ascender

The set piece situation really is depressing. For years we've lacked a really good aerial threat. Now we've got loads of players who are good in the air and we can't seem to get the ball past the first man from corners.

I can't believe we won that, we were awful today!

Superb that we've got a trophy again, well done to Boyd and McGregor in particular

Squad is confirmed as:

McGregor, Broadfoot, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, Cuellar, Dailly, Hemdani, Ferguson, Davis, McCulloch, Burke, Thomson, Boyd, Darcheville, Alexander, Gow, Buffel.

If he hadn't played for the unwashed,would everybody still have the same opinion about him ?

I think the majority still would, but they wouldn't be so angry about it. Its the badge thumping when he scored against us which has put people's backs up about it.

If it wasn't for that, it would just be the norm for many of our fans who post online. Did you see the ridiculous (and disgraceful in many ways) over-reaction on FF when it was rumoured we were interested in signing Christian Dailly?

I still think its a lot of agent and paper talk, but given how little JCD has played this season, I can see why WS would be interested in him as Miller has played that lone role for Scotland.

That was part of the problem when I wrote that, there's quite a few unknowns about players' fitness and what WS is thinking. Not to mention the various permutations of players we could see out there. Not long to go now 'til we find out what the starting lineup will be

Adam's suspended? D'oh!

I'll edit it, thanks for pointing it out!

Its been over a month since we dumped Hearts out of the CIS Cup in the semi-final, but at long last we're on our way back to Hampden for a cup final. OK, so its only the league cup which is often called a "diddy" competition, but every club outwith us and Dundee United would still rather be there and not. As well as being a great day out for the fans, its the chance to win the first silverware of the season and in our case, hopefully, the first of many. It will also be the first chance for many of these players to win a trophy with Rangers. Many won't have played in a final at Hampden before, so I don't think that factor should be underestimated either in the team's desire to win.

Since that semi, the team has gone from strength to strength. While the fans have often made it clear that they don't always like Walter Smith's sometimes negative approach to games, you can't argue with results and we've now gone 20 games undefeated in the SPL. Meanwhile, Craig Levein has undoubtedly improved United this season and they're looking a much more resilient side, a fact which is underlined by their recent draw at Parkhead, not to mention the fact they're sitting in third place. While we got in to the game as favourites, we all know that you can't take anything for granted, especially in one-off matches like this.

Coming off the back of the UEFA Cup success in Bremen, Smith doesn't have his troubles to seek in terms of team selection up front. Daniel Cousin is out with a broken jaw, Nacho Novo is suspended following his stupid dismissal against Hibs in the Scottish Cup, while Steven Naismith is cup-tied. On top of those, Jean Claude Darcheville will do well to make the bench given his continued hamstring problems.

Thankfully the rest of the team gives Smith much better problems to deal with, the main one being who to leave out of his starting XI. The back four will probably remain unchanged from Bremen and its remained fairly constant for the last while now. Davie Weir and Carlos Cuellar will continue their partnership in the centre of defence, with Sasa Papac at LB and Kirk Broadfoot at RB. While neither Papac or Broadfoot are natural full backs, both have filled in admirably this season, with Papac in particular looking very impressive at times. Broadfoot meanwhile seems to be improving in every game and is making the most of the opportunity to show what he can do, although there's no doubt he looks like he could do even better in his preferred centre back position.

Special mention must go to Alan McGregor who is another homegrown player who has had to work hard to win over sections of the support. This season he's gone from strength to strength and put in arguably his best performance for us against Bremen. Goalkeepers tend to improve with experience, so the only way is up for McGregor now and its also great for the team that we have a settled goalkeeper who has age on his side, so we can hopefully build our defence for the next 5 years around him.

Smith will probably stick with his much maligned 4-5-1 formation. While it can be seen as negative on paper, he's quick to point out that it can be quite an attacking line-up when it needs to be, particularly if you play guys like Novo and Naismith out wide. However, with these two missing, it will be interesting to see who makes up the midfield 5.

Given we were on the ropes for much of the 90 minutes in Germany, Smith might choose to freshen things up in the midfield 5 and he certainly has options. But he also doesn't like to change the team un-necessarily, so don't be surprised to see the same line-up on Sunday. Barry Ferguson is a natural pick and Steve Davis has shown that he might be the perfect player to complement our captain in the middle, although he has been playing a bit further out on the right to balance the look of the team. Behind those two, Christian Dailly could retain the holding role that he's done so well since joining. Another one of Smith's signings who were maligned before playing, he's looked like exactly what you'd get when you sign a player with over 60 caps and a couple of hundred EPL games under his belt. While he looks like one of our fittest players, he might need a rest after Bremen, so maybe Kevin Thomson or Brahim Hemdani could replace him?

If Dailly does play, then Hemdani will probably slot in alongside Ferguson. While he's been preferred by Smith for European games, the fact that we've so few choices up front might mean that he starts this one. Meanwhile with Charlie Adam suspended, that leaves another space in the midfield which could be filled by any one from McCulloch, Thomson, Whittaker, Burke.... The list goes on and on, which is a far cry from our threadbare squads of the last few seasons. Walter could shuffle his pack in any number of ways to fill the midfield slots.

