JohnMc

I'm not sure what you mean by this type of signing. What in Murphy's history makes you think he had a high chance of injury? He's had no record serious injury during his career and was 28 when he joined us so hardly at the end of his career. I'm not even sure it's a fair criticism of Dorrans, he's played consistently over 20 games a season at Championship or EPL level for most of his career and was 29 when he joined us. A squad needs balance, we need experienced pros at, or close to, their peak to balance the younger promising players surely? I'd have thought Dorrans and Murphy both fall neatly into the former with the added bonus of them being local boys who'll take no time to adjust to the environment both on and off the field.

Dorrans and Murphy have been really unlucky with injuries, I don't think you can blame them or those who sanctioned their signings for that. I'm disappointed Dorrans is being moved on, I thought his cameo appearance at Villareal gave us a glimpse of what we were missing. It could be that he's simply not ever going to get back to the level of fitness we require though. Murphy was very effective before his injury, he's an intelligent player, not a flashy one, but I hope he regains his fitness and stays with us.

It will be good to hear the Mo Jo story from a Rangers supporter's perspective. Too much of the narrative has centred around the apparent anger and resistance of Rangers supporters towards the transfer, those people did exist, but they were a small percentage they shouldn't dominate the story the way they seem too. I worked as printer at that time. We were a union shop, everyone had to join a trade union when you worked there, printing, along with most skilled trades at that time, was heavily unionised. There was a big dispute between the main print unions and Rupert Murdoch and his papers, The Times, Sunday Times, News Of The World and The Sun. They'd opened a print plant in east London and Kinning Park in Glasgow and had deliberately employed non-union printers and associated trades. There were pickets every night and a lot of anger and resentment. In another forum I'd explain the long term consequences of the dispute, but for this story the point of it is to explain why The Sun was banned from our work. The Sun carried the exclusive story of Johnson's signing on its front page. None of the other papers had the story. We were a small-ish printers in Glasgow filled with bluenoses, none of who had any idea this had happened. Around mid-morning a delivery driver told one of the guys and no one believed him, we all thought it was a wind-up. Then towards lunchtime it came on the Radio Clyde news, we were dumb struck, it seemed impossible. It wasn't so much that we'd signed an RC, John Spencer had been at the club for a few years too much tabloid fanfare and I never heard anyone say a bad word against him. But Spencer was different, he was a Rangers supporter, Mo Johnson definitely wasn't. I think if we'd signed a Brazilian or a Spaniard or Italian most Rangers fans would have shrugged and waited to see if he was any good. But we all knew Maurice Johnston. Most of the Rangers supporters in my work that day burst out laughing; this was the biggest get-it-up-you we could possibly give Celtic, it was hilarious. They'd literally paraded him as their player a few weeks before and he was treated like the prodigal son returning by their support. Now he was sitting beside a grinning Souness saying how much he was looking forward to pulling on the light blue. It seemed unreal. The Celtic support went into meltdown. The board, Billy McNeill and of course Johnson himself were called for everything. In my opinion they struggled to accept the signing far more than the Rangers support did. For many of them the thought that a Glasgow raised, Catholic schooled, Celtic supporting player would consider signing for Rangers seemed impossible. That the highest profile, and arguably the one of the best, just had, rocked their very foundations. It's not hyperbole to say that I'm not sure they've ever really recovered from it. I think much of the hatred so many of them have for us and the apparent need to demonise and stereotype us stems from that signing. I knew Rangers supporters who were very unsure about it too. Most I knew had a problem with the person, rather than his religion. Johnson had a criminal record, something that would have once discounted you from playing for Rangers, he'd a reputation for being a playboy, there were substantial rumours of illegitimate children around the city not being acknowledged by him, he'd been charged with serious assault after a fight in a nightclub, and of course, he was an ex-Celtic player and someone seen as being 'one of theirs' by everyone at Rangers. Could a player with that upbringing really give 100% to our club? The answer was an emphatic yes. I watched his Scottish debut in a friendly at Broomfield against the deeply unreconstructed Airdrie. Five minutes in the Section B boys began a chant of 'who's the Fenian in the blue', which drew smiles from many in our support, but was rejoined with the first chant of Mo, Mo Super Mo, from us. Johnson demonstrated what we'd bought that day. He worked harder than McCoist, he was faster and more mobile, he was a selfless player as well, playing with his back to goal or leading the line he'd drag defenders wide for others to break through, he never gave defenders a minutes peace. Scoring the winner a few months later against Celtic at Ibrox sealed the deal for any remaining doubters of his commitment. His legacy is worth exploring at some point too. After signing Johnson literally nobody was off limits to Rangers. I've heard rumours of Souness asking Gough to tap up Paul McStay at Scotland matches to see if he was interested in crossing the city, Celtic knew no one was beyond us now and that messed with their phycological make-up. They'd always relied on the best young Catholic players gravitating to them and being paid less and treated more poorly than others in the past, now they knew that couldn't happen. Wages starting going up at Parkhead, putting a strain on the famous biscuit tin, Rangers started to be linked with every player, helping us dominate the back pages driving the Celtic support into even deeper apoplexy, and so began a run of dominance for Rangers almost unmatched in Scottish football history. Signing 'wee Mo' played a big part in that. On almost every level the signing was a masterstroke and a big success. Johnson was a very good player who contributed a lot to the side particularly in his first season. I'd argue his signing forced McCoist to work on his game and develop into one of the best players in our history. I'd also argue that signing Johnson so damaged Celtic that they've never got over it, whilst we now look back on it as just another big signing. Ironically, our other big signing that summer, was probably even more important to our continued success. Trevor Steven was a sublime footballer who provided so many of what we now call 'assists'. The other big realisation of course is that 30 years ago we were signing some of the best players available in the UK, how times have changed.

