Tannochsidebear

While I dont believe a word that comes out of the daily rhebel, this is what I was hoping, but not expecting, the club to offer Miller. It is quite clear the only reason he came back to Rangers was for family reasons as he wants to live back in Edinburgh with his family. With only us and the tims financially able to afford him, and he wont be going back there, he either uproots his family again, which is not what he wants to do, or stays with us on reduced terms reflecting his age and our budget. There is no way we should be giving a pay rise to someone the wrong side of 30, especially someone who has been in England and didnt cut it there. As far as I see, we hold all the aces in this one, I just didnt expect anyone at our club to realise it.

Cheers Frankie, I will have a look at the CB one when I get a chance.

I thought Miller, goals aside, had a really poor game, as did most of our team. But it is goals that a striker is judged by, and a hat-trick means he has done his job for the team. 2 great passes from Davis to set up Weiss for the second and Miller for the third should not go without comment, and obviously our new wonderkid had us all off our seats with his pace, trickery and vision. Back 4 were poor, which is harsh given we got a clean sheet at a difficult away ground, and big Davie Weir is looking really out of sorts these 2 games so far. edu was quietly effective in midfield where he and Davis always seemed to be outnumbered, but in fact Hibs were playing the same formation as us, just their wide midfield players were always tucking in to help when we had the ball, something that Lafferty certainly did not for us. We were talking at the hour mark that Naismith was the only one getting pass marks at that time, and that one goal would probably do it. All in all it was a strange game, with Rangers generally being quite poor all over the park, yet we won easily in the end and we all left in a great mood with the performance of Weiss, and with Jelavic to come, Beattie getting fitter and sharper, and Davis still to get sharper after illness, it is starting to look good for our title retention hopes.

For the first time in years, I seen fellow members of my RSC with big smiles on their faces after seeing a Rangers player take on 2 defenders and beat them with s already, heer skill. The anticipation as the boy spent about 10 minutes getting "the clipboard" as we were about to see a real winger take the field, and then that anticipation turn to joy when, with his first touch win a good physical tackle, beat 2 players and put in a decent ball. We were still rubbing our hands at that when he played a lovely 1-2 with Davis and set up Miller for a tap-in to seal the game. It was great to be talking about skillful play on the way back to the buses, and not just the usual " we toughed it out" or "we did enough" that we have been used to.

So quite clearly Timmy was up to their usual tricks in forcing the SFA to come out with this clarification so soon after the match, and before they have even received the useless bassa, sorry, referee's report. They now want McGregor suspended because he dived when the ref didnt see it, didnt take any action either in favour or against him, or the incident having any affect on the game whatsoever. It only made McGregor look stupid and i would hope he feels stupid when he sees it back again, and I would also hope he is spoken to by the gaffer and his gk coach to ensure no repeat. Clearly, Timmy was far more intent on watching our game than travelling to their own game, as over 15,000 faithful thru and thru were disguised as empty seats again at the Piggery.

I dont mind voting for a Rangers player to win these silly wee things, but to vote for anyone but Timmy is exactly what we all accuse Timmy of and is small-minded in the least. It is not as if Giggs is a big Gers fan or that it is a big competition worth winning, simply goal of the week in a quiet first week of the new season. I shall not be as shallow and small-minded to contribute to such sillyness. Oh f**k it, I cant resist, voted!!

can someone send me the password for the bbc predictor mini-league please

This looks pretty clear cut to me. Weiss was being allowed to go out on loan to any CL team. Therefore we had registered our interest, as did others including Timmy, when City started touted him about. As soon as Braga wiped the floor with Timmy, they knew they could not get the player, and they were taken off the list of clubs that Weiss would be allowed to go to. I love the way Lennon has turned that to "we showed a little interest, but then WE looked elsewhere" when the truth was that their embarrassing defeat to the Portugeuse minnows cost them any chance of sealing the deal. I also love the way the Tims I have spoken to are quirte happy because there was a "huge loan fee" and that Timmy was not going to pay such things, until you remind them of Robbie Keane!!

