Gribz

Joe Hart to West Ham. Its an upgrade on Adrian and Randolph but Id have preferred Begovic who Bournemouth got from Chelsea. Hart has a point to prove, but he has a lot of fumbles in him. Hart and Zabaleta are good signings though - experience of winning. Looks like Marko Arnautovic from Stoke will be signing for the Hammers also for 24m. The guy blows hot and cold, he is very arrogant and will need to be man managed well. Chicharito is the other one close to joining. He is just a proper poacher and will score for fun if he gets the service. Would be a good addition.

Not directing this to you but my standards are that a Rangers side should walk away with 4-0 scoreline in games like this.

Point being what though? I dont see any knee jerk reactions. This is building up. Pedro has to turn things around straight away end of.

You have to remember we wouldnt be playing this game if he managed to steer us past Luxembourgs 4th best part time team. He dragged the players back after 10-14 days holiday to start fitness, id say the players are probably fit but have no clue to the system.

I would say we have the right centre backs for it. There is two ways of playing a back 3. You have the 3 central defenders just doing what they know or you play a 2 like a normal system then the sweeper inbetween who goes behind and infront. Almost the opposite of a free role striker. But the 3 definitely must know what their roles are. Im sure Alves, Wilson and Cardoso could play as a 3. I dont even think Wallace and Tav need to be the wing backs, maybe just one and when defending he makes up a 4th defender plus we would have a holding midfielder back there. Wallace for me has been poor of late and he wouldnt make my starting XI at the moment.

Even if, thats still 1 goal in 5? How many minutes have Morealos and Herrera had?

I quite like the idea of 4 real midfielders in the same team also but we need to work out a system where we still get a bit of width or creativity in the final third. I just think a back 4 is going out of fashion at the moment. Ive always been a 3-5-2 fan even when it was unpopular but it just seems the way to go at the moment.

When listing a XI of 'remember how bad he was' in the future, I dont even think I'll remember to include Crooks.

Pre season friendlies often count for nothing but in our case questions need to be asked. When you look at the starting XI we put out it looks good on paper but something obviously isnt right behind the scenes. Tactics and split dressing room perhaps...and some of the players just obviously arent having PC as a manager. Der berliner - St Johnstone beating Sunderland means nothing, Sunderland are rank. Like Craig said, the more coming out the less it seems Pedro should be there.

I tend not to read much ex pro footballer (and managers) books but one or two catch the eye and Ive read a few. Ive read Terry Venables, Alex Ferguson, Paul Gascoigne, Andy Gray and Roy Keane' which were all quite good. I did read Maradona also few years back simply because he was / is the best ever. But more recently Ive read Ray Parlour and Paul Merson. Both are well worth a read and include some hilarious bits. I was on a flight last Friday and had horrendous turbulence during descent and had a few old dears panicking yet I was crying with laughter reading Parlours book. What a player he was and didnt get credit for. I dont like when I see players who are 25 and been playing well for a year or so taking out books, an autobiography should be about the end of the career. Anyone got additional recommendations?

Obviously not the sharpest tool. Rousseau makes a valid point but we didnt officially state that. It was more a fan thing saying what we expected. Wouldnt be surprising if Lennon told him to say this. Its actually good to have Hibs back in the league - Id much rather be beating them than Inverness. The game has some spice to it.

The latest TV deal could be the start of a domino effect of multiple issues. Clubs getting funds to a new level and players moving on transfers that bar China are in a league of their own. In the coming few seasons you could see a few clubs doing a Leeds. The Premier league used to be two horse races, Man Utd / Newcastle, Man Utd / Arsenal in the 90s. Then Chelsea joined the race, then Man City. And now Spurs are in their albeit not via money and Everton are stepping it up also. Yet there is only 4 CL spaces so 3 will miss out. It cant be that far away before a Euro Super league will have genuine discussions.

We cant play nobody Mack. We have to hit the ground running in August, be thats not going to happen with guys who havent kicked a ball.

