buster.

Champions League last-16 draw: Juventus v Tottenham FC Basel v Manchester City Porto v Liverpool Sevilla v Manchester United Real Madrid v PSG Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma Chelsea v Barcelona Bayern Munich v Besiktas Couple of beauties with the big Spanish clubs and an interesting test for Sevilla.

We certainly need money and if there was around a million to go for McInnes, perhaps a competent CEO to manage the day to day would prove a good investment.

Know nothing about the individual but it's a positive to see the board making a move in an area where it is desperately needed. ie. acting on what they said at the AGM

Only if Mourinho was rigid to the point of stupidty. I don't think United have got the players to play the way Guardiola likes.

Some previous boards seemed to be actively active serving the interests of others and not the football club. #robbing bastards This board deserve a lot of criticism but it's a very different situation and comparisons are a bit.... oranges and tropical fruit found in Cayman Islands.

A lot will depend on the competence levels of those involved. For it to work well, you need the whole process to work from scouting, identification, signing, coaching, management. eg. until Rodgers came in at celtic, several of their signings looked poor. ie. they have a strategy/structure in place that wasn't working as it should because of a managerial appt. (Delia).

Again, sounds fine but apply current circumstances and you are only setting yourself up for am increasingly embarrassing succession of knockbacks. Money is a huge stumbling block. If Mr.X could see a 'warchest' that gave him a fighting chance of bridging the gap and matching expectation, the job has potential to be attractive and better. Otherwise, the short odds will be on you damaging any reputation you have. It's become a very difficult situation for the board and the perception of our board/club, out there in managerland is becoming more negative as the media bide their time waiting for our next defeat. I think the only chance for us of getting an exceptional manager is to go for an up and coming manager that grows into one, quickly. However, that in itself would represent a big gamble and one the current situation probably excludes. Out of work and experienced is more likely.

You can say that and whilst it sounds fair enough, it's not actually going to get what would be perceived as a decent result. The gap between perception and reality is mirroring the gap between expectation levels and resources available.

Ok,..... when's deadline ?

https://rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/new-deals-mccrories/

If you already have something semi done for the Hibs game then I'll get out of your way and do one further down the line.

I'd be very careful if considering allocating large chunks of the wage bill to over 30's. In the last couple of seasons, whether due to injury or whatever, the return for what will have been large salaries has been negligible. Barton Kranjcar Senderos Hill Gilks Alves Dorrans Of the above, I'd say only Clint Hill did the job we hoped for. I accept it's early to judge Alves and Dorrans but signs aren't particularly positive. You can say it's not their fault if injured but when you sign over 30's, they tend to have a mileage that makes it more likely. That's without even touching on the absence of any potential sell-on value.

Yes, I think we have to look to have a manager in place to at least have some input/acceptance wrt any transfer window activity. Although I can't see much being spent unless we move other players off the wagebill and any payoffs will eat into any budget.

Money, if well invested affords opportunity to a manager/coach. Guardiola has used in such a way to create a footballing team, Mourinho has used it to create a big, solid unit with some speed. IMO Guardiola would have to make several important changes to the MU squad to be successful. What yesterday showed us is that Man Utd don't have an earthly wrt Champions League ambitions. It also showed why Man City are so far ahead in the League and are the first English side for years that are at a level where they can be considered as real contenders for the CL.

I'll do the Hibs game if it isn't taken.

No Pete, only my presumption.

I caught half an hour of the first half and it resembled a game between Barcelona and some team near the bottom of the Spanish league,...but maybe the Spanish team could have kept the ball a bit longer. For the amount of money spent that it was embarrassing for MU.

No Dorrans, McCrorie or Jack makes it difficult to send out a midfield who'll be able to stand-up to what will be a battle. Pena is a luxury we can't afford to play in this game. Kranjcar hasn't the legs for it. Barjonas will probably start. At least Morelos has started to score again.

'Concomitant' wasn't by itself a big deal. However, it became a convenient point of reference for a very poor statement which presented the world with a metaphorical game of shooty-in.

Pointing out BBC Scotland's flaws and institutional bias gets boring after a while and it certainly doesn't make any difference to the situation. The first thing the board have to do is admit to themselves that they've made a dogs dinner of managing communications and media relations....Then they have to look to change things with a view to improvement. Will it change ?....I have my doubts that any lessons are even being considered amongst the turmoil. -------------- That statement was akin to supplying journalists and comedians with a request to 'get stuck in' #OG Not to mention other potential implications.

Around April 2016 saw the souring of the relationship between (part of) the board and Warburton. It was when we started to go down the road that might as well have been signposted 'Omnishambles Ahead'. Ironic that Warburton was criticised for the lack of a Plan B. I'd really like to know who was the driving force behind the Barton transfer. Was it McParland/Warburton or other ?

Saw a thread on FF that I thought might be of interest and relevance here. It was about Besiktas, who have just won their Champions League Group and have managed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the club, both in scale and speed. Recent success is made more prodigious by the fact that five years ago the club was in a financial crisis, facing 142 lawsuits and suspended from UEFA competition over match-fixing allegations. President Fikret Orman took on a job nobody wanted and, in retrospect, hitting rock-bottom turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the board set about making sweeping changes. "Over the last few years we have built something for the future, rather than short term goals like the title race," Orman told ESPN FC. "It was a big step for us involving recruiting the right players, right coaches, brand management, sponsorship agreements, financial arrangements, communication tools and more. What we are witnessing now is our vision starting to come to fruition. Full ESPN article http://www.espn.co.uk/football/blog/espn-fc-united/68/post/3297858/besiktas-eyeing-place-in-europes-elite-after-group-success-in-ucl

Murty talked about the Aberdeen performances being a new benchmark and the players needing to keep at that level, play at a high tempo etc. He repeated it in his pre-match interview but the players forgot about it when the whistle blew to start the game. My impression is that Murty won't make much difference when it comes to getting players up for the game. He'll give them some decent traing sessions, etc but whilst some of the players may like him, not many will respect/fear him.

A win is a win and that is 3 wins IAR but no consistency of performance. Jack was missed and will be again at Easter Road. We can only hope we raise our game on Wednesday on which McCrorie may be a doubt for.