Gaffer

I am disgusted. He needs to be sacked today. The fact that someone in the national broadcaster can even think that, never mind tweet that, should result in widespread condemnation. What sort of world are we living in when someone can compare the sexual assault and abuse of children to anything else? If this isn't dealt with promptly today, I think the whole country needs to wake up and realise we have the most corrupt media organisation imagineable. I knew it was bad, but this is a incomprehensible.

Prize money from qualification: £4.6m Prize money from group stages: £8.7m Returning pride and Euro nights back to Ibrox: Priceless

I think one of the reasons we've been so successful throughout our history is because we compare ourselves against the high standards we've traditionally set, not against our rivals. I don't ever want us to be satisfied with just being better than our domestic rivals, although I do accept that it's an important first step. We've done well in the transfer market, but equally we have a long way to go before we have the standard of player we all want to see at Ibrox.

Another excellent pod from you guys. Let's hope it's equally as positive by the time the next one is recorded on Sunday. ??

Fantastic from the gaffer .... when asked about the ticket allocation for our fans he said "you've got to respect that this is a hibs game at their stadium and they've got loads of fans that want to come and watch Rangers". ?

It WASN'T a case of the BBC copying RTV as far as I could tell though. The BBC was showing 2-0 from the fourth minute. RTV didn't start showing the wrong score until the 7th minute. That suggests that RTV copied the BBC, and not the other way around. It was bizarre because I would have understood if it had been BBC taking their erroneous feed from RTV.

I'm enjoying this thread and it reminds me of something I posted a couple of years ago when MW was in charge. One thing he really understood was that corners and crossing can be a waste of possession, and almost never result in goals. MW was a financier and as a result he understood the game in numbers. Corners hit directly from the corner flag will very rarely result in a goal. This statistic holds true across every league in the world, including junior and youth level. To score from a corner, you have to have a short pass first, in order to change the angle that has proven to score more goals. However, it is still a tiny percentage. We'd be far better holding on to the ball and playing it into the middle. As for crosses, we are still trying to cross the ball forward. Again, it's been shown statistically that this will result in very few goals and is a waste of possession. To drastically increase the chances of a goal from a cross, the ball has to be cut back. It can be cut back on the ground or in the air, but either way it has to travel away from the goal to result in a goal (again, statistically speaking). I appreciate many people doubt the value of numbers and statistics in football, but it is hugely valuable information and it frustrates me that we don't apply it. There are three things we need to do. Two of them we did brilliantly in the beginning and have slowly fallen away since then, and one we need to change. 1. We need to get back to moving the ball quickly. We have too many players who are not moving into space at the right time, or not picking out the pass before it comes to them. This was something I thought the management team had changed when they came in because the passing and movement was so obviously drilled, and it was brilliant to watch. 2. We need to have players making the inside forward runs. Crossing from wide positions is ok, but to achieve the precision of cut back crosses, we need that forward run on the left or right edge of the 18 yard box. I appreciate the change in formation can contribute to that, but that's more of an excuse than a reason. In the earlier part of the season, we had Coulibaly and Kent making those runs and it carved teams open. We don't see that now. 3. As a result of the pressure we out on teams, we now get a ton of corners. Please, please, please stop hitting them directly from the flag. There's no point. We need to keep the ball in these situations and maintain the pressure while we look for a cut back or through ball. We do need a particular type of player to do these things consistently, but I also suspect that the loss of training time (due to Europa League games) has slowly diminished the application of many of the players. These training drills make players do things without thinking. We need that time back on the training pitch to remind the players what made us so potent and get us back to that asap.

How ironic (and embarrassing) that Rangers TV appeared to be using the BBC as its source for the score. It was corrected just around the same time as the BBC. That's incredibly poor. At least on the park we are looking good though.

Although now rangers tv is showing 2-0 now. This is bizarre. Did I sleep through a goal?

They just can't get anything right. Poor poor service for those that rely on it.

What's the score? Rangers tv is only 1-0 but on BBC its showing as 2-0. Did Lafferty score or not?

Grezda on. That's the sub we needed but we'll be taking more risks defensively now.

We look solid enough but I just can't see how we're going to score here. They're set up for a draw and we don't appear to be able to invent a way through them.

I know of nothing to fuel further speculation or otherwise, however one thing is for certain and that is his performances recently have been really poor. He is an extremely talented player and I think we'd all agree with that. When he first arrived he seemed genuinely keen to get involved in games, and make space for himself and others. However now he just doesn't seem to move into space as much, and that forces him to then receive the ball with his back to goal, resulting in a backwards or side pass. I suspect his performance metrics would show a deterioration in his movement on the pitch, but I can't be sure of that. Furthermore, when he first started with us I was impressed at how much of a team player he appeared to be, especially with his skills. Recently he appears to want to show a piece of skill before he releases the ball, and hence slowing the ball down. These are symptoms of a change in attitude in my opinion. I hope the rumours are untrue and that he isn't just another skilful kid that fails in the game due to his attitude. He could be a great player, and I'd hope he'd show that with us for the rest of the season. If he is off, I hope he sorts himself out.

But allegedly he is NOT an ultimate professional, and hence why the club took action against him. Wallace did a lot for the club and I wouldn't want to undermine that, but he was poor last season and the season before. I think Flanagan is far from the quality we need, but I still think he's better than Wallace. I suspect he will be offloaded in the January window.

