Tannochsidebear

Gutted at the draw if I'm honest. Didn't want to play them this season with our defence so bad at dealing with aerial set pieces, which is of course the Timmy way. Our only chance is to take every chance we get, not something we are known for either. The scum will be right up for this, make no mistake. While every time I have seen them they look garbage, this is the game that will get them motivated like no other. I dare say we will be too, of course, but we will rightly be huge underdogs and our support would do better to remember this. The bookies after the draw make the tims 8/13 favs to win the cup with us second best at 4/1. No prices yet for the actual game but we will be an attractive price which may reflect our chances fairly. Thankfully most of our players know nothing of an OF game and it is this game most of them signed up to come and get the chance to play in, but with youth and inexperience of big games can come nerves. The build-up will be like nothing they have ever experienced and will only add to the nerves, so our experienced guys like Miller, Weir, Durrant etc will be really important to teach them what to expect. Warburton seems to really believe the mantra of one game at a time so I hope he gets the players to park this away until after the diddy cup final and we don't allow any loss of focus on winning every game between now and then.

Copland Rear, fairly central, a great view of the match. You recall one incident where he runs 20-30 yards, I recall one incident where he is merely watching proceedings from 5 yards inside their half while we are playing the ball around at the edge of the box looking for our striker to play it to. I'm not saying he didn't have a good game and played his part, I merely pointed out that in my opinion several players were better yesterday. I have read he had a hand in all 4 goals, which is clearly nonsense as the only contribution he had in the first goal was a misplaced pass straight to a Dundee defender whom Forrester went on to dispossess and score. The third was great dribbling by McKay to earn a FK for Halliday to score, and Law sends Wallace away to score the fourth. I would agree with the notion that he appears to be a better player the further away from goal he plays, citing some good link-up play and pulling defenders out of position for runners to go in behind. The cynic might say that has more to do with his terrible finishing and the less opportunities to flaff his scoring attempts he has, the better his overall contribution appears to be!

I know we all have our favourites and also those we do not rate, and it is also well known I dont rate Miller at all. Everyone seems to think he was exceptional yesterday, but for me I didnt see it. I saw him at times stuck in midfield with the game going on around him, his inability to get up with play meaning we were without a striker in the box at times when our wide players were looking to make a pass and he was 40 yards back showing no effort to get forward. I can only say what I noticed from my seat. He made a good contribution overall and I was happy with him yesterday (I dont "want" him to be bad, he is playing for my team!), but I genuinely thought there were 5 or 6 better than him yesterday. Ball, Forrester, Holt, Tav, Wallace, McKay all put in fantastic performances doing what they were in the team to do. Halliday & Miller would be next, with the 3 least worked players, (Wes, Wilson & Kiernan) doing their jobs efficiently if not spectacularly. Perhaps a reflection of a smashing overall team performance. The big question for me is can we reproduce that type of energy, pace and quality when Morton come calling on Friday and shut up shop. We all hope yesterday is the catalyst for some successive good performances and victories in the remaining games and we dont go back (or are forced back by opponents tactics is perhaps more accurate) to a slow-paced, inaccurate probing game.

Loved the game with top performances from Tav, Wallace, Ball, Holt, McKay & Forrester, and the rest weren't too bad either! To not go too overboard you would have to concede that our opponents played tactically right into our hands with an attacking formation. Their arrogance to believe they could play us at our own game and win was their undoing. No matter our SF opponents, nobody will repeat those tactics against us. Have to laugh at the OP claiming Miller was playing as a false number 9. That is exactly what I have said about him his whole career!! I concede we may not mean the same thing though! Over 100 goals for the season in the first week in March is mightily impressive, especially when at leat half our games have been against 10 man defences. If everyone used the same tactics as Dundee , 200 could have been achieved by May. Morton in the SF and Hibs in the final will do me please!

There is very little to beat the feeling of being at the piggery when we stuff them. The Rangers fans in full voice outsinging the scum in their own midden while handing down a damn good thrashing is one of the highlights of following our team everywhere. Rarely do you get a party like that anywhere else. Personally I made the decision in the last season before we went down to never go back to the Piggery due to the ridiculous pricing, policing & stewarding, and some other factors. I wont be going back to Tannadice (hopefully wont be an issue next season!!) either after their treatment of our fans at the abandoned game until their scumbag of a chairman is gone. There is one point I dont believe has been raised in this discussion which is of major significance to both clubs. The OF game is the sole big selling ticket for tv coverage around the world. It is certainly not for the quality of football, it is for the passion of the fans and the rivalry and noise created by these games with a large travelling support at both grounds. While I would personally love to go to a situation where they get the 800-1200 in the corner like everyone else, the tv viewers would soon disappear if the atmosphere was almost exclusively one-sided. For us fans the result is everything, but to sell this game around the world we have to focus on what makes our game unique, which is the atmosphere generated by two large numbers of fans in passionate opposition.

