Leppardized2001

Yeah, the Swedish player in question being Johan Elmander, the guy Le Guen missed out on in the summer. Reported that Walter sees him as a replacement for Prso, Malky

I'd never bet on Championship games, it's such an unpredictable division. Malky

Yeah, been quite impressed with Lowing on the odd occassion he's featured in the first team. Didn't seem fazed by it at all. Malky

I never renewed last season and they never stopped phoning me offering me a seat so don't worry, there ain't no waiting list like the old days. Even had nerve to offer me bar 72. Malky

Yeah m8, wasn't best pleased to put it mildly :ffs: And for last nights thought Portugal and Turkey would have won their games, although were the dodgiest ones, theirs were the ones with higher odds to bump the accumulator up. Remember few years ago I did a UEFA cup one, 8 matches all came in on a �£25 bet and won over �£1300 on that one. Keep thinking I can do it again Malky

Didn't think Italy looked all that clever to be honest, thought reports on them being poor prior to the game were over the top but I wasn't all that impressed by them. Hardly troubled us first half apart from the sloppy goal we conceded. Was however encouraged by some of the Scotland players performances, performances which bode well for the future. With Scott Brown, Paul Hartley, Barry Ferguson, Darren Fletcher, Nigel Quashie, Shaun Maloney and Chris Burke we have the potential there for a right good midfield. Thought Barry and Scott dovetailed well in the midfield but that Hartley wasn't suited to his deeper role. Alexander and Naysmith were willing full backs but lack that little bit of class....perhaps Hutton and Smith in those roles in the future?? Craig Gordon made couple of good saves and is the undisputed no 1 for Scotland in my books. Kenny Miller worked his socks off but his first touch was abysmal at times and never looked like getting on the end of anything. Maloney looked lively when he came on. So in a year or two could the Scotland team be..in 4-5-1 formation - Gordon Hutton McManus Anderson Smith Burke Brown Ferguson Hartley Maloney Boyd Now thats a team with a not bad look about it. Malky

Well bang goes that one as well, Portugal and Turkey letting me down by being held to draws. So close. Malky

I got £25 accumulator going..see above...plus got £5 on all the games to. First 3 have come in, Romania, Czech Republic and Ukraine. Keep them coming!!

Nothing worse than your coupon getting busted on the first game. Malky

yeah Holland cost me at the weekend, £25 accumulator to return £1108 and they couldn't even beat Romania. Bastards!!!! Malky

I've gone for - Poland V Armenia Poland to win @ 1.11 Serbia V Portugal Portugal to Win @ 2.25 Ukraine V Lithuania Ukraine to win @ 1.28 Georgia V Faroe Islands Georgia to win @ 1.12 Turkey V Norway Turkey to win @ 2.00 Czech Republic V Cyprus Czech Republic to win @ 1.10 Wales V San Marino Wales to win @ 1.03 Andorra V England England to Win @ 1.01 Romania V Luxembourg Romania to win @ 1.03 Malky

Well he seems to be right out the first team picture at Everton so looks like he'll definitely be on his way in the summer. Nuno Valente and Lescott are both chosen ahead of him, this despite Lescott being a centre back. I think he's 28, good few years in him yet. Malky

I read we've been linked with Gary Naysmith from Everton. Be a good signing I feel, be good competition for Stevis Smith at left back. Malky

If only we had someone half as talented on the left wing at this moment. Undoubtly the most talented Scottish footballer of the last 30 years and was a travesty he never won more caps for Scotland. Only person who has come anywhere near him in terms of getting you on the edge of your seat when he has the ball is Brian Laudrup. And thats a MASSIVE compliment to Brian. RIP. Malky

Well just got my email through - 'Dear Football Supporter, Thank you for your application for tickets to the UEFA Cup Final 2007 to be held at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Due to demand for tickets exceeding the number available for sale, a ballot took place to ensure the tickets were allocated in a fair and consistent manner. On this occasion, we regret to advise you that your application for tickets was unsuccessful.' Not to upset, booked on the off chance that it might have been a Rangers V Spurs final Malky

I applied for tickets as well but have yet to receive an email telling me whether I have been successful or not. Malky

I'm another who is still abit unsure about Hutton, feel his distribution lets him down a bit at times but I like his willingness to get forward and support his winger. Still young yet so can hopefully only improve. Alongside Steven Smith we have potentially the best two full backs in the country. Malky

