shut in this instance after the initial apology and he shows us what the club really means to him on the park. Its just I've heard this sort of thing before.

Have I just woken up in January 2007?

Its a tricky one, but without knowing what's going on behind the scenes I really don't know what to make of it all. Ferguson's form has been very poor for the last couple of seasons, but as has been discussed on here before, even when he plays poorly, he seems to bring "something" to the team which is missing when he's gone. Goram was dropped and it was a real wake-up call to him, so that's how this sort of thing can work positively. But should Ferguson, as a club and international captain, need this sort of thing to let him know he needs to buck up his act and behave more professionally? Does talent excuse things like Gazza's drinking? On his day, Gazza was world class and as we all saw, could single-handedly turn (and win) games for us. Ferguson is nowhere near that standard any more, even on a good day. I think the main problem, so to speak, is that the title is still alive. If we were out of the race, I think Fergie would have played our last game for us and WS would be giving guys like Edu some games to show what they can do and settle in to the team for next year. But at the moment we're only a point behind Celtic and its not the best circumstances for young players to come in and run things. Especially when there's so few leaders on the pitch. Maybe it would also be different if we have a few older, experienced guys like Weir in the first XI to help the younger guys find their feet. But as we don't, I think WS is just facing up to the stark reality that we do need Ferguson in the team, albeit he's nowhere near his best. I think WS is also hoping that by stripping him of the captaincy, it gives him another boot up the arse which should see improved performances for him in the run-in. I think its just disappointing for me to see the behaviour of the pair of them who are professional, highly-paid athletes. No-ones saying they can't have a drink, but have they not got an ounce of common sense between them? Drinking in a bar for that long after a defeat, ahead of another international? And the vickies thing was something I'd expect a petulant teenager to do, not a pair of Rangers & Scotland players.

Of course I'm not saying that, but clearly there's still a problem with the Scottish game in general where the majority of players still have a poor attitude to diet and fitness. We do have dieticians, sports science experts etc, so why are we still hearing the same rumours about how our players conduct themselves and there's the same lingering doubts about fitness. I don't think Weir is just any old player (no pun intended) who's hanging around at the end of his career looking to pick up an easy wage. He's a model professional who has obviously looked after himself, otherwise he wouldn't still be playing the number of games he does at a reasonably high level. I'd wager that he's still much fitter than McCoist or Durrant were at a similar age, although I'll concede that his position helps him out in this respect. Whether its in a defensive coaching role or something more directed towards health & fitness, I don't see a downside in having someone like Weir around the club in some capacity.

How bizarre. I'd have thought Bougherra or maybe Boyd would be up for this one, especially given how poor Caldwell is. Davis & Mendes????? Just don't get it.

Most of the papers this morning are carrying an interview with Smith where he confirms that both players will be available for selection again once their bans are over this week. He says that following the SFA admitting they handled things badly, maybe he's been a bit too harsh on the pair. Interestingly, he also confirms the off-the-record comments that they'd never play for him again. As far as the captaincy goes, Ferguson won't be getting that back and a couple of the papers seem to think that he'll still be out the door in the summer, while McGregor may be given another chance.

I'd like to see Davie Weir offered a coaching job of some sort or some role where he can work with younger players and try to change the attitudes to training, diet etc. He's a model pro who has clearly looked after himself, so surely we should be looking to keep guys like him around Ibrox?

Amazed there's any sort of incoming rumours given the financial mess we're in. We also need to reduce the squad size and possibly sell a couple of players who could bring some money in.

There's no point debating the merits of signing young talent, Scottish or otherwise, if we don't give them a chance in the first team or if we don't have a manager capable of motivating them, nurturing them etc.

Bit off-topic, but do either of you have a working email address for the Trust which is actually monitored or read by an actual person?

Unless things go badly wrong in the next couple of months, I'd have thought McCoist was a dead cert for the post.

What's the point? Seriously, why bother? I've lost count of the number of promising young players we sign who then rot in our reserves before disappearing out the door a few years later. Either play them or don't bother.