While I am confident of success, what fellow posters have not mentioned is the "Rangers effect" of a team playing well above and beyond their skill levels because they are playing the biggest and most famous and feared club in the country. Every Motherwell fan I have spoken to agrees that the two pay-off games were the best Motherwell performances in many years. Look at the results of a wee team the game after playing well against us, they invariably get pumped as they cannot reproduce that cup final attitude and level of play against other opponents. That is the added pressure of playing for Rangers. Every opponent will remember the game for a long time, and will treat it as a cup final, with the team performance usually being one of their finest of the season. Our players always have to first win the battle against lesser opponents, then our better players can skillfully win the game. With Dundee fielding a weakened side (SPFL Rules anybody?) against the champions in what should be a crucial game for them in their bid to finish in the top 6, which would be a huge achievement financially for them, tells you everything about where they believe the Big Game to be in their fixture list. It should be pointed out that are nowhere near safe from a play-off spot either. Despite them having little chance of winning the cup, they have prioritised this match against us over the bread and butter of league points. I am expecting a very tough and close match, another goalless draw would not surprise me given our goals have dried up over recent weeks as we have tried to tighten our defence. We cannot continue to be as wasteful and if we can get ahead we can stay ahead. If there is a first goal, I do not think that side will lose. It could be that tight.

The side they had with Ravanelli and Canniggia was an outstanding side to watch, as was the side that lost to us in the SCF. I havent seen Dundee to see if this team is their best in 40 years, but if it is better than them we will have a very difficult match on our hands.

The Dundee game should give us a better indicator than even the Killie game did, given Dundee are top 6 and Killie struggling badly near the foot. I disagree that our defence looks good, i still think it looks very dodgy and better opponents would punish us consistently. We need 2 good centre backs for next season. One might be enough if it is the right one to play alongside Kiernan/Wilson, but the Kiernan Wilson partnership will not win us the title next season. I am absolutely convinced of that. Warburton will have had a clean slate to work with, a year in a lower league to bed himself in, 3 windows to mould his squad, the second biggest budget in the country, and anything less than second place next season will be an absolute failure. There is no other way to look at that. Hearts went up last year only due to our complete meltdown and are comfortable in third. I dont expect celtic to be as bad next year as their fans will flood back, they will bring in some quality and perhaps a proper manager as well. The title may be a bit beyond our young squad next year but it has absolutely got to be second place. Third/Fourth place would be a poor result but I would continue with Warbs into the following season to see if he can learn from it. With regard to Rousseau's comment about celtic having the luck, I am frankly more paranoid about that and would say they have the SPFL directly in their pocket, along with the pressure on referees etc, is worth 10-15 points a season to them. Just because I am paranoid about this, doesnt mean I am necessarily wrong! How we deal with these bad decisions by referees, tribunals, etc next year will be interesting to see. Will we meekly accept them as we did throughout the Murray era, or will we actually have some PR people work alongside our boardroom to get some balance on these issues. I wont be holding my breath on that one.

GZ was not listed in the 18 man squad for the St Mirren game that was released 1 hour before kick-off. His injury must have been picked up on Friday at training rather than in the warm-up. Just for clarification purposes.

It made for a much better listen with the idiotic repetitive questions edited out. That was probably 15-20 minutes edited down to 3:45 and gave us all we needed to know. I hope those editing on behalf of the club continue with this style.

sounds good to me

Really impressive home debut for MOH yesterday. A clear MOTM (unless you were the numpty who actually voted for Tav!) and always looked to run at defenders both inside and outside. If only he could shoot!

8/10 I can honestly say I have never heard the Gaelic translation of Ibrox before, so I took a guess and got it wrong. Feckin dead language anyway!

That is quite a tweet Ian. If one of our RSC's had tweeted something similar about the UVF and ****** scum, not only would they be banned from getting tickets from Ibrox, the twitter operator would be on a charge from the authorities. Our media would be all over it, with headlines all over the place about sectarianism, radio phone-ins tut-tutting about it, demanding quotes from our Directors, demanding action from the PF etc etc.

Sounds good Frankie. Done it twice but would have no hesitation going again as it is always being updated and is a wealth of information and history. Gersnet founders Trail tour followed by a dinner too much?

I might be picking this up different guys, but I am reading that since his election he has found out the things he has mentioned in the article, like others resisting the professionalism he is trying to bring in, and if RF resists becoming more professionally run, he may have to leave. Bringing in a constitution, articles of association and proper accountants and advisers are all part of him making RF more professional. His suggestions might be being met with resistance from some of his fellow newly-appointed Directors.

He tried his hardest, gave everything he had, unfortunately that wasn't a lot. Will always be remembered by the wonderful ditty sung by us during the final OF game of the season (dead rubber unfortunately) "Sebo's on, we're taking the piss". My memory suggests this was also the game of a rare (only?) Boyd OF goal, and Charlie Adam's great free kick under the jumping wall. Happy to be corrected if wrong.

