JohnMc

I was in the Govan that day. I've still never seen my Dad more angry at a football match and it remains the only time I've ever booed a Rangers player. Fraser had been getting stick from the crowd, deservedly so as he wasn't playing well in a side that wasn't playing well. I don't know if there was a particular shout he heard or if it was a general frustration on his part that he was getting stick. We scored and he ran to the Govan and gesticulated and then all hell broke loose. That the Copland decided to back Fraser we put down to them not being able to see what he'd done. In those days the Govan was a bit more respectable, it was where the older guys went, or Dads took their sons if they wanted to shield them from aspects of football fandom. The Copland was the noisy end, younger support congregated there, along with the East Enclosure it was where the singing came from, it was a bit more energy and was exactly where 'sons' wanted to be. So to get the entire Govan stand booing a Rangers player took some doing, Fraser should have been substituted and banned by the club, he crossed a line and should have been punished. As Cammy mentions I saw scuffles outside after the game, no more than pushing and shoving, as some of our less intelligent support thought chanting 'there's only Tims in the Govan' as they walked past exiting Govanites was a good idea. There's a debate over whether it's ever fair for players to give it back to fans. In the end they're being paid, the fans aren't. Professionalism should trump a perhaps natural annoyance and frustration that a player might feel. I couldn't have told you this was the anniversary of it. It feels every second of 40 years ago though.

It's 1pm on Friday and I'm still buzzing from last night. We'd no one who didn't contribute last night but a special mention for Tav. He's been criticised a lot recently, he was even booed by some, and a significant number wanted him sold. His form was poor, along with almost everyone else in the squad, but last night he was immense. His cross for the goal was inch perfect, he defended well all night and showed energy, drive and leadership all game. I mean obviously I want him dropped for Sunday now...

When you look at the resources given to Spurs and then to us maybe there's something to be said for communism...

There's a story, perhaps true, who knows. The season Goram joined us (replacing the very popular Chris Woods for nationality reasons) we were put out of the League Cup by Hibs, the club we'd signed Goram from. At training Goram joked that he 'joined Rangers to play win trophies but if he was still at Hibs he'd be in the cup final', to which Ian Durrant quipped 'if you were still at Hibs we'd all be in the cup final'. Goram definitely took a few months to settle and come to terms with the demands of being the Rangers keeper, but he more than made up for his slow start.

I'd be surprised if Danilo doesn't start on Sunday. He can't play on Thursday so he'll be the freshest of the 3 strikers, assuming both feature at some point against Spurs. If both are fit then I'd be surprised if Igamane also doesn't start against Celtic. He's shown enough in the last few weeks to demonstrate the potential that first attracted us to him, and that frankly I couldn't see in the games prior to Nice. He can hold the ball up, he's a nuisance for defenders to play against, he's got a trick and isn't scared to have a dig. He's still raw and inexperienced, but on current form he's our first pick I think. Dessers has scored goals, some important ones too, but I wouldn't start him on Sunday. I think he does offer something coming off the bench though. If everyone is fit then I expect Danilo and Igamane to start, probably with Cerny, the only surprise might be Sterling starting too, along with Tav, to offer better cover and energy. Of course Thursday's match might change everything if we pick up knocks.

Hah! I voted for Diomande because I can't tell my Hamzas from my Mohameds! I meant to vote for Igamane, his work rate, moments of skill and general attitude endeared me to him. So ignore the vote for Diomande, that was a mistake.

I suspect most of us feel like that, Cammy. We still give the ball away far to cheaply and both Spurs and Celtic will punish us when we do it. We did it yesterday but Ross County weren't good enough to capitalise. I won't pretend I'm confident.

We beat them by taking our chances. We simply haven't done that in the last couple of matches against them. We've created chances but failed to convert them. Celtic will create chances, they are strong going forward and have goals throughout their side, but they also let their opponents create chances. In Scotland that's not been such a problem as the opponents are generally fairly average. Hibs could have scored 3 against them during the week for example. If, and it's a big if, but if we can start taking our chances against them then you never know. Goals change games, it's a cliche but it's true. Scoring goals has been a problem for us this season, then suddenly we score 14 goals in our last 4 games. If we can take our chances when they come, and I believe they will come, then Sunday will be a closer match than most are predicting.

Not to excuse it but it's worth remembering we're not the only football club struggling financially. Dundee Utd posted a loss of nearly £3 million earlier this year, Hibs nearly £4 million, Hearts lost £1.2 million and Aberdeen, despite some remarkable spin in the media, lost nearly £900k. St Johnstone lost well over £1 million, Dundee lost nearly £3 million, Motherwell are late to publish this year but lost over £1.5 million last year and Ross County lost half a million. Only St Mirren, more or less, broke even. In Belgium the Champions, Antwerp, lost around £40 million, indeed only 6 clubs in total out of their top two divisions didn't make a loss. Ajax lost 13 million Euros last year, PSV and Feyenoord also posted multi million Euro losses. In the Republic Of Ireland, where their domestic league is enjoying a renaissance with record attendances and clubs reaching European group stages, every single club in their top league made a financial loss last year. You don't have to look far in England to find clubs haemorrhaging money, despite access to TV and sponsorship revenues we can only dream about. Spanish football is a basket case with some of its biggest clubs carrying debt that would frighten a small country. Professional football in Europe, despite never being better funded, is in a perilous state financially. Clubs (and many of their supporters) take pride in finding loop holes in regulations designed to protect them rather than accept financial downsizing far less simply living within their means. As difficult as this is to type, Celtic are not only consistently well run, they are also very much the exception. We could be profitable. Everyone knows that means we need to find, develop and sell players every season and that is easier said than done. For every Nathan Paterson there's an Adam Devine, for every Joe Aribo there's a Todd Cantwell. Why some players succeed and some don't is one of life's mysteries. There is no excusing our form currently. We're not playing well, we don't score goals, we don't even entertain. We should be better than we are with the money we do have. I remain in the camp that's not convinced changing our manager, again, is the answer. We keep trying that and it doesn't seem to work. Perhaps some stability will pay better dividends long term. A new CEO and Chairman should provide that, although who knows, clearly firing Clement will make a lot of supporters happy and take the heat off the board and buy everyone a few months grace. We're addicted to short term returns, so nothing would surprise me.

