Gaffer

Thanks for your post. I read it, and although there are some parts I agree with and appreciate, I just can't see where you get some of this from. If you can't understand supporters backing the opponents of Celtic, I just can't believe you're a football fan at all. It's only natural to 'support' any team that plays against your biggest rival. This happens the world over. Also, perhaps I missed something between 2012 - 2016, but did McCoist really play so many youths? I don't remember that. We all have our own opinions, but I'm sure you can understand the response you've had about your opinions.

I thought Fod was one of the very few players that would be someone we would keep long term, but just shows the difference in opinions. Regardless, I would not want McGregor back, for many of the same reasons I don't want Ferguson or Boyd back at the club in any capacity. I thought their attitude was so unprofessional and my perception of them is that they're a bad influence. Add to that, he's just not that good anymore.

Firstly, I enjoyed reading this. It's always useful when we have disagreement to remind each other that we are all aiming for the same thing. All we argue about is how best to get there. I did want to correct one thing though. I would say I'm more optimistic than many on here, but I do not have a blind faith in Pedro, despite how my 'sermons' may be perceived. There are a number of decisions and results that concern me. I don't see anything in Miller to suggest that he is effective for us, although I have praised his work rate on by occasions. I don't know why we continue to play him. Equally, it concerns me that we don't have enough people desperate to get into the box for cutbacks and crosses. The lack of diverse movement in the final 15 yards of the pitch frustrates me, and it's something the manager needs to address. If PC can address these points for me, I'd feel even more optimistic, but the jury will continue to be out until results start to form a pattern. However, I think the difference between us is that I want to give him more time. Where we may also disagree is that I saw enough in these last 4 games to suggest that we could have an exciting and successful season. The defence looks solid, albeit we have had some silly individual mistakes which I'm hoping can be sorted out, especially with the arrival of PC's marquee signing. I think the midfield looks really solid and we now have some playmakers who are able to supply the forwards. I watched the saints game and I thought we looked comfortable and dare I say it very dangerous on the ball. We don't however have that cutting edge. I think the team is more fluid and direct when Dalcio is playing. I also think Candeias looks like he'll be a quality player too. What I'm not yet convinced about is the front man. From what I've seen, we have some potential but not the key player yet. So, for me it's more about that position rather than the manager, for now. If however he fails to turn an existing player into the player we need, or if he fails to change his clear preferred system to compensate, we will struggle this season. It's down to PC now to fix it and if he doesn't, the board will do what's necessary. They are all fans too remember. Suggesting there is a "believe in Pedro" camp suggests that we have blind faith. What I'm trying to explain is that it isn't the case. We have a degree of optimism based on various things we see, just as you see something else. But equally, I'd ask you to look at some of the positives he has brought to the club. Then all we will ever argue/debate about is how long does he get to prove himself one way or another. Perhaps that makes for a boring forum though. ;-)

My post was terribly poorly crafted. My point is that they don't care if it was paper or anything else. The reason for the rules is that they don't want to injure supporters, players or officials, and don't want to delay the game. Clearly there was never any chance of injuring anyone, but the game was delayed. I don't see it as a big deal though. We should just move past this as quickly as possible.

That's disgraceful if true. People that take such an approach are parasites, and their rags deserve to close down for peddling the sort of abuse and nonsense they dish out on a daily basis. I'm just fearful that these people will cause the demise of one rag, but then move on to other rags instead. It looks like we will have to boycot for a few years more until their reputations are outed fully for any prospective employers.

If that's true, I hope action is taken against him. That would constitute clear evidence of breaching the law.

UEFA have dished out hundreds of fines for similar things. We are not being targeted here. We are definitely targeted by the media in this country, but not by UEFA.

We weren't fined for throwing paper. We were fined for delaying the game. It wouldn't have mattered if it was paper, pies, bovril, or scarves. I'd expect we will pay it, apologise and move on. I'm gutted though that this probably means the end of such terrific displays. It looked fantastic, and it was spoiled by those few morons.

I can't opine on whether anyone is doing their jobs properly or not in terms of contract negotiations or fees paid, but I do agree we seem to have a poor track record in getting decent fees for players. In the case of McKay however, it seems we are selling a player who has proven he's not good enough to play for us. By the same token, we appear to be taking a risk on a player who may be good enough. I think that's probably worth more money on the face of it. The problem with the McKay situation is that we all know he has the potential, but for some reason appears to be disintersted in too many games. I thought he'd turn out to be a real star for us and I'm bitterly disappointed at his apparent poor attitude. I think most other teams have identified that too, and hence the reason for the low transfer fee. Really disappointing though!

