Gaffer

As long as there is no dressing room revolt, or sudden loss of form, he must be guaranteed to get the job at least for another year, regardless of the result next week or in the cup. However, if he gets a win against Celtic, or wins a cup, I'm sure the contract will be for longer. He will know though that to ensure a unanimous support for his appointment, he must achieve a big result. That's why I'm sure every single one of us hopes he gets it. As I said in the OP, it's a risk to bring in any manager. I'd welcome a long period of stability on the managerial front and I really hope it's him. Manages develop in the same way players do. They need games, off and on field problems to deal with, and dressing room challenges. Murty could very well develop into a top manager in the way Pep did. At the end of next season, we could very well be asking for him to be replaced, but equally we could all be begging for him to be put on a ten year contract. I'm hoping for the latter.

In so many ways, this game is more important than the game next weekend so we have to win it. I would however think that the team is settled enough to swap in one or two players and still maintain the momentum.

You provide a great service in reporting the output from PQ, but you must put yourself through torture listening to that garbage each week. I can't bring myself to listen to any of it. I've created a world for myself which excludes newspapers and BBC reporting. I'm happy. You should try it. ??

I don't think Morelos will be happy with being rested but he should be ahead of the Celtic game. Cummings needs game time.

I think most fans hope he does get the job, because that means he has had a strong end to the season. I wouldn't want to speculate on anyone else because there's no need to introduce any negativity at the moment. We are absolutely flying and I hope it continues through next weekend.

I think this applies to the whole team, including the manager. If we can beat Celtic we will have excitement aplenty. In fact the level of excitement for us will be matched only by the level of despair as the timplosion takes place. We will always regard ourselves to be the best and will only ever be content when we are back to normal and beating them consistently.

I got 36/55 in this one, but about 15 of them were guesses. Most Celtic fans know more about my club than me ?

Yes, it does and that's why I said that bringing him in was a master stroke. He's been around enough to know what it means to be at Rangers and I think he's helping Murty tremendously.

I just hope the game is on. The games can't come quickly enough for me at the moment. Our football is the best on the tele at the moment so I'm sure I'm not alone in looking forward to our next game as soon as the previous one is over. We just have to play our strongest team because this is our best chance for silverware this season. As I said in the prediction league, it's just so hard to predict the score because there is such a wide range possible now. Previously, we could only dream of scoring more than 3 goals in a game, but now we are almost guaranteed to get a dozen decent chances. It's now just a matter of how many we put away. Equally, the first goal scorer was too predictable and limited to one or two players. Now I have no idea who it will be out of the ten outfield players. Any of them can score, and in a couple of games we could have afforded to play Wes up front too so he could get in on the action. Im keeping everything crossed that the game is on because I'll suffer withdrawal symptoms now if it's off.

