Gribz

This is the point I was going to make but it could be down to players as well. I really thought some togetherness would have came about the squad in the last month but results have been poor. If some players 'gave up' then McCoist isnt accountable for that but he does pick the team and tactics. Ally's reign has been tough to judge. Very poor start in pre season and in europe, then an absolute flying spell in the league, some dodgy home results, out of 2 cups with poor results, administration - awful results. We dont know how he gets on behind the scenes with certain people and whether that had an effect but his tactics have been wrong. 2 best outfield players were taken away from him (Jelavic sold, Naismith injured) so thats always going to hurt. Personally I hope he gets a fair crack at it again and then we can judge him. If he persists with 2 LBs etc then we will know he isnt the right man, but if we get results like Aug - Nov then it cant get much better in the league. If he is still the man I do hope he brings in a stronger Assistant manager though, he still looks like he needs that solid experience man to help him make a tactical change when required.

Not for me. Spain have stood up at international level in the last 2 tournaments. You see premier league players doing it the CL but when it comes to internation level they struggle (for England anyway). Its just that the CL has bought over the World Cup so with money and general interest the CL is now the glamour competition. And when Maradona, Pele and Co were playing THE world stage was the WC and not so much the european cup....Liverpool dominated the old European cup but none of their players would make the best 20 of all time.

Just who really was Matt McKay?!

That may come down to the changes in the game Zappa. Tackles are almost not allowed (Maradona used to get kicked off the park), pitches are better these days, technology for fitness is well advanced....technology even designs boots and the ball now. Of course the player still needs ability and Messi has it all but he needs to do it for a few more years plus more at international level. Maradona was unplayable for a decade, Messi is still playing catch up. The greatest players do it for a career span (Maradona, Pele, Cruyff, Best, Giggs, Ronaldo (Brazil) Scholes, Zidane, Beckenbauer, Matthauis, Baggio, Gullit, M Laudrup.....). Ability wise Gascoigne was up there with the best but for other reasons never forfilled. Messi has time on his hands, I like the way he is never in the media except for footballing reasons so there is nothing to stop him going into the top bracket in a few years time.

I originally thought the flack Whyte was getting was harsh because he didnt create the debt in the first place. But what this guy has gone is come in and push us over the edge rather than trying to pull us back overboard. As Gisabeer mentions, you could list a number of things now that he has done. Anyone with decent financial sense and access to the books would have seen that in January we should have sold players to raise cash....the fans wouldnt have liked it but if you offered us Selling players vs Administration / Liquidation then we'd have picked the first all day long.

Maradona is still the greatest. Everyone who is saying its Messi is only say that because its the 'now' and thats all they have seen. However Messi has the ability to take that title away from Maradona but Id say he has to do more at international level first. Maradona would be the best on the park whether is was in Spain, Italy, Argentina leagues or internationals. I do predict Argentina will win the world cup in Brazil and Messi will be the star at the age of 26. Thats exactly the age Maradona was in 86' and that was 4 years after he had a pour WC in 82 which Messi also did in 2010.

I think we'd be be disappointed regardless what player left, what annoys me most is Whyte forseen this coming why didnt we sell as much players as possible in January and get fees for them then. Now they will be redundant and leave for nothing. Id rather the club had been upfront during the transfer window and said "we have to sell players" rather than giving a false hope of retaining players plus signing more like Celik and Cousin. Im a bit confused as to why we cant sell players though, as I thought part of Administration was all about selling assets to raise money. The transfer window cant block what is law?? From a footballing perspective its a shame to lose Wylde, I liked him as a player although Ally was bit reluctant to play him at times preferring a more defensive set up. I can envisage his career being similiar to Burke and will be able to pick up a Championship club. As for Celik, I didnt see the guy play so who knows if its a loss or not.

Nice gesture.

They are slowly making the changes towards a more global structure at the highest level for clubs like Barca and Man Utd. They are trying to get from A-Z in small steps like doing away with Cup Winners Cup would be like going from A-D and the fans just accept the change....but when they take too big a leap i.e A-J then fans stand up and show they have a voice and the powers that be cant make that change. The one prime example of this that I didnt add is when they tried to make a 39th Premier League game and take it abroad...that was a step too far and everyone had a say that it was madness. They tried to follow the NFL who already have a NFL fixture every season at Wembley. But rest assured the plan for a 39th game overseas will be back on the agenda in the not too far future. EDIT: An additional thing that contributed to the downfall of the Scottish game was the end of 3 foreigner rule. It allowed more money being spent on foreigners and slowed down the process of any young players coming through. It probably also created a bigger gap between the OF ,who had the spending power, and the rest of the SPL.

Bit of a expensive journey for the away side, can we meet them half way??