Not at all, he was awful yesterday, so deserves criticism. But consistently since he arrived here he's pretty much been the first and often the only player who seems to be blamed for all our failings on the park when we're struggling which just blatantly isn't the case.

A couple of disappointing things for me about Boyd. One is that win or lose, some fans seem determined to single him out for criticism, regardless of his actual performance and any improvements shown. I don't know why. Secondly, Boyd clearly has some talent. Apart from his natural goal-scoring instinct, he has shown in flashes, that he can head a ball. He can trap a ball. He can get involved in link-up play. The problem is that he simply doesn't do any of these things consistently enough. He's a young player who wants to play for the club. He doesn't look naturally fit, so I don't understand why the coaching staff aren't doing more with him. Or why isn't he doing more for himself to improve his shortcomings? This element and the way some of our team seem to have gone backwards in ability under Smith is just baffling. The RVN thing is an interesting comparison and it could be argued that last season, WS was aping Ferguson by setting us out to be tough to beat above all else and hoping to sneak a goal from somewhere. Ferguson seems to have gone down that route even further this season and it seems to be working again for them. As for Boyd, I still don't think his case is helped by the other shortfalls in our team or Smith's insistence on changing tactics & lineups frequently. If we had a more attacking & creative midfield, coupled with a settled strike partnership, I think any pairing of our current forwards could and should score 20+ goals each per season. The way we're playing at the moment does highlight the weaknesses in Boyd's game and maybe that's why he always seems to be singled out for criticism?

Yip, Webster was injured, I remember reading it in a few papers before the game but also someone mentioned it last week.

Did Smith really make some smart-arsed comment at the end of the press conference to the effect that he hopes fans who criticised him for his negative/defensive approach in games last season were happy now? That he made us hard to beat last season, but look what's happened now he's trying to be more positive?

Shroomz, is that you?

But this time round against Kaunas it would appear that the future of the club (almost) depended on us beating them. And surely the UEFA Cup finalists shouldn't have played so negatively against a team like Kaunas, particularly when our tactics would have come as no surprise to them and they prepared appropriately to deal with them. I agree it would have been harsh to sack him, but once WS had come in and steadied the ship, the signs were there that he was going to struggle to actually build on that and improve things. Its easy to say with hindsight, but much as we had an amazing season last year, we rode our luck massively at times and it could easily have gone the other way for us. I think that this season we've been similarly poor at times, but our luck has run out. As for the fixture thing, I think that like this year, we had ample chance to have the league won but kept dropping silly points. Walter's reluctance to use the whole squad or blood young players meant that they inevitably ran out of steam. Again, its like this season. If players are tired, rest them. If players aren't producing the goods on the pitch, drop them or motivate them to do better next time. The way we played against Kaunas was just depressing and it kind of summed up where we were at the time and what lay ahead for the season. Following on from that dismal defeat, SDM then bankrolled WS with the kind of money which surprised all of us and if rumours are to be believed, has taken us to the brink of some very serious financial troubles. Was it really necessary? We now have too big a squad and are still struggling to beat many mediocre teams in the league while the management team still seem to be unable to see many of the glaring problems we have on the park which have plagued us for the best part of 5 years now. Off the park there aren't dressing room rifts any more, but the fitness and motivation of the team doesn't seem to be any better for it. There's no doubt the players respect WS, but if that's the case, why do they not appear willing to bust a gut for him? There seems to be a distinct lack of leadership on the park and off the park. How many times do we struggle to break sides down and resort to playing long balls from the back when we don't have a target man? Walter just seems to have run out of ideas and the problem he has now is that he's spent money handsomely and we're not really any better off than we were last season. There just seems to be no ambition or long-term plan any more and its really sad to see may first team players talk the talk about how much they love the club, WS etc but repeatedly actually show any sort of guts and determination when they take to the pitch.

Even if he does stand down by mutual agreement or whatever, all signs are pointing to Ally McCoist being our next manager which is worrying. Apart from anything else, at the moment he's a part of the management team which is under-performing and apparently struggling to motivate the players. So if Smith goes, surely McCoist and McDowall should go too?