UCF2008

If McGregor an Alexander hadn't shared the season between them, I'm sure he'd have had no choice but give us that one. Despite his limitations, I'd pick Weir ahead of Caldwell any day. In fact, nine out of the eleven could easily have been given to the Gers.

Overall, I don't think we need to make too many changes to the squad this Summer. We're obviously going to be looking at trimming the squad, but we've just won the double, so I don't think we need to go overboard on the changes. I think if we manage to move on around seven players and bring in a couple to strengthen, then we'll be looking good for next season.

Have to agree with Cotter. Novo has a lot more ability than he's given credit for. He's probably the best all-rounder we've got up front. He's prone to missing chances when it would be easier to hit the back of the net at times, but given a good run of games, Boyd would be our only player I would back to score more. I don't really buy into the idea that Novo's an 'impact player', even though 9 times out of 10 he does make an impact when he comes on as a sub. I think that just shows he should be given more starts. If it was up to me, I'd give the wee man a contract extension right now.

Could be one of those cases like Broadfoot where 'he's fine except when he kicks a ball'. Hopefully nothing too serious and he'll be back in time for pre-season.

Like I said in the 'Summer Departures' thread, Weir's increasing lack of pace is a concern, but I don't think anyone could say that he hasn't done enough to deserve an extension. I still hope we're looking to bring in a long-term replacement though and I say again that Thomson should be made skipper for next season.

Up front - I think we should be trying to hold on to Boyd, Miller, Lafferty & Novo. Between the four of them I think we're going to be OK for goals. That just leaves Velicka & Naismith. I'd prefer to see Velicka go, but if we get a half decent offer for either of those two I'd take it. In midfield - I can see Gow and Beasley joining Hemdani. Question marks remain about Adam and Ferguson. Personally, I'd sell Ferguson. I've never been his greatest fan OR critic, but it's clear to everyone that he's past his best. Maybe a move will do him some good. In defence - Dailly would be my first choice to be shown the exit. If we can find a decent replacement within our budget, I think it's time to let Weir go. He's getting slower all the time and if he's not playing every week and we keep him merely as backup, I'm not sure how reliable he'd be coming in from the cold. I think we should start next season with Thomson as skipper. Stevie Smith is another candidate for the chop as is Webster. It's time for that pair to step up and prove themselves, but it could already be too late. That just leaves McCulloch who doesn't appear to HAVE a natural position - at least not one that's up to standard for Rangers. I wouldn't have signed him in the first place. Bye bye BIG Lee. That's 7-10 players off the wage bill, including some of our top earners. Not sure that we'll get much more than a couple of million for the lot of them, which says it all really

I think when his time comes Ally McCoist will be a very successful Rangers manager. I don't see the point in him having to prove himself elsewhere beforehand. Did Walter have to do that when Souness left? Also, this is a side that Ally has helped to build, so as long our success continues I don't have any problem whatsoever with him taking over.

Brilliant performance today!! :cheers: Well done to Lafferty for giving his critics the perfect response. Same goes for Mendes, Boyd, Davis, Bougherra ....but at the same time it's not really fair to single any of players out as they were all outstanding. Rangers - SPL Champions 08/09

IMO it's more likely that the standard of the rest of the SPL is improving, which can only be good for the Scottish game. OF Fans may well expect their team to win every game, but at the end of the day the game is better off if they don't.

The stats may well suggest the standards are slipping ...and yet over the same period, the OF have reached the last 16 of the Champions League on 3 occasions and 2 UEFA Cup Finals. Does that suggest the standards in European cup competitions are slipping?

Can't argue with that. He's done well there on a few occasions this season. I think Ferguson might well feature at some point on Sunday, but if Davis, Mendes & Edu are all 100% fit and looking sharp in training then, all things considered, I'd leave Ferguson on the bench.

Supposedly, if we appeal this week we should get a decision before the weekend. It would be down to the Ref taking another look at it and deciding if he wants to change his mind.

According to the letter of the law (UEFA Disciplinary Regulations), if Lafferty's case is put before a review panel he could get a 'suspension for two competition matches or for a specified period for acting with the obvious intent to cause any match official to make an incorrect decision or supporting his error of judgement and thereby causing him to make an incorrect decision'. Of course this also applies to other forms of cheating that the likes of McDonald get's away with week in week out. I'm not condoning what Lafferty did and personally I don't like to see any of our players cheating, but think that the officials need to be even handed in their interpretation of the rules. IMO Lafferty deserved no more than a booking, albeit that it could have been a double booking, taking into account his challenge in the first place. The red card was harsh, but the simple fact is that Mulgrew reacted by approaching Lafferty and going head to head with him and in doing so was risking being sent off.

