buster.

Waghorn is a big player and offers a variation up front that we have at times missed. A sharp and on it Waghorn makes it much more difficult for teams to defend against us.

It was good to get him to extend, even if only for a year. However what it suggests is that BMcK/agent thinks he is or will be worth more than Rangers could offer him over a longer deal. You may well find some bids being made in the summer for McKay, he'll have certainly caught the attention of various teams with this season's performances. Then Rangers would have to decide if financially it was the time to cash in given his length of contract and uncertainties of football. You get the feeling that regards squad mgmt, MW would prefer to keep him opposed to say having an extra X in the transfer kitty. If McKay does well next season his value would increase but by next summer this would be tempered by him only having a year left. What this will probably show is that if players get to a certain level in Scotland then unless they are of the 'Lee Wallace School' they'll go or be encouraged by their agent to head to the land of milk and honey (especially from next season when TV money goes through roof).

Buying Allan for approx 300K made sense for Celtic but sending him out on loan to a Dundee or Motherwell type of team and 20/30 first team games would have been better for his development. You have a player that could appreciate substantially in value but not if you keep him and he gets lost in a sea of midfielders.

It's only natural there is a comedown in levels of concentration after Sunday. Hibs were naturally more up for it as they go for second place and made the most of our errors. When we had the League all but sown up we let complacency seep in and lost 3 goals in 3 games but when the Dumbarton, Peterhead and Celtic games came around we were at it, peaking on Sunday against Celtic for 120 minutes and penalties. All that is left this season is the SC Final and thereafter you will be looking at a squad that will be a fair bit different to the one we have now. So it's all about peaking again for the match on the 21st of May and that's what will be worked towards. Oh and that goal from McKay was a bit special. Coming into this season I thought that BMcK wasn't going to be good enough

I'll go down to 5%

Got to beat Hibs first

He got back into the Dutch squad after leaving us. I'd give Albertz 10% of the blame as his lay-off was poor and had it been struck a little firmer and in front of VV he wouldn't have missed it.

No That applies to the access list which is different to the club seedings. The access list determines how many and what euro spots various countries will have. They need to be determined prior to the season starting so that the clubs know what they are going for. Hence they don't use the co-eff points won in the season that determines what clubs qualify.

It's always been the same. The numbers from the year you used (us in 113th) can be found in the seeding list for the events of last season. The year you used http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/trank2015.html / link 1 EL seedings for last season http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedel2015.html / link 2 eg. Look at any team and it's seeding co-efficient in link 2......and you'll find it corresponds to the year you were using in link 1.

Cal, you are looking at the wrong year. These are the numbers they would use if we qualify. http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/trank2016.html ie. the last five seasons up to and including 2015/16. We are in 267th place. ----------------------------------- The access list is determined by numbers collated by the five seasons up to and including 2014/15. http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/access2016.html

That is for the First qualifying round. Scottish Cup winners go in at the second round.

I'm not hoping for the League Cup alternative either ! First things first though and that's beating Hibs.

From a financial POV If we get into Europe we wouldn't play the League Cup group stage which would mean two less home games. That would be compensated by at least one European qualifier home game but the point I was trying to make was that given we'll probably be unseeded, there would be no guarantee of further European home games. ie. an increased budget/players if we were to qualify would probably be limited at the outset and if we were to do well could then be extended. Seeded teams in the second round of last years EL qualifiers included FC København, Trabzonspor, PAOK, Legia, AIK Stockholm, Slovan Bratislava, Rosenburg, West Ham. At the same time there are easier teams and it'd be down to the luck of the draw.....Thing is to become seeded in future years we would need to get some points under our belt. edit Here is a link that shows the seedings for last seasons EL all the way through the qualifiers. http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedel2015.html

Alex, what bit do you refer to ?

Would show initiative, so probably not. But they are right to focus on Lawwell and the broken strategy.

We need one of them back so it's good to hear that Waghorn is looking good. Clark should be playing two of the league games that are left so as Miller isn't playing two games a week. Burt should get an opportunity to show if he's ready to be called upon. If Kiernan or Wilson have any niggles they should get a rest aswell. If one were to miss the Final we'd be short in central defence (Gasparotto is cup-tied). Shiels, Law and Zelalam should also get more gametime to help get them up to speed and like Miller, have others like Haliday, playing one game a week.

