stewarty

Playing devils advocate here, who got the better of the recent transfer window? Based purely on numbers, it has to be Celtic who have brought in Robson, Mizuno, Hutchison, Hinkel and Samaras. Robson's form this season suggests he will beef up their midfield and Hinkel is an international standard right back and if he can avoid further injury he should help beef up their defence. Mizuno is, if you believe the hype, the next Nakamura with amazing potential. Big deal. He scores amazing free kicks but does bugger all else so why get excited just because the Tims bring in a younger, more naive and untested version of said dead ball expert? Hutchison is 20 years old and has had a few first team opportunities but is surely not a first pick and has yet to show he can cut it at the top level consistently. So, again I ask, what is there to get excited about? Samaras is perhaps slightly different. He scored some good goals when he first arrived at Man City but quickly faded and showed that he is pretty inconsistent. Putting my cards on the table, I would have quite liked him to have signed for Rangers so the fact he has only a short term deal is prudent on Strachan's part as he strikes me as the type of player, like Lovenkrands, who disappears until it's contract renewal time. This makes him a dangerous commodity for the rest of the season. So, in summary, Celtic have bought some untested potential in Mizuno and Hutchison but have added solid squad players in Hinkel and Robson. Samaras could be dangerous in the SPL but he doesn't have this bear too worried. Turning my attention to Rangers, I have heard all the doom and gloom merchants and I have to agree that, on the face of things, we lost one of our best players in Hutton and didn't replace him. We also lost back up players in Carroll and Ehiogu but neither have played any more than a game or two and wont be missed. We have replaced both with Alexander, a Scotland squad regular, and Dailly. The latter is not a popular signing but he has been given a short term deal to provide squad cover. He wont be first pick for any of the back four or central midfield positions but he has the pedigree and experience which should be more than adequate to do a decent job in the SPL so lets not get our knickers in too much of a twist over this one because what else is the January transfer window for if it's not to add squad cover, in whatever positions are needed? Rangers undoubtedly needed cover for the midfield given that Thompson is out for around another four weeks so to see Steven Davis arrive from Fulham is a shrewd move. A bluenose all his days it shouldn't take him long to settle. He hasn't found himself in Roy Hodgson's plans at Fulham but he is a tidy wee player who has played regularly in the EPL so I would put him in the same bracket as Barry Robson in that he's a good solid squad player who is likely to play pretty regularly in the remaining games of the season. Daniel Cousin's switch in the opposite direction should be reviewed by FIFA next week and I will be surprised if he isn't allowed to go and good riddance I say. Whilst he was on the pitch and scoring goals I supported him as I do every Gers player but he annoyed the f*** out of me with his lazy play. It was all the more annoying when you saw flashes of the player he can be and you wonder why he couldn't do it more regularly. His comments in the press slagging of his team mates show him up to be a poor team player who is only interested in himself. His blatant mercenary attitude to getting a move to the EPL merely serves to highlight this further so au revoir Danny boy, thanks for the goals and good luck to you but you wont be remembered too fondly by this bear. Returning to an earlier point about the transfer window. You dont often see clubs splashing out and bringing in lots of players unless they have just brought in a new manager, or they are struggling to compete. This is exactly where I think Celtic are. They are competing with us, just, but they've been poor and are four points behind so advantage Rangers in the title race. Celtic's ropey defence has been their biggest downfall and Hinkel should help but it's the centre half position that they should have focussed on in my opinion. It's not like they've gone and splashed six or seven million on a top quality player that is likely to make a significant difference. Rangers are weakened in the right back position but if Smith and Webster can return to full fitness it will be like signing two new players. Darcheville, Boyd, Naismith & Novo should be more than capable of scoring the goals to win the title so bring it on - we welcome the chase. Stewarty

Oi, thats my missus your talking about. :uzi:

Cant see Lowing making it at the top level. Far too lightweight and looked like he had too fragile a temperament in the odd appearance he has made so far. I'll happily stand corrected on this one though.

6 month contract? Guess they dont believe they are going up then! Might have something to do with Macca's personal life though...

If he's here as cover that's fine in my book. If Weir gets injured then we definately start to look very lightweight in terms of experience. Also, Weir is looking more and more shaky so it's perhaps not the worst move in the world. My only concern is that we really need a creative midfielder...

I'm raging about this. Double f'n standards - FIFA bow over backwards to let Mascherano play for Liverpool but when Rangers come calling they get told where to go. The sooner this ruling is challenged in the European courts the better as it's a breaching the freedom of trade (or some other such principal the whole EU is founded on)

http://www.sundayherald.com/sport/shmatchreports/display.var.1997304.0.talent_show.php

Dont disagree with any of those from what I saw. The Sunday Herald is even suggesting that Whittaker is in with a shout of being left back for Scotland given his recent performances and the fact that Burley was at the game yesterday.

Nah, I can see things being pretty much last minute because thats when clubs are most likely to accept bids since they will be trying to finance their own last minute signings.

Christian Dailly signing till the end of the season. Defo sounds like a WS signing but not exactly progress in my mind.

Get in touch with the RST if you are a member and let them know your concerns about the TO. I think the club have agreed to meet them to discuss the issue so the more fans who get in touch the better...

No way. So I spent all that time crafting a carefully considered match preview for nothing. :uzi:

What's his marital status got to do with it? :moon:

Dancer. Just hope it's not a draw after 90 mins as we need to get the Old Firm game played on the 23rd!

Glad to be back. Agree with other folks sentiments on the other boards. FF is for nutjobs but Gersforums isn't too bad.

Not so sure we would get a much better price. Also, what if he gets injured? I'm hearing now that he's knocked it back...

Stuart Baxter :devil:

It's a lot of money for a guy who has only had one good season so I say we should take it if he wants to go...

I dont think we'll get anything like �£3m for Cousin. If we get our money back we should take it - a total waste of space and easy to see why Lens fans hated him

Welcome to Gersnet and a good first post. Agree with what you say - we played directly in to their hands last night and the mentality was all wrong.

Try this I just googled free file hosting powerpoint

Whats it for? Are you doing a presentation somewhere? If so, is there someone you can email it to?

THats my team as well. The only possible exception is Naysmith at left back.

The capacity of Hampden is going to be reduced to 46k for the athletics as they build an artificial track above pitch level which will take out the first few rows of seats.

De Boer didn't join till 2000 so how he can make your team of the 90's I'll never know. :flipa: :devil: