Darthter

Can't really mind much about A Wilson...other than he did a decent job. Is he any better/worse than Bates??? As for the remaining defenders, I think dB has a point about the 2 CH's being exposed. Alves probably doesn't have the mobility to cover the FB's space anymore & would require players around him to do more of the running. 3 at the back may accomplish this better - pacier CH's either side of him & let Alves control things form the middle. McCrorie might be the idea candidate as he has shown that he is perfectly adept, sitting in front of the defense & can also perform equally well as a CH. Whether he could adequately transition between the roles throughout a game would need to be tested.

More of an interview than a Statement.....and not the best. but one important thing is missing from the article - what questions was he asked??? It can be VERY easy to take a quote way out of context if the question is unknown. If AJ honestly believes that we are "ahead of the curve", I wouldn't like to see what the curve is like. Yes, there has been improvements throughout, which is excellent, but there still appears to be a lot of work required on attitudes & professionalism from the top down. As for Murty's position....is there going to be any notable benefit with 5 games to go, if he is replaced??? I would doubt it - better sticking with the "devil you know" for that number of games. Of course, it's not an ideal situation, but it is what it is. While Murty's going nowhere just now, I would like to think that plans are getting ramped up behind the scenes to secure a top appointment for next season.

That may well be the case (hopefully), but the club have done the right thing in not being held to "ransom" by a players agent (most likely) demanding too much money. They way a lot of these threads tend to go, you'd think we had just let Messi/Ronaldo go coz we only offered the £5k per week. Bates is/was a decent player, nothing more. Could he develop into a better player - probably. Could he develop into a top class defender - probably not. Rangers need better than David Bates.

Sorry, I don't think it is.....I think it's nothing more than fans ripping apart EVERY single word that is said, and deciding for themselves what the true/actual meaning is or should be. Essentially looking of an excuse/reason to pick holes in everything. The bottom line i the Bates thing is that Rangers offered him a new contract, based on what they felt he was worth. Someone else offered a better contract & the lad took it.

building up character references in favour of Wallace & Miller, to support the outcry when the Boards investigation find them "guilty" & they get the boot. Nothing more than trying to show the club & Board in a bad light.

Sounds like EVERY other employer on the planet.... As for "following the same guidelines"....its Law, that covers every employee/employer regardless of the nature of your business. The specific details of a players contract will very from that of a shop work, but its the same rules & legislation for both.

Nothing wrong with the comment....the over analysis of every word by our OWN fans & the constant belittling of our manager, make us look weak.

but in this context, they mean exactly the same thing, namely there are factors (which weren't disclosed) that prevented the club matching (or improving) Hamburgs offer. The club couldn't match the offer cause the didn't thing the player was worth it! or The club wouldn't match the offer cause the didn't thing the player was worth it!

Maybe not PR....but common sense & an understanding of the English language are pretty high on the list. Also, the ability to read between the lines & accept that there may be multiple meanings behind a simple statement. There is enough folk outwith our fanbase who will happily pick apart & scrutinise EVERY word that is said....leave them to it.

Ok...what if he said they wouldn't match it - for what reason??? Couldn't afford it, Wage structure, not worth it??? The reasons are exactly the same. Stop beating the guy up, coz you think he should have used "wouldn't" rather than "Couldn't" when the outcome is exactly the same.

TBH....this is part of the problem the club, in general, is facing - Our OWN FANS scrutinising & criticising every single word that comes out of Ibrox. Absolutely nothing wrong with saying the "couldn't match Hamburg" - doesn't mean they couldn't afford the money, there is maybe a defined wage structure in place for players of certain ages (to prevent too much money @ such a young age). It maybe the couldn't match the offer coz they didn't think he was worth it. Folk are calling for more communication from the Board, yet when there is statements or interviews, they get slaughtered. They can't win.

I don't think they are handling the process particularly bad....the way it has been reported/spun in the media makes it look REALLY bad though. If the players have been out of line, then the company has every right to implement it's disciplinary process. That likely involves removing the players in question from the situation ie. suspension from work until the process has been completed. That is the normal, correct course of action.