It's about the footballing operation (FO) as a whole doing a professional job which an important part of is the training pitch. We managed to outpass Celtic rather than get involved in a frenetic OF match......because of the training pitch but for various reasons (injuries, players cup-tied, etc) struggled to translate it into a relative amount of chances. As PM says, McParland is an important part of the FO and if we are to have success next season we'll need a similar positive hit-rate with new signings.......and as MW says, it's not about throwing money at a transfer window eg. Boyata cost Celtic about double what we spent last summer. A good FO including that training pitch will get the right type of player in, IMPROVE them and put them in a team that (all) together will amplify the qualities of the individuals with a sprinkling of synergy. For so long we have been used to hardly ever improving players that we seem to forget that we should be doing that. We have tended to pay top dollar for players who have been improved, arrive on a high wage and subsequently 'stand still' or regress. We have been weaned on managers looking to solve problems with money and a poor & expensive hit-rate. We now can't afford to go down that route and have found a way to improve finances and football. ------------------------------ A European campaign wouldn't necessarily mean much revenue and might actually cost the club. So we shouldn't push any boats out because of it unless we qualify and were to do well. We would be unseeded in a draw (if we qualify) and run the risk of drawing a decent side in a potential first tie. IF we were to go out, this would mean only one home gate and would also mean doing without two League Cup group stage home gates.

Don't think there will a difference First competitive fixture If we win SC: 14th July..... (EL 2nd round qualifier) If we don't: 16th July..... (League Cup group stage) edit Worth noting that Aberdeen and Hearts will start on 30th June in EL 1st qualifying round. #LongSeason

Looking at how quickly MW&Co turned things around last summer allows for some confidence or at least it has to limit concern. He and his team seem to manage their time and resources very well. He has already stated he would like signings in the door for when we start pre-season which would be a very good start and then we'd likely be adding a couple of loans in August. The most important thing for me is that MW is still our manager come the start of next season. I have no reason to think he won't be but at the same time, would be surprised if there were no approaches from England.

The Scotsman this morning went with.........."Mark Warburton has warned that Rangers will still have to spend heavily to match Celtic in the Premiership next season." Thing is MW never said this and it is a journalist (Stepen Halliday) giving an inaccurate reflection of what was actually said so as to help build pressure on the board to spend money. The media went loco with this angle before, during and after the January window and can't stop using it. Admittedly DK made a rod for his own back with some of what was previously said but talk about overplay. What has been recently said is that significant transfer activity will be needed and that the right players that represent value for money will be what we look for or now rather deals we try to get done. It's not about how much money so much as getting value for every pound spent within a sustainable wage structure. ......and btw Well Done to the board for a visionary managerial appointment .

I was coming from a general POV and not just yesterday, ie. the whole political (correctness) issues that surround this and beyond. The bigger picture is more important than the daily bickering. The Police have to waste time and resources fronting ludicrous and flawed legislation. There are many more important 'sticks and stones' out there......... and words don't hurt people, especially when the supposed offence taken is often actually sought out by those 'poor victims' for political ammunition. You can extrapolate this and go further but that would be for 'the Lounge'.

I think it's next to impossible to avoid degrees of complacency in this kind of situation. I think it's more about tacitly allowing for it, letting it happen and timing the return to high levels of concentration for when they are needed. We lose 3 goals (x3) then in the last three games lose only one goal (90 mins) and tie up the League, the Petrofac Cup and a SC Final appearance. Thus far we've timed our runs very well, eg. Hibs 4-2, Dundee 4-0 and yesterday. We let things slip against St.Johnstone but I think we learned from that and have their best player in our squad.

What will attract players more than European qualifiers in July is working under Mark Warburton (important that he stays). Players who don't place value on this aren't the type of player we want.

One consequence of the SC Final is that the close season or players summer holidays will be noteably shorter, more especially if we qualify for Europe. That would be 3 weeks this side of the Final and if we were to get into Europe about a week on the other side (first competitive game would be 14th July compared to last summer 25th July). The latter isn't that relevant given we'd be starting earlier anyway with the League Cup group stages (first game 16th July) if we don't get into Europe. A championship team is going to win the SC so this means that an extra top tier club will go into the League Cup group stages (ie. those not in Europe).

I'm confident MW&Co will come up with the best plan, whether that includes games or not. He wasn't a big fan of pre-season friendlies.