der Berliner

(Sidenote, Gersnet seems to be a bit slow and prone to unwanted double-posts these days ...) 35m deal ... is that we pay or they pay?

IMHO, we should just sign Jamie Murphy up. Loads of potential and with the service he'll get with us, he can hit the heights of a Goodwillie too. Half the baggage, half the fee. If only ... IF we are really interested that is ...

Don't confuse me! Which Murphy do you refer too? I hazzard a guess: BTW, ...

Ahem ... yes. You could not simply have waited a few days more, no? Was really desperate down there in Turkey, I gather?

We have been linked to Jamie Murphy and today Rhys Murphy (Arsenal, on trial at Middlesbrough) too.

And here's the link to that story - Rhys Murphy

IMHO a "low wages and pay as you play" deal till January might be worth it, if Ally & Co. decide he's good enough.

AFAIK, he has been fit for quite some time, but Betis chose not to use him. Can't say much about his current form and fitness levels. All in Ally's hands.

A straight no for me. I would expect that the Swedes want to press as much money out of him as they can, since he'll leave in January anyway. Had he scored 15 goals or laid on 15 assists, they might have a point. We can get Murphy for some 900k and use him out wide if need be, Ortiz on the right flank.

Ahem ... I for one can't see that much wrong in him these days. Gets up and down the park at good pace, scored against Hearts and was there on Tuesday too. Just a touch out of luck ... after half a handful of games. No concern whatsoever.

You don't need to ask too loud here ... it might give others ideas.

I wouldn't be surprised if any of the bottom 10 EPL teams happen by, slam a 3m bid in next week and sign him up, our advances all to no avail.

As I said before, if Goodwillie does not want to come, we should use half of the money for him and sign Jamie Murphy instead. Decent enough player and not even half the baggage that comes with Goodwillie - as much as I like him.

Now that you say it. Obviously, netting Verhoek and Goodwillie for Bougherra and 500k would be good business. You'd hope we shell out some more money for Bartley (loan fee 500k?) and that Hungarian. That should see us in good stead for the season, with low key folk like Davidson and Bedoya filling the ranks. Yeah, does sound good, if it happens.

... they are well advanced in their season (18 weeks in), have a settled, well drilled team, have drawn with league leaders Helsingborgs at the weekend ... while we had exactly one competitive game a few days ahead of this fixture. And, of course, football is a funny old game and errors like Whittaker's can hand a tie to anyone - no matter how good or bad he is. ICT stole a win at Ibrox the season before last without a single shot on target - bar that 93rd minute penalty. Motherwell and Hibs have come to Ibrox and run away with 3-0 wins. That, btw, is the same as ICT beating the hooped horrors at the tail end of last season, handing us the title. Funny old game ... BTW, give us 10 weeks of play and we sure have enough in the locker to beat the Swedes.

Okay. Now to UEFA and check out how these two bribed Whittaker to commit suicide-defending in front of his penalty area!

I doubt that we will sign Verhoek. He will cost in excess of 2m too - according to latest reports - and we won't pay that. Remember, we've already got Ortiz, Kerkar, Wylde, Naismith, Lafferty and if need be Wallace for the left wing. And unless I am mistaken, he is a left winger.

The point remains that Ally's in a pretty much no-win situation here, at least with some amongst the support. He's retained the old guard who essentially won him and Walter three titles on the trott. He's started to build a team with a few new faces with very little time to prepare them to the tasks at hand. He faced probably the best team outside the OF in Scotland and as you would expect on the first day, not everything clicked and we "only" got a 1-1 draw. Next stop a vital European game. Against folk who are well advanced in their season and know how to play football too. A bad error of judgement (Whittaker) hands the Swedes the initiative and we, still very much in pre-season form, suffer a loss. Cue the press and all run amok and proclaim it a "shock result" - in fair ignorance of the Swedes' performance. Cue the fans run riot and want Ally's head after two games. Utter and complete madness. Obviously well groomed by the media over the last couple of seasons. We're always a defeat or two away from extinction, you might think. The panic brigade's always on the edge, waiting for some blip here or there. It is a very sad state of affairs indeed. As for Europe, the feel good factor is sure important. As is CL income. The current results should be fine, since we scooped 16m from last year's CL run alone, money that was not included in the latest results, since it only came in during the summer. Yet, we all know that we will come up against hard opposition in the CL and while we sure have the ability to beat some teams, there is every chance that some of them give us a right good beating. And I can envisage the bleeting that will descent on the boards and the press should all and the team suffer a bad loss to the likes of Chelsea, Lyon or Barca. We might as well win a game against those teams and the fans, in the state they are in now, want a repeat every time the Gers step onto the pitch. If they can't deliver that, the hawks will be back and the cries for Ally's head will return. You'd hope that those who utter these thoughts (mainly of FF, I have to say), are just a small minority with too much access to the net. I watched in desperation how the objectivity and dignity amongst the supporters as waned over these last few years. There's just Rangers and nothing else. If they win, it is usually not good enough. If they lose, it is our fault and our fault alone - with nigh to no credit being given to the opposition or the circumstances surrounding the game - much like Tuesday. As if the rest is just blocked out. Very strange an attitude indeed. If you project such an attitude to Alloa or Queen of the South supporters, you really wonder how there are any of them still about ...

Yesterday Lennon wanted to hijack Murphy, today it is Goodwillie. Some of our support bemoaned the lack of scouts we had pre McCoist. It looks these days as if we do the donkey work for them. Well well.

Still can't believe that people think that CL footie is all that crucial. Obviously, we all want 12 to 16m in the bag. But this time around the club is not threatened with administration et al, even with that pending HMRC thing. For you can challenge it time and again and we may not see any implications for three to four years. This time around there is no bank enforcing any sales. And as I said above, any sane chairman (business-man) and manager will not budget with a CL money pot in mind. Thus, we have to make sure to get a good SPL side in time for the challenges ahead, since the next title will give us a straight entry to the CL again. That all said, we all want European football, me included. It will not make or break my belief in the players or the manager if we don't get it this time around for any extended period. European football has always been a bonus. Nothing more and nothing less.

While we looked shaky at the back and McGregor was in fine form, I would assume that Naismith and Jelavic will put away half of their chances (18 last night) any other day ... or with some more games under their belt.

Dunno. I have been around since 1983 as a Bear, even from the days behind the Berlin Wall. And never ever have I experienced a mass hysteria like what has transpired since last night, not least on FF. Simple and utter madness, two games into a season that started on July 23rd. The dignity that the club and its support carried as a standard have apparently long since gone. At least from the supporters' part. Maybe the disfunctional reality perception syndrome, oh so evident with the hooped horrors last season, was contagious after all ...

At home, I would keep a three at the back (Bougherra, Goian/Weir, Papac) and use pacy wingbacks like Wallace in a more advanced position. If we sign Bedoya, I'd drop Whittaker for him.

And you could have bet your mortgage on it, today our dear friends from the east end have reported their interest in Jamie Murphy.

Keep in mind that not all of those we might face in the "play-offs" have 18 weeks of competition under their belt. Many have just finished pre-season too.