Should be knocking on the door of Championship teams for a game. Villa, Wolves, Sheff Wed, Leeds etc. Dare I say Forest - That would be interesting!! Davie Weir has probably burnt a lot of bridges and wouldnt be the most welcomed back ex player.

Chelsea are playing Inter and Bayern in a 5 day tournament in Singapore this month - I think I'll go along as interesting to see what Conte does with the team. I cant see Chelsea defending their title at all as things stand, something just isnt right. I hope Wenger gets things right, Id hate to see Mourinho or Pep win titles due to others being poor.

Any news on arranged matches between now and August? I know its short notice but an Ibrox tournament would still be worth while and get a few decent teams up. They must be working behind the scenes to arrange something, no way can we go into the first league game not giving players match run outs.

Rooney to Everton a done deal on a 2 year contract. Chelsea sign 34m defender Rudiger from Roma. Not sure if he would have been first choice, pretty sure any of the Juventus back 3 would have been wanted first.

Agree. And Rossiter has a lot of making up to do. He has been out for a year so needs a lot of game time. He has youth on his side but shouldnt just walk into the team.

Points taken bud hence my additional comment. Advocaat had a 4-4-2 with 4 real midfielders often and it worked well. Yes he played McCann, Kanchelskis etc on occasions wide but he also played a 4 with Reyna, Tugay, Ferguson, Albertz / Gio. Not comparing the standard but more so the system. We should be over powering teams especially at home.

^ I know some will say Dorrans isnt a left winger. But Albertz or Van Bronkhurst werent wingers either but both slotted into that real midfielder role in a 4. As for the 3-5-2 some will say we dont have wing backs. But being Rangers playing Dundee at home we shouldnt have the need for 5 defenders in the team.

Back to this thread also after 2 games have played and signings done. For me - Obviously Foderingham in goal but I ask questions about Tav and Wallace. Can we go to a back 3?? Even if its a 4 then Beerman showed he could possibly overhaul Wallace who is struggling IMO. 3-5-2: Foderingham Wilson Alves Cardoso Jack Kranjcar Candeias Pena Dorrans Miller Herrera 4-5-1: Foderingham Tavernier Alves Cardoso Beerman Jack Candeias Pena Kranjcar Dorrans Herrera Id like to see Holt and Waghorn dropped - previously fans of both of them but we have to get away from the MW side. And Wallace needs dropped also and fight back for his place. Young Beerman looked more than capable.

Going back to this thread I wonder if the thoughts have changed. ?? PC is certainly on a last thread. 5-1 to Celtic was painful yet whats worse about that is he didnt pick up on things from the cup match the week prior - that has been massively overlooked and proved stubbornness. Until you have Success like Wenger you can act Stubborn. Losing to Aberdeen at home for the first time in 26 years. This was a record I know a lot of Bears liked to keep but it may have been an end of season game but it obviously meant nothing to PC. Worst result in history - I wasnt born when Berwick happened. We had some bad results in Europe under Walter but this is monumental. Luxembourg are beating boys where we should beat teams from there with the reserves. It wasnt a one of, we had 2 games to beat them. The pendulum has swung IMO, PC has to act, his arrogance (some of which was fine) has to now go and he has to blend in a team that gets off the marks in the league fast. Nothing less than 3 wins from Motherwell, Hearts and Hibs will do. 7 Points might be OK depending on the draw but we should be looking to win all home games and if he doesnt win at Fir Park questions will be asked.

Its a reflection on the league. Its not good enough. IMO China has went about it all wrong. They should have been buying Championship players to get to that standard first then improving as they go on. China is a wonderful place and for players being looked after its a no brainer. The Asian version of CL is good to view but the Koreans, Japanese and Aussies are ahead of China, that should have been their aim - to start winning that first before signing retirement players.

Graham Tut Spiers seems to be attempting a comeback and using anti Rangers propaganda to make him popular.

Sometimes gets frustrating when a players name pops up who was a generation or two before who you didnt actually see and could comment about. I guess thats acceptable though. In 20 years time there might be a programme about Brian Laudrup and the youngsters just wont appreciate what I got to see.