Gaffer

This is funny, but what's ridiculous is that anyone would treat this as a serious story. If you're going to wind someone up, surely you need to do better than this.

It was very clumsy wording Pete - apologies. I meant we are three positions away from having a first eleven that's good enough to challenge, but we need a strong squad because injuries are inevitable and we don't have the strength in the squad to get through an entire season. What do you think?

When I watched the highlights I really appreciated how much more direct the team is. As soon as we had the ball we had players further up the field who were clearly running in anticipation of a forward pass. It reminds me of Dortmund around 4 years ago. I'm excited to see how we develop over the next couple of weeks. One thing you can also see is the difference in the players' faces. Is it just me or are they enjoying their football much more recently? They've not looked as relaxed or so together as a team since 12 months ago. Something has clearly happened there but I'm just pleased that whatever it was is in the past.

We just need three positions filled to have a team capable of challenging: centreback; defensive midfielder; and forward. We then need a bit of fortune as far as injuries go. If Rossiter can keep himself fit it'll be as good as a new signing and I've got big hopes for that young boy. He's as good as anyone we could have to fill the midfield role and then hopefully Pedro has some ideas up his sleeve for forward and centre back. We should be in good shape then for next season. I still think the overall squad will be a bit light to challenge for the league title but it'll be a good building block towards a really serious challenge the season after.

Wow! What an amazing press conference. There were no rehearsed responses that I could tell. He was however very well informed and wanted to demonstrate that. I didn't hear one cliche and he made every effort to give open and detailed responses to the questions. His use of analogies was helpful in simplifying some of his answers. Let's face it, the Scottish press needs all the help it can get to understand football in general, never mind his philosophy and approach. His explanations are really good but I wonder how long he will continue to give such comprehensive answers. I fear the press up here will abuse this somehow, but he seems very switched on and able to detect the tone of their questions too when he answers. I enjoy listening to him talk about his plans, preparations and philosophy but I'm even more intrigued to see what difference it all makes on the pitch. He will have a couple of weeks to embed some of his ideas so I will wait with great anticipation to see what he can achieve with these players over the next few weeks. He can't achieve much of a change for the Hamilton game, but I am hoping to see the players maintaining the desire to work hard for him as they did against Celtic. The team looks to have trained intensively and normally that shows on match days. I expect us to come out fighting straight away.

No doubt that was the ignorant Scottish press that reported that inaccuracy. He's filled in as a centre back on a couple of occasions when they went down to ten men but he is definitely an attacking player. He is big and powerful so perhaps some Scottish sports writers just assumed that he was suited to a defensive role.

FYI, it's a myth that he's a defensive midfielder. I'm not sure where that came from, but it appears to be a view held by most supporters speak to. He's actually a very attacking minded player and has never been regarded as a holding/defensive player. He was sent out on loan because we already had Holt, Halliday, Windass and Forrester to play those advanced roles. You may well then ask why we bought him in the first place ..... good question.

That's correct Frankie. He had spoken about retiring for a while and this seems to make sense in terms of timing. He's been a brilliant coach and the players like him. Of course this truth doesn't sell as many papers so won't make the 'news'.

I understand your point here Rousseau but the individual training sessions aren't so secret, and wouldn't be useful to the competition. It's the overall training plan that gives away tactics, attributes and styles that the staff want to develop in the players. There is however one thing that the opposition CAN pick up from watching these videos. The intensity and determination of the players in those sessions shows that we mean business. I hope the players can sustain this because that intensity of training with the ball in small areas is what builds concentration, pitch awareness and decision making. Either this is a coincidence, or he's identified it as a weakness. Some of the players looked sharper in that video that I've seen them in the last year on the pitch.

I hope he: 1. Gives us an identity in the way we play. MW started to do that but we seemed to be bossed by other teams too much. I'd like us to be "aggressive" (as Pedro said in his interview) and control games. For the past year we've only played our way when the other teams allowed us to. 2. Is strong in the media and treats with them with the respect you'd expect from a Rangers manager, but with a little edge just to remind them that they are insignificant as far as our support/club is concerned. 3. Gets a reaction from the players. We need to see the desire return to the team. Individual players show it but the whole team needs to. They are not winners yet but I hope he can make them understand what that mentality is and how to use it in games. 4. Is able to get the team to adapt his philosophy quickly enough to impose ourselves in the league and cups this season. This may not be possible but 2nd place is achievable with a bit of luck too. 5. Plays players in positions that suit them, or change the system. This was the one thing that really frustrated me with WS and MW. Both had their favourites and would play them despite their obvious flaws in certain positions. 6. Gives us something to be optimistic about going into next season. 7. Gets the money and invests it wisely in 2 or 3 new players. 8. Proves the doubters wrong and has to update his brilliant answer accordingly .... "why do I still think we're the biggest club in Scotland? I give you two numbers ..... 146 years old and 55 league titles. GIRUY." Not much to ask for is it?!?!?!?