Its a fair cop mate

Funny, I had just been looking at this situation this morning before seeing this thread, and all 4 clubs above us in the seedings that are playing in the play off round are by no means certain of taking their places, although all will be favourites to do so. Given that we will almost certainly be in pot 3, it gives us a great chance of a real glamour draw, however that also improves the risk of a spanking! I am about to go on my annual praying mission to get Real Madrid to come out of the bowl into the same group as us. Please please please this year make it happen. So far I have done 35 away European trips, against teams from 17 different countries, but i've only been to 15 different countries. So I like to try and get to countries I have not been to before, and pot 4 usually gives you the chance to do that. In pot 4 just now I am looking to avoid Copenhagen, Twente and Cluj, as the other 5 (if all seeded teams get through), will present a new destination for me personally. Strangely, there are 2 Russain teams in pot 4, and although I have seen Rangers play 2 Russain teams, neither game was in Russia. Zenit obviously, and Anzhi in 2001 was played in Poland due to there being a war going on in that remote part of Russia at that time. But I would prefer Sparta as a wee trip to Prague would be nice. So that leaves pot 1, and I am keen to avoid an English team, as that is too close and doesnt feel like a Euro trip, and having been to Barca, Bayern (although not their new stadium) and Seville, that only leaves the San Siro, which is on my list of "must see the Rangers in", so facing the holders first up in their own stadium would be quite something. From a footballing POV, a group of Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Rangers, Sparta Prague spells real trouble and would have Timmy heading for the bookies in their droves to put on their annual "Rangers 0 points" bets that they never win on, but from a travelling fans selfish POV, that would be a dream draw for me, and probably for our money men at Ibrox to come up with the over-priced 3 game package. From a footballing POV, perhaps AC Milan, Benfica and Copenhagen/Hapoel would give us some optimistic hope of earning some decent prize money.

The day after we have made our biggest signing in many years, I had to laugh at the headline creaming from the Evening Times billboard as I passed a paper shop this morning. "Pompey Smith says no to Rangers" or some such tosh, referring to the fact that the striker we were looking at in case the Jelavic deal fell through will now not be coming to Ibrox. It made me smile to think how much Timmy must be hurting to make that their billboard headline. I am long past getting upset at such tactics from our gutter press, and my blood pressure and workload are both much better off since I stopped buying any newspapers a couple of years ago.

I tihnk that is a certainty, and also in the Scottish Cup if we get drawn against non-SPL opposition.

Good point Craig, not many reach that milestone these days, and a testimonial would be a certainty.

Didnt see that one Frankie, I'm much happier with that.

So its not Shay Given anymore!! Timmy chasing another average nobody shocker. How to waste �£20M on a dozen players and still not have a decent team, by wee Lenny and uncle Peter

I would rather see United go through than Timmy, in a kind of I'd rather have a cold than cancer kind of a way, and I generally hope all "Scottish" clubs do well in Europe for our co-efficient. Although it would give Timmy and their huge squad only the league to concentrate on and therefore probably make them favourites for the title, I just cant bring myself to wish them well in their bid to get through. Financially, the Europa League is pretty decent, not CL standards, but a decent backup, and missing out on that completely will really hurt them, and so I hope it is the Dutch side who get that slot come next weeks draw.

When I read the thread title I had to try to remember if he was still with Timmy, or was one of the lucky ones to escape before the good ship lenny goes loco. Dont wish a serious injury on anyone, far less an expensive flop, but now they might just be forced to play the diddy right back they have just signed. Hurry back Andy, we are missing your unique defending style already.

I intentionally did try to make it that way, and it wasnt an opinion piece, just an alternative view from the OP, who I thought was far too optimistic on players we havent signed yet, and too dismissive of players who performed admirably for us during title winning seasons.

Listen guys, you have got me all wrong on this. I was putting up an alternative view, and I thought I said quite clearly that that was not my personal opinion, just that I thought the OP was overly optimistic and was lacking true balance. Truth is, we know the real judgement on the ins v the outs will only come at the END of the season, certainly not while some of the ins are not even in yet!! I thought the OP was harsh on the players who have left, and wanted to point out is was possible to do the opposite just as easily. I am still quietly confident we will be all right by 1 September, and will go on to win the title, but I will not get overly optimistic about players who havent even signed yet, that I know very little about, and that have not performed for us yet, and I similarly wouldnt knock those who genuinely tried their best for us, won titles with us, but who have now left us. At least Frankie understood what I was getting at!!