McCrorie also struggles to pin down his best position. I suspect we all see him as a defensive, holding midfielder, yet he played as a centre half almost exclusively until about 2 years ago. His height is a great asset, I think that's one of the reasons we always played him against Celtic. Protecting the defence and adding height when defending set pieces. Our midfield are quite small as are our forwards. When we play against a side with a six foot plus centre forward we're relying on someone like Tav or Arfield to mark him as the centre-halves pick up each other. Anyway, the story above linking Crystal Palace with Morelos is concerning. They've got money to spend and if they're also going to lose their most popular and arguably influential player to Arsenal they're in the market for a crowd pleasing forward or two. We're in no position to turn down £15 million, we'd struggle to turn away £10 million I think. Who do we replace him with if he goes?

If, next summer, we announced the Bosman signing from Portsmouth of a young midfielder with ten under 21 caps we'd probably look at that as a decent bit of business. That's what McCrorie will be this time next year. As long as he can command a regular starting place it's a good move for him at this stage of his career. If he can't get into the Portsmouth side he won't be getting into ours anytime soon. I like McCrorie but he's a squad player currently and he needs game time. Good move all round I'd say.

It was a great game that's why people go on about it. I've no recollection of the 1992 Scottish Cup Final, but I'll remember the semi final for the rest of my life. It's entirely possible to view one match on its own merits, whatever came before or afterwards. Big Konterman's 25 yard screamer at Hampden will stay long in the mind, but I'd need to Google who we met in the Final afterwards. We didn't win the Champion's League but I'll always remember drawing with Marseille as a great match. Drawing with Celtic at Ibrox when Butcher, Woods and McAvennie were sent off is one of my all time favourite matches. We didn't win it and we ultimately lost the league to them that season, doesn't detract from the experience of that match though.

Yes, I worry his work ethic might not be enough to compensate for any lack of ability. He's an athletic big lad, in theory at least he should be able to break with speed, but I agree you need a bit more than that. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

He's a polarising type of player. He certainly wasn't the hardest working but he created chances in every match, often they weren't taken though. He was effective in Warburton's formation and clearly Warburton is able to get the best out of him, something no other manager has been able to do. McKay clearly has a flaw in his make-up, but for a couple of seasons he was our most effective player in a side playing very watchable football.

Is Jack injured as well? With Arfield's international duty keeping him back from early season games Docherty has a chance to prove he's worth a place. It'll be interesting to see if he can take it. It's funny, but he's one of those players I really want to see succeed. For some reason you get the impression he's a grafter, a player who's trying his best to make it with us. I know that's not always enough, but I hope he does.

Barrie McKay was superb under Warburton, he's able to get the best out of him, that's a good move for QPR and the player. Personally I hope it works out for Warburton and all the ex-Rangers players at QPR. For various reasons it didn't work out for Warburton with us, but he got us up playing very watchable football and gave me one of my most enjoyable ever matches that day at Hampden. Good luck to him.

