buster.

No, @JohnMc is right. Had it only been the European Cup era, London wouldn't have been included as only Spurs had reached a EC semi-final. I missed the most obvious of the lot in Manchester 👎 Need to get the man who really knows about European football on the case in the future @Fat Eck

A stat following on from above post. Younger readers will be amazed to read that BOTH Dundee clubs have not only played in the European Cup (once each). Sit down, but have BOTH reached the semi final of said European Cup. BOTH beaten by Italians (AC Milan & Roma) We got to one old EC semi-final in about 13 attempts (Eintracht, 1960). Not good enough. So does that mean Scotland have more cities than England that have two clubs who reached a EC semi-final ? Glasgow, Dundee London

Goalscorers that night Duncan, Quinn, Cormack, Stanton and Colin Stein. Stein had scored their solitary goal in Italy. He would also score their only goal in a 2-1 aggregate defeat to an excellent Leeds team. Leeds would then knock us out in the Quarters, 2-0 agg. Dundee in the semi's, 2-1 agg. Before lifting the Inter Cities Fairs Cup against Ferencvaros. Not much in the way of air miles for Leeds to win that trophy.

Could do with a more motivational tune for this game. The French and the Welsh home crowd knock out belters prior to the six Nations games.

Does Gio say anything different to what he said in the presser posted by Ian 15 hours ago ?

Big game in more ways than one. Improvement We have to show the right attitude and some determination, as well as concentration and organisation when defending. If we don't, we'll get humped,.... it would also suggest that for whatever reason, Gio isn't getting through to the players and ramp up the pressure on him. Point(s) To have any chance of not finishing bottom of the group we need to beat Napoli. If we are objective about this, then we are finishing bottom of what has turned out to be our most difficult ever CL Group of the eleven we have been in. Unfortunately, it co-incides with our squad generally going stale, injuries and summer recruitment not giving much short term benefit. Finance A win would see the evening's revenue figure, from the gate and hospitality, approximately double. Even a draw would bring in a hefty wedge. Players There have been so many players off it recently, that there hasn't really been a negative focus on individuals. Attention tonight will be on McGregor and Morelos (if he starts). Not had a lot of gametime, asking a lot of them to make an impression at this level. Napoli 7 CL Group stage matches undefeated (Ajax were at 7 before last night) Not beaten in any game since April 24th (League/Empoli, A) Have only won 1 CL away match in their last 10, (Salzburg) They have played only one Scottish side in a competitive match, Hibs (1967), managed by Bob Shankly. The Italians won the first leg in Naples, 4-1 (same score as against Liverpool last week). Scottish sides had never previously beat Italian opposition over two legs in 7 attempts, it looked all over..... ......but in the second leg, Hibs opened the scoring after only 5 minutes past a young Dino Zoff, who would go on to pick the ball out of the net on four more occasions. Hibs went through 6-4. So, when Napoli win at home 4-1 and travel to Scotland for their next match,........😀

Play as we did in Amsterdam and our level is more Challenge Cup !

No, but at the sametime it is looking to me as if an onfield correction of sorts is coming down the road that will eventually have implications at a financial level. I said prior to this season that the sqaud wasn't balanced or good enough to do anything of note this season. It surprised me in qualifying for the CLGS but the negative issues remain and are principally based in not building on 55 and now, not breaking up further the SG squad and freshening things up. How much responsibility for the above lys with manager/football operation/board is up for debate * All such problems are exacerbated by the fact that over the city they turned things round so quickly, Main implication being access to CL cash and other benefits that facilitate football operations and journeys. * Interesting that the successful transfer hit rate that they had last summer came when the Lawwell approach left the building and the manager seemed to be identifying the players to go after.