What a great reaction there has been to this article, and deservedly so. If you were in the shoes of MSM professionals right now, what would you be thinking? If you had any self awareness, or pride in your work, the first thing you would be hoping is that your boss didn't read this. You'd be terrified that he would be tempted to compare your articles to something written by an amateur (hopefully @GSmiddy takes that in the spirit in which it's intended). How could you justify your annual salary? How could you look yourself in the mirror, knowing that you've never been able to provide anything close to that level of insight or writing, despite being in the industry for decades? You'd be ashamed. Secondly, you'd be terrified that your readership read it, afterall you'd be deeply concerned that they'd also compare and contrast with your submissions, and thereby conclude that it's better to gain the insight, analysis, and quality at Gersnet, rather than paying for something that's not even fit to wrap a fish supper in these days. However, if you are young with an ambition to enter this world, or if you were one of those MSM "professionals" already, allow me to ease your concerns. Your bosses would be unlikely to reprimand you, or insist on a personal development plan, so long as your accusations and diatribe (regardless of its accuracy) are negatively aimed at Rangers. In fact, such baseless accusations are more than likely to result in a promotion. Equally, you don't have to worry about your readership applying any sort of due diligence either, because almost all of them are desperate to read anything negative about big, bad, Rangers. It doesn't matter if it's untrue, as long as it paints "sevco" in a bad light. Fortunately for me, I am not involved with the MSM in any capacity, but I can tell you that I'm so embarassed for them. Today's article has superbly set the record straight about Morelos, while also making a complete laughing stock of the various Scottish football 'commentators'. I am quite sure that none of them will be available for comment, and none will be likely to have the time to respond. Why? Because they'll all be too busy praying that Morelos gets sent off tonight (before he has a chance to score), and that big, bad, Rangers lose to Aberdeen. That's what keeps them and their bosses happy. That's what keeps their readership/listeners happy. It also means they don't have to find new forms of fiction to explain why this has been anything other than a superb start to the season for Morelos, Gerrard, Rangers, and us. GIRUY

@GSmiddy has brilliantly articulated the deliberate distortion of facts and fiction around Morelos. This is a superb piece of writing. It just further reinforces the FACT that Gersnet (and other forums) provide much better insight, and quality of analysis, including writing style, than you ever get from so-called professional football writes/presenters/pundits. ??

I watched this too Frankie, and had goosebumps at stages. It was strange because I only tend to feel that association when it's my own team. When you see his journey, I agree with you 100% that he was a perfect fit for us. Sometimes the timing can be all wrong, but he has had this opportunity at the perfect time for us and him. You're right, he may not win us a trophy, but after watching that "film" I knew I didn't want any other manager in the world at our club right now.

Gerrard seemed pretty confident in his presser today that we would have a new striker coming in soon.

Could this be one of the best press conferences by a Rangers manager? I felt he's been great in interviews, but in this one he OWNED it. How lucky are we to have him in charge?!? I loved the way he handled the Morelos questions, and the 14 men respones was top drawer too. He seems to deliver straight talking messages, while at the same time praise our fans, talk his players up, and get it right up Levein and the others who talk nonsense about us. I love this guy.

At one stage I think I found this hilarious, but don't you think this is all very disturbing? Their team win a trophy (apparently) and yet they are shouting about their day being ruined because we went top of the league, and suggesting there's a conspiracy in our favour from referees. I don't care about Celtic. I only watch them when we play them. I know very little about their players, or finances. I just don't care because they're not my team. My family and friends are the same. I can't remember the last time any of us spoke about them. We are just too bust discussing and enjoying our own team. I know we joke about it, but many of the Celtic fans really are more obsessed with us than their own team? It's a serious question .... why? We've not won a trophy in years. We've been no threat to them for a long time. We are a completely new club with no history against them (according to them). I honestly don't know why any of their fans should be interested in us, never mind obsessed to the point where they are delusional. It's making some of them ill. Are we really a cause of mental health issues, or a symptom? This latest accusation is incredible and highlights the level of obsession. All of the facts point to Rangers being punished way harsher than any other team, and for anyone who cares to look at the evidence, we are victims of poor refereeing (other than Dallas scoring another hat trick for us yesterday) rather than beneficiaries. So, once again I ask you .... why are they like this? Anyone got any suggestions? (I'm expecting some great opinions from Bill and Gonzo in particular ?)

If Katic is so fragile that his confidence can be so easily damaged, we might as well just sell him. However, I don't get any suggestion or see any evidence that this is the case. It looks to me like he's just returned after an injury and needs to gain match sharpness before he can get back into the team. The problem for him isn't a lack of confidence (as far as I am aware), but rather some solid displays by his team mates currently occupying his role. If he's got any sense he will appreciate that the team is winning so he just has to keep working hard and he will get his chance.

As always, great job. Loved that one. I bet the guys just loved putting that one together. It's been tough when the pod follows a disappointment, so what a buzz it must have been for the host and guests to do this one. It comes across. It sounded like they needed to suck lemons to wipe the grins off their faces. I could have listened to that for another two hours. There's no such thing as TOO MUCH Rangers chat this week!!!! I can't get enough.

To be fair, I think we did say a little more than that. We at least implied that he lied, because he did. He didn't see Candeias blow the kiss (as TV evidence proves). The ridiculous thing about this statement from the SFA is that our original query suggested he had made a mistake (which is fine). We could accept he made a mistake, so this isn't about a lack of tolerance for mistakes by refs. The problem is that e didn't admit it was a mistake, and instead lied to cover up a mistake. That's the difference here. I can trust refs who make mistakes, but he cannot be trusted now. I can't understand why the SFA don't appreciate that. The evidence is there, but they've selected to ignore it. Convenient eh!?!