Tannochsidebear

Rangers 3 Limassol 1 fgs Danilo

Really looking forward to seeing a defensive partnership which is minus Goldson, as for me he is still the weakest link in our line-up. Although I'm hoping our central defenders have a fairly easy night, and we score early and book our place in the knock-out rounds with a comfortable win.

Big game for Cifuentes today getting his opportunity due to Jack getting injured with Scotland again. Happy that Dessers & Lammers miss out, it’s good to start with 11 men. Let’s get this done early and send out the message that we are definitely going to challenge for the title.

Dolly 1 Rangers 3 fgs Danilo

Basil Boli?

It was not my intention to make out that if this period didnt go well I would be calling for Clement's head. Absolutely not, I like what I have seen and heard so far. Clement himself has quoted this upcoming block of games in such a short period being really important. Many other managers break down the season into blocks between international breaks, or running up to a winter break. I wanted to just point out that if this period goes well, we will go into the second half of the season with massive optimism, and if it doesnt, our season will essentially be over and the rebuilding will begin, again, but at least this time with an experienced top class manager to back and decent, attacking football to watch. I dont think it is possible for there to be much of a middle ground in this, we either gain ground on the tims and beat them at the piggery, in whcih case it is very much game on, but if we get to the break and the gap has got bigger, the league will be over.

This next block of games between Pittodrie on Sunday and Kilmarnock on 2nd January there are 12 games in 37 days in 3 different competitions. The League Cup final v Dolly will surely see us welcome back the old trophy we have won more than anyone else, while the 2 Europa fixtures will hopefully see us confirm post-Xmas Euro football to look forward to, but it is of course the 9 league fixtures where our season will be defined when the dust settles. Aberdeen A St Mirren H Hearts A Dundee H St Johnstone H Motherwell A Ross County H Bheasts A Kilmarnock H The 5 home games should be straight forward victories, so it is the 4 away games that will probably let us see if we have a shot at this title or not. A successful period will have us top or certainly close to it, anything less and it’s probably done. Thoughts?

Like most, it has to be Super Ally plus one. What a difficult choice. Hateley the obvious one and will probably win the vote but the start and end of his Rangers career were both dismal, so i'm going to go for Morelos. On top form he bullied defenders, linked up, could score from anywhere and while he didnt have a great record in OF games, (much like Boyd who I nearly went for) his European record was phenomenal. McCoist & Morelos As a footnote, this is the only player of this Century that gets my pick. 23 years into the 21st Century, which is more years than I went to see Rangers in the 20th Century (15), but with the way the TV money is king in football now, the quality of player we can attract and/or develop/keep has gone down and down.

God himself, Brian Laudrup. End of debate.

Thank you sir. I have been reading your contributions to this thread with some awe and also some sadness. To think it may be true that the best players to have played in each of the positions came from an era where there was not much by way of coaching, terrible playing conditions and equipment, and that we havent managed to better those players as a club within the last 50 years or so? Or is it (hopefully) just your personal preference, nostalgia and sentiment? I would be fairly heart-broken if I felt I would not see a player in the next 20 years or so that could be judged better than those from the NIAR or Advocaat era or indeed those names coming up in this exercise. Do you really believe you have not seen a better player in any of those positions to date than what you grew up with?

In his first spell at the club, Barry Ferguson was a fantastic attacking-midfielder, IMO certainly better than Durrant who was fairly inconsistent I felt and never really reached his potential. Ferguson scored 20+ goals a season plus as many assists under Advocaat. Does Ronald De Boer fit this position? if so one of the best i've ever seen, even though he was past his best and didnt stay too long. Gazza was a genius of course, and was a joy to watch on most occasions but had that ill-discipline and often failed to turn it on in Europe where he should have shone, and didnt even stay 3 seasons. But overall, i just cannot see past him, so my vote goes to Gascoigne. (I was tempted to not participate anymore, Greig in midfield? WTF? Cmon guys, just because he couldnt win the RB vote you guys shoe-horn him in somewhere else? How many games did Greig play in midfield, a handful at most? I didnt see him play but he was a full back and a full back only. Lets not bastardise the process by picking guys in positions they were not the best at. Do you think this is just for fun?

I’ll add my votes to Gough & Butcher, with Weir not far behind with big Amo, Cuellar.

In the summer of 1998 there was a wonderful world cup in France, and when it came round to the latter stages and the journos and pundits start discussing their best XI of all the players at the world cup, there was really only 2 left backs getting any discussion time, and that was Roberto Carlos, the Brazilian who could hit free kicks round corners, and the soon to be our very own Arthur Numan. The fact we signed one of the 2 best left backs in the world that summer absolutely amazed me, and watching him play it was easy to see why. Total class act. I loved Munro who was so under-rated, I believe at one point he was the only player in our team without a full international cap and that was very harsh on him. Robertson, Papac, Wallace, Barasic all get honourable mentions but it is Numan for me.

I'm usually very much in the bah humbug category, but that was excellent!

Livingston 0 Rangers 3 fgs Tav

It has since been clarified online that they meant increased TO 8-10k per stand, not BY 8-10k

Rangers 3 hearts 0 fgs Danilo

Surely it’s time the Onion Bears were banned from getting tickets to our away games. These pyro and smoke efforts are only damaging our club and add nothing to the game. Game now abandoned after 2 mins of play due to those selfish self-centred idiots.

Dundee 0 Rangers 3 fgs Danilo

I'm hearing the weather is abysmal in Dundee and the game is under threat. Anyone live close by (you have my sympathies!) and can update us?

Rangers 3 Hearts 1 fgs Sima

Thanks for that, thought the date had to be significant somehow.

Looking forward to the game today, and what line-up and system Clement is going to play. Is he going to persevere with Lammers & Dessers in attack and if so will we begin to see any improvement in them? Or does he drop them and give others a chance, thereby letting everyone know the standards that must be met? Does Davies retain his place in the side at the expense of Souttar, even though Goldson continues to be our worst defender, or will he be the first manager to see Goldson as the mistake-laden, slow weak link and drop him? I think the line up will look similar to last weekend with perhaps small donner replacing Barasic if he isn’t fit enough and Cantwell starting, either for Lammers or Wright. Either way I’m looking for a continuation of the progress from last week with some decent football, a visible shape, pace, and of course a victory.

Butland for me, the difference between us and a hiding in the first half. Had that early goal went in, I shudder to think what the end result would have been. Really pleased with the result and the way we hung in, fought and scrapped to half time, then the manager got it changed and we were much brighter in the second half. I am much more confident of progress than I was 2 weeks ago.

A draw would do me tonight, not entirely sure if we will be good enough to get it but hopeful we are. What I definitely want to see though are obvious tactics in play, a defined shape with players looking like they know their role, and if required, changes mid-game to deal with the on-field situation. If we make individual errors which cost us the game but get the previously mentioned, I could probably live with that, but I want to see that he can pick a side to go out and, with a fair wind, get a positive result.