If those two signings give you more confidence, does that mean it's the current players that you have a problem with rather than the manager? I wasn't sure.

I'm not a "fan" of Pedro. I'm a Rangers fan. I'll support every Rangers manager, and every Rangers player. That's what being a supporter means to me. However, there are two parts to this. Firstly, i don't care what issues KM has with other players or the manager. His job is to carry out the manager's instructions, albeit challenge decisions in a professional and respectful manner. The second issue is the leaking of this. If this was witnessed by someone, it must have been in public (assuming a player didn't leak it), and if that's the case he should have known better than to challenge his authority in that manner. For someone with experience that would be a seriously stupid thing to do. We can all have challenges to our boss' decisions but there's a way to do it. It should always be done in private and always be done respectfully. If it's not done that way, the whole machine breaks. Having said all this, I don't believe it's true. I can't believe that KM (with all his experience) would let himself and the team down like that. He's better than that I hope.

I'd really be disappointed if KM did that and can't believe it. If it's true though, he should be kicked as hard and as far from Ibrox as possible.

Of course people (or at least someone) have to take responsibility, but that doesn't mean resigning or sacking. That's an extreme reaction and unnecessary. This is what I mean. We have fans who want someone sacked after those performances. I've got news for you .... that will happen again. We have to show support at these times, rather than sacking managers or players. Only when they've had time can we judge them. PC hasn't even had a chance to play his team yet. This is just madness, and although I agree we should have won this round with the players he had, it doesn't make sense to then take the hysterical action of sacking him. Sacking him would be a cowardly way out for the board, and I've already said I'm glad they are not cowards. I took a quick look on here and I think around 15% of the forum members would want him gone. That gives me some comfort that although there is noise, it's from a small minority. However, if the proportion of unreasonable supporters gets close to 50%, I'll have to pull out of Club 1872 or it'll be curtains for the team. I'd be really interested in the thoughts of others about fan ownership. Does it excite or worry you? I personally now want enough to enable the fans to have a strong vote, but not enough to take control. There may be a structure or approach that can alleviate my fears, and it would be interesting to see how other clubs do it. Let me just reiterate something. I'm not going to accept a lack of progress either. If we can't see advancement by Christmas (for example), I'd want the board to make the necessary decisions, but until then the team and manager will get my full support, and thankfully the support of the majority of bears.

I agree that we should have won against this team, however you only make managerial changes if it's in the interests of the club. I'm just glad the board is sensible enough not to suffer from the hysteria of this result and appears to be giving the manager the time he needs and deserves. Anything else would be ridiculous. I've said before, it's this type of reaction from fans that has me deeply concerned about the prospect of fan ownership. I'd hate to think that fans like you would force such a change of manager or even resist taking the risk of someone like PC in the first place. That's not personal against you. It's just an honest concern that I have. I'm personally glad we have a board that has courage in its convictions, and it's that same courage and conviction that gave them control of the club to save it.

Who is defending the result? I don't see anyone defending it, or the manager. What I see is people putting it in perspective though. I simply stated a potential alternative view but people like you have already made your mind up and refuse to see anything else. So let me say again for the avoidance of doubt .... I'm gutted we are out of Europe and I believe our team is better than Progres, but if I was them I'd have been thinking that Rangers was one of the best draws to get. We've only just come back to the premier league after our exile. Our fans (me included) still regard Rangers as the team that was, rather than the team that is now. We've got a lot of rebuilding to do. We're still the same club, the same fans, and the same world record holders, but we will be a shadow of our former selves for sometime yet. I just hope PC is the man to help us advance. Do you?

Or it means that Progres were a better team than some of us gave them credit for.

This wasn't an excuse .... I was just stating facts. Maybe you misunderstood.

What do you mean by this? Our club was banished to the lower leagues, meaning that we have been out of European football for years. That's the position we find ourselves in, and you think that is our fault?!? Maybe it is, but what value was your post in pointing that out again? We have a long way to go to recover as a club, and pre-season qualifying this early is the consequence. That's what def Berliner was simply stating, as if you didn't know.

Human beings are funny. We make a snap decision, based on not very much info at all, and then spend the rest of the time trying to prove that decision was correct. The views on PC are polarised. Many had written him off before he joined and will now look to every negative angle to support their case. Equally however, there are others who hope he turns out to be the answer, and look to every positive angle to cling on to the hope. Both views have a significant amount of evidence, so which one is correct? Either way, none of us really know how he will perform and that's perhaps the lesson here. He deserves his chance to prove his worth. I'd hope that we are all in agreement that we hope he turns out to be a success. Is that the case though? It doesn't feel like it sometimes.