IMO, the club's journey hasn't stalled, as such. The overall strategy is I think, correct but there are ongoing issues surfacing that need addressed. If they aren't addressed in a timely way, they may, within an unfavourable economic enviroment get more severe and lead to bottomline issues. When football results go badly, everything is magnified tenfold and relative context/detail/precise quotes & meanings are often left to the side as everyone piles on. If we win tomorrow suddenly everything looks rosy again and all the indepth analysis of why we are on the route to a dark place is largely forgotten. If I were to criticise, I'd point towards generally cutting too many corners regards costs, trying to squeeze value of cut price options. This ranges from the Ticket Office Operation to buying too many injury prone players. ....If you keep doing it, it will catch up with you. Going back to the Foxy business, dead pop stars, Dave King and Paul Murray. We can all read between the lines but I simply don't know what is or isn't going on.

That post takes me back to when Rangers messageboards were politically divided between the various characters and interests vying for our backing. The Vanguard Bears were as generally outspoken as they were so very wrong. If only they had gone after the likes of Green and Ashley as they did King and Murray, they might not have looked so stupid. The labeling and identification of an individual as being good, bad or indifferent for the football club has to take into context the precise moment in time, the circumstances, the interests and motives. For example, Dave King was (very) good in 2014/15 but that has changd to a current negative. King was the right man to have in your corner for the circumstances back in the day. So, what about Paul Murray ? Back in the day, he was in with the good guys and in face of the spivs, his general intentions were positive regards the football club. Rather than being a well greased snake, he seemed to play with a fairly straight bat. He had his faults, in the run up to the AGM of 2013, he thought he could take on the unoffical amateur PR man for a group who opposed CG&Co and lost that side of things miserably to Toxic Jack Irvine. What about today ? I would be lying if I said I know what is going on. Perhaps he is playing a supporting role to DK and looking to make a buck, perhaps not. Circumstances change, so whatever is happening now has to be judged on its merits. The problem is finding out exactly what is going on.

Of course, but sometimes the footballing Gods simply have their way 😱 At least it isn't a Spanish club coming to visit. Last four interactions with Italian clubs have been positive. Ironically, only 2 wins from 7 games. Fiorentina: got past them and into final. Livorno: First victory for Scottish side in Italy Inter: Draw enough to qualify for CLKO stage Parma: won qualifier to make CL Before that, 3 negatives Parma: knocked us out of UEFA cup Juventus: 2 heavy defeats CL Inter: KO'd us in UEFA cup

Could Gio's managerial history have a bearing on how the group will pan out for us ? If so, two ways it could go. 1. With Feyenoord, Gio won one game in the group, at home to Napoli....ie. we beat Napoli on Wednesday. 2. That win was last game in group after 5 defeats. ie. We lose Wednesday but beat Ajax in MD6. One win would be close to our average of 1.2 wins per CL group stage (12 in 10 campaigns).

It is more about what Gio says/doesn't say.... before the game and if the players take it on board or work hard enough on it to make it work in a match. Eg. Defending corners And as soon as that first goes in against decent opposition, it won't be long until the second.

We can only hope that we see a reaction to our last 2 games. The Ajax non performance, coming on the back of a heavy OF defeat suggested something isn't right. We were told Tav had been carrying an injury but what else led to a pathetic display when it should have been about determination and pride to put things right. Did Gio tell the squad that they couldn't compete before KO. ...No, but it looked that way. The starting XI need to put everything into the 90 minutes on Wednesday and regardless of the result, send our fans away unable to complain about effort.p Gio and staff need to improve our defending and not concede goals so easily. I could see this going two ways and although very different, can't make up my mind as to what I think will happen.

