Leppardized2001

Nope, Everton let him go on a free and we signed him on a 6 month deal although as the guys have mentioned I'd be amazed if he wasn't offered another year. Even just to help bring through the likes of Broadfoot and Svensson. Malky

With the money that's going to be going around the Premiership next season EVERY team in that division is going to be offer more wages than either of the Old Firm. Even the top championship clubs will be able to as they chase that Premiership dream. The only players we will end up with are the ones happy with a first team place and guarenteed European football. Sad but true. Is why it's going to be even more important that we start getting a return out of Murray Park and start developing our own young, top talent. Malky

The last I had heard of Kirk Broadfoot was that Celtic were trying to sign him. To be honest though he's probably one of the better young Scottish centre backs out there who can only have developed through a season in the SPL with St Mirren. Walter's probably thinking he can develop furthur at Ibrox. Perhaps he's looking at Svensson, Broadfoot, Webster as his long term central defenders. Malky

Need to remember though that when Giggs was Ronaldos age it was he who was getting all the plaudits. Not many players in the modern era make 700 games for the one club so all credit to the guy. Never got the media attention of the guy on the other wing, a certain David Beckham, but could play him off the park any day of the week. Malky

I'd like us to keep all the young Scottish lads eg McGregor, Hutton, Smith, Adam, Burke, Boyd etc Ok, some of them might not end up as permanent first teamers in the future, thinking Hutton and Adam in particular, but they would be good back up, can do a job when required and know what playing for Rangers is all about. Klos it seems is on his way so another quality keeper is required to replace him. Weir is on a short 6 month deal and Ugos injury worries have surfaced in his first couple games for us...could we get another season out of both of them, i'm not 100% sure. Therefore I feel another 2 dominant centre backs required, this time in the 27-29 age bracket with us keeping Svensson as I feel he'll develop into a top class defender. I'd also be looking for a first team right back with Hutton as his back up. Feel Ian Murray could cover for Smith at left back as well as providing cover for CB and midfield. Papac can go, Into midfield and I feel we need a ball winning, terrier type midfielder like a Gattuso. Ferguson, Thomson, Adam and Burke would stay and I would allow Rae, Hemdani, Sionko, Buffel etc to leave. Hopefully Scott Brown will sign in the summer with Gow already signed up...see him playing wide left. Upfront and Boyd stays, Prso will be nothing more than a bit part perfromer next season and i'd allow Novo to go. Think McCulloch is viewed as the long term replacement for Prso, can play upfront or on the flanks...another Gordon Durie perhaps. Need another striker to compliment Boyd, a nippy striker ala Novo but more consistent in front of goal. Malky

Read in the paper today that he is close to signing for Manchester City after impressing in a trial game at Eastlands. Remember a few years back when Advocaat was manager we were very strongly linked to him. Seems his stock must have fallen big time in the intervening period, could have been worth a look by us though, nothing ventured nothing gained, and he was a pretty good goal scorer. Malky

Cheers m8, was getting withdrawl symptoms lol....tried another forum while this one was down but just didn't compare. Malky

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Villarreal playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme rejoined Boca Juniors on loan and said he's eager to play after being sidelined for two months. "Today is certainly one of the happiest days since I began playing soccer," Riquelme said on Monday at a news conference. Riquelme played for Boca from 1996 to 2002, winning three league championships, two Copa Libertadores titles, and an Intercontinental Cup. Villarreal loaned the 28-year-old midfielder to the end of the season on June 30 for a reported $2 million. Riquelme hasn't played for Villarreal in 2007 but before then he'd been struggling to recapture his form of last season, when he helped the Spanish club reach Europe's Champions League semifinals. Since joining from FC Barcelona in 2003, Riquelme had been key to Villarreal's rise, and helped the team reach the UEFA Cup semifinals in his first season. He retired from international duty last September after 37 appearances, citing his mother's health and criticism of his performance at the World Cup when Argentina lost in the quarterfinals to Germany. But Boca president Mauricio Macri welcomed Riquelme back. "It's with great joy we welcome the homecoming of one of the players who had such a big role in the history of Boca in recent years," Macri said. Riquelme wasn't expected to travel with Boca to Bolivia for a Copa Libertadores match against Bolivar on Wednesday, but officials said he may make play on Sunday against Rosario Central in the second round of the Clausura. "Tomorrow I'll start training and if the coach (Miguel Russo) gives me the OK, I have no problems with playing on Sunday," Riquelme said. Russo said he would advise on Thursday whether Riquelme was in condition to play after being idle since mid-December.

