Gribz

Reason or optimism - We played them off the park 5 months ago with a weaker squad and couldn't even fill our bench. They will come at us which could also suit as we can be quick on the counter.

Its common for the fixture lists to throw up big matches after international break and seems to be a time where key players pick up injuries. So in this sense Im glad Wallace pulled out. As I said on another thread the position we are thin with is full backs. As such I hope he doesn't play at Linfield with the OF being next week. That goes for most of MW's intended XI for next week, they should get 45 mins at most and the squad is big enough to make changes and possibly try a 3 at the back.

Agreed its good viewing all things considered. I think many a Bear would have biting the hand off for this squad after the Cup Final in May. Extremely well done job by management and board. Now its over the playing side to get it right. It is quite top heavy and suggests 3 upfront every game where as a 4-5-1 (or 4-2-3-1 to get tactical) would suit in a lot of games. Finding the right blend is the task now. Considering we play down the flanks a lot we don't really have a natural winger - Tavernier is by far the best winger in the squad. Other than that it is still light in defence. I guess Crooks would be an emergency centre half if required but the full backs is where I see being the light area. Could that suggest a 3 at the back if required?

Luiz is an awful defender, he has a mistake in him every game. Did you see the penalty he gave away against Monaco last week. PSG have cut their losses well. He is not the type of defender Rangers need at all (I said type), although he is a decent player, just a poor defender. He will be Ok in a back 3 as the other 3 defenders plus Kante can cover him, so playing out the box he will be fine. RE unknown players - not at all, it reflects the inflated English premier league. Besides China that is the only league who are throwing obscene amounts and it shows no reflection on the player at all. The Middle East and MLS pay high wages for retiree's but English teams are throwing crazy transfer fees at average players. There will be a few more Leeds and Portsmouth situation eventually as the cycle cant continue when there is only 4 CL places up for grabs. You can see the effect it has on Liverpool - they cant attract World Class players.

David Luiz back to Chelsea. I thought they did the best transfer business ever selling him for 50M 2 years ago but to buy him back. He isn't a defender at all. Sissoko to Spurs for 30M?? Leicester also signing a striker who is barely known for 29M. Wilshire to Bournemouth is surprising, I thought he would have went to Palace to stay in London. But fair play to both player and club.

A good statement at this time just to put the message out there that the club totally disagree with it, which is all they can do before looking at it in depth. Withdrawing from the cup would probably give them an opportunity as per what Ian has just said. id imagine we have already entered it as I think all clubs have to do so before the start of the competition so pulling out may have red tape. Its certainly what I would do for starters though sighting concern of safety.

Arsenal pulled the plug on a Roma move after the way they dealt earlier in the summer with another transfer. Still surprised he went to Bournemouth though, he must have had some fallen out with Wenger as Id rather try fight for my place at Emirates than go to Bournemouth. As for Senderos, glad its over the line. I hope he is going straight into the first team in the OF game. Not sure who Id partner him with though but they have just over a week on the training field to get it right. I would originally have thought Hill for experience but looked well off the pace at Kilmarnock, so Id probably opt for Wilson.

Anyone seen Senderos arriving at Glasgow airport yet?? Id imagine MW will have something up his sleeve in the form of a loan move if Senderos doesn't join. We often do our business quietly but this is cutting it fine.

I hope he doesn't play in this one, for the fear of losing him to an injury. He is key at the moment. Our centre half issue is well known but we are also light in full backs.

Wonder if we will see any big movers. I would say the biggest move will be Jack Wilshire out of Arsenal and likely going to Palace. They have done some good business with getting Benteke, Townsend and Remy but they still play awful (they cost me 600 bucks at the weekend on the accumulator). But when you see Southampton and West Brom blowing their transfer records to a figure we cant compare with it shows that a move down there as per other threads is worth it.

Just even looking at the teams in the third tier down south is appealing. Away days to Charlton, Sheff Utd, Coventry and Bolton would raise the profile of that league and is more appealing than Hamilton away. The Championship is getting loaded with big teams every year. Newcastle, Villa, Wolves, Leeds, Sheff Wed, Derby, Norwich - its like a Premier League 2. Celtic will probably get what 30M for CL this season? While Watford and Bournemouth can expect to pick up about 90M from the Premier League - they survive the season and its the same again next season. Its well worth it.