Agree with much of this. But a lot of it has been orchastrated and no doubt the aim is to eventually have a more global structure (same as everything else in life) with the elite clubs playing in a Super League. We've seen it with the dissapearance of the cup winners cup and the devaluing of the UEFA cup. Those who run the game are rotten / corrupt to the core. Just take the simple seedings rule in WC / Euro Championships Qualifiers AND tournaments along with Champions League qualifier AND groups and you see straight away its about giving those elite countries / clubs an advantage while the rest go backwards. How on earth are teams supposed to compete and improve when they dont get a chance of a run in these things when straight away they come up against a big boy and get whipped. People say there is no point in San Marino turning up but when the deck is stacked against them in the first place they have no chance. Stick them in a group with Malta and Andorra and they get more competitive. Im against seeding, who cares if Italy draw Germany in a qualifying group....in fact thats what we want to see! It makes the qualifiers more interesting rather than meaningless internationals when people switch off for a week. The FA cup without seeds proves why it is more interesting when Man U get Liverpool away in the 3rd round. As for the Scottish game where do you start! There is a fear for restructuring the leagues and even playing football in the summer cant be debated. The SFA/SPL have never had the balls to give something a try (they are probably not allowed to!) and if it doesnt work out then hold the hands up and switch things back. As mentioned the spiral downwards in the last 15 years is huge and its still going a quick pace. The League Cup (formally Skol Cup) used to be as attractive and interesting as the Scottish Cup but they cant even run that right these days. Bring it back to an October Final rather than having a 5 month break between the semi's and the final. The 4 division structure has helped the game go backwards and the SPL split is embarrassing. Enjoy the debate BH there will probably be some good opinions and ideas brought up but it wont produce anything.

Its obvious they are looking for the worst possible punishment to hurt us but save their own skin at the same time. They may as well just come out with it "Rangers start with a 30 point deduction but there will be no relegation because we need them to visit other teams grounds"....thats practically what they are trying to get at.

Just wondering, if anyone does get sacked would they have a claim for unfair dismissal??? I know Steven Whittaker wouldnt but perhaps some others would.

Ive said this for years....its not just in footballing terms but the PC is one weapon / tool used by governments to strip away freedom to think, speak, demo etc....If it takes football for some public to realise this then so be it but its happening in all walks of life.

They want us to suffer yet at the same time they want (need is the better word) us in the SPL. That will pay for this 'financial penalties'. You just know they are going to try fight tooth and nail for a point deduction at the start of next season. Regardless of where we play Id be refusing tickets for away matches. Instead Id stream the matches into Ibrox and charge the fans between 5-10 quid entry and pocket the money ourselves. Those other chairmen should be concentrating on their own clubs rather than petty nitpicking over Rangers. It shows their level of professionalism when they are trying to stamp us when we're down. It also shows the social mentality in the country....the media are constantly having a go, the government impose ridiculous rules and now everyone wants us punished as much as possible while giving the reason "so it doesnt happen again" - nonsense! Where has the humanity about helping and supporting others gone. I know Gretna werent around long but I felt sorry for them when they went out of business. Everything has a knock on effect and Rangers not being strong means the national team is even affected. Its not like the other SPL clubs are going to get past qualifiers for Europe are they!! TBH if we did go into the 3rd division i think we'd be welcomed with open arms by the clubs there not just for financial reasons but for footballing ones. 3 years is a short time, (its almost 4 years since Manchester Final) therefore Id look at it as a project of rebuilding. Have to say Im disappointed in the players at this time, 4 homes games in a row including 3 defeats and no wins....i really thought we'd gather some spirit on the park and win games.

I guess the cream will rise to top here and those who want to play for Rangers will show. Lee McCulloch already deserves a pat on the back as does the manager for saying they will work for free. Of course players are entitled to decline what is asked of them but considering the money they earn you'd think quite a few names in the dressing room would be willing to strike a deal for the club, even if it means deferring some wages until a new owner is in place and the club is up and running again.

Its lucky Sunday again for me, I seem to only win on Sundays except Arsenal won me 200 quid on Saturday. But following last sundays win, I thought Id throw a wee tenner bet on: Draw Newcastle v S'land, West ham, Fulham and Man Utd. All 4 were on the TV one after another and it was good viewing! 35/1 odds.

I had a wee bet on 2-1 Arsenal plus draw HT arsenal FT so had a tidy profit on this one. He scores when he wants, he scores when he wants, Robin Van Persie, he scores when he wants.

Id have a fiver on that aswell.. Would be crazy not to field that team though....

Lol, that was what I was thinking. Boyd still wouldnt get into the team even with nobody there though.

Gersnet and blackberry...are we allowed to recharge our subscription fees to Frankie for this?? No worries....I was intoxicated anyway and Danny boy must have had a bad weekend But I do believe nobody has answered the question about Cousin. Is he a Gers player or what?

Brilliant! Someone 10 times more drunk than me!. :cheers:

Hoi!! Dont kick a man when he is down. Buffel and Sebo would walk into the team today.

Thanks for your opinion....I welcome an opinion...but Desperate Dan suggested there wasnt a point in the thread in the first place. I hope ITV4 is better excitement for him today.

Jeez....I cant even remember posting this and it was only 2 hours ago. Whittaker is still shite though....makes Konterman look a player!