The team is cruising at the moment. The confidence is flowing through the team and the club, and the players seem to be able to play a style of football we are all enjoying. So, rather than wait until the end of the season, is it time now to give him the job? If not, when is the right time? Lets take a look at his report card so far. RESULTS: 8/10 Any manager of Rangers has to get results and Murty now has 12 wins out of 16. The team has scored 37 and conceded 16. Since the transfer window, which was his first opportunity to assemble a team of his own, we've won 7 of our 8 games, scoring 27 and only conceding 8 goals. To win the league or a cup, we need to beat Celtic and although the deserved to win the last old firm game when he was in charge, we could achieve only a draw. In my opinion, he has to manage a win to show he has what it takes longer term. Coaching: 8/10 Murty has shown that he can improve players like Windass, John, Morelos, Tavernier and Bates. Morelos aside, I was unconvinced by these players and thought they would be replaced at the earliest opportunity. I'm now wondering whether these players could be longer term prospects for us because the improvement in all of them has been quite remarkable, especially since he took over. His experience in developing the youth players appears to be helping us to develop our own youth players too with McCrorie making a breakthrough. I'd like to see him showing that he can address the bad habits of some of our fringe players though. Holt in particular is a player I like but he seems to repeat the same bad habits game after game and yet he could be a really important player for us if that could be resolved. Wilson was the same but we don't have that problem any more. Can Murty improve these players? I suppose he needs more time to prove that. Man management: 7/10 This may be an unfair score, given that the dressing room seems to be united at the moment, but it reflects the fact that he has a few injured players out that may otherwise be expecting to start games. Alves is returning from injury, as is Miller and Wallace. We still have McCrorie, Jack and Dorrans out. How will he manage these big players' expectations of game time? The team is winning at the moment so it's easier to explain why others are not getting their chance but it will be a test of his skills to manage this when they are all fit. Having said that, I thought is was a weakness of his his but he's shown that he is robust enough and strong enough to play a team he has confidence in, and keep some big names on the bench. Style of play: 7/10 I questioned Murty's style a few weeks back. I just couldn't see any sort of system being played and I certainly was not enjoying the football on show. Then we had the transfer activity and suddenly the football is as good as I've watched in a very long time. The team can dominate the ball for long periods, but we can also play direct, or hit teams on the counter with the speed of our forwards. He seems to have developed a flexibility in our approach to games, whilst maintaining some consistency in the standard of fast, one touch passing, which we've used to slice team so apart with apparent ease. I've now lost count of the times I've watched our goals and thought it was a contender for goal of the season. The team is exciting to watch and there's a confident swagger to our play which is pleasing to see. The reason for a score of just 7 in this category is because we have to do this consistently now, especially at Ibrox. He hasn't done enough yet to build a fortress at Ibrox, but we are getting there. Equally, we need to demonstrate that we can do it against 'them' too. Media: 6/10 When Murty faced the media at first, he was lacking any confidence or gravitas when responding to questions. He was always friendly and articulate, but he did not command much respect. I see him growing into this role now and in the last 2 or 3 press conferences he seems to be more assertive and confident in his position. He seems to now believe that he is almost worthy of being the Rangers manager. He has created a decent relationship with the press now, but he has to start seeing himself as the manager of the best team in Scotland. He needs to walk in to those press conferences and realise that his words can have an influence on the opposition as well as his own players. He's an intelligent guy and very articulate. Now he must use that fully to gain any small advantage, especially in games against 'them'. Support team: 9/10 Allen, JJ, CM and a few others were already in place before he became the manager, but the addition of Jimmy as his assistant has been a brilliant appointment and I suspect this has had a big impact on the players. Also, Murty may not have appointed the others but what he had done is built a strong relationship with them in a short period of time. He seems like the sort of guy that gets on with everyone, and I'm not sure how other managers would have dealt with the DoF role. The relationship with Murty and Allen is going to be so important for us to achieve longer term dominance in the game up here so it just has to work. So far, so good. SUMMARY Murty is the lead candidate for the role of permanent manager. He is getting results, and appears to have created a harmony in the club. He has some work to do to show he is the man to lead a title challenge, but who else would we be willing to take the risk with? Other managers come with their own ideas, and an uncertainty that I'm not willing to gamble on. I was uninspired with Murty's appointment, and thought I'd want another manager in asap, but he's done enough in my view to get the job full time. I suspect the players want him to be confirmed in role, so the question is when to do it? I think the players would get a boost from such an announcement so maybe it'd be ideally timed just before the game next weekend, or maybe just ahead of a cup final. What do you think?

Once again I've proven that I have a terrible memory. I got only 7 correct.

That's fair. There's no doubt that we all have a high degree of confidence in Allen and his team to bring in decent players if and when we need them. No matter what happens, it should be an interesting summer. Depending on how the next couple of weeks go, we could be in for an interesting end of season too.

It'll be interesting to see how much the player can do to influence the move to us, and how that may affect his price. I'd be amazed if he doesn't want to join us permanently because he looks to be loving his time at our club and he must surely see what has happened to others who returned from loans and went to other clubs. In fact, no one knows what happened to them because they slip into obscurity. The questions is then about his salary. Can we afford to pay him enough to stop him from being tempted by a bigger money move to the Championship? I suppose that's the true test if he's right for us. If he'd rather go to the Championship just to get a few more pounds then he is not for us. But I've got a feeling this guy wants to win things, and he's another that I'd love to be with us when we get 55. It does just show how good the loan market can be for players and us, and I'd be happy with more 'trials' like this.

I'm assuming that too FS. Surely the funding is required to boost the transfer budget this summer. In which case we need to get a move on.

That's what I meant. Club 1872 could back any shares and take them from DK at the reduced price. I understand the point about the money going directly into the club, but it depends on what the main objective is. For me, it's to buy as many shares as possible, so if we could buy a few more shares at a cheaper rate, it's got to be worth considering. The sooner we get to 25%, the better. I think all this talk is pointless anyway because I can't imagine anyone would be mad enough to dispose of their shares at a reduced rate now. And when you consider the upward trajectory of the club right now, the share price is also only going to go up.

