buster.

Agreed, three points tonight would be huge. I think we have to be brave tonight, roll the dice and press for the win from kick-off (similar to the Feyenoord first half). Put them under pressure and don't let them settle. It's this type of approach we'll need against Celtic and we could do with breaking the habit of trying to ease our way into games against our challenging opponents. IMO, less respect and in their faces.

The BBC have actually got s semi reasonable page up regards previewing tonight's game. I'd C&P but you wouldn't get the 7 question quiz on Rangers v Porto (I only got 5 right ) One unusual stat they mention is that Alfredo has scored in the 44th minute for two European consecutive games. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50253793

Nawww Known as Chicken Liver to some, it's Vincent Paté Aboubakar.

Another historical stats angle to contemplate is our Home record in European group stages. It's not very good, although most of it is Champions League groups and the High Level that comes with it. My numbers are from a one off calculation (ie. inaccuracies possible) but I count a total of 38 Home ties in 14 group stages (including this season). Two of those group stages only had 2 home fixtures. Group stages CL: 10 ............................30 matches / 8 wins Brugge Zurich PSV Sturm Graz Stuttgart (x2) Porto Bursapor UEFA/EL: 4.......................8 matches / 5 wins AK Graz Maccabi Haifa Partizan Belgrade Rapid Vienna Feyenoord Combined Total Won: 13 Drawn: 13 Lost: 12 What we have to do tonight is win a second home match in this group. We've only done this once before, ironically in a group with only two games at Ibrox during the short PLG stay. SG&Co seem to be good at Europe and their record at home is relatively good with 2 wins in 4 group games. Make it 4 from 6 before Xmas and it would be special, as well as putting around 5M into the Ibrox coffers.

In the deeper role he often looks ponderous and is just happy to get rid of the ball sideways or backwards but he seems to come alive in the final third where he's brave on the ball, looking to make things happen. It's the latter that will make him into the type of player we currently need on the pitch and the eventual subject of very substantial incoming transfer bids.

I think Aribo playing further forward is the type of player who could make a real difference is this type of match and his form seems to have picked-up, in contrast to Arfield. I'd also favour giving Aribo the European stage to shine and 'add value', opposed to an inconsistent Ojo (although the goal against Feyenoord might hold sway in managers thinking).

Looks like the starting XI is becoming slightly less difficult to predict. I'd be tempted to have Aribo start instead of Ojo.

The intention of Dave King and his allies was/is in part to build the platform within the football operation that allows us to get on an even financial keel. The way to do that is not simply chuck more and more money at it but it is partly to invest in youth, improve players/add value, provide pathways that see a significant number of homegrown players as regular starters. Start getting value for money within vastly improved player trading numbers. Not simply buy big with big wages that often mean we end up going down the familiar Pay Off route. The problem that could arise is that it doesn't start producing significantly before a tipping point is reached. In that sense, more money would be required and the big problem with the youth strategy is that managers are going to be under huge pressure to deliver and it'll be unlikely they'd get a real chance. I said back when we were winning the Al Kass Cup that it may end up being some of these players that help win us the league back. All that said,.... we currently have a squad and management team that I think are capable of delivering. I think winning the League Cup would be exactly what our players need to install the necessary belief.

Is he the Cameroonian Uche Ikpeazu (style) or Steven Naismith (appearence record) ?

Our record against Portuguese clubs is better than you might think. It contrasts sharply to our record against their Iberian neighbours, the Spanish. I had a glance at the record yesterday and we won all of our first five Home games against Sporting '71, Porto '83, Boavista '86, Maritimo '04 and Porto '05. Since then, we have drawn the Ibrox encounter with Sporting both in '08 and 2011. Even better we got through in six out of those 7 ties, including the CL group of 2005. The only time they had success against us was back in 1983 when we were put out on Away goals. Ties have tended to be close. Three of the seven were settled on away goals and one on penalties. One of those away goal wins was the famous occasion en route to the ECWC success of 1972 when Willie Waddell had to show the referee the rule book. You could say that this is a historic record and it has nothing to do with tonight and although you'd be right to say that,...I've found these type of tendencies often do have relevance. When we got Danish opposition in the qualifying round this summer, a quick look at previous encounters showed three previous European ties against Danish teams and that we'd never been beaten (5 wins and 1 draw), Lyngby '92, Herfolge 2000 & Copenhagan in '03. What happened against Midtjylland (league leaders in a country with a higher co-efficient than Scotland) ? As you all know we won both home and away scoring 7 goals over the tie .....But against lowly Progres, how many away goals did we score ?...Same as two years ago, zero. We find it very difficult to beat Spanish teams but always (4 games) draw against Villareal....bla bla Rangers results in Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C._in_European_football

