stewarty

I don't disagree about the importance of consulting with fans. Maybe its just the wording of it that has seemed not quite right. Or maybe I got out of bed the wrong way...

I'm sure this has been issued with the best intentions but it strikes me as a slightly bizarre request, if I'm honest. Yes fans will have a view on things that can and should be improved, repaired or added to the stadium and surrounds, but surely the club has surveyed all of this, assessed the maintenance and investment needs and put together a plan that fits with the available budget?

Ooh, Pedro...

Stop it!

If the rumours are true, he's not even the "star" signing of the summer for us...

That'll do. Solidifying the spine of the team

Its only to be expected that McInnes will at least be tempted to have a go at a Championship-level team, especially one with the parachute payments that Sunderland will receive for the next couple of years. Its their best chance of going straight back up and from his own point of view, will be able to earn several multiples of his current salary in doing so. One failure at that level would not ruin a career either; and there will be plenty who remember him from his West Brom days, so he'd be in a good position to get his next contract or two at least. But even then, he must surely have confidence in his own ability, otherwise why would he bother?

One of the potential benefits of the early start to our season is that the squad will have had a fair number of competitive games before the start of the league campaign - hopefully Pedro has them gelled and working well together in the way he wants to play and we start the season on fire. This signing is pretty exciting (as a sign of things to come) and I'm really looking forward to the first game now. Engage the Hubris!

Ok, who's next?

I presume it'll be formally announced via the website/ RTV rather than via a normal presser...

I think you could be right - it rings a bell. Its probably the most glaring issue we had with the squad last year - players able and willing to take responsibility all over the pitch. And that doesn't just mean shouting and moaning, throwing your hands up in the air, etc. Too many did that for show - and you knew it was for show, because it was too often done on the back of a mistake.

Hopefully get back to the days when our sides had several captains all over the pitch.

Agreed - its just a concern mixed with his age. I think its a great signing!

There's a few things that cause concern about Alves - his age, lack of rest before the new season, his availability for our EL qualifiers...

He received treatment down south with the English setup and they're hopeful that his issues have now been addressed. He was pictured back training in the last few weeks, with increasing intensity I think. Pedro said he was hopeful he would be a part of the squad for pre-season...

Heard it all before... just be careful they know that sex on the beach is a cocktail when you go to the bar...

This was a point I raised at the time. I didn't feel that the reasons given were sufficient to justify the haste that was being taken. There was something vague about getting it done by the summer and in time for the new season, but I don't think some of those involved were particularly convinced by this. Sadly its come back to haunt us. My worry is, and Gaffer makes the point also, that we go through another round of elections and don't resolve the inherent issues that will arise with any board in terms of its size, length of tenure, training and development and other areas. Sadly we're nearly through a full year of c1872 but I can't think of anything its accomplished. This along with the recent fallout will probably put off folk from getting involved.

Agreed-this really is an important point. I would argue though that this goes hand-in-hand with the need to have directors appointed for more than one year. Why go to the trouble of investing in the development of a Board so that it has the skills and resources to execute their role, if there's no guarantee that the organisation will benefit from this investment for any more than a couple of months? I would accept though that not every Director would need the same amount of training.

Happy birthday, Gribz! Careful not to mix with the ladyboys after the cocktails this time though!

This is all just another instance where we are seeing the feint whiff of xenophobia, mixed in with McInnes neatly showing why he could never be a Rangers Manager.

Oh for sure, hence why I said it wasn't necessarily a stellar endorsement... For future reference though: "at bats" is a Baseball term. The relevant cricketing term is "innings".

I'm sure i saw a stat on the goals to minutes played ratio and Garner is ahead of Miller. Not necessarily a stellar endorsement, but does suggest there is more to be gained if we play Garner and also play to his strengths. For me, his two performances at Ibrox in December vs Hearts and Aberdeen showed what we can do if we set up to allow Garner to play in his physical way. Add to that his last two goals shows that he is capable of taking chances if presented opportunities. If he can can cut out the silly fouls, bookings and play acting, I could definitely see him getting 20 goals.

Totally agree. And from memory there was nothing declared in the c1872 minutes (fairly sure it would have stood out if it had) - how will that fit against this new constitution?

Completely agree on the point about the information only revealed when we say the TOP ruling. I'm sure he could come up with some sort of argument about client confidentiality if he was representing King independently of his Rangers Secy duties, but the fact remains that he was the one who argued during the RF meetings pre c1872 that conflicts can be managed if done properly (and they can), but he has singularly failed to manage his own.

wrt to James Blair - he has said on Twitter than he will not stand for re-election. In fairness to him, that is exactly what he said he would do, once he had completed the work that was in train. With the new constitution coming soon, hopefully we can move on.