JFK-1

I too think the standard has if anything fallen and that's perfectly illustrated by the fact all of them but one were out of Europe to minnows before the preliminary rounds ended. And even the one that made it rode their luck. Where I agree with Foran is in his assessment that despite a relatively poor start to the campaign this is still a good side that can challenge and someone is indeed due a thrashing. Hopefully Caley though I have nothing against them. A good result would simply be timely for us before the league cup semi. I would like an early goal or even two that forced them to open up and play. What I expect is the "second best in Scotland strategy" Pack the box and fire long balls to a lone runner.

I think Richie Foran is simply using his eyes and head. There have indeed been teething problems in this first quarter but it still is just part way through the first quarter with the bulk of the season still ahead of us. Even against Caley despite the fact for the first time no one is injured they're still not all match fit with Jonathon Rossiter who impressed in early season being an example of that plus we still have the highoy promising Josh Windass waiting to get a run of games. Foran is seeing what I have been seeing. That this team is a clear cut above all but the league leaders and are well capable of playing almost anything in that league off the park. My opinion since the opening weeks has been that we wont start seeing the best of them till into the second quarter and with that still some weeks away we have already seen signs of what they're capable of. Aberdeen who lay claim to being "second best in Scotland" were run ragged and stole as lucky a result as they will get in many a year. This game with Caley if we can get it together could be a turning point for the team. If we can go there and get a good win at a place that's very hard to take a result from it could lay the foundation for the good run we have been needing to push us right back into contention. Add to that the fact it's the last game for us before the league cup semi and it all makes Caley a key match at this point. I feel we're going to have to break them down because if you consider that the "second best" in Scotland were pinned back and punting long balls what else can we expect from Caley? Of course they may surprise me and try to play, and we will find out in little more than 24 hours. With the international break since the Partick game I have been strangely missing the anxiety waiting to see how they will play. It feels almost like a season opener again.

I think it could create a lot of interest from fans and from TV too because this could involve some of the biggest cities in Europe. The champions league appears to be going in the direction of involving just a handful of countries and you never know. If the proposed Atlantic league played it smartly they might even possibly eclipse the champions league simply because as I previously mentioned it's going to involve teams from just a handful of countries. The Atlantic league proposal could bring in more countries with a larger combined population than than those involved in the Champions league which would be of certain interest to TV and sponsors/advertisers. And since they would also be leaving their current domestic leagues there would be a situation where the cartel who are currently forming to make the champions league a private club would see their own domestic leagues being somewhat diminished due to clubs within them being attracted to the Atlantic league. The old firm alone could attract an audience of millions between them to watch matches between them and say Ajax and I would suspect the German teams just outside the elite few in the bundesliga may also be interested along with sidelined but still top French and Italian teams too. Throw in the fact that the Atlantic league would be played every week unlike the champions league and I think you may indeed get a great deal of interest from TV to air matches involving teams from very large cities all across the continent.

In a week when the Joey Barton saga took a new twist with the club extending his suspension by another seven days we have for the first time this season Barton aside a full squad to choose from. That being said, it may not be the case that they are all fully match fit with Jordan Rossiter and Joe Dodoo in particular out for weeks beforehand; so the starting line-up for the away match with Inverness Caley may still be somewhat debatable. Caley began the season with a poor run of 3 straight league defeats plus a league cup defeat to league one Alloa but have turned that around to be undefeated in their last 5 which comprises two wins and three draws. The last of those draws came in their last league match away from home against Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park when after a fairly evenly matched contest they snatched a late equalizer deep into second half injury time. That alone suggests Caley are a side who play to the last minute and must be treated with due respect. What may be more relevant to Rangers was that in their most recent home game when the opposition were Dundee they turned in a performance which though on the day was statistically fairly well matched in terms of possession and shots by the away team they still ran out 3-1 winners. And in fact Caley are undefeated at home since week 2 of the league season when they sustained a narrow 2 goals to 3 defeat against Ross County. Further only one of their three league defeats this season has come at home: and it must also be taken into consideration that Caley have already welcomed three of the current top four to the Caledonian stadium this season. St Johnstone, Celtic, and Aberdeen have all made the trip to Caley in recent weeks and it has to be significant that none of the three came away with a win. St Johnstone were defeated by 2 goals to 1 while both Celtic and Aberdeen were held to a draw. Aberdeen were limited to a 1-1 draw; while league leaders Celtic also had to settle for just one point after Caley, just as they did against Hamilton, pulled a late equaliser out of the bag with an 89th minute goal. So, given that Caley have suffered just one home league defeat this season and beaten one of the current top four while drawing with the current top two; we have to expect a difficult match against a team full of confidence when facing top opposition. It actually may even be argued that Caley are the form team having taken 9 points from the last 15 available while we have taken just 5 from the last 15. All of that having being said, Rangers can still make the trip North with some optimism since performances have been fairly impressive in recent weeks; putting aside a relatively poor showing last time out against Partick which still resulted in a win and three much needed points. Caley are undoubtedly a well organised hard working outfit but there is arguably a significant class gap between them and a Rangers squad which has no injuries for the first time this season. We must look for that class gap to be fully exploited in what is very possibly to be yet another case of a team parking the bus while hoping to steal a goal from us on the break. This indeed may be viewed as an ideal match in which to produce an impressive winning display with a few goals thrown in against a side undefeated at home in 2 months and undefeated at home against all three of the current top four who have gone there. Not only would it provide another crucial three points it would be a huge confidence booster before the following match which since the away game against Hearts was postponed will be our last outing before the league cup semi final. What better way to prepare for a game of such significance than with a convincing away win at a ground the opposition in that semi final plus all top half sides who have gone there have failed to win at? That factor alone makes it even more important than just the three points available that this game be won with a commanding performance which I feel the team are capable of.

