JFK-1

Good overall interview following disappointment from both of them. Both handled the inevitable Tav question well.

Yep, helps nothing to continue it. Just move on to Hamilton and let Gerrard and Tav sort it out. Looking for a good result since at Ibrox at least they appear to have learned how to break down these ultra defensive formations. The slaughter of the sheep was fine evidence of that.

And while I agree you did have a little hissy fit at the time mate as admittedly many of us no doubt did.

That's been my view of it since we qualified and still is. Would anyone given a choice really prefer this happened at any ground in the league or in this game? I will take a league win anywhere rather than a win in this group. That's what get's us a chance at CL groups where there is as much money on offer in a single year as we could earn across 4 years in the EL groups. And I still think we can qualify from the group but if that doesn't happen it's not a big deal. Losing at St Mirren, Motherwell etc would be a big deal but this isn't.

While it's a disappointment at the very start of the Euro qualifying campaign my view was that making the group was close to critical but that if it were achieved then the bulk of the potential money from it was already banked so results in the group for were deemed not irrelevant but not critical. I would rather this had happened here than at any ground in the league this season and we all know the team can play a lot better even before game changers like Kent come back into it. And we're still well in this.

I thought we would have been 2-0 ahead at halftime if Ojo had passed to Morelos instead of shooting soon after Morelos had scored the first. Morelos was standing entirely unmarked in a large space with the open goal in front of him. In fact in pretty much the same space he was in when he scored on the first on the other side of the box. He put his hands to his head when Ojo didn't pass to him.

And perhaps YB aren't as bad as they are labelled to be after tonight since pre match they had been touted for weeks as very useful difficult to beat opposition. They went to Porto and pretty much matched them possession wise narrowly losing. Maybe both teams had a bad night? I see them as eminently capable of nicking more points especially on their own patch.

Currently nothing would surprise me but if they do it simply means we have to take 3 points from one of them which I would be hoping to do against Porto at Ibrox. We're two thirds through it and they haven't shown any top seed qualities. They scraped a narrow win at home against the apparently very poor YB and were then beaten by a team we beat and could have thrashed on another night and they appear capable of dropping more points. To me it's still wide open and I wouldn't be surprised by more unexpected results in ties other than those involving Rangers. Perhaps YB could also take something from Feyenoord on the plastic. It's now all speculation in either direction but man what a topsy turvy group.

The nature of it is obviously a massive disappointment all on it's own but as it stands we don't need to be disheartened. This weird group is effectively in almost exactly the same place it was before a game was played and I still feel confident we can do something in it.

The ultimate last minute sucker punch.

Tav took a good pro yellow.

I'm thinking along the lines that if Feyenoord who were allegedly poor against us can beat Porto at home so could we. Maybe they were simply made to look poor against a Rangers who played top class football first half. We could have been 4-0 up at halftime. Can't help but dream of winning the group and getting an easier first knockout round opponent. I think that dream is best served by a draw for them tonight.

Agreed. Ideally a draw second choice a Porto win.

We came here considering a draw a good result while YB would consider nothing but a win to get some points on the board as acceptable. Alfies goal came at the perfect time. Gives Gerrard a chance to consider how to approach the second half while holding a lead.

Feyenoord Porto 0-0 at halftime. If we can stay ahead and their game stays like that we can be topping the group with a 2 point lead tonight.

And there it is. Morelos perfect timing just before the break. We are now in charge of this game.

Get the feeling the YB team and crowd will become ever more frustrated the longer it stays like this. A draw doesn't suit them and they may even become unsettled if we were to grab one. Their crowd is already quieter.

Nsame got a good chance he hit wide I would have expected one of ours to be getting on target if it came at the other end. But so far so good we're pretty much negating them while settling into the plastic surface.

Well I think we can be guaranteed it will be nothing like the sheep and their reluctance to leave their own half or could I even say their own third of the field? Possession will likely be somewhat even we will find space and it's up to the team what they do with it. Need to play with a great degree of caution since a draw is an acceptable result and a far better result for us than for them. Taking something from this might be the key to a second place finish. We have taken something from around 91% of our European games under Gerrard so i'm encouraged into thinking that this is our stage and a stage Gerrard with his 130 appearances in Europe for Liverpool is super familiar with.

I waited patiently but nothing was going to happen and as I said it happens sporadically. One day they might not embed the next they will both tweets and YT videos. It's working right now.

Apparently it will be only the second time we have played young boys the last being a cup winners cup qualifying round in 1977/78 resulting in a 1-0 win at Ibrox and a 2-2 draw away to go through on away goals. Rangers v Young Boys Of Berne European Cup Winners Cup Preliminary Round 1st Leg 17.8.1977 1-0 Attendance 30,000 Rangers Goalscorer, Greig. The Rangers Team McCloy, Jardine, Greig, Forsyth, Jackson, MacDonald, McLean, Russell, Parlane, Robertson, Cooper Substitutes Used, Smith, MacKay While I and I expect most people would accept a draw as an acceptable result obviously a win would be tremendous and despite the fact YB are clearly a useful side I feel it's doable. On transfermarkt their squad value is estimated at around £60 million while ours around £44 million. And just in passing the yahoos listed at £87 million pretty much double ours and I would deem us capable of going to their patch and beating them too. I feel confident it can be done because the team is playing well and what a record Gerrard has in Europe. And when you think about it Europe is what he was already more than familiar with rather than the tribulations he faced in becoming familiar with Scottish football. He made 130 appearances in Europe for Liverpool scoring 41 goals in the process. I think it's fair to say he might be considered a bit of an expert when it comes to Europe. And what can be said about 23 games with only two losses. It's the type of statistic that means we can go into these games feeling a degree of confidence that we can take something from it. I have read that Gerrard declined an invitation to train on the astro turf and if that's true i'm wondering why he did that. Wouldn't it be better to have accepted it? I listened to an interesting discussion on the properties of plastic pitches recently. As is probably well known they don't all respond the same to actual play. A pass dependent on contact with the surface can fall short on some of them but typically not on grass and not on some other plastic. It was speculated that it can take 15 to 20 minutes to 'play into' the properties of an unfamiliar surface. And speculated further that Rangers should be extremely cautious in these first 15 to 20 till they really get the feel of it. And having said all that it made me wonder why they would decide not to train on it.

I would accept mediation from neutral parties.