ascender

I think they have a much stronger squad than us, so over a season that can make a huge difference. What's the point of beating Celtic 4 times but then struggling to beat teams like Hibs and Caley?

I'm more worried about how they're progressing off the park at the moment. They seem to be willing to spend the money they're making in Europe whereas ours appears to have been swallowed up by debt.

Is Sean Connery free to persuade him to sign?

Quick, to the private jet!

8 million seems a helluva lot of cash for him...4 million max IMO

It puts the Brown price in to perspective, doesn't it? Gordon has been number 1 for Scotland for some time now, so Hearts will want to get more for him than Celtic paid for Brown. At the end of the day though, he's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for him.

Defoe and Owen are two names who have been linked with United on and off for a while now. Spurs have said that Berbatov is staying and they'd be mad to let him go unless they got offered silly money for him.

They do need to look towards replacing Giggs and Scholes, but the way they've been playing this year, they've got another few seasons in the top flight yet.

I think Hutton's quick temper is the last thing he really needs to sort out. The rest of his game seems to be coming on leaps and bounds. He's definitely our most improved player this season by a long way.

There's been rumours about this pair for the last few weeks in Edinburgh. As for Naismith, JJ did say at the weekend that there had been no interest from any clubs as of yet.

Its now officially silly season on the rumours, its that time of the year again.

Smith is obviously our long term first choice. Not sure if Papac will be hanging around as it looks like we're going to be signing one or two centre halves. Ian Murray can play in quite a few positions, so I can see him staying.

If true I'll be sad to see Sebo go but as for Svensson and Sionko, they can GTF! Kinda hoped Svensson would improve but he hasn't been given a chance. He was average at best and couldn't win a header for life nor money. I'm not even going to waste my breath talking about Sionko.

 

Flops on way out

 

If that article is to be believed the players signing are:

 

Naismith

Whittaker

McCulloch

Webster

Cuellar

No surprises in the names being talked about leaving, I think we've expected that. Same goes for the list of those guys supposedly coming in.

Only thing is, I don't think that will come anywhere close to sorting out our lack of drive and creativity from the centre of the park. With Burke struggling to add a final ball to his game, we also need a right winger with some composure.

I'm sure there'll be another couple of players coming in and leaving on top of that lot.

Had to go 2 up front if Boyd was to play.

 

You have to chose formations based on the players available not force fit players into formations.

I agree. But at the moment we don't seem to have another striker who is any good! Prso wasn't fit enough. Novo has been playing on the right wing as Burke isn't good enough at the moment. That leaves Sebo, but he's not been given a chance to get to play with any of the others to get a partnership going.

We steam-rollered Tel Aviv playing a 4-5-1 with Fergie playing in behind Boyd, so the formation could work depending on how individuals play, the opposition play etc. It just didn't happen this time out though.

Can�´t agree

 

Walter�´s team selection / formation at home to Osasuna was the biggest single reason for our elimination.

I think that's more than a bit to blame, but he's also inherited a very weak squad with limited options, particularly in midfield and up front.

I think buying a keeper who is significantly better than AM and with a proven track record will cost a fair chunk of whatever transfer budget we have. That person will also expect to be number one, so AM will move on. Besides, does anyone think we could attract a really top keeper to Ibrox just now, let alone pay for him?

Lack of character has been an issue under AM, PLG and now worryingly, WS. There must be something that can be done to identify the cause of the problem and sort it out?

I don't think we are that far behind Celtic on the park when it comes down to 11 v 11 players. But I think our squad needs a lot of players added to it in order to compete over the length of a season unfortunately.

Also, its not so much the complacency I'm worried about, but the tendency that some of our players to just switch off in certain games and not look interested at times. There's still a lack of fight, leadership and character on the pitch at times, which is something that's been around for a few years now. I'm not quite sure how we go about stamping that out.

Langfield almost signed for us years ago, presumably when WS was in charge last which explains this approach. I know people aren't happy about this sort of signing, but he's an experienced SPL keeper, what more do we want just now? If AM is going to be number 1 next season, a position I think he's earned, then that should save some money for areas of the team which really need spending on.

Also, remember that as things stand, you're asking someone to come to Ibrox and know they're starting off as our number two keeper. Not an easy position to fill.

The Arsenal thing seemed to be a rumour from Edinburgh that they were paying half his wages and had an agreement to sign him at a future date. For some reason the rumour wouldn't go away and Arsenal have always been favourites to sign him.

Not sure why Man Yoo would want him as they have Foster if they're going to give a young keeper a chance? Besides, its taken them a few years to get stable at the back with Van der Sar who has a few years left yet I'd have thought.

I think we did get some money back for players, particularly under AM. I'm sure someone will be along with a list in a while, but I think we made a reasonable bit of cash during his time in charge.

I think the thing is that times have changed. In the last 20 years or so there's not been that many young players coming through at the OF who have been given a real chance in the first team. Without that chance in the first team, they'll never build up any sort of profile which in turn will lead to them actually being worth money. I think that's why we've struggled to get any good money for our young players.

Similarly, that's why guys like Brown and Naismith have values on their head. Because they've done a job on a regular basis for their SPL sides, week in, week out.

I'd say its starting to be different now. Guys like McGregor, Smith and Hutton would all command decent transfer fees if they were to leave.

At last. That's been one of the most boring and prolonged transfer stories in a long time.

Clicky

If they can add someone like Owen up front, they could be even harder to stop next season.

A couple of places are saying WS is keen on the defender, but if that's true then surely the writing is on the wall for Svensson?

If Fowler signs, he will not be on "big wages". I'm not sure where this has come from, but we don't pay big wages any more. There's a strict wage structure in place now and those days are gone. That's one reason why we were never even going to try and compete with Brown's alleged 25K a week offer.

Besides, the guy has made his fortune already and is worth a mint. I'm sure he's only after first team footy now. Anyway, he won't be signing, so that's a kind of rant about nothing!

Is McCulloch better than what we have? I think he could be. The fact we might have to pay 1M or so is just a sign of the times and the value on any player from England unfortunately.

We still don't know how much cash there will be in total, so its hard to say whether this is money well spent yet though. Assuming it happens.

Lol. Its a strange story if true.

I think its great that we try to sign and develop young players, but we must give them a chance in the first team, otherwise, what's the point? I've lost track of how many promising young players have been heralded as signing for us, only to leave a few years down the line without ever making it near the first XI.

Good read. The guy always speaks sense and is a credit to the RST.

I did wonder how long it would take for us to be linked with O'Connor.

Centre back? Why bother?

So how long before organised protests and action against DM take place? I know its not the Rangers way, but something has to be done to stop our club sliding any further.

Id be reluctent to take him for 4 million and give him Klos' wages in the hope he could make us a profit. I couldnt see any EPL club coming in the a 6 million pound offer for him in a year or 2. The EPL clubs hold the SPL clubs to ransom over players these days.

...

 

BTW the Langfield offer is a joke, if we got him it would be the most embarrasing signing in a long time. Letizi looks like Buffon compared to him.

That's something that crossed my mind too Gribz. It would have been a good investment to buy Brown at 2.5/3M as you could see Premiership clubs going to 4 or 5M in the future. But Scottish clubs never get massive fees for players going south. I'm guessing the 5 year deal is Celtic's safety net so that they have adequate time to sell him on rather than letting him leave for free.

As for Langfield, I was reading somewhere that he nearly joined us before. If we're in for him again, I guess that means McGregor will be our number 1 next season.

Looks like he's signed for Celtic.

Hibs must be laughing all the way to the bank.