He won't need any money because no one will sell at that price. It's an unfortunate requirement to go through this bureaucratic governance, but it's important to satisfy the law even if it doesn't make common sense at all.

That response was pure class. I was beaming when he gave that answer.

When Clint Hill arrived, he made it clear he wanted to gain his badges with a view to going into a coaching/assistant role in the next couple of years. I'm sure he and Kenny will both have put themselves forward for this role. Either would be good. However, if there's a coaching session on controlling the ball, I'd think Kenny will need someone else to demonstrate for him. He can still trap the ball further than I can kick it. There's no doubting his passion though. After Barry's attitude towards the new ideas of PLG, I'd have him nowhere near the players. He was a great player for us but that episode showed a poor side to his character and we are better off without it. IMO.

I thought we deserved a win today, but the draw will do. Brilliant effort from the team today and well done Murty for going for it. McKay was worse than a man down on the wing today, so if couldn't move him in the middle he needed to sub him. I thought Hill was outstanding though. Super Rangers!

We're doing ok here but that was another poor goal to lose. Up to that point i was feeling confident. We will have opportunities to score here. We need to take them. Hyndman needs McKay more central to work with him. Swap McKay and Miller for positions.

Where i grew up, the only cocktails were Molotov.

Wow, it seems like Murty wants to have a real go at them. This means either 4-0 to us or me leaving at half time ;-). I don't see anything in between with this lineup. I like guys who make bold decisions so well done Murty! Of course there's a fine line (sometimes blurred) between brave and stupid. Let's do this!!!!

That was brilliant!!! ??????

Tell me Pete, of the thousands of managers in the 54 UEFA countries you mention, can you give me one name (yes, just one) who we could/should have had instead? It's common knowledge (I think) that this guy was in the frame before MW. It's common knowledge (again I think) that his interview was excellent and he was the best prepared of all candidates. Given his apprenticeship in many parts of the world which play much better football than here in Scotland (IMO), don't you find it strange (as I do) that you're criticising a board which is not restricted by the ignorance that many so-called football people have? This is of course a risk, as is any manager. This may not turn out the way we all want it. Equally, I agree that we should all scrutinise decisions and motives after what's gone on in the past, but please let's do it where it's justified. Just because I disagree with your view doesn't make me necessarily question your motives in slating a guy before he's had a chance. Just because you don't rate these other countries' leagues doesn't mean to say they are poor. Just because you don't know of him doesn't make him poor or a strange choice. I'll repeat my initial question ..... who could/should have had the job ahead of Pedro?

Murty has one difficult job in coming up with tactics for this one. I bet he hasn't slept a wink. Whatever we do, we need every player to be in top form today. I'd like us to attack them. If we got an early goal it can of course change the atmosphere and can possibly upset their players. The first goal today is so crucial.

Embarrassing? I'll tell you what's embarrassing ..... 1. Reading page after page of negativity from our own support, especially when it's baseless. 2. Supporters moaning about the guy's cv when it's better than the cv's of most (YES, MOST) of our previous managers before they came to Rangers. 3. The lack of appreciation/knowledge of how far ahead of us some of these international leagues are, including Mexico. Having said all that, I realise that this embarrassment still exists for many. As a caring human being I wouldn't want you to feel that way so feel free to PM me if you'd like to offload your season ticket and I'm sure we can come to an agreement. I really hope you guys are in the minority. If not, and this is the attitude of the majority, it hardly fills me with any comfort that one day our fans may be running the club.

If the gamble pays off I'm sure we'll all be buying each other plenty of rounds

I invited Tannochsidebear to come up with one realistic option with a better CV than Pedro and I'm still waiting. Pedro's three year contract will be up before he can list 15!!!!

For our amusement, would you mind giving us the name of someone else you think we could/should have had instead? I'm astonished at the negativity you're showing around this. I'm so glad we have a board willing to take these types of risks. I wish we had an emoji which shakes its head in disbelief because I'd be using it a lot right now.

You're probably right Boabie that Brenda would relish that lineup, but if I really thought Murty would go with that team I'd be changing my prediction to 0-4 for us. No teams have really had a go at Celtic and they are good if you give them too much respect. If we are positive I can see us surprising a few people on Sunday.