Gribz

Thats a couple of cracking games also. This is exactly how a cup comp shold be played, no silly seedings.

I'll start with Rothen. Ive seen him once or twice on the telly and he looked slow and struggled to get on the ball, it could be down to the difference in style between SPL and the continent. As for Buffel he had the creativity we needed at that time and played some terrific games under Eck and normally it was when Ferguson played behind him. WS just didnt give him a 2nd chance after his injury, but I remember him playing in away reserve midweek games in the winter to try win his place back yet WS still didnt give him a sniff. As for Lovenkrands - big time player with a good scoring record in CL and old firm matches. He is playing quite well for Newcastle at the moment and the Championship is a better standard than the SPL.

Totally agree. While I also agree that there is worse people like jefferies, Calderwood etc I still dont think Levein is the up and coming promising manager everyone says, he is a decent SPL manager full stop. Ok he has got Dundee Utd back to being a top 5 club between Hibs and Hearts but that isnt a mass achievement when you see how poor the level of the SPL is. Its a huge jump to take the national side to the next tournament. Considering the successful other Scots out there this would be a poor appointment. Im leaning towards what Craig Brown said and have Daliglish and Joe Jordan with Gary McAllister as a coach. If he does get it then I do think he will be a lot better than Burley.

And what about the rest of the team? There are plenty who have put in several shocking displays but dont get near the same criticism.

Yeah he wont play there but I always thought he was a decent strker before he joined us and did well in an inside left role also. So it would be interesting to see how he would play now and who he would link up well with, it would also probably get a lot of boo boys off his back. im far from his biggest fan in midfield or defence but he is going to be 1 of these players who will be a fans target unless he is playing out of his skin.

Erm....Spurs thumped Man City 3-0 last night playing Lennon on 1 wing and Kranjicar on the other with Huddlestone and Palacios holding in the middle.

You have stated the difference. Eck played it like a 4-2-4. He left the midfield fat too light weight with the likes of Konterman and Ricksen in there whom neither were midfielders, and Tuesday was like played a proper 4-4-2 with 11 players in their current natural positions (I say current as McCulloch and Novo were originally a strikers but have probably found there new comfortable positions. Also Broadfoot and Papac were centre halfs yet seem like better full backs - this is what happens, even Henry started as a winger moving onto a world class striker).

I feel like SAlly giving you a groan. :fish: He has a good record in Europe and against Celtic. It doesnt help he gets moved about on both wings and doesnt play in his natural role as a striker, plus he is on the bench more often than not as some think he is a impact player and better off the bench - Ive never bought that argument and he would start every game for me unless was out of form.

Id currently have McCulloch ahead of Thomson aswell, but i still dont rate him and once Mendes and Edu are fit they should be well ahead of him and id prefer to see McCulloch play upfront sometime. Davis has been better in the centre. I take it the Rothen comment should have a smilie!

I cant believe they have chosen Elland Road, its a dump and will need a mass rebuild on 3 sides. If they go for the new White Hart Lane then it will be 3 in North London. The Olympic Stadium is going to hold most of its capacity on a temporarily basis for the olympics then will be ripped down to a 25000 seater after it unless West Ham move into it which is unlikely at the moment. (Andy, yes its in Stratford East London) As Andy says they could use Norwich or Ipswich rather than 1 from Bristol or Plymouth. Calscot / Wija, what is the MK Dons current capacity? Half of that stadia listed needs increased capacity or rebuild. Anyway, I hope they get the WC in 2018.

Id say our top 5 in the last couple of years would be: v Barcelona at Ibrox CL 0-0 - thought we held our own superbly against the cream of Europe that night. v Hibs away 3-0 win last season. v Celtic 4-2 win at Parkhead v Dundee Utd @ Tannadice to clinch the title 2009 v Dundee Utd @ Tannadice 3-0 last night

4-2 at Celtic last season for me was the best Ive seen in the last 4 years domestically. we were absolutely awesome that day. You have to take into consideration the level of opposition and going to Parkhead is more difficult than Tannadice.

Do we have a percentage sell on clause with Villa?

