stewarty

I think at least part of the problem has been luck. The other element has been our signings coming in injured, or picking up injuries fairly quickly. There may be more sports science type reasons to do with loading, but I'm not particularly versed on that, although it is something the manager has referred to on occassion so am sure its something that is monitored.

No pleasing some folk. I'd say its ideal for the annual curry night and toga party. Maybe we should just rent to start with, just to see it meets GS's exacting standards in real life?

Jean-Alain Boumsong

Hard to say exactly. They are riding the crest of a wave with Rodgers and the contrast with our low ebb is scaring folk. In that sense, I think walter is right in that we will need to invest in better quality. The question is when will all the other cards fall into place that will allow us to do so? My hunch is that a significant proportion of this is contingent on the various court dramas. And because of that, its really hard to say how long the spectre of Ashley, Green, Whyte will linger. In the meantime it will be incremental improvements as elements of our financials improve - e.g. increased prize money, matchday revenues, sponsorship, transfer fees (hopeful, I know) rather than a step change to try and compete on equal terms in a short time-frame

I think the majority of newspapers, regardless of their editorial stance, are capable of doing good work. But how often they produce it is a question of resource and focus. When they have a good story they know will sell, it'll get the focus its due and the work will no doubt have the impact it deserves. At other times, its a race to the bottom in terms of producing copy that fills pages in the most economical manner. A couple of very quick examples: the Telegraph in terms of the MPs expenses scandal and Big Sam's indiscretions; The Guardian with Sports Direct (and JD Sports) and Wikileaks; The Daily Record in terms of its coverage of us since 2012. On the latter, Jackson can rightly be slagged off for his "wealth off the radar" guff, but there's no denying he did a power of sterling work in recent years to expose the rats. No other sports journalist up here came remotely close to the quality and consistency of his output. Now, my point isn't that you can't point to areas where these and other outlets have been reprehensibly poor; you can, the Scottish Cup Final police stuff being a case in point, its just that they don't have the resources to maintain that level all the time. Where I think they do blur the lines intentionally though is in terms of fact and opinion. Always a fine line when it comes to newspapers in particular. I also think the BBC have been reprehensible in terms of their ongoing attitude to dealings with the club and the complete failure to address matters in a satisfactory manner. The next round of media deals could well be a turning point. With more and more clubs putting out their own content, it seems a natural shift towards selling media packages direct to fans, cutting out the likes of Sky and BT. If/ when that happens, what then for content starved outlets who will have to rely on even less scraps from the table?

A wee loan to Watford would change that though....

No complaints so long as they keep performing and are fit.

He's missed far too much football in the early part of his pro career that I think it'll be a miracle if he reaches his anything like his potential.

Cheers Craig - same to you and all at Gersnet Towers.

The circumstances of his departure will always rankle. but good to see he's being looked after by Brentford. Hopefully gets clear of injury soon and we might get to see him in the EPL

FIFA will just withhold the fines from sponsorship or other monies that they distribute from time to time, like the SPL and SFA did with us.

http://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/agm-result-notice-2/

Staggering really, but not unexpected. I'm guess that means Res11 is dead?

Anyways, I think the chances of any deal are probably dead given wee Joey is away. I have it on good authority that a "Red Bull Gives Joey Barton Wings... (But he's a fucking zoomer anyway)" was being prepared. Needed a bit of work though.

Seems a bit hopeful, but it is exactly the kind of sponsorship deal we would want. The tie in with the brand would open up lots of opportunities for friendlies, marketing, etc.

Jealous or just calling out the favourable treatment being given out to players who have failed to perform? He's not the brightest is he?

Forrester was a player in a similar vein to this lad, and he's not done too badly despite falling out the picture recently. This is probably Warburton's strength though, identifying players previously under-rated or have lost their way, and getting something out of them. I would concede I'm grasping for some positives though.

Clearly suggests that an NDA has been agreed, which is good. Means we wont hear officially what happened or how much he's been paid off, but hopefully its only up to January rather than the full term of his contract.

He's one of several players who have struggled to adjust to the demands of the top flight game up here. His injuries have been a factor in that though, but everything I've seen from him so far has been positive about life up here. Perhaps he's not happy with his overall contribution, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that agitates for a move as soon as things get a little tricky - though I could be proved wrong.

Good news. Well done to all involved. Any more similar deals in the offing D'art?

At £25 a pop, I can see a few extra appeals for donations so that this can be live blogged.

I like the look of that team, Pete. Would like to see Forrester come back and start putting in a performance or two off the bench to pressure for a start. Dodoo too, as I think his pace and touch could work really well for us if we can get him firing. Also hope McKay is rested completely. The lad needs a break.

That doesn't sound like we have kissed and made up. that sounds like: keep yourself ticking over fitness wise, but you wont be playing and you can fuck off in January.

I can PM admin with my source, if necessary.

Agreed. I had heard that unlike other players at his age group, Dembele had only signed a one year contract rather than the 3-year contract that was standard at that age. Aside from the fact I wasn't aware players at that age signed contracts per se, I'm sure its more of a training agreement, it certainly looks like the lad has eyes on moving away from Celtic at the very least. Apparently the lad absolutely loved going away with England and had a great time last week.