Goalkeepers are a special breed so perhaps it's unsurprising that few become decent managers. I think Shilton managed somewhere although I can't think if he was any good. I guess not. And Nigel Adkins too, but he was somewhat of a failure too was he not. I can't think of any others but there must be some.

I don't know if you post on other forums and are perhaps therefore confused. What sets this forum apart is that it's contributors normally debate and disagree by stating opinions, backed up by some substance. You seem to think it's of interest for us to read your odd, glib, and nonsensical statements. It's not, but I'm sure you have opinions that can be substantiated in some way and I'd like to hear them. So, let's have a bit more of a contribution from you. What do you think of PC's signings? What do you think our objective should be for the rest of the season? Over to you .....

That should be two good appointments and hopefully inspiring for the youngsters.

I'd like to think that even if we had lots more money, he'd still be in place. If the board was to replace him, I'd be so disappointed in their lack of prudence and understanding. Thankfully however, they appear to be smart and sensible people who appreciate the rebuilding job we have to do, far better than some of our fans seem to be able to. This is what worries me about fan ownership. I'd like some confidence that if supporters owned the club, we would have sensible and pragmatic people in place to represent the long term interests of the club, and not someone who would pander to supporters' short term hysterical reactions to a couple of bad results. This is why I'll be happy to continue my support for Club 1872 to ensure that there is a check and balance to the actions of he board. However, if overall control the the club became a real prospect, I would be very concerned about how the nominated representatives would ensure that the best interests of the club were at the heart of their decisions. I feel that DK and the others really have the best interests of Rangers at heart, and are happy to make tough decisions even if they are unpopular with large parts of the support. I take comfort from this.

What I see is a man who is full of determination and passion, and that's been missing for some time. I like the attitude he has towards discipline and again I strongly believe that's required to turn things around. However, I also know that it takes time to turns things around as much as we need. You're right that he had an average cv, but already he has brought in some quality players. I have seen Alves and Pena play a few times and I rate both very highly. Given that he's brought players in of that quality, I have confidence in his ability to pick far better players than Warburton did. I was optimistic after the first half of the home leg against Progres. Some of the play was excellent. That's the type of football I'd love to watch this season, albeit I'd want us to score more goals with so many chances. For various reasons (I've posted previously) the team then didn't perform in the next three halves we played against them, although I could see what the team was trying to do. I'm excited to see if he can build a consistent level of performance. If he can, we will have a brilliant season (notwithstanding the fact we're now out of Europe). PC has also created a defensive system that can work and that's something we sadly missed last season. I always felt we were going to lose goals last season. I don't get that feeling now. The one tactical thing I'm not happy with however is his use of Miller in a wide position (or in the advanced midfield role). Miller does not have the ability, touch, or discipline to play there to maintain width, and although I can appreciate that PC rates Miller's workrate, I really hope this is temporary until we can get Pena, Dalcio or Candeias fully functioning. Finally, what I also like is his willingness to give the younger players their chance. Even if it means losing more games, I'd rather we continue to do that for the longer term good of the club. PC may turn out to be unable to help in our next stage of development from obscurity to champions. If he is unsuccessful, I'd like to reach that conclusion after giving him sufficient time and support to give it a real go. I'm willing to give him that. I'd hope we all agree on that. Perhaps the one thing we disagree on is what constitutes a reasonable length of time. For me, he's only just got his team almost together, albeit the two key players haven't played yet. Surely he deserves the chance to be judged after he has his first team settled. The part that's frustrated me is that many people have called for his head before he arrived. Many others have reacted hysterically after going out of Europe. Although I understand the disappointment (I feel it too), I think it's fair to acknowledge the circumstances and lack of preparation time, and the fact he's not been able to play his first eleven yet. We all want what's best for the club. I think what's best for the club is for us to unite behind the manager and do what we are here to do - support the club. If things don't work out, we have a board and a DoF that is there to make those decisions. The more support we have for the manager and players, the more likely they are to succeed. I don't think it helps to have any more unnecessary pressure on them as they find their feet. Hopefully that explains my optimism and support for the manager and team.

If this is true, we need to find the players who are leaking this and get rid of them asap. It's PC they need to speak to about it, not the media or others who are likely to then spread these rumours. This breach of dressing room trust sickens me. Find them, and weed them out!!!