The relevance is that in the negative what if scenario (equally valid to present the positive what if...) it gets to 10 then IMO it'd have potential to be a tipping point of sorts with finance very much the main driver. I agree regards continuing to rebuild and strengthen but when Dave King spoke of structured losses, it was for a limited period whilst we got the club into a position where it could produce/improve players and generate enough income so as to get onto an even keel. That limited period more or less tied in with the three to five year timescale for a title win...... forecast of Paul Murray in the spring of 2015. The structured nature of the losses (mostly debt converting to equity) and the development of our football operation outwith the first team (eg. youths and structure/Ross Wilson appt., etc.) show there is a plan and it's not simply all in or bust. However the plan with regards the finance requirements, can't be structured in that way indefinitely and it's my opinion that we'll need to win the title by next season or we'll see significant downsizing. Or in other words, if they get to 10, they'll probably continue to win it for a while because they'd be so far in front financially. At a football level, IMO we are in with a decent chance of winning it this season and if we were to do so it would release a pressure regards XIAR (it's there regardless of individual opinions) and help us to open up the pathway for the likes of Stephen Kelly and other youths that we need to start adding value. I'd add that if we could win the League Cup in December, it'd be a hugely positive step towards a positive what if.

Just read the Forbes article and whilst there are several parts of it that I take issue with / don't agree with, the final line about and I paraphrase...'winning or else' is along the same lines as my question about what happens if we don't stop 10IAR ? That isn't a mad question. As a football fan, I think we have a real chance of doing it this season with the squad and management/coaching team we currently have but looking at the situation from a financial POV, it's not something to be ignored.

We have some decent individual midfielders but Clarke is yet to put together a collective midfield that really works well for us. The ominous lack of International class options at centre forward and the central defence make it very difficult to see any relative success in the short to medium term.

Very much so. As I said earlier, it's not rocket science to see that most of what is going on is geared towards the first team stopping 9IAR and potentially 10IAR....and the main risk that I can see is fall-out if we weren't able to achieve it......It's something that isn't being talked about at a fan level for understandable reasons but from a business POV, it's more than just an outside possibility. The bookies would probably tell you that it's probable. Beyond that, the headline issues for me are: - Player trading - Retail - European group stage reliance / what modification of tournament set-up will mean (new 3rd trophy / Euro Conference) We need to normalise retail, start making substantial profits from player trading whilst having a team that can win the title and make European group stages more regularly than we ever have......A considerable challenge to say the least. I tend to think this is the season we have to win the title and IIRC it would fit exactly with what Paul Murray said back in April 2015, that it could take up to 5 years.

Maybe Ryan Jack really wants to go but I can't help but feel that we as a club should do the same with the player as part of managing his physical well-being. We desperately need Jack fit and healthy for the fixture list we have coming up.

Ryan Jack is pretty much taking over games by himself and IMO is now our most important player. If he's not there we are not the same team and we struggle to keep Alfredo well supplied. If I were a scout for the likes of Crystal Palace at Ibrox to watch Morelos, I'd go away thinking as much or more about Ryan Jack. If he were a Celtic player, we'd have already had the 20M headlines.

Historically, you could argue that we are today, more or less where DK was expecting back in early 2015 with perhaps, the dark shadow of SDI / Mr.MASH still being here an unexpected and costly ongoing negative. Where the potential issue or risk is, at least for me, is the coming years if we don't stop 10IAR, a probable downsizing and all that will come with it. We have a very important year or two ahead of us.

I think the risk regards our finances is being generally understated by our support and overstated by others, which is predictable. Partisan viewpoints are of limited value when it's objectivity that is really needed.

QR2 opponent still up in the air......... HT: Progres 0-1 Cork City edit. Just into 2nd half and it's now 0-2 (level on aggregate)

As Bearger points out, McPake is in the squad for tomorrow. Gerrard said he pulled McPake from the development game on Tuesday because he's in his plans for todays game. There won't be a better competitive game to give him 30 minutes. Would be great if he could make a real impression. #GoodEnough=OldEnough

I'm going to revise that to 46,305

I was hoping Steve 'hair island' McLaren would be brought back with John Carver as number two in an effort to bring back the fun

@der Berliner Don't know about a 4-4-2 but my eyes are telling me that your 20-40-10 is being refused by my cerebral processing plant.

It's difficult to know how teams will perform in summer qualifiers and some of the bigger teams (in terms of budget) can be caught relatively cold. Obviously that can also work against us but with SG&Co in charge, a feature has been getting up to speed quickly. If we do get to QR3 and get a 'big team' then bring it on. It's an opportunity for the players to show how good they really are. As for juggling group stage football and the League challenge. You can only go with whatever comes along and if we were to get to the EL groups, then it'd be a very welcome financial boost. IIRC financial projections have been made presuming that we qualify for European group stage football in 3 out of 5 years. The squad is a lot stronger now and better equipped to deal with various fronts. Group qualification may mean more quality being brought in. Not to mention that being seen regularly in the group stages brings prestige and other benefits. Here is a list of the League games that would immediately follow EL group fixtures in the event of us reaching that stage. St.Johnstone (A) Hamilton (H) Motherwell (H) Livingston (A) Hearts (H) Motherwell (A)