The economics of Football have changed hugely over the past several decades in line with what is happening in the wider economic environment. Neo-liberal economics or we can call it extreme capitalism introduced little by little with the result of successfully boiled frogs. The basic result is a disproportionate amount of money, power and influence flow to the top. eg. The elite clubs are now disproportionately able to accumulate and hoover up elite/potentially elite footballers. They force UEFA to make up rules and regulations around their competitions that see the cash distribution heavily skewed in their favour. Compare the old European Cup and today's CL. So, with regard to Rangers. We are currently on a path that will gradually see the environment in which we ply our trade (Scotland), become relatively poorer and unless we move, we will go the same way. Re. The speculation about X or Y interested in investing/buying Rangers. Some of our support equate the reported wealth of X or Y with what they will do for the club. Perhaps they see it as a financial bridge to a diet of interesting transfer rumours, better squad, lots of trophies, etc. X was once Sir Duped Y could be Mike Ashley Rangers were basically on offer in 2012 and no-one could come up with the money to trump the 5.5M offered by CG&Co, locked in to the CVA process. Now, a large book could be written about the surrounding circumstances to my previous paragraph but the take away for me is that when it comes down to it. There doesn't exist people who would be able to provide the game changing finance and not be concerned about a real return. The people who have invested heavily, some of whom are currently on the board, are as good and safe as it will ever get. Mistakes will be made. To transition into a self sustainable club will have many painful moments. The past is gone.

Juve '78, now that was my first Huge European result as a Rangers supporter (from March '73). From '73, we did heehaw until most of the Italian WC team came to Ibrox. Then it was the old two buses coming along one after another, with the PSV away victory. Winning the final against Moscow Dynamo was great but surely the big result was getting past Bayern Munich in the semi final, with the spine of the West German team who would go on to win the Euros and the WC. So a lot of ordinary to poor stuff (eg. Twente Grasshoppers) bookended by two outstanding victories against the International might of West Germany and Italy. Which was the best ?.....is a good debate. Against Napoli, regardless of the result. First and foremost, we need to show the best version of ourselves and see where it takes us.

That was a Great post @Fat Eck loving it !! _----------------------_ Napoli went back to the top of SeriaA this afternoon with an 89th minute winner to beat mid table Spezia, 1-0 at home. Sounds like they were coming down from the Lord Mayor's show against Liverpool but managed to squeeze the 3 points in the end. Their manager, Spalletti was sent off (double yellow, 83 & 91) and their centre forward, Osimhen didn't play (looks like he is injured / subbed off against Liverpool in first half). If we are to play them on Tuesday after 2 heavy defeats, its a good weekend to have free. I only hope that we are working hard to rectify the awful set piece defending and that they can be bothered running about a bit more on Tuesday.

I'm picturing a scene from Scots Squad with Gonzo explaining his role and some shady D&P characters in expensive suits, smiling in the background.

Ok, thanks. So possibly nothing confirmed yet about match until decision on Edinburgh plans.

Don't see why it should be off. I've heard mention that policing may be an issue but don't fully understand why. English cricket team are resuming the Test match in London, TODAY. There is rugby and golf on as well.

Generally and over time, the noises coming from the club, directly and indirectly have been painting a rosy picture of our finances. Highlighting the positives ignoring the negative. Many don't bother reading the accounts. Some might have considered it positive PR, others will see false expectations that have been created.

You have to look at the financials holistically. The journey created a long tab.

What I think may happen is over the next few days, an increasing amount of people will, after initial respect, start to consider the mourning period excessive. At the same time, looking forward with apathy at what is left of the Royal family. The Queen was the glue. Many will start to think of "modernization" of the monarchy as the time to downscale it and that will go beyond simple republicans. You won't see it immediately, but it will surface a little further down the line.

A substantial chunk of money was reinvested. The issue is that it isn't giving much short term value. A player trading model is supposed to create a surplus, not break even. What Gio says on finances in a post match interview shouldn't be taken too seriously IMO. Perhaps he should have been told not to broach the subject in any detail because it'll nearly always pose more questions than provide answers that you can be sure about. On financial details, we'll have to wait for the accounts (including notes post year end).

Communication I mentioned a vacum in my first post. DK is currently filling that vacum. Sir Duped had the media in his pocket, alongside many legends who would use said media, generally on his behalf when required. He also brought Toxic Jack Irvine in when things got rough. The man who seems to have had Criag Whyte's internet history disappeared and would eventually be the 'continuity bridge' between incoming and outgoing spivs. Rangers or Rangers best interests 2012-14 have always had poor/amateur PR. I know from experience re. Spiv era. Irvine was a cnut but good at what he did. Thing is, Sir Duped hired him for Rangers, mainly to protect himself.