UCF2008

When we get back to the SPL we'll be able to attract a higher standard of player and we'll need additional funding to do so. There's little chance that £10-20m invested in the squad will see us competing for the SPL title. We have to get back there first though and for that we need to bring in the right type of players to balance the squad.

The expectation is different though as are the circumstances the club finds itself in. Winning has been the primary objective of any Rangers team as far back as I can remember. To some fans that's often not been good enough, but at the end of the day winning titles is what we're all about. We've got a team of players who are supposedly going through the process of finding out what it's like to play for Rangers when in fact they're only getting half the picture. They're in the process of winning a title, they're playing in front of huge crowds at Ibrox and they'e finding their feet in terns of the standards required of them. However, the level of the opposition makes a huge difference. Games against minnows, part-timers, pub teams - banana skin fixtures are the stuff of nightmares for many a former Ger. We're going through a whole season of them here.

I can understand why first division clubs might want to press ahead with the proposals for next season. I can also understand why some 2nd Division clubs would want to postpone reconstruction to the following season. They'd get to play Rangers next season either way but if it's postponed they would have a fighting chance of staying out of Scotland's bottom tier. What I don't get is why a majority of 3rd Division clubs would want to postpone it. They'd be passing up on a further windfall from Rangers and at the same time it would render next season meaningless for them.

The management and players have been under a lot of pressure due to expectation though. It's been a completely different set of circumstances to other clubs and indeed to past Rangers sides. That's part of the problem. There isn't anything to compare it to.

The player either doesn't want to play for Rangers or wants us to compensate him for dropping down a level. If playing for Rangers isn't compensation enough for him then we shouldn't pursue this one any further. He's a decent enough player, but not good enough to push the boat out for. Higher wages should be saved for players who'll make a significant difference.

Comparitively that's assuming we wouldn't have taken points off them though

AFAIK we could have gone back to HMRC with a CVA offer at any time while the administrators were still in charge. They might even have accepted when the FTT decision went in our favour. The reasons we didn't are obvious. We'd still be playing in Div3. There would still be a break in the accounts re: UEFA.

It's a registration embargo and he's now a free agent

In theory, yes. I can't remember what the quota is for the number of appearances a player can make as a trialist and if it's per season or per player.

I was just checking that weren't counting training facilities, fan 'backing' etc

He could be about to go 4-5 months without any game time before we'd be able to play him. A 1 or 2 yr deal on an acceptable wage wouldn't be too much of a gamble though

Hard to say. Some decent competition for the title might have done us a world of good.

Shareholdings aside, the company itself was the only part of our history that we did lose and the effect of doing so is clear to see. We don't need to maintain a stance. Those are the facts.

He was really promising as a youth and you'd think he must have been doing something right for Jeffries to make him captain. He also knows Rangers and what's expected. That's the positives. The main argument against is that he wasn't good enough first time round. He clearly wanted to be as he wasted 6 years of his career trying to break into the first team, but with only a couple of appearances to show for it that tells it's own story.

A decent player who's development was hindered by being stuck on the sidelines following his promotion to our 1st team. Could be a useful utility player and possibly a better option at right back than Heggarty although that's not saying much.

Resources don't equate to performance. You only need to look at the EPL for an example of this.

Oh, so we're talking about resources now? What quantifies as a resource?

I wasn't responding to a comment about percentages. Celtics wage bill is around £30 more than that of the 2nd highest wage bill in the SPL. Ours is less than £7m more than the 2nd highest in Div3. Which one has the 'larger financial gap'?

Since we're splitting hairs, they didn't technically vote us out. They voted to refuse transfer of our SPL share from Oldco to Newco.

Lennon's got about £30m higher wage bill than his rivals. Ours is less than a quarter the difference compared to our rivals.

Worst case scenario, they'll be playing first division sides. Best case scenario (for them) they could be playing SPL sides in the 2nd half of the season. It might make it tricky for them to decide what players to go for but it won't adversely affect their ST sales. I don't think they've got too much to worry about.

I think you're conveniently forgetting him bringing Walter back then letting a European final go to his head and plunging us back up to our eyeballs in debt at the worst possible time in financial terms.

Keep dreaming. I think the circumstances would have to be a hell of a lot more extenuating than they are right now as far as I would be concerned ...or Ally for that matter.

Fixed that for you

Absolutely. No man should come before the club. The way I see it we have a difference of opinion on where we should be as a club right now. We don't even agree on where we are. It's not about petty point scoring or love for a debate. You have your opinion and it's not the same as mine. I'm not interested in wasting my time trying to convince one another who's right and who's wrong. The support appears to be divided on the issue and I know I'm not going to claim to know what the majority opinion is. What I will say is that people who complain always shout loudest.