buster.

Whether we'll ever be able to rely on the availability of Rossiter for long periods is questionable, we live in hope. I like what I've seen of Arfield so far but he's not a Ryan Jack type midfielder and whilst industrious, he won't afford the defence the precise postional cover that Jack does. McCrorie might be a more natural replacement but so far this season he's given the ball away too much, which negates the good work he's done. Since arriving at Ibrox, Docherty has been similar to the limited opportunities of McCrorie this season. Busts a gut to win balls but too easily loses it when in possession. It's too often a lot of energy expended for no net benefit. Jack on the other hand has the ability to retain possession better and against the likes of tonights game, that is vital. If Ejaria starts tonight, we need to see an improvement on previous performances, so as to connect middle to front. Above all, we need to put away any decent chances that come our way. If Coulibaly gets another 3rd minute clear shot from 5 yards this week, stick it in the net this time, please.

Ryan Jack looks like he's out and that is a serious blow wrt defending our defence and the retention of possession in an important area of the pitch.

Docherty needs to go down there and make sure he does enough to get regular first team football and start to smooth out the rough edges in his game.

Mibbes aw, mibbes naw.......... If a year ago I'd came on here and said that I'd just seen Waghorn with a kerry oot fae the chippy getting abused by schoolkids would you have believed me ?

Just saw him sauntering up Sauchiehall Street with a kerry oot fae Greggs the bakers.

I think Mr.Robertson will now be acutely aware of what will be significantly increased scrutiny of his performance on Sunday afternoon. All we ask is that the rules of the game are employed fairly for both teams. ps. according to soccerway he was 4th official up in Sheepland 3 days ago.

Important: He speaks English reasonably well and will soon be fluent in a Weegie/Scouse mix !!

I'm confident SG&Co can get this right but it won't be overnight and we'll need patience. I'd imagine that this season will see teething problems and be a bit up and down but I'd be looking at 2019/20 to see a real team geared to win the title.

Last season, our way of playing often left the defence exposed and to compound the problem our defence kept being chopped and changed and instead of an organised group, we often had individuals looking clueless. When leaving the defence exposed, we did often attack with gay abandon and the goals sometimes flowed. -------------- Seems clear that SG wants a settled, strong, no messing about defence,... that has no messing about defensive midfielders in front of it to help protect it. (Note that it was when this protection was reduced that Aberdeen got their goal). This has been very much priority in the squad make-up thus far and it has went well. However, we need to address middle to front urgently. Part of the solution is probably already at the club but it needs two splashes of quality,....a 9 and a 10.

I thought regularly listening to Radio Scotland was punishment enough for you

Looking for it and getting it are two different things. IIRC Stevie (4LHAD) said that the club wouldn't be difficult to deal with re. JW. My take on that (if true), is that Gerrard would prefer to move him on if possible and probably needs to re. budget and this transfer window.

Good to see the club uses Gersnet as a resource.

Ya Dancer Brings Balance, power, physicality, helps creativity with excellent delivery, etc. With Tav on one side and BB on the other, it's almost worth looking for a 7 foot centre forward I doubt he'll be with us for 4 years and can see him netting us a healthy profit within 2 years, duing which, he'll serve us vey well. It's called buiding a team that isn't going to be f**ked around with easily.

Couple of things......... 1. Progres are obviously not of the 'absolute bottom draw minnow pushover category' they were given when they beat us last season. In two seasons they've got through 3 qualifiers with teams from Scotland, Azerbaijan and Hungary. 2. There was a gap of six years between European ties from 2011 to 2017, also between Maribor and Progres. There might be a gap of 1 week this time.

Outside bet but then I haven't seen decent clear footage of it and the club will have. We could certainly do without a several game suspension for a forward.

Best thing about this squad is that it has a management team that I reckon will get the best out of it. We've had groups of players in the past that should have ddone better than they did and I think it hada lot to do with the management of the day.

They're used to that type of pressure in recent years. 3 summers 16 qualifying matches 9 wins / 5 draws / 2 defeats Once eliminated 9 clean sheets 8 away ties / 7 times away goal scored 8 home ties / 6 clean sheets Home matches in Europa League Thu 14/07/16 UEL Maribor 0 - 0 Levski Sofia More info Thu 04/08/16 UEL Maribor 1 - 0 Aberdeen View events More info Thu 25/08/16 UEL Maribor 1 - 0 Qəbələ View events More info Thu 19/07/18 UEL Maribor 2 - 0 Partizani Tirana View events More info Thu 02/08/18 UEL Maribor 2 - 0 Chikhura The away legs Thu 21/07/16 UEL Levski Sofia 1 - 1 Maribor View events More info Thu 28/07/16 UEL Aberdeen 1 - 1 Maribor View events More info Thu 18/08/16 UEL Qəbələ 3 - 1 Maribor View events More info Thu 12/07/18 UEL Partizani Tirana 0 - 1 Maribor View events More info Thu 26/07/18 UEL Chikhura 0 - 0 Maribor The year missed, 2017....in the summer they qualified for the CL group stages. Wed 12/07/17 UCL Zrinjski 1 - 2 Maribor Wed 19/07/17 UCL Maribor 1 - 1 Zrinjski Wed 26/07/17 UCL Maribor 1 - 0 FH Wed 02/08/17 UCL FH 0 - 1 Maribor Wed 16/08/17 UCL Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2 - 1 Maribor Tue 22/08/17 UCL Maribor 1 - 0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Well, they say Simpson is a wee fella for a CB at somewhere under 6 fit.

McBurnie Not that keen on him tbh.

I'd offer them 2.5M plus DJ for McBurnie if he was any good but I'm not that keen on the lad, very raw and not sure he'll develop into a real player.

We certainly have options and I think we have a management team who know what they are doing in this area (opposed to some in the past who didn't).

Of course we need to strengthen middle to front but this Croatian LB also improves our attacking optons and qualities, significantly.

Somebody is peeved that they changed it !!! I had Tav in a bet for FGS that came up but played the shorter odds in here and went with Morelos. Seems to be more penalties in football since the WC, or am I imagining things ?

Barsic / EL Eligibility re. group stages (touch wood) 41.06 As a rule, a player may not play in the UEFA Champions League and/or UEFA Europa League, for more than one club in the course of the same season. Exceptionally, however, a player who has been fielded in the first, second, third qualifying round or the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League is entitled to play in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League for another club as from the group stage. Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2018-21 Cycle Page 38 https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/uefaorg/Regulations/02/55/82/82/2558282_DOWNLOAD.pdf

Mibbes aye, mibbes naw ...............but I refer more to his individual contribution and the eventual cash profit made on him. Don't forget regards middle to front.........that this guy can make an important contribution at the top end of the field as well as defence. Especially against the bottom six teams in the league.