If it were anybody else I would probably give Gilks the nod but in this instance a win over them would be a huge psychological boost after the last debacle so I would have to go with Foderingham. His overall form and authority in the box has improved this season along with a sprinkling of wonder saves thrown in. And aside from anything else it is a chance to reach a cup final and we could use the money that will bring.

Ironically they may still be in with a chance because the entire group is shite.

DUTCH filmmakers are appealing for Rangers fans to help them make a moving documentary charting Ibrox legend Fernando Ricksen’s life and his ongoing battle against Motor Neurone Disease (MND) https://cinecrowd.com/en/fernando-ricksen-de-finale-strijd

The Celtic game is league cup semi final not premiership. The Hearts game away has been moved to Wednesday 30 November, kicking off at 7:45pm

Unless of course a new more suitable agreement were struck with Sports Direct but I hope it doesn't come to another deal with Ashley in any way shape or form.

Yeah good point. I made reference to Barton in it for one thing and who knows what may change between now and then in that area.

I already completed it so I can post it any time you like. Funny thing though maybe not since it's the same topic. I just looked at the piece you posted by brasstacks and his final sentence is uncannily similar to my final paragraph in the preview. In sentiment if not precise words.

Dammit Frankie I ran something up for Friday before I looked at this. LOL The Hearts match is postponed, the next game after Caley is the league cup semi.

I was just thinking after reading a Rangers article about the manager having a full squad to choose from that Matt Crooks will be playing with the 20's and it wont be the first time. Picture in your mind that boy who looks barely 5 feet tall if he is that and probably barely 8 stone being on the end of a full blooded tackle for a 50/50 ball from the 6 foot 5 inch Goliath crooks.

I still hold out hope that this can be resolved because I still believe he can be an invaluable addition the squad though admittedly that now seems unlikely given that he could have been back in training today and the club has blocked that. As for the gambling it's relatively trivial and having personally known a number of professional footballers almost every last one of them were gamblers who had a bet on football. Might be a cultural thing within the game. His temperament is more of an issue than that but then we knew even before he signed that he was a hothead though to be fair he has valiantly contained it on the pitch. When he didn't explode against Kilmarnock after being hit with what could have been a career ending tackle I thought he had really got it under control because I feel that I myself and perhaps most players out there would have taken it somewhat less amicably than he did. Reminder of how bad that was. My greatest concern is that if he has been abusive to the manager which we don't know for sure but if it is the case it's completely unacceptable and he has to humbly accept that to move on from this.

I can't confirm it but a personal opinion is that Warburton isn't the type of manager who would tolerate any meddling in signings.

It's somewhat vague because the statement does indeed mention a week and also 'until further notice'

I was at Ibrox for his first or at least one of his first home matches and I can't remember who the opposition was but what does stick in my mind was that early on in the match I was watching him closely because he was new and a big name and it struck me as he chased after a ball that in my opinion he could barely move. I was disappointed because I knew just by looking at him run that I myself could leave him standing. But to be fair back in the day very few people at all could match me in a sprint and the chances are I could have outrun the vast majority of players. Of course as he grew into his role I learned the lesson that speed isn't always absolutely necessary to make a good player and we might keep that in mind about Kranjcar and Barton too I suppose. Obviously speed would always be a bonus but it's not an absolute necessity.

The time wasting as just about every last one of them took a turn at going down and taking forever to get back up was truly pathetic. And it wasn't just wasting time it was destroying the rhythm and momentum.

Equaliser thoroughly deserved. Ref is an arsehole who has been accommodating the chronic Lithuanian time wasting.

To be fair Scotland have been all over them especially since the goal but they're like Rangers. Can't find a finish.

Forrest not even hitting the target on a free shot at goal doesn't help.

I feel if Joey gets another chance he may come back even more determined than ever to make a mark. In the long run this debacle may turn out to have been a good thing to get him focused. The fact he's spending his own money on this training camp in Qatar is a very good sign of intention to work hard at getting back into the team on merit.

Just as an aside I have read that coming out of the war the infrastructure was falling apart because during the conflict they committed all available manpower and resources to the war effort while ignoring infrastructure maintenance for the duration. The end result was vast areas of it were beyond repair by the time attention was turned back to it. On the housing front we were a million houses short with at least as many more damaged beyond repair. London in particular had been hit hard as they took the greatest fury of the blitz and we lost 60,000 civilian casualties. With all that in mind perhaps not too surprising that it took decades and a series of stadium disasters before attention was focused on our crumbling football grounds regarding which as has been previously mentioned Rangers led the way. I always felt as if the Bradford City disaster which to me was one of the most horrific of all sort of got lost in the clutter. If people talk about stadium disasters Hillsborough tends to come to mind with Bradford forgotten.

It's what Stephen Hawking has, obviously no deterioration of mental faculties. But Hawking is a rarity in the length of time he has survived with it.