He was actively pursuing a move last January, and Walter was on record as saying he wouldnt stand in his way as he understood he wanted 1st team football, especially with no reserve league, he got virtually no match action. I am quite sure he has been quoted as saying he is happy, as he is a model pro, but it doesnt make it true!! Not sure I agree with you Hippo on that one, I cant believe he would be on as much as �£10Kpw, so a move I dont automatically see as being a bad one financially for him, but certainly it would be to a weaker team. Maybe it was just the winter blues and that he has since seen that number 2 at Rangers is much better than number 1 anywhere else. He would regret it for the rest of his life if he left now and McGregor got sold in January!!

Miller Miller Miller Out Out Out Only kidding, but I dont see why signing this Jelavic guy means we will offload another striker, given that we have lost Boyd and Novo in the summer and only signed Beattie. Unless of course we give a contract to Welcome, and Jelavic signs (its not done yet) then we have more than last year and is a sure sign that one will be going (please Kenny). I suppose it all depends on wether Walter believes that Lafferty and Naismith can be classed as strikers. I dont know the last time I seen Naismith play centre forward, but I have seen him in midfield, and in wide positions, frequently last season, and while Lafferty has had rare chances to play CF, again he is mostly played elsewhere. If WS reckons they are not really strikers, he then only has Miller and Beattie then the young uns so will want another 2 in if he is to continue to play 4-4-2 in the SPL this season.

I haven't read anything much about our goalkeeping situation recently, but I am suspicious about Alexander still being here when he quite clearly stated in January that he was wanting to go for first team football and his international chances. Is it only me that thinks that McGregor may be off just at the end of the window, or if it looks like that is not going to happen, Alexander will go. With cutbacks across the squad in every other department, I cannot see why the keepers have been left out. We dont really have proper experienced cover for any other position, so why can we afford to keep 2 international keepers? I think something will happen with one of them before Aug 31, I only hope that it is Alexander that goes, with our best wishes, to pursue first team footy elsewhere (probably a Championship side), and not McGregor being offloaded as that would really affect our chances of 54.

Or you could say; Jelavic - untested, overpriced, from a poor league, remains to be seen if he can cut it for a huge fee. Weiss - cant even get into the top 25 players at a club that is not in the top 4 in England, says it all really. Beattie - Done nothing for years, trouble maker, no pace, best years well behind him Webster - Mr Injured, cant keep off treatment table unless he is somewhere else. v Novo - supersub, scorer of hugely important goals, big match player, fans favourite. Boyd - Goal machine, irreplaceable in our financial situation. Thomson - future captain, getting better every season, ball-winner Smith - good cover at left back or at left midfield, great engine, injuries now behind him. Beasley - Only winger we had, no coincidence our best form last year was when he was in team in December. Wilson - Great breakthrough talent, cool head for someone so young, could be backbone of defence for next decade. Our squad has been skinned alive, not only this summer but last summer also, leaving us with not even enough first team players to fill the bench, and the reduction in quality will ensure we are much weaker than the last 2 years. Any injuries to what big players we have left, and we are struggling big time. You can make the situation look any way you like. Personally, I think it is somewhere in the middle, with the only certainty that we will have a smaller less experienced squad than before, and that injuries/suspensions will have a big influence on our success/failure this season. With 12 days to go until the window shuts, we must bring in about 5 players in total (inc Beattie) to have any chance of making it through the winter. Hopefully these 2 players (Jelavic & Weiss) can be signed, together with more defensive and midfield cover.

I am very much in the latter category with this one. And that has no reflection on wether he is the next McCoist or turns out another Sebo, just my feelings since the start of this mess that Rapid, having screwed us into the ground in 2006 with Sebo and Svensson, seen us as esay to mess with and that we would pay what they wanted all along, which now seems to be accurately played out. No more than �£2M, take it or leave it, OK �£4M is fine!! We truly are the worst club in the world at negotiating inward and outward transfers, and the sooner we have real professionals in these positions at the club, the better.

Is it Christmas already!!