buster.

I don't think Gerrard would come as a Number 2 and the board may be looking to how the Souness appointment galvanised the club (importantly with Walter Smith beside him).

Gerrard is now 1/2 odds on with Sky this morning. Given the grapevine is suggesting the manager has already been chosen and that a prospective Number 2 would be noteworthy.....does this mean we are going to appoint Gerrard with an experienced Number 2 ?

When you consider the respective managerial appointments of Greig and Souness in retrospect, they were hugely significant as to how events would unfold for a number of years. ie. this upcoming appointment is very important multiplied by a lot.

Making signings and having a manager ready in waiting make sense. I hope Arfield and his knees are in good order. I'm amazed that the name of an already signed up manager is still a general secret if it has reached ITK posters.

Agreed and the opposition support know that. Not to mention Rod Petrie, who got away with some disgraceful remarks in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 Cup Final. IIRC Motherwell fans got away with severe goading of the Rangers support after the play off match. If you put Dave King or the Rangers support in the above examples, we'd have been hammered, at least in the media.

A Liverpool v Real Madrid final will definately be a game to mark down in the diary. A modern-day Eintracht 3-7 ????

I will never forget the day I sat open-mouthed at the UK national BBC evening newscaster, after she read that Graeme Souness had replaced Jock Wallace in a player-manager capacity. Football didn't often make the national news in those days, never mind anything to do with Scottish football.

It reads to me as what they themselves know will largely be a hollow effort to appease supporter unhappiness with the Hibs decision. The only real matter for concern is the safety aspect and there it should have stopped. Considering what happened on the last matchday of both 2014/15 at Motherwell and 2015/16 at Hampden, I'd think this should be uppermost in the thoughts of the clubs. Obviously not Hibs, as the Rod Petrie decision and his 'exuberent support' should have the finger and spotlight pointed at them in the lead-up to the game because dependent on circumstances, it definately has the ingredients for trouble.

The statement is another OG that won't come to anything. Safety issues not withstanding, I don't get the fuss. A club seek a competitive advantage in a game that could be vital that is within the rules (as Motherwell did in play offs). I'd be looking for us to do the same if we had the opportunity to do so. At the end of the day, the fans can decide whether they want to go back to Easter Road.

Too many of the players we are being linked with have the main part of their career behind them. A goalkeeper is a little different and if we were to get some funds from moving Foderginham on then I could see the sense in it.

So are you saying that despite major investment, you don't have a seat at the table of your own hoose ?

In the UK, there have always been issues and no set recognised structure wrt to how a DoF and first team coach/manager divide responsibilities. What is clear is that big football clubs need someone to take responsibility for overseeing the whole football operation, regardless of how much authority a first team manager/coach has or develops. I think it possible to have a respected manager with clear ultimate authority over what he sees as important and then a DoF (call it what you like) who makes sure things get done, as well as keeping all the other levels and sub-departments in line. I think this is what we need opposed to the more easily disposible 'Head Coach' idea that plainly won't work given the pressures of the Ibrox dug-out.

Good effort lads ! Chat flowed well with a healthy mix of opinions. Is Frankie one of the new investors ?

Germany isn't just a big team though. They are a formidable and mentally strong group of world class proven winners backed up by a fantastic youth system. Not to mention an amazing tradition and consistency of success over many decades. There are very few 'big teams' that can boast the same.

Yes, but not to the level that he'd get linked to today. eg. Arsenal would be a very difficult gig and one where he might be exposed somewhat. edit He's been at Germany (No.1) for a fair bit longer than he was cumulatively at the 7 clubs before hand.....and if he has sense, will probably clock up more years as the Germany manager.

Obviously he deserves a lot of credit but the quality coming through in Germany is outstanding and alongside their mental capacity means that you'd have to be a numpty not to do well in tournament football. He was lucky wrt timing as well and got the job after a relative lean spell was coming to an end.

Agreed ! MW was a good appointment IMO and his first season was excellent bar the last month, during which seeds were sown that had the writing on the wall and meant it became an unhappy place / a matter of time.

At this point in time, I don't think managing Germany is the most difficult job in the world and the fact he seems quite happy there and as yet not willing to go into club football is I think a wise decision by him. Conversly, managing say Brazil, England, Italy, Holland, Scotland is much more of a challenge.

Potter would be an interesting appointment but tbh, we don't really want 'interesting' at this point in time. We need pragmatic, respected and a level of experience that relates to the job at hand.

Given his contract situation, he won't go for 5M or close to it. The money isn't really the main issue why we won't get him.

I think what you have at the moment is an M8 player corridor between Hibs and Celtic that has an unwritten 'rule'. - No player shall go to Rangers The example of Scott Allan is a good one. Once within, it was very difficult he get out. Hibs wouldn't sell to Rangers and Celtic saw the opportunity to prevent Rangers get a decent Number 10 and do some business. That business has resulted in loan deals that saw Allan directly involved for other clubs taking points from Rangers but unable to be fielded against them. It may result in him being used as a makeweight for a McGinn deal to celtic and that in turn would have him back at a club that won't sell him to Rangers.

The typical image that comes to mind for me is a goal that Johnstone didn't score. The 1973 Scottish Cup Final and with the scores level in front of 123,000 people , McLean swings in another pin-point free-kick for Johnstone to head on to the inside of the post, roll along the line and set-up Tom Forsyth for his piledriver of a winner.

Think of the creative supply route for those forwards and the way we played. My memory only goes back to Derek Johnstone and his amount of for headed goals, something that Tommy McLean had a lot to do with. For the others, the list of wingers they played with is impressive. For our attack to produce goals, we need to be playing very well middle to front, eg. first 2/3 months of 2018. But when we aren't playing well, creativity drys up and we don't do set-pieces very well or adapt. Morelos is an excellent young centre forward and IF he continues to develop, will end up playing in one of the big leagues.

I'll be very surprised if he doesn't end up at Parkhead. It's a 'no-brainer' of a signing for them and I wouldn't be surprised if McGinn had already been tipped a wink and was now running his contract down with an agreement of sorts in place that saw him receive a hefty signing-on fee. Hibs might try and cash in this summer but they aren't in a position to ask for what would represent 'value'.

If we sign John McGinn, a Unicorn will post on Gersnet. Wait a minute............!!!!