buster.

Slovenian League Aluminij 2 - 5 Maribor FT After 61 minutes Maribor scored a third (0-3) and the opposition went down to 10 men.........but the 10 men went on to score the first two competitive goals that Maribor have conceded this season. Obviously don't like playing against 10 men. I have a cunning plan.....

This kind of confirms it for me.....because if you think about it, you can probably rely more on Lafferty these days than Morelos. If we were to bring someone decent in to replace Morelos, we'd need to generate funds to do so (ie. sell Morelos). Whatever, SG needs to solve the middle to front conundrum, sharpish.

The prospective Lafferty deal isn't to replace Morelos.

Morelos out Two in (Lafferty + first team pick) Obviously depends on getting a club who'll pay a reasonable price and sourcing a decent replacement for 'Morelos cash'. Might be too late, who knows !

Suspected that we'd go down to 10 today in the first half. I pointed out before the game that bet365 saw our game as high risk for a red card (very short price offer) and so it proved. I was going to have a bet on it but the price was so short, not to be of value (11/5). Thing is I thought it would be us to go down to 10 because we have players they can more easily wind-up and it's via this that red cards tend to get shown in this game opposed to bad tackles that seem to be allowed. We can't depend on Morelos and for me that has tipped the balance. We have nearly a month to go in the transfer window, sell him and get somebody else in.

Maribor have just conceded their first competitive goal this season (7th match). 1-3 up away from home in a Slovenian league match.

- I'd have taken a draw if offered after Morelos was sent off. The lateness of equaliser is what makes it feel worse. - We need to sort out middle to front or we will draw too many games we should be winning. - If linesman witnessed the provocation and retaliation then we should have had a free-kick at edge of their box. - Morelos has to be told in no uncertain terms about his discipline and I tend to think, if possible we could do with shipping him out and getting someone else in. For every positive with Alfie, there is a negative coming down the road. They knew he was one of two they'd look to wind-up (along with Ryan Jack). Regardless of soft decision, it was Morelos who cost us. - If Jack is out of European game, it's a fairly important blow

Solid performance against adversity. Shouldn't have had both Ejaria and Windass on the park for the last 10 minutes. Goal against became much more probable when Jack went off for the Liverpool youngster.

Bet Details Date/Time Stake Return James Tavernier @ 11/1 €2.00 Single 05/08/2018 13:51:30 2.00 0.00 becomes......... James Tavernier @ 11/1 €2.00 Single 05/08/2018 13:51:30 2.00 24.00

Suggests that no deal is imminent or clubs hovering that closely. He has a chance to stake a first team claim, it's up to him. Let's hope we see his good side, he's capable of occasion.

Solid back to middle We don't know our best combination middle to front yet.

Yes, I'd agree. Would love to see Barsic at Rangers but we have other priorities. One to keep an eye on. #FinancialReality

Yesterdays 4 top flight games saw a unifom 4 yellow cards in each match. I'd guess our game today will see more. Bet365 aren't generous with their price for a Red card to be shown, 11/5. Contrast that with the price they offer for a red in the Leeds v Stoke match, 4/1.

I think they'll want considerably more than 2M unless in the last year of contract. He's the type of player that could hack the phsyicality of the EPL and have enough talent to do a decent job. IF we could somehow do a deal, he's the type who we'd almost certainly make a profit on in re-sale. Unfortunately, doubtful due to budget constraints.

Express have been reading this thread...........

Thing about todays game is if we can get it together in the final third and take chances. So far, we've been solid without much punch up front. (Aberdeen have been similar) Whatever happens in todays game won't mean we are champions elect or our season has ended but it's the game on Thursday that we really could do with having our attack firing given how much money the EL group stages would bring in.....and the thing about Maribor is that they appear to be very difficult to score goals against. It'll be interesting to see how much SG varies the starting XI for today, I'd like to see Arfield start in place of Ejaria. I think his drive would be a big plus for this type of game. It would also tell us more about what he is capable of offering us. Ryan Jack needs to stay calm because they'll be targetting him and wanting him to do something silly.

Yes, but most teams in pot 4 will be thinking similar, including Maribor. I really didn' think we had much of a chance of making the group stages but we managed to find a way to get past Osijek and thus far, the draw couldn't have been much kinder. Onwards we go.............

UEFA have put up a page with what looks like the pots for Mondays draw. https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2019/draws/round=2000989/ We (and Maribor) are in pot 4 and the first 4 on the list are seeded so I presume it's the 4 unseeded teams we could draw..... Apollen or Dinamo Brest Haifa or Atlanta Ufa or Progress Slovan Bratislava or Rapid Vienna So it's Maribor and one of the above that stand between us and the group stages. POT 4 - MAIN P. Vitesse (NED) - Basel (SUI) ( ) CSKA-Sofia (BUL) - København (DEN) ( ) Rangers (SCO) - Maribor (SVN) ( ) Hajduk Split (CRO) - FCSB (ROU) ( ) Apollon (CYP) - Dinamo Brest (BLR) ( ) H. Haifa (ISR) - Atalanta (ITA) ( ) Ufa (RUS) - Progrès (LUX) ( ) ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) / SK Rapid Wi ( )

Bates was taken off in 57mins, a minute after Hamburg went 0-1 down. Shite / tactical / both..........I don't know why.

Sometimes predicting things can be very easy.......... Miller will begin the task of keeping Livingston in the top flight today when he leads his team out to face the Champions as an seventh successive league flag is unfurled. But, in an exclusive interview with Record Sport, he has revealed how he knew his time at Ibrox was coming to and end months before he was accused of being involved in a Hampden bust-up with caretaker boss Graeme Murty - a charge which he has consistently denied. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/kenny-miller-admits-rangers-anguish-13027956 ---------------------- The newspaper that got a lot of the leaks from Ibrox gets the Miller exclusive..........surprise, surprise ! This on the day his new team play their first league fixture. To further disrespect the Livingston support he talks about going further in the game before he's even took charge of a league match with his current club. I hope he has an excellent start today but they get relegated and his managerial career stops before it really starts.

I think by the time Sunday comes around, both teams will be ready for what'll be a bit of a battle. We've now got a team that won't be intimidated but we need to stay calm and not do anything silly that has a player sent off. edit. Kevin Clancy is ref

I've always had in head that we bought Bobby Russell for 200 quid. I think I read it in the 'Playing for Rangers No.X' book for that year in a chapter about the on-field understanding between him and Sandy Jardine. It was a longtime ago and I might be completely wrong !

Crossy Shapes

She'll be thinking about getting some new sausage in for the BBQ next Thursday night.