A very good point on last nights Clyde SSB by Jim Duffy (I think).... Murty wouldn't have rocked up to Hampden on Sunday, sat the team down & told them the game plan for the 1st time.....it would have been discussed & practiced throughout the course of the week @ training sessions etc. By the time the team arrived at the ground they will know the plan & tactics for that game - anything after that will be refresher. Those sessions during the week was the time for players to question/query the plan. Given that train of thought, it is then likely that Miller & Wallace then pointed out how flawed the plan was AFTER the match, with more potential of personal attack of the manager - that being where the line was crossed.

I mentioned previously.....I think the banners saying "The fans deserve better" are right on the money. I'm not one to should for heads to roll, or Board change etc but the club as a whole needs to be performing better: - The Board have to be decisive - We need a strong, reliable Manager in place - We need commitment from the players - We need to plug the leaks - We need a higher degree of professionalism & consistency throughout - We need better PR At the moment we are probably not doing that much wrong (in a business sense), but the snippets of info that are being leaked etc are making us look like complete fools in the media. Divisions are being created (or widened) with every published story. Someone MUST get a handle on the media representation of the club. Murty needs to show that he is learning/improving. I also think he needs to shake off his "timid" persona slightly - he gets portrayed as being very weak, which IMHO encourages the likes of Miller & Wallace to push boundaries. The players MUST step up their game. I believe we actually have a good team, but they need to show consistency - Technically the Ceptic team ain't outstanding, but they maintain a high level of consistency in their play. The Leaks & PR, probably go hand in hand.....we seem to have notably more information coming out of the club, than any other team.

I don't think playing for "them" has anything to do with it. Questions have to be asked of any player that has been involved with reported bust-ups with multiple managers - Does Miller think that his views are more important than the man charged with running the team?

Totally agree with the sentiment....but unfortunately we simply can't compete financially with other countries/team.....

How a person gets into a job is irrelevant, they still adhere to the same employment laws as every other occupation. Yes the actual numbers are crazy compared to "normal" occupations, but they are still contracted employees of a Ltd company. The point is that the club recognised that he was doing a decent job and offered him a renewed contract on greatly improved terms. The player felt he deserved even better terms, which Rangers didn't agree with....Hamburg did.

Laurent Blanc appears to be available.....

They did the questionnaire thing before....Think it received mixed reactions from fans.

I disagree....Players are employees, doing a particular job - it just so happens that their job is playing football. Don't try & turn it into something that it's not. Are to simply bow down to player demands now, and offer them whatever contract terms they wish simply because they might turn out good???? McLeod, McKay etc....how are they developing??? They will be on much improved contracts that we could offer them, yet don't appear to be playing any better..... In the normal workplace, if someone is doing well they may get rewarded with a small percentage increase in their wage.....the may get offered a much increased wage with another employer - exactly how does that differ from football??? The only difference the the overall value of the wage/increase.

Here's a challenge for everyone: Go & ask your boss to double your wages....your justification is that you've been working hard & performing quite well, but expect to get better at your job over the next 4 years. Lets see how many are successful....

A team/manager has to put a realistic value on a player. Martin, Alves, Murphy, Dorrans etc, were brought in as experienced players to bolster the team. The club offered these players what they had deemed to be a suitable wage package.....other clubs deemed their value higher & offered more lucrative deals. Those clubs will generally have a wage structure considerably higher than ours. Was Bates good enough to warrant a 3-4x wage hike??? I can't remember the figures for the others mentioned, but I'd assume the figures are possibly similar wrt to wage increase.

Totally agree....but there's different ways that it can be approached. It would appear in this case that the wrong approach was taken. While the players views may indeed be correct, as senior professionals, they should know how to handle it properly. You wouldn't simply storm into your bosses office & start bawling yer head off (not saying this is exactly what happened). Yes, the discussion may get headed, but any responsible, experienced employee would ALWAYS try to keep it professional & try to get their point across.

Unfortunately in most cases, money talks - we simply can't offer the cash incentives that other countries/teams can....and that applies to every team in Scotland.

but not a "million miles removed" from Kilmarnock apparently.....