In Glasgow it's yella, so that's how you all need to learn to say it.

Was he not already doing this role, just without the title? Is this simply confirming a title for a job he's been doing for a few months? Others will know better but I got the impression Koppen has been quite important inside the club in recent months.

He played in 3 separate World Cups, and, interestingly, in Argentina he missed the debacles with Peru and Iran, but played when we beat the second best side in the World, Holland. Just coincidence I'm sure. He captained the best club side in Europe, arguably the world, won 3 European Cups, 5 English League titles and 2 Scottish League titles and played helped Sampdoria win the first trophy in their entire history. For four years running he was named in the PFA Team Of The Year and also named in the PFA Team Of the Century 20 years after he retired. For 4 or 5 seasons Souness would have been a first choice for any club, and any country, in the world. I don't know what your definition of 'World class' is but if Souness doesn't qualify for it then I don't know who does.

A proper appraisal of Sir David Murray's tenure of Rangers is a thread in its own right, and probably one that stretches for a lot of pages. On Souness, whatever views people hold of his departure, and it was badly handled by all concerned with the exception of Murray, ironically, he must be seen as one of the most important figures in the club's history. The magnitude of his influence on Rangers, and all of Scottish football, is almost difficult to comprehend today. The ripples from some of the boulders he threw are still being felt today I'd argue. There remains much to admire about Souness, his charity work is exceptional, he's always positive about Rangers, when it's not always fashionable to be so, his punditry can be entertaining too. His insights into the appointment of Clement are interesting. His argument for Lampard isn't without merit and it's interesting to hear his views on how the current manager is doing. Souness has knowledge and experience that none of us possess, but that alone doesn't mean he's always right. I've always felt Gordon Smith is one of those ex-players who people constantly over-estimate his ability simply because he's half way articulate. A bit like Pat Nevin, broadcasters swoon over him because he's capable of throwing in a few big words, and assume this must equal intelligence and insight. In actual fact Smith (and Nevin) have consistently shown themselves to make poor decisions, lack insight and struggle when given real power. That said he can be entertaining and enjoyable to listen to some of his stories.

If I was a betting man, and I'm not, I might put a small sum on a new CEO being unveiled shortly before the agm. Something that removes some of the sting that might be coming the directors way feels like a smart move to me. It stretches credulity to think that we're not actively searching for a new CEO. We can, and should, criticise the board, but they're not idiots. I doubt when that person is announced it will satisfy all the support, but that's where we are just now. I'm really not sure I'd be recommending the board make some kind of holding statement though, it'll just push this back to the top of the agenda, and currently Clement is acting as a lightening rod for the board, can't see them looking to change that in a hurry.

If everyone was fit and available I don't think Matondo starts, I think Cortes and Cerny are wide and Bajrami goes to 10. Guessing Clement's ideal team is a bit difficult as he's prone to changes that don't always make sense to me. But I think you could guess at Butland, Tav, Souttar, Propper and Jefte, Raskin and Barron, Cortes, Bajrami, Danilo and Cerny as the most likely side. Currently Tav might find his place under threat, Balogun might start depending on who we're playing, Dessers might be number 9 and not Danilo. The point is though you're still looking at at least 5 'new' signings in the starting line up. I really don't think that's relying on the old guard, that's using the resources at your disposal. Dessers is far from good enough in my opinion, but he's currently the best forward at the club so what can we do. Danilo might turn out to be better, in flashes he's looked decent, but none of us know yet. I get the criticism of our domestic performances of late, we're not entertaining and we're not clinical. I don't think the answer is to change the manager though. I think Clement is a good manager, he's proved that elsewhere. Changing manager every autumn is not the answer to our issues, sure there might be a bounce, the last 3 managers have enjoyed that, but ultimately all ran into the same issues. Someone has to be given time to solve them. There are systemic problems behind the scenes at the club. Until we've key positions filled and everyone is pulling in the same direction it's impossible to judge to how good a job our manager is actually doing. Clement made a telling comment after a match a few weeks ago when he was asked about someone who had picked up a knock, I paraphrase but he said something like 'thankfully that's one of the few jobs I'm not being asked to do, our medical staff will will assess him...'. The inference was I was brought in to do a specific job but that's not how it's turned out. It might simply be excuses or frustrations, or I might be reading way to much into it, but judging anyone's ability while the club is so chaotic behind the scenes is unfair I feel.