stewarty

Oh he's bitter alright. But he is correct that the SFA are a total shambles. What a shame for him that his agenda is so transparent, otherwise we might have begun to take him seriously.

So, I've had the bandwagon valeted and its ready to roll... Next weekend is huge. Three points versus Hearts and say a draw between the Sheep and Celtic would be ideal.

Thats the spirit!

Work hard, perform on the pitch, get rewarded. Great stuff.

Shhhhhh.....

FFS Gonzo, I'm trying to get us excited here.

Oh stop it, Captain Sensible. If we give Hamilton a proper scudding on Sunday then I'm on the bevvy till 55.

Come on Gonzo, where's the ridiculous over-confidence and hubris that we bears are famous for?

I've just posted a new thread that could be adapted quite quickly into a preview if needed.

... had baws she'd be yer da! So the saying goes. Football fans love to speculate on alternative outcomes. How many times have we all said: "If we win the next 'x' number of games and our rival drop points here and there, we'll be only 'y' points behind with a game in hand." Or: "If player 'a' hadn't got sent off, we wouldn't have lost that game and we would be just 'b' points further ahead so only need to win 'c' more games to win the title." Its a little bit of fun and it plays on the emotional heart strings as fans, but often it just sets ourselves up for a fall based on unrealistic expectations. More often than not, the results you get are a product of the quality and consistency of your team. Take our current situation. Had our home form in particular been better this season and if we hadn't lost to the likes of Hibs, Hamilton and Dundee, we could have been, say, 5 or 6 points better off and within touching distance of Celtic who are trying to balance their European and domestic commitments whilst managing a squad depleted with various injuries. It would be game on as we move into the final third of the season. But we are where we are. Improving on out league position relative to last year is still the main aim, along with a real tilt at the Scottish Cup. Any talk of challenging Celtic this season seems fanciful, but the psychology of the chase can play a part in changing that. Yes we are behind Aberdeen and Celtic right now, but there is growing sense of confidence in the squad, the management structure and the promise of further financial strengthening off the pitch. The next 3 games you would imagine are therefore critical. Hamilton away, Hearts at home and then St Johnstone away all before the end of the month and ahead of the next Old Firm game. Nine points are therefore vital in order to put some pressure on our nearest rivals. We also need to see those same rivals dropping some points. Aberdeen particularly have three tricky ties coming up. Hibs away at the weekend, followed by Celtic at home and then Motherwell away. Celtic have St Johnstone on Sunday, Aberdeen away following their trip to Russia to complete the return leg against Zenit, and then Dundee at home. Crucially though, that will be a run of four games in eleven days for the injury hit Celtic. So, in true speculative style, I'm predicting that my maw may well get the sex change she's been promised. The next two weeks promise to be make or break for our season. If we are to stand any chance of putting in a league title challenge it really is now or never. If we can rattle in a big win at the weekend, I'll happily get the bandwagon started.

Would be a bit of a detour for most bears, but fair enough.

I think the mistake was assuming that others would act with the same amount of decency and respect, and would look upon other situations with at least a modicum of fairness, rather than blatant self-interest.

I think the best bit about this is that it shows to other players that staying with us can help you develop your career, earn better deals and put yourself in the showroom for even bigger money moves further down the line. In some respects, a EPL team coming in and paying a chunky fee could be the best thing that could happen in the next year or so. That will hopefully encourage other players to come to us.

For me the clue to Danny's performances and percieved value comes in his experience. He's 26 and about to reach his prime, but despite his underlying talent he is oft inconsistent and prone to mistakes that have cost us. So I looked up his appearance record on wiki and its as follows: 2009–2010 Rangers 14 (1) 2010–2013 Liverpool 2 (0) 2012 → Blackpool (loan) 6 (0) 2012–2013 → Bristol City (loan) 1 (0) 2013 → Heart of Midlothian (loan) 13 (0) 2013–2015 Heart of Midlothian 64 (9) 2015–2018 Rangers 65 (4) 2018– Colorado Rapids 0 (0) So, 165 league appearances in 8/9 years. So he's averaging circa 20 league games a season. There's lads coming through from some of the smaller teams in this country that have that number of games by the time they are 22/23. I would have kept him, but then when I look at his record, I can see that he's still a risk based on his lack of development from circa 18/19 to 23/24 years of age, which may ultimately limit his potential at a critical part of his career. its tinged with disappointment, but I think we will quickly move on.

Great news. Worst case scenario for us is that his value is shored up and we can get a decent fee should he move in the next year or so, which I still think could be on the cards.

Windass is another. Wiki has him at 1.75m so approx 5ft 9, but he looks an inch or two taller than that.

Hmm. I did plug it into a calculator on google. But even then, 5ft 10 seems a little small - I would have placed him 6ft plus

We can be skeptical of his motives and history, but I actually agree with Lawwell on this one. The fact that Rod "exhuberance" Petrie didn't resign in shame after the 2016 cup final, tells you all that you need to about the standard of governance at the SFA. And don't get me started on the routine shambles that Regan presided over.

Off topic but if he's 1.77m that makes him 5ft'8... he looks taller than that!

I'm already paying in £2 a week via this. I nominated Rangers First as my agent I believe, but would look into transferring to Gersnet or just having another £1 a week via Gersnet.

Utterly deluded OP. Really boils my piss when I see Rangers supporters advocate for Ashley in any form.

Thanks Pete! I'd be really keen to try out having a strike partnership of Cummings and Morelos too, because if they click, its potentially a springboard for the rest of the season.

Agreed. Its just something that would happen in any other "normal" business, even ones much smaller that ours. The fact that we now have it, I can see has positive aspects in terms of the management team getting on with the day-to-day business without having to micro-manage cash flow to the same extent. Also they potentially do not need to liaise as regularly with investors to bring in further short team soft loans (with all the associated hoops that they will need to jump through) , for example if there are unexpected costs that need to be covered. And in turn that means that investors are less hands-on when it comes to routine management issues which allows both the Board, associated investors and the management team to focus on improving us on and off the pitch. I could think of more possible benefits, though I am only speculating

Also, we have to strike a better balance in terms of the risk attached to the guys we bring in. It makes for a great story when we pick out "rough diamond" or we attempt to bring someone of promise back in from the cold or a period of injury or obscurity (ref: Forrester, Niko), the failure rate is likely to be high. And at this point, we simply cant afford to be doing that too often