If anyone is selling at the reduced price, I'd like Club 1872 to step forward and get them at this lower rate. I can't imagine anyone being desperate enough for cash that they'd sell though, and this is why this is such a ridiculous situation. As a tax payer, I'm disgusted that our funds are being wasted to chase such a pointless case. I appreciate the law is the law, but it's disgraceful that we have such an idiotic system that's so inflexible that it can't apply common sense here.

Once a bear, always a bear. It's such a shame he wasn't able to perform for us the way he'd like to but he did show signs of brilliance. Like everyone else, I'd wish him well and I hope he stays in the game somehow because he's got tons of experience and a superb reputation.

I think every one of us is now quietly confident going in to the old film game. I'm not saying we will win, but we have a decent chance for the first time in a while. The team is just clicking at a good time. We always knew Morelos was going to be a great player for us, and he was the top man last night, but I'm amazed at how well Docherty has played. I can't believe he's not made more headlines before he joined us because that boys is absolute class. I don't think there's a single bear that would have imagined that our best midfield doesn't include Jack, McCrorie or Dorrans. However, the way our midfield is performing right now I have no idea how anyone else can break into the starting eleven in there. I'm keeping all fingers and toes crossed that we can convince Goss and his club to prolong his stay with us. He's a class act, and I'm hoping that no one new sees him as being able to do it in the English leagues or we won't be able to afford him. Docherty is an absolute steal at 600k, and I'm now thinking already that we won't hold on to him for more than a couple of years before a big money bid comes in. Talk about a diamond in the rough!?!?! Murphy and Candeias look like they're playing for fun and it's so entertaining to see us slice through teams these days. Tav is unbelievably (to me anyway) turning into a Rangers captain. His game has been transformed over the past few months, but in particular since being named captain. He gets what it means at our club and that's unusual. Bates hasn't been someone I rate very highly, but Murty has him doing a job for us and he's doing it so well. I can't see him being left out now. I don't know why so many players have been transformed recently, but I'll gnever be Murty a lot of credit for that. Sometimes a team reaches a tipping point where more players "get it" than don't, and at that stage the others just seem to click too. That's what has happened with us now and the games can't come quickly enough. We will inevitably still lose games, and may lose to them in the old firm game, but there's light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. Stewarty, I hope you got your bandwagon serviced because it might be time to get it moving. I'm jumping on it now and I think we won't be alone in that.

Maybe he woke up particularly late today and couldn't think of a story to make up so this was the next easiest thing to write about. These journos are unbelievably lazy. I can't believe firms employ them to do what an automated system could in their place. Incredible.

Like many on here have said, it's the sensible thing to do if done consistently. The ref's job is to apply the rules of the game, but it's also to manage the game in a sensible manner. If he thinks that speaking with a player is sensible, or a captain, or a manager, it's smart to have that talk. However, if he's seen to do it to favour one side then it becomes a problem.

Telling the manager is exactly the right thing to do in my opinion, and although I think Beaton is a nightmare, I have to applaud his common sense here.

I agree that Docherty looked great yesterday. He wasn't a player I had noticed so much before we signed him, but hats off to the team at Rangers for identifying him as a target and to the DoF and board for splashing the cash on him. He's got a big future in the game, no doubt. He's going to get a few goals for us too.

Durham is a complete windup merchant but it is funny. I hope this prompts questions to Brenda from the media. We've said on here that neither he nor his players have been put under any pressure for years so it would be interesting (not to mention entertaining for us) if he started to come under pressure from the media as well as us on the pitch. I still don't see us being strong enough for the title next season but there's no doubt we are getting stronger. But who cares and the media never lets the facts or reality stand in the way of a good windup. It sells papers afterall. I'm sure we will begin to see proof that the media isn't really biased towards Celtic at all, or anti Rangers. As I've said before, they are however lazy and useless so they'll just go for the weakest targets and make up stuff about them. It may be Rodgers' time to feel some of that now. Hope so.

The excitement about today's game started as soon as I opened my eyes this morning. I hope the players were the same. Theres one thing I'll be looking out for today and I'm sure many of us are the same. We MUST start playing when the whistle goes, and not wait until Hearts score. I can accept us not playing well. I can accept us being outplayed. What I can't acccept is us not being up for the game and starting it with the effort and determination we need to win. So come on Rangers. Start this game strongly and we will do well today.

Yes, he's on three .... 1. Doubtful he will be fit enough to play 2. Doubtful that he is good enough to score against us 3. Doubtful that he'll ever be forgiven