der Berliner

The Scotsman is in the "know" ... Beale was speaking ahead of the first Old Firm fixture of the season against Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday and confirmed that Borna Barisic will be fit to play after coming off with an injury during the 5-1 defeat to PSV in the Champions League play-off second leg on Wednesday. However, Kieran Dowell is a doubt due to a know issue.

Cleaned up the OP ahead of the Friday deadline day madness, as most folk linked there went elsewhere or extended their contracts. Going by the rumours, Harry Souttar looks to be the only late arrival, on loan. After that, it will be freebies, of which there are a few.

... and will go on having a fine season, playing 30+ games.

Very much so. Might be that Danilo had a minor knock, I would play him and Roofe ahead of Dessers, who, in all fairness, doesn't look that bad either. He was just rather isolated, as most other attackers are too far away from him.

Oh, I was merely looking at it from our perspective. IMHO, everything they had in front of their defence looked a well-oiled, clicking machine. You saw who was playing where, and they executed their game plan perfectly. What irks is that you saw that in the first game too, and we did not react in a meaningful way. That said, to or three of their goals were rather "defendable". NB: Butland looks a fine keeper indeed.

I'd use Balogun, as he is used to these games. Sterling might very well be over-awed, and he's had very little game time. Leon won't go forward as much, but neither expose our defense.

Good question. Dessers is fine for the Scottish game, solid centre forward (we might just as well have kept Colak). In Europe, we need skill alongside that, and Danilo looks quite good. Maybe he's not fully fit, but's what you want to know from the manager. It's also quite easy to forget about Roofe, who, IMHO, would do well alongside Danilo. As has been said above, yesterday was probably 70 % about wrong tactics, 30 % about players. As with Danilo, unless he was unfit, Jack should have started last night. Our wing-backs were leaving large spaces for their wingers to exploit, and they did time and again - with Raskin and Cifuentes not knowing whether to stick or twist. With effectively 7 defensive players, they still cut us open for fun, how de Jong was allowed to bully his way through our area was astonishing. A "proper" CM like Hurlock would have left a mark or two. Like it or not, but the defensive issues have not gone away. Goldson these days is Premiership material at best, Davies not really suited and/or trusted. Why we did not rely on the experience of Balogun last night is also baffling - if not from the start, then later on. Those few moments that we pressed them, they looked vulnerable, but instead of building on this, we kept it running till we were out of it - and even then essentially switched like for like. If MB goes in like that against the Scum on Sunday ...

Given that we camp 70 % of our Scottish game near the opposition box, he didn't need to have any pace. That said, "speed merchants" usually do not come up with more assists or goals either. Stick Hagi anywhere between the halfway-line and the area, and he will produce sparks like Cantwell did with that sublime lob. He did also ghost past players like few others and whipped shots in goalies did not expect. But we have to do without Hagi for the time being. IMHO Lawrence and Lammers will step in, so far every other game looks like a trial and error session from defense onwards.

Well folks, we have barely started the season, we've got 9 players in and chop and change the team around every single or other game. Some sides click faster and better early in the seasons, others do not. Is there anyone in here who doesn't agree that in the here and now, the CL is not exactly our benchmark? First, we need to build a team that can rip Scottish teams apart and get into a certain rhythm. We've not yet there (and many Rangers teams of the past have neither ... and most came good in the end still. It's a long way to go, so please no defeatism at the end of August. How many times we sat here and saw gloom and doom reign, yet, after 20odd more games. it looked much bright. Of course, we'd have to block out most of the years since 2012. 😝 I think we are moving in the right direction, and every journey begins with some difficult steps. NB: I still want Sakala back! 😎

Too high a defeat, we played into their hands for much of the game, hardly put any pressure on their defence, and suffered the consequences. This PSV team are no mugs, yet their offensive department can string some quality stuff together. We are no CL material in the here and now, and while we might beat the odd "lesser" side, the quality teams would have ripped us apart. Not much fault on the players, I'd say they gave their all. IMHO, too defensive a line-up. Matondo is a project in the making, but IMHO Beale suffers a little from the "glory" factor. I might be wrong, but he had about 4 or 5 good chances, some were blocked, one off the post, some wayward. Not much help from the midfield either ... but there you go, three attackers simply weren't enough, no rocket science and I said that before KO too. It is Sunday that counts, so onwards we soldier!

100 % ...

Never knew that the Dutch clone Sutton and named him DeJong. What a freak of a player.