I have always thought wingers should be able to play either side. If they are on their natural side then its a case of hitting the touch line, but if on the other it is a case of cutting inside. Laudrup was a genius that he could do both hitting touch line and cutting in on BOTH wings. I wasnt surprised to see Beasley start. Tanandice is the sort of ground where we have done well with wingers going back to Huistra. Plus the guy has a world cup to think about which should play to our advantage.

Nacho for me aswell. But great to see Beasley playing well, these 2 can be the answer to a lot of problems for us. With Edu coming back things are looking good.

Do you not this these things come naturally though when players know what they are doing in correct positions? Players will get confident and all aspects of their game will improve.

Agreed, must be given another year. And you have hit the nail on the head by saying he can score in any game. he has done so against the worst SPL sides and in tough games away in Europe. What you see is what you get with Novo. He can also play wide left, right and upfront. Miller and Boyd are first pick at the moment but if they drop form then Novo and Lafferty upfront together would be an interesting combination.

2 games in a row playing 4-4-2 with players in natural positions and we beat St Johnstone 3-0 going on 6-0 then go to Tannadice and batter a supposed title contender! A proper midfield 4 of 2 central midfielders (although I still dont think McCulloch is at his best there, but Davis is), with 2 wide men and look at the difference!

Credit were credit is due and Brum have been great to win 5 on the trot. They have a tough few fixtures coming up but to be on 27 points at the moment gives them a mass of breathing space and with the bottom 4 or 5 teams being that bad Birmingham are probably safe already. Ferguson is playing well and I think 1 of the reasons is he is just getting on with his football rather than it all being about him. Im glad he is making that twat Paul Merson eat his words, about 2 months ago Merson said he cant see Brum staying up due to the poor signings like barry Ferguson, then on the weekend he retracted that and said he is playing superb.

Many guys would have been hunting for the nearest exit after him being put back as No.2, so I admire the way Alexander has went about this. IMO Alexander should have started the season as number 1 but now with hindsight WS was right to bring McGregor back in due to his superb form. Keepers is the one position we have been blessed with since I have watched Rangers. To hold onto these 2 would be great but I can see 1 of them moving on either January or the summer.

I thought the reason was purely because not getting auto promotion wasnt an option. I found it a bizarre appointment. Strachan would need time in that league to get used to it.

Cuellar is a more clever player than Bougherra IMO. I can see Bougherra being a bit like Boumsong and be rash in the EPL which would make quite a few errors. If he was good enough before he would have went played for a side better than Charlton and Sheff Wed. He is too good for the SPL but he isnt good enough for a top 6 EPL team.

Gibson made a silly knee jerk reation by sacking Southgate. They were 3rd and a few points behind Newcastle with Southgate. That took the wind out the sails and Strachan needs time to get his team in. They will have a big fight if they are to get in the playoffs as Leicester and Notts Forest are flying at the moment.

Great win for Arsenal, they were awful in the 1st half and Wenger gave them a bit of a Sir Alex style talk at half time which made the difference. They still have a game in hand against bolton at home which should be a banker 3 points which really has them in a nice position so they are well in with a shout, they just need to stop dropping silly points. They have Burnley away on Wed and thats the sort of game they could lose or draw. I still think Wenger needs a top keeper, and he would be sensible to give Sol Campbell a 5 month deal in January as cover at centre half. As for Liverpool, they will be lucky to finish 6th this season. Villa are by far a better side and Man City dont lose as many games as Liverpool.

Agreed. I dont think he is near a world class manager but I dont think he is poor. Id say he has a typical Scottish style and opts for a 'safety first' or 'no lose' mentality first which can be quite depressing when RFC should be wiping the floor with at least 8 SPL teams. He can get it right in certain games then comes out with some baffling choices. He passed step 1 back in 2007 by making the team hard to beat again and bringing back some steel and pride, that was job done. He then had to advance that to the next stage by making us challendge for the title and winning domestic trophies - job done albeit it in some bizarre fashion in odd games. Next was to advance that and make us the top side again and do something in Europe but this is where he has went backwards and we are a worse side this season than the last 2 years. With hindsight maybe people think he should have left with his head held high last season with the title in the bag, but when you are in WS shoes and to think that his Rangers days would be over again - that would be tough to take for someone like him so I cant blame him to have desire to stay on, I just wish he would get a few more basics right.