I have to say that having seen the replays, that looks worse on the Aberdeen players part than what Cousin was sent off for in the UEFA cup last season. Though, yet again the Rangers player takes all the blame when in actual fact, everyone involved made a mistake. The Aberdeen player should have been booked for the way he reacted to Lafferty's challenge and Lafferty should have been booked for simulation ...end of story.

Funny you should mention Christmas, because I was thinking earlier that after the game on Boxing day, most fans wouldn't have expected this end to the season. As much as it will be a crushing blow to us all if we don't win the title this season, nobody can deny that we've put up a challenge. Keep Believin' :devil:

I don't think Hearts have any allegiance to either side of the OF. The fact they have secured 3rd spot means they are under ZERO pressure - unlike the opposition. It could work either way, but I think most of the Hearts players will be looking at it as their last game of the season and will go out their and play their game to the best of their abilities. While they might be lacking in fight, they at least won't be hindered by nerves. That said, after today's result I do still think Celtic have the easier game.

I think Gough's already proven he can't cut it as a manager Maybe, if they'd been brought in instead of WS, but with no money to spend I can't see them succeeding. I realise a lot of the support disagree, but I think Coisty will do a good job when he's given his chance, so he get's my vote to take over from Walter ...whenever that happens

Circumstances have conspired against us this season and yet we've taken the title race to the wire...again. It's Walters team and we don't have the finances to change it. I honestly don't think we'll improve under any other manager at this point in time.

I think every bear certainly was more animated than Boyd today :fish:

Disappointing performance all round. Miller was good for a spell. Lafferty was a disgrace, but at least managed to get involved in the game. Boydy, yet again contributed the square root of f*** all. If only Novo had (half) his scoring ability. At least we're still in with a shout, although it looks very unlikely we're winning it on goal difference

...and Fleck did more in <10mins than the pair of them put together

Only Weir has played more games than Mendes this season and he certainly hasn't won as many MOTM awards, so going by your logic the standards set by the entire squad this season have been poor. That would be when we completely dominated possession and Hibs took the lead against the run of play? Granted, we were better overall in the 2nd half, but then so was Mendes. I can think of 1 occasion in the game where Mendes tried a 'daft wee filck' that didn't come off for him. However, he DID at least stick to his position and was generally competent in his passing of the ball and defensive duties. So he passed the ball to Dailly a bit too often for our liking. Well, in the first place he didn't put Dailly in the team and secondly, It's not his fault that Dailly was where Davis should have been ....or the other players who were hiding If you'd just said Smith at the end there I would have agreed with you. Oh wait, you did :devil: Well at least if things don't work out for us, you'll have something to gloat about. Good thinking there :cheers:

I think we're being a bit harsh on Mendes here. His overall contribution this season probably hasn't been as much as we would have expected, but it's hardly his fault that he set such high standards for himself early on. Last night he was IMO our best midfielder, which isn't really saying much, but does anyone really think Davis or Edu had a better game? Don't even get me started on Stevie Smith As for Dailly, I have to agree that he's a complete waste of space going forward. Despite their level of experience, both he and Weir are the worst passers of the ball I've ever seen in a Rangers jersey. If it was up to me, the only time either of them would enter the opponents half would be at set pieces. We had a good few poor performances last night, yet were still the better team by some margin. That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence about Hibs ability to take anything from the MOPES. ...Which brings me on to Boyd. Although he had his worst game for some time last night, it looks like we're really going to need him to get his scoring boots on in the remaining two games.

I'm a big fan of Smith and if the truth be told I would have had him and Whittaker as 1st choice left and right back all along. Unfortunately he's been really unlucky with injuries since WS took over and this season he's had to wait for his chance. TBH, I think if he can regain some form then he's capable of doing a really good job for us in LM. His major asset as a LB was his ability going forward. He's got good pace, can put in a great cross and he's the best option we have defensively at LM. When he was at peak form a few years back I can remember him going off injured and thinking we'd just lost one of our best attacking assets. I really hope we give him a chance. That said, he really did have a stinker of a game on Saturday and I would have to single both him and Dailly out as being our worst performers on the day.

It's good to finally see this issue being given some proper attention and shown to be exactly what it is - public displays of support for a terrorist organisation, which actually IS against the law....apparently. Obviously the media (no matter how biased they are) couldn't ignore a story like this. Had there been no connection to Strachan, I doubt it would have been given any coverage whatsoever, but hopefully this will lead to the bigger debate that has been skipped over for far too long as far as sectarianism and the OF are concerned.