How many Catholic Primary Schools do we have to play before we get to play non-denominational schools?? Actually a quick read of their website tells me they were very closely associated with their local church. It's terrible when football clubs are associated with religion, I expect the Scottish press to roundly condemn them...

I've not read that, do you recommend it? The documentary on Amazon is worth an hour or so of your time, you get a real sense of who he is and the drive inside him.

Have you watched the Gerrard documentary on Amazon? It's an interesting insight on that subject.

Wallace deserved some form of recognition from our directors, whatever happened in the dressing room at Hampden. Like it or not Wallace hung around when we were demoted, he could have earned more down south, it curtailed any international aspirations he had and led to him playing against sides no better than Junior level during the peak of his career. He was also the club captain and made over 190 appearances for us. I've yet to read him bad-mouth the club in public either. I do think expecting someone from the board to take a minute to thank him for his service and wish him all the best for the future isn't asking too much.

The problem with footballers and football managers is their unwavering self-belief. Every manager who has gone in at Newcastle in recent years has believed they're capable of 'turning' them into a force again, Gerrard is no different. Gerrard's relationship with Benitez being strained Gerrard might just fancy showing he could take Newcastle further than his old boss could. With Gerrard's family still in England a move south is almost certainly something that will happen at some point soon. Gerrard is smart enough to know that if our season starts badly, say we're put out of Europe early, lose in the League Cup and drop league points and find ourselves trailing that he'll come under pressure. His current elevated status among our support won't last long if we're losing away to Motherwell and Livingston again. All that being said unless there's been a fall out with our board I can't see Gerrard moving this summer. He's demonstrated throughout his career a degree of loyalty that's uncommon today. Okay, it's easier being 'loyal' to a club who are one of the biggest in the world and that are consistently challenging for honours, but it's still fairly rare. Based on nothing but my opinion I think Gerrard would like to win the league with us and have a crack at the Champion's League. If those two things happen I expect we'll struggle to hang onto him.

As someone widely recognised for my sartorial elegance I feel I'm qualified to comment on this. Rangers - sponsors logo too big, not convinced by the breast plate/sleeves stitching, still though it's blue with an okay collar so right away it's better than every other strip. Aberdeen - the Adidas stripes down the shirt is reminiscent of an old 80s strip, so points on for retro appeal, but criss/cross collar is shocking and the away strip looks like a dodgy own-brand tea cake wrapper. Motherwell - artificially improved by the lack of a sponsor logo it'll resemble dug's dinner whenever Lanarkshire's 3rd biggest bookie is resplendent across it. Too many hoops, just stop at the one, it's not hard. Away strip is better. Celtic - each season I'm amazed that they can take the most hideous design ever put onto a strip, namely green hoops, and somehow, remarkably, they manage to make it worse each season. What happened to the sleeves? What is that collar? I long ago realised that there is some sort of inside joke in the shirt design fraternity where they see how far they can take that strip before people stop buying it. It's astonishing to think that their away strip will almost certainly out do it in terms of mouth opening awfulness too. Hearts - simple v-collar, always a good call, and a cool shirt sponsor. It's hard to fault this seasons Hearts' strip, but that won't stop me. It's maroon, again so that's a problem and the Aztec cave painting highlights in the shirt make no sense. Maybe they'll have a blue away strip. Hibs - best you can say is it's traditional. They've taken the simple white v-collar and fucked it up by messing about with the back. Just leave it alone you knobs. Is that their sponsor, are they really sponsoring themselves? Kinda sad. Ross County - a masterclass in how to take the finest ingredients, a navy top with red highlighting, and fuck it up. What the fuck is that monstrosity?? Hoops!! I know drug abuse and loneliness and afflict many people in the Highlands but that's no excuse. Tow this into the Cromarty Firth and sink it. St Mirren - no, just fucken no. What the fuck is that?? Black and white stripes is not hard, what are you doing here and what is that collar and your away strip is cerise. Just stop. Did that Irish manager design them, is that why they sacked him?? Hideous. St Johnstone - FUCK SAKE! NO!! STOP PUTTING FUCKING HOOPS ON SOLID STRIPS AND WHATS THAT BIT OF WHITE UNDER THE ARMS ABOUT?? WANKERS. BINN, FUCKING MOST APPROPRIATE SPONSOR SO FAR. If Kilmarnock, Hamilton and Livingston aren't even on that list Lord knows what miscarriages of design they've cooked up.

Excellent, as ever.