It's simply not funny, or even an attempt at humour, when the victim of the "joke" is also the victim of a crime which is only now, many years after the event, beginning to come towards court action. I cannot imagine for a moment anyone having a laugh at a rape victim, years later, or laughing about the murder of a loved one when the pain of it is still so strong and no justice has been had yet. Instead of sympathy for what our club has had to go through from unscrupulous owners/rapists from fellow football fans who should fear that a similar fate could easily befall their beloved clubs, we get abuse and vilified. As many have said before, our beautiful wee country is on the way to hating itself to death.

Like Goran and Klos before him, he is taking time to settle in and show his true worth. I think that is where the comparisons will end but I am more content with his form now than at the start of the season and he is progressing well. Still makes mistakes and lacks concentration at times, and I really want a guy his size to be more commanding when we defend corners as our centre backs need the help, but he is starting to get some clean sheets which will help confidence. Should be all the better next season for the experience this season.

I have a feeling our poll is going to be quite reflective of the final result. I would expect at least 5 of the 7 we are voting for to be elected. Incidentally I havent seen much campaigning from the ones with connections to the club. Has anyone else seen or heard anything from Messrs Blair, Gough, McQuarrie during the campaign other than their opening statements?

When the list came out I had a very quick scan read of the candidates profiles and statements and thought I would go back to it later in the process when more was known. What has happened since has been very very sad indeed. Are some candidates there on behalf of the club? Are some there to push through a merger with RST/RSA? Are some there to push for not merging with RST/RSA? Is anyone actually standing as a Rangers supporter who believes in the concept of RF, a share purchase vehicle to get as many shares into the hands of ordinary bears as possible, to protect our club from ever again being at the mercy of mercenary owners? I am a member of both RST (have been since the start in 2003) and pay into the £11.25pm Share purchase plan, and RF on the £18.72 monthly contribution. It is my belief that I want as many shares in the hands of ordinary Bears as possible. I really dont want the RST to merge with RF as I think there is a place for both to do quite separate things on behalf of their members, and also there may be times when it is good to keep them apart. As both have several thousand paying members, I am sure there are a large number of bears that are members of both. Merging this will probably mean less money going into buying shares as what would be the point of me continuing to pay both £11.25 and £18.72 per month to the same organisation? I am also struggling with casting a vote in favour of what I see as "Club men" like Gough and McQuarrie. On one hand it would give RF some clout to say they have these names on the board and would be easy to get media attention. However the whole point of RF was to stay away from the more confrontational and controversial issues of the day and just be a share purchase vehicle, so it shouldnt need to attract media attention other than to try to persuade more Bears to join with them and help build the fans shareholding. On the other hand the RST has always been more active, vocal, controversial, and unafraid to criticise the board of the day or the footballing authorities without the need to have "celebrity bears" to get their message out. Long may that continue, but the polarising nature of their work has meant that for some fans the RST will not be an option to contribute to, so are we going to lose those contributions to RF if a merger goes through. I haven't got a clue who to vote for. I know some I wont vote for. That list has got gradually longer as the process has gone on. I will probably end up not voting at all. Its all very sad.

Our press will, rightly, be gushing in praise of this, while completely ignoring the total hypocrisy of it. It's what they do.

Kiernan I would think around £1M, Wes £1.5M, Tav about the same. I know Tav has a buy-out clause in his contract and I suspect the other two do also, so if they continue to improve as they have done, it may be we lose them for less than the current "bonkers" market would suggest we should be getting. Some of the English prices are astoundingly high for the quality of the player, and once we have got back to the top flight and if these guys can maintain their impressive performances, then we will need to either get their contracts and buy-out clauses sorted to a more realistic standard, or risk losing these guys for well below their worth.

Here we go with the "normal" Rangers fans line again. Something you quite clearly struggle with. I am so awfully sorry to tire you out. Thanks for pointing that out, and while managing to drum up the effort to not want to engage with it, you do anyway. We cant all be eloquent writers you know Andy, some of us are just normal Rangers fans.

It was a throw-away line not to be taken seriously Craig! I 100% agree that the role here is not to win, but to develop. I really dont care about the match results, I want to see development from here to the first team bench, and then game time. That would be a result. Thanks for the comment though, that is interesting about the training times and makes you wonder what input a current first team player can bring as a coach to the development team then (not talking Miller here, more a generalisation) as it seems to be a popular career move for a lot of players, not just at our club. It has always smacked of jobs for the boys to me. No recruitment scrutiny for youth coaches, just pick a current club player getting towards the end of his career. Surely we should want to, and be able to, attract proper qualified coaches for this oh so very important role that our whole ethos and future of the club is geared around.