I kind of agree with most of the stuff this guy says in reply - 'PeterBear 18.03.07 / 9pm Maybe it is time for you to let PLG go. Rangers under PLG were never going to turn that corner, which we turned on day one of the return of Walter Smith. If Barry did speed up the process, then we should be thankfull. There is a Myth that PLG was some kind of football genious, we all bought into it, but most of us by now should have realised that he was a fraud. He did not make a positive decision in 6 months at our club, every decision he made rubbed the fans and players up the wrong way. If players at the club speeded up his depature, then they have done us a favour. Its all ifs and buts, but does anyone think we�d have won 22 points from the last 24 if PLG was still there. When a manager cannot justify his team selections, signings, tactics, methods within 6 months ( and remember he had 6 months before taking over, to identify signings and weed out the shite ) he is finnished. Players, at all levels, get managers sacked. We don�t hear the half of it. Anyway, I am convinced, PLG was not the messiah, and will never again be mentioned in the same class as Ferguson, Mourinho, Benitez etc. Its amazing that PSG with PLG have not improved any, whereas Rangers without PLG in the same space of time couldnt have done much better. Lets not make Barry the scapegoat, I�m convinced what has happened is for the better, PLG wanted away, he got his wish. You mention PLG�s Ranger�s team making a Euro Semi, or Final, don�t make me laugh, he was half way through year 1 of three year contract and we couldnt compete with St. Johnstone, if he reached a euro semi in the three years I would take up religion.' Malky

The simple fact of the matter is that Osasuna played more of a 'Scottish'type game than Rangers. They played at a higher tempo than us, closed our players down as soon as they got the ball and generally gave the Rangers players no time. These are things that are usually associated with Scottish teams. The Rangers players looked as if they lacked ideas and invention and could hardly string 3 passes together in a row. If Osasuna had a half decent striker we could have been looking at a 5 or 6-0 doing. Malky

Well if you look at top pic, looks like a shellfish aka prawn on its side..a crustacean (sp) if you like. You get prawns in paella...it's spanish dish, Valencia are from Spain.....you on my wavelength now??...lol Malky

Top picture makes it look like a prawn....paella anyone??? Malky

The thing is this, Kris Boyd is playing in what is generally to be accepted to be a poor Rangers side, hasn't been getting decent service, fell out with the previous manager but yet is STILL the top scorer in the SPL. The previous season he was top scorer for not one but two SPL teams. Get off the guys back people. Kris is an instinctive goal scorer. He knows where the goal posts are, knows they don't move and more often than not hits the target with his efforts. Remember the effort against Dunfermline in one of the cups when he turned, swivelled and shot from about 35 yards?? He is not a target man and has never professed to be, thats what Dado Prso offers us when he is fit. As for Sebo, apart from one season in Slovakia for Artmedia Bratislava he's never scored in double figures in a season. Considering he spent 2-3 seasons in Austria, not a particularly strong league, this is a worrying statistic. Fair enough he trys, and as fans we applaud effort, but at the end of the day as a striker your expected to score goals and in this regard I have my doubts about Sebo. The real problem is is that we are missing the one player that could really make Walter Smiths persistence on 4-4-1-1 work and help out Boyd, a player Walter was willing to let go in January, a player called Thomas Buffel. This would be his ideal position, and the position in which he made his name at Feyenoord but he's out for rest of season and likely off in the summer so we'll probably never know now. Malky

From the moment I saw the team last night I had my reservations. Walter obviously went for the 4-4-1-1 set up due to the fact that it worked so well in the previous European game. However as has been mentioned, it struck me as a negative tactic in a home game that your looking to win. We got away with it in the last round as Tel Aviv were a very poor team. Osasuna aren't a great side but they do the basic, simple stuff well and that seems to be all it takes to compete with us at this level. Kris Boyd is an instinctive goal scorer, he's not a target man. If you're only going to play with 1 player up front it needs to be someone who can hold the ball up till he gets support from the midfield, someone like a Hateley or a Prso. Boyd has shown time and time again he can't perform this task. By persisting with this formation and this player we had no ball retention up front so putting us under pressure. Can't understand people having a go at Klos either. The guy came out the cold, where he's been superceeded by a succession of 'inferior' goalkeepers eg Waterauus, Leitezi, McGregor and did all that was expected of him and yet still gets vilified. As I said in my previous post, until we ourselves improve skill wise we are always going to struggle at this level. Mr Murray gave his name to Murray Park, I only hope that his lasting legacy is that it starts producing a calibre of player that can compete with the top teams in Europe. Malky

Throwing money at the problem and buying 2-3 class players isn't the answer to our problems. Go back to the Laudrup/Gascoigne era, 2 players who at that time would have graced any team in the UK, and we were still getting turned over by teams in the European arena. Rangers problem is the fact that when it comes to coaching kids, Scottish football is about 10-15 years behind the rest of Europe. Only when the white elephant that is Murray Park is correctly utilised, when our youngsters are taught the correct basics, and the overall coaching level at the club improves can we expect to see any sustained improvement. Malky

The way I look at it is that Walter will be looking to offload some of PLG's disaster buys in the summer eg Sionko/Sebo/Papac and look to replace them with 3-4 quality experienced players to supplement the young Scottish players he's signed uptil now. With the likely sale of Buffel and retirement of Klos he should have the wages available to do this. The likes of Broadfoot/Gow etc will be squad players who he will hope can develop into dependable 1st team perfromers. The 3-4 quality experienced players I have in mind would form the 'spine' of the team ie goalkeeper, a centre half, midfielder and striker. Malky