You might well be right RR, and of course matching fan expectations does make life easier for a board. Certainly the transfer fee has a bearing on what you might expect of a player. Clubs not matching their rivals can get criticised, particularly if form is poor. I always laugh when a manager is sacked and pundits state that he was backed by the board in the transfer market, as if it was all down to the manager that the club wasted their budget that summer. I agree though that if there's any possibility it could add a couple of million to a fee it's a strategy worth pursuing.

It's not particularly accurate either. Allan McGregor, Naismith, Whittaker, Davis, Cousin and Jelavic have all left Rangers for the English top flight. I accept that since the banter years began things have changed but we're closer to where we were again. Nobody would be all that surprised if Goldston, Tavernier and Morelos ended up in the EPL.

I'm less concerned about pundits talking up his price, I struggle to believe that it makes much difference other than heighten or temper fan expectations. Tierney has Champion's League and international experience, is young and under contract so anyone wanting to buy him will have to pay a decent fee for him. I'd be astonished if it's £25 million though, indeed I'd have thought £10 to £12 mil even in the inflated English market is good business for Celtic. That said football transfers are mental these days. Chelsea sold a full back to Torino for £9 million earlier this month and I'd never heard of him (Ola Aina anyone?), indeed he only played 3 times for Chelsea. I guess if a 22 year old Chelsea reserve player with half dozen caps for Nigeria is worth £9 million then maybe someone like Tierney is worth double that. It does make you realise though that if Morelos can sort his discipline problem and score consistently in Europe he's potentially worth £20 plus million.

The Teirney stuff is bizarre and lacking in any self awareness. He's a decent player, with a concerning injury record playing in a secondary European league. To suggest Arsenal aren't good enough for him is deluded. I'm amazed a club the size of Arsenal are even considering buying him. I genuinely thought he'd join a good Championship or smaller EPL side and if he does well there then a move to one of the big English sides might happen. Hutton, who was a better player at that stage in my opinion, struggled at Spurs, it's a big jump from the SPFL to the big English sides. If he leaves Celtic I hope he does well, if he stays I hope his injuries are chronic and he spends next season in the stand. In the end Celtic have him under contract and can play hard ball at this stage of the summer, that might change as the summer goes on. Sportsound stopped dealing in reality a long time ago, it's fanzine levels of balance these days.

One of the things the film gets across well is the sheer brutality that Maradona faced in every match he played. Italian football was still fairly defensive during that period too, 'catenaccio' was still the over-riding culture in 80s Serie A. For me that's why he's the greatest player ever, I just don't think Messi in particular would have been allowed to play at that time. I wonder if the gradual decline in Italian club football (and I accept these things are all relative) is connected to the rule changes in football that have removed much of the physicality and fouling from the sport.

I think we need four strikers, even if we're playing one up front. Assuming Morelos and Defoe start the season I think we need at least one more experienced striker and then one younger one. If one of our strikers gets an injury, and that will happen during the season, you need options from the bench. You also require competition to keep everyone on their toes and lastly having a variety of playing styles helps too. We've potentially a lot of games this coming season, rotation might be very important. Liam Burt was highly thought of when he first went pro with us, but he's been hampered by injuries. I'd be surprised if Celtic fancied signing him though.

It's hard to know how difficult some of these fixtures will be. Kilmarnock could implode without Clarke, their managerial appointment is certainly ambitious but would anyone be surprised if an Italian with very little previous experience of leading a side and no experience of Scottish football actually struggles. Livingston fell away last season after a blistering start, I expect them to spend the season fighting the drop this coming season, they've lost a couple of key players as well. Hibs at home and St Mirren away we should dispatch, you can't challenge for a league if you can't win those matches. End of November to the New Year is a busy time with some traditionally difficult matches, that could be a difficult period. Qualifying for the Europa League could be a double edged sword. We should start the league season having played some competitive matches, in theory perhaps a little ahead of some other sides. But those games might catch up on some players as the season goes on, we'll need to use the squad wisely. Anyway, bring it on, can't wait for it to start again.

This seems to have been greeted with a collective shrug yet I can't help but feel this is a significant decision. Is it the right one though? If the goal is playing against 'men' as is stated in the article then surely sending players out on loan is the answer? If it's playing against better 'reserve' sides than the SPFL currently have then fair enough. I guess my only concern is the SPFL reserve league will have an element of competition to it and an element of rivalry. The matches against assorted English and European sides will be friendlies. It'll be interesting to see if players can push on this season and this change does bear fruit.