Which brings us to the forward line. I say line, but really its just one man. I think all Gers fans now realise that Kris Boyd just doesn't have the attributes to play up front on his own. Despite putting in some good shifts recently in that position, he's much more effective when playing with a strike partner alongside him. So that points to Smith playing Lee McCulloch up front. While he's not done much to impress in that position, he's showed that if we resist the urge to just play long balls up to him, he can bring more to the team.

So below is the team I expect to see start the game, going on recent selections. However, don't be surprised to see Walter shake things up a bit, particularly after the grueling trip to Bremen. Given that we're missing Novo and Naismith, the 4-5-1 on this occasion might be overly defensive, with less mobility from the wide players, so maybe Smith will play a more traditional 4-4-2 lineup with Boyd and McCulloch up front.

Whatever the lineup, its just great to see us back in a cup final at Hampden and gives us an early opportunity to celebrate the turnaround in our playing fortunes since Walter Smith returned to Ibrox, not to mention add another trophy to the collection.

____________________McGregor__________________

Broadfoot______Weir____________Cuellar______Papac

______________________Dailly____________________

Burke__________Ferguson_______Hemdani______Davis

____________________McCulloch___________________

5 Subs from:

Alexander

Boyd

Thomson

Hemdani

Whittaker

Buffel

Great result for us. At long last they've dropped points at home. I was expecting to see another 95th minute winner for them.

I think it would "ok" and nothing more than that IMO. I think we've had piss-poor kits for years now. Although I do like our current 3rd kit a lot. Or maybe I'm just getting old and the "yoof" will lap it up?

I think the last time I liked our kits and training gear was when Nike were doing them.

So its Boyd or McCulloch up front then.

I've been looking at this for our MdS forum.... I use PhotoPost on our M Coupe site, but don't know whether to install this for the MdS site as the next version of vBulletin is supposed to have a built-in gallery which would obviously have its advantages.

Another great post and I can't argue with any of it. I just find myself getting more and more fed-up and angry that no-one from our club stands up and speaks out about some of this nonsense.

As for Cousin, Fulham are looking like one of the favourites to go down, so I wonder if he'll fancy a move to them anymore? Will that deal still go through or has it effectively been canceled and will need to be re-negotiated in the summer?

Cheers Gribz.

I think Frankie has said on a few occasions that this story was nonsense.

The thing that gives it some credence IMO is that WS likes to play one up front and this is a role that he's used Miller in for Scotland. With Cousin away in the summer (probably) and JCD looking like he's never going to finish a 90 minutes for us, you could see how Miller could be a logical signing.

Thanks for the analysis BD, much appreciated.

Fergie is a strange one though, you have to admit that? He's obviously playing nowhere near the levels that he can do, but he obviously brings something to the team, contributes "something" that we miss when he doesn't play. So is that something that I, who's never been a pro footballer, just can't see or understand?

Does that make sense? He's been playing and we've been winning, but while I'm not one for making knee-jerk team changes, he has been awful at times, particularly recently and does seem to spend his time moaning at team-mates and insisting everything goes through him. Which is difficult when he's not on form.

I don't think any player should be an automatic pick as it just leads to some players getting lazy and resting on their laurels. But at the same time, the team is still winning.

No surprise Wenger said those things, he's the king of hypocrisy and has always glossed over the misdemeanors and behaviours of his own players when it suits him.

Regardless of the other pros and cons, can we stop perpetuating the two myths about him which I just don't understand.

1. "He was never given a chance"

&

2. "He was great against Celtic"

He played enough times to show if he had something special and could do a job. Look back at the stats and see just how many times he played for us and then compare that to someone like Cousin who made a couple of sub appearances when he first arrived and showed that he was a much better player in all aspects.

As for the Celtic game, he noised up their centre halves (which was needed) and charged around like a bull in a china shop while being lucky to stay on the pitch. While that's probably exactly what he was asked to do, its hardly a great performance for a forward.

Of course, he could have improved during his time in France and is young enough, not to mention the fact his heart seems in the right place.

Ah, good point, well made.

Oh well, I guess that means it'll be Boyd up front on his own then. Or maybe with McCulloch.

* shudders *

I think Boyd is starting tonight, which I'm not too worried about if he's starting alongside someone else, preferably Cousin or Naismith or JCD.

But of course, he's not match fit any more...

I really like it, nicest kit we've had in ages IMO, just a shame we don't wear it more often.

What a turnaround for Barry Robson. From Tannadice to scoring against Barca in the space of a few weeks.

It was strange to see Boyd being the one dropping deeper on Sunday with JCD being properly up front. I thought he did OK though, but ironically that tended to take him away from the 6 yard box which is where he needs to be.

But Novo has always lacked the composure to be a great striker and I think that's also got a lot to do with why he seems to contribute more to a game when he comes on as a sub. Over 20-30 minutes his energy and workrate can really lift a game and his shortcomings aren't so apparent.

Having said that, as part of a settled front two pairing, maybe he'd improve.