buster.

Re. Morelos What really matters is what SG&Co truly think about him. Not what they say in public, but what they say behind closed doors. and What alternatives there are at this point of the transfer window / does the mgt team/Mark Allen have a player in mind / semi-lined-up or not. (Not to mention, the obvious one,...only if a bid that is considered to be acceptable were to be presented). ---------------- I'd ask several questions - Is Morelos the type of forward that suits SG ? - Is he good enough and will he score enough goals ? - Can you trust him ? For me, I don't think you can trust him. It's fine if things are going well but it doesn't seem to take much and he'll lose focus / discipline. If we had an alternative that SG is happy with and we could get a bid considerably better than 3.75M, I reckon it's time to let Alfie go.

They also scored 5 a few days before we beat then 3-1. Means little.

We did very well in the first leg to get that late third goal but as others alude to, there is potentially, still a lot of life in this tie. I see this as a significant step, if we can take it, on the way to growing as a team. This is about mananging and closing out a tie against a team who have in recent years, proven to be experts at just that (at this level). Defence has been our strongest suit (especially when Ryan Jack plays in front of it) but tonight the familiar four names will be 3 plus one other. Can't say I'm too happy at the prospect of Halliday playing at LB in an important game. I'm sure Maribor will look to target that flank. The other thing this will mean is a predictability about our attacking threat coming mostly down the right. The positive for me is the central midfield trio and this is where we have to retain posession well and be able to move the ball up the field, under control, taking pressure off our defence and giving ourselves a better chance of creating chances. SG may have made noises about attacking but the main emphasis will very much be about defending in a solid and organised way. ----------------------- First leg for show.......................Second leg for dough Let's get this done..........

You don't have to pretend not to be,............. I'll protect you from Bill

Why don't you use your 'Big Man Tyrone' ID on here ?

Poor old Lee Hodson. From being in the N.I. squad for the Euros 2016 to nobody wanting him 2018.

Good, I thought somewhere between 450 to 550K would be about right. so much for 'off the record'

Probably somewhere around 600K ish with heavy add-on for hat-tricks against Celtic !

If you look at their results in summer qualifiers over the past three years (including this), several things stand out. - they usually score an away goal----------------------------------------tick - they usually keep a clean sheet at home---------------------------(middle to front isn't our strongest suit) - they usually go through--------------------------------------------------.? They seem to have become adept at finding a way to get through that is probably slightly above their level as a team. However, the one qualifier they did lose to Gabala FK (Azerbaijan) back in 2016, they lost the first leg away from home 3-1 (then won the home match 1-0). Ironically enough, guess who put Gabala FK out this season ?.......Progres Niederkorn spooky how they are following us around. Had it finished 2-1 at Ibrox, I'd have made them slight favourites. For me, the third goal makes us slight+ favourites. edit Bookies have us as firm favourites to go through at odds (1/6) that IMO doesn't represent the situation (I'd say 2/5 more accurate) but probably more the money placed on the market.

What is without doubt, is that we need several players in due to the lack of decent cover in certain positions. I tend to think that SG&Co have been pressing for this to happen asp given the August timetable but for various reasons we've needed to/been forced to/decided to hold fire............That said, the board delivered quickly on what seemed an opportunistic buy (Barisic). The thing about Lafferty is as you mention, have we got an alternative in the pipeline that would offer better value for money (opposed to 750K for KL) ? I reckon if we had and we really thought it was better value, we'd have already gone there. Centre forwards often come at a premium price and whilst I'm not usually keen on 30+ year olds, I can see a case for signing Lafferty. If that means 250K more than what we think he is worth, it's relatively little if SG&Co think he's the guy to do a job. If you are looking at someone like the Bosnian at Zagreb, then maybe we need the group stage finances to be able to do that deal. edit How we could do with discovering a Derek Johnstone just now. As good a centre half as he was centre forward.

Just looking at the dates of a potential 2nd leg of the play-off round. 30th August Wouldn't leave much time to get deals finalised.

Maybe but I don't think it wise to commit to spend and effectively gambling on group stage revenue. It's the type of move that has 'getting biten on the arse' written all over it.

The major difference in revenue would be making the group stages. Tomorrow we are effectively playing for about a million pounds or so (net) that would come from participation in the play-off round.

The appointment of McCoist was a 'force-fit' that came from 'past promises' and 'present politics' of that time. It was never likely to be a good one.

How close is Rudden to being a realistic option ? Is he further away than Hardie ?

I don't think it would have been an option for him because IMO, we as a club wouldn't have even contemplated his appointment.

I think this game has potential to develop in a way that more tests the players ability to deal with a situation. ie. if they score the first goal then we are forced out of the relative comfort zone of a two goal advantage and the pressure mounts as Maribor get encouragment. First and foremost, we really have to defend well and prevent them from scoring. If Jack, Coulibally and Arfield are playing I'll be happier but still somewhat aprehensive about what happens down the left, as I don't see any options that are decent. Second, we need to counter with menace and not be camped on our 18 yard box.

We are very light in the CH and CF positions. A couple of injuries away from real problems at a time of two games a week.

RangersU21s 1 - 2 Falkirk Robby McCrorie Jordan Houston Scott Gray Cameron Palmer Kyle Bradley Lewis Mayo Liam Burt (Dallas 70) Stephen Kelly Umar Sadiq (Middleton, 45) Zak Rudden Serge Atakayi (Kennedy, 70) SUBS: Aidan McAdams, Josh McPake, Murray Miller, Kai Kennedy, Daniel Finlayson, Andrew Dallas, Glenn Middleton. https://rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/rangers-u21-12-falkirk/ Will be interested to hear Elfideldo's take on Sadiq's 45 minutes.

Yes, but only if signed before the first leg. -------------------- UEFA rules 42.08 For the qualifying phase and the play-offs, a club may register a maximum of two new eligible players on List A after the above-mentioned deadlines, provided the quota of locally trained players is respected. Such registration must be completed by 24.00CET on the day before the relevant first-leg match and the club’s association must confirm in writing that the new player is eligible to play at domestic level at this time. P.39 https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/uefaorg/Regulations/02/55/82/82/2558282_DOWNLOAD.pdf

Whilst this season is about us improving and not to worry too much about what happens at Celtic, last night was a notable boot in the baws for the Balance Sheet Champions. It's just a shame they didn't have a difficult league game coming up this weekend.

Making the group stages would be a MAJOR plus for several reasons, including the financial but we've still got to get past two teams who will be thinking the same. This coming 4 or 5 days has two difficult away games that will have a bearing on the amount of games our squad have in front of them and perhaps the depth required in that squad.

Why wouldn't a club look to get what they perceive as value for a player ? They aren't there to do as we wish.

Im not sure thats such a bad thing It's a curious stat that can be given many slants. eg. Rodgers hasn't been very good in the transfer market, SG is getting the backing from the board, etc