Well, yes. But we've been more defensive and let them play their game. Nigh everything runs through Bakayoko and Veerman, aiming at de Jong. Still only 1-0 and the longer this goes on, the more wary they might get. I'd get Lammers on for Lundstram or Cifuentes, so we have more attacking options.

You will have to sleep under the stairs tonight with Harry now!

Did you check where and against whom we played? This looks like a lady-line up ... Butland Tavernier - Goldson - Souttar - Barisic Lundstram Raskin - Cifuentes Cantwell - Dessers - Matondo Lot of energy and workers, you'd hope Raskin and Cifuentes pop up with a shot or two as well.

First and foremost! Of course, Europe brings a better financial standing that should not be disregarded.

Not on Amazon Prime tonight, would have surprised me, TBH. It is going to be a tough watch tonight, as they will pound us all game. You wonder whether we will put a three-man defence in front of Butland, plus Borna and Tav. Alas, I think we have better striking options than last season, who are all rather quick and willing to shoot. Their defence doesn't look too clever, so we might get something on the break. Still, it remains a win-win situation, as IMHO we are better suited to the EL than the CL still, no-one wants to see a repeat of last season, even if we would get lucky with the draw and grab the odd point or win.

Snippets from "Rangers News" The man behind leading Rangers fan media partners Four Lads Had a Dream claims the club have ruled out a move for Harry Souttar. Stevie Clifford has links to the Ibrox side and is one of the most respected and prominent members of the club’s fan media. Speaking on the Rangers Review, Clifford was providing a transfer update amid claims from Michael Beale that the Gers may look to add one more player. However, with reports mentioning Harry Souttar over the last 24 hours, the Leicester defender is “100%” not coming to Rangers. “What we have done is we’ve spoken to the club on Harry Souttar,” said Stevie Clifford (RR Daily Briefing: 28/08 approx: 44:20) “Harry Souttar according to Rangers is 100% not coming to the club. “That is not happening. “It wasn’t elaborated on whether or not we are interested or we’ve tried and it’s just not happening. “What the club say is 100%, that’s not happening. “I can tell you what the club says with regards to the likes of Harry Souttar. There was a lot of noise last week that it was definitely happening.” Four Lads Had a Dream on Harry Souttar, Jesse Lingard and Eden Hazard Also touching on some of the other names doing the rounds – including ex-Man United attacker Jesse Lingard and ex-Real Madrid winger Eden Hazard – the Four Lads Had a Dream founder said: “When we asked about some of the other names – Jesse Lingard, Eden Hazard, the wild names that have been doing the lines – that was more or less laughed off.” However, and only giving his opinion on the situation, Stevie Clifford does believe that Rangers will look to add a winger before the window shuts. Suggesting that the club have learned from the stramash of last season’s Champions League qualification, it’s a signing which won’t depend on the outcome of Wednesday night.

You can watch the whole of last week's game on Amazon Prime, tonight it will be Galatsaray vs Molde. Dunno whether they have another game tomorrow.

I'd send Lammars packing too, whoever this chap is. Hagi's under contract till 2026, so he was sent out to a decent league for game time. If that develops into something more is up in the air. IMHO, relying only on Cantwell (who is bound to miss some games) is somewhat "dangerous", but Lawrence can play there too, as can Lammers and Raskin.

Not in the line-up today, I expect freebie Hazard as a "straight" replacement. 😎

Very much so. A fresh spark these last few games. He and Cantwell are the driving creative players we must keep for this season. Lawrence needs some time still, and Dowell so far is not on the same creative level of Cantwell and Hagi. And Cantwell is that sort of all-action player that will always get the odd yellow card and attention of these "powerhouse" defenders and midfield brawlers of lesser Scottish teams. He's bound to miss a fair few games.

Leicester signed him for 15m or the like in January, he's got a contract till 2028. I have my doubts that the likes of Harry Souttar will be anything but a loan-player for us for years to come. NB: Only now noted that our Souttar has actually a Scottish-Australian dual-citizenship.

So, in essence, we have another Bear involved at the highest level of the club, who, if I am reading it correctly, is much more well-off than even King? Meaning that the club is essentially on an even better safe footing, if that is the right word? Maybe "fan-ownership" isn't that bad an idea after all.

Tough choice, gave it to Cantwell, but Goldson had probably his best game this year, while Butland also looked like a Rangers keeper. Raskin also worked his socks off, some of the others might need to get used to the Ibrox roar on nights like these.