Tynecastle on a Friday night will have a bit of an atmosphere to it. Much prefer Friday night football compared to Sundays. The TV money men have screwed up the timing of the next game though. Manchester Derby and OF derby at the same time.

Has to be City. They are the bigger and better side. But he wont go there.

Then Davie Weir will need to get his boots on, and probably a recall for Big Eck. There has to be availability out there, I cant believe we can take Clint Hill but not improve on that. Im sure we do Due diligence.

Lescott signing for AEK Athens. A good defender on his day but something gives me the feeling we have got away with missing out on him.

1 day in my time zone As it stands we will be relying on Crooks to be a make shift centre half. Kiernan and Wilson just aren't at the races. Every squad needs 4 centre halves so we are low in numbers also.

Ive often thought British league would be the better option but the issue is their is far too many clubs. Looking around Europe there is 2 or 3 division tops while Scotland has 4 divisions already plus England has the same with 20-22 teams in each. SPFL should get its own house in order first by throwing the current set up away and make a 16 or 18 top tier. A move down south would always be most appealing to both OF but they don't need us. No doubt about it we could sell out away allocation 10 fold. But I think the Atlantic League is far more likely - its globalisation. It wont be long before MLS sides are playing Europes elite also and with the money China are pumping into their game the club world cup championship will develop in the next decade. The Asia version of the champions league is a good standard yet you are having teams from Australia playing in Korea and Japan which is at least 8 hour flights - you are talking countries so far apart taking on each other - that will evolve into Europe soon enough.

If he is good enough he is old enough. Centre half is the priority but a winger wouldn't be a bad move, it could allow McKay to play more central.

Bringing a centre half in isn't looking too promising then. There is no way we can go 4 months with the current 3 we have. Im struggling to see why Hill came with such good references, he looked well off the pace on Friday night. Magic will need to wave his hat today to get something over the line.

Yeah that's the one. Havent seen or heard about him since his move, very strange one. As for Burke Ive never heard of him either, he isn't even in the national squad.

Couldn't believe this when I read it, Ive never heard of the guy yet he goes for 13M from the Championship to a German Side. Who is the young kid who went to Portugal and has a buy out clause of about 50M?? He hasn't kicked a ball since he went.

It MIGHT be the one game where playing all 3 (Halliday, Barton, Rossiter) is justified if we still go 4-3-3. But I agree with Frankie a 4-2-3-1 would probably suit us better at the moment until MW works our his favoured midfield. And 4-2-3-1 would mean changes as per my earlier post.

Next cup match is 20th Sept Vs QotS. 10 days after Celtic away.

What is the other competitive match before Celtic? Id ring the changes for Parkhead. Barton is lucky and I think got away without any damage so should make the game. At the moment Id play Barton with Halliday sitting with probably Forrester ahead of them in a diamond and 2 wider players - Mckay on the left and Tavernier on the right with Hodson stepping in at RB. Again it depends on Waghorn's fitness - he is a must if available.

MW is correct, we are still a new team and gelling. He just hasn't managed to get the right blend yet. Its no excuse for the first half performance. I disagree with his comment about Hill only getting 2 minutes notice though, subs should be prepared to come on from the warm up and first kick. We didn't start playing until we got the goal - and what a hit it was. Tavernier for me is a Premier League level wing back. Id be tempted to play him as a right winger and try Hodson at RB if the latter is a better defender. The tackle on Barton was horrible. I think he will get a few of them this season as players want to act the big man against him and are inferior to him. Barton is used to more time on the ball down south, its just shows the poor level of the Scottish game which is more like 5 a side, so he will have to adjust a bit. Kranjcar is good on the ball and can spray passes all day to perfection but when running he looks like he is towing a caravan. We really need more penetration in in the midfield to the final 3rd of the park, Holt will obviously boost that and Im thinking that's what Windass can also bring. The personnel bar 2 centre halves is fine, its all about getting the right blend. I hope the Senderos deal is concluded today, we are crying out for a real defender.