No offence Baxter but are you on something???? Severin and Foster??? And as for Bamba, i've never seen a worse footballer in my life. Well apart from Basile Boli whom Bamba reminds me of. Now come on, let's set our sights a little higher than this SPL mediocrity. Malky

Was £400K not the figure that Rangers origanally upped their offer to but the SFA were holding out for £500-600K??? Seems to me that the SFA have dropped their stance and want to move on and appoint a successor to Walter as soon as they can. Malky

Don't think we'll up our offer for Gow as his contract is up at the end of the season so will be available on a Bosman. Don't think he is veiwed as an essential sigining, more one for the future, so sure Walter will be quite happy to wait until the summer to get him. Never seen the lad in action but he does seem to be attracting quite a lot of attention, something that perhaps the 'Anthony Stokes' effect was deflecting from him earliar in the season. Whether he is Rangers class is another matter but someone must see something in him for us to have submitted a bid. Malky

Despite the fact that Tommy Burns is part of the national team set up and has been for a number of years I have reservations about him being given the managers job. I know he has managed Kilmarnock and Celtic in the past but to me he seems happier in the role of assistant as his work with Scotland and now back at Celtic shows. If he really wanted to get back into management there have been plenty of opportunites in Scotland over last few years which would have allowed him to. Malky

Believe it is only this season that MLS dropped their salary capping to allow a deal like this to take place. Many believe it was done to pave the way for Beckham to move to MLS. What worries me regarding this deal is the knock on effect it could have for the rest of football. Are the likes of Ronaldinho, Henry, etc going to go to their clubs and demand similar deals? Or will MLS sign other players on such extravagent terms and allocate them to other teams eg NY Red Bull??? Agree with you Craig about San Francisco being a beautiful city, was there in November. Just as well it doesn't snow there because the hills are mega steep, they need to be seen in flesh to be believed. Would recommend a visit to Carmel, if I win lottery it's where i would retire to. Malky

As regards David Beckham contract talks I think Madrid would be mad to re-sign him. Aside from his image in the far-east he offers nothing to them, certainly not on the playing side where his influnence has severely diminished this season with the introduction of Cappello as manager. Madrid also seem to have changed their transfer policy away from the multi million 'galaticos' and towards signing the worlds best up and coming talent. If Beckhams agent were to be believed, he was orginally offered a slightly better deal than the one he was on. I find it hard to believe that Madrid would offer this to a player of 31/32 whos best days are now behind him and is no longer a 1st choice pick in the team. Surely they would have reduced his terms if anything??? Personally I think he'll resign for Madrid on reduced terms. I think he feels he's still got something to offer at the top level of european football and that it is still to soon for him to move to MLS. Malky

The fact that Walter walked away the Scotland managers position, a job in which is was making great progress with the national team and which he was very secure in, to come back to Rangers says everything. The man is a born true blue and if anyone can restore our club then it's Walter. Cracking move s to bring in Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowell, however I would also like to see Stuart McCall back as well after the fine work he's been doing at Sheffield United. As for the rest of the season, as long as some progress is made i'll be happy. Hopefully we'll see an end to the 2 steps forward 2 steps back scenario we've had to put up with so far this season. Transfer wise i'd like to see us bring in a couple of experienced campaginers in January to help the squad towards 2nd place in the SPL. Along with this i'd also like to see Walter make some quality signing in the summer as well as bring in some up and coming talent from the Scotland U21's. Hopefully David Murray will back him with substantial transfer funds as it looks like we'll not recoup much by selling off the unwanted players in the squad. Malky

Hark back to when Jean Alain Boumsong was a Ranger...a time when Barry Ferguson was at Blackburn Rovers. Now in his time at Rangers Boumsong looked a real classy defender, assured on the ball...but how many times did you see him try to play it out of defence before resorting to the long punt up the park? Why? Because no midfielder at that time was making themselves available to receive the ball. He even said so himself. If you wish to build from the back invariably you need a midfielder to drop back to receive the ball so maintaining a solid defensive line ( unless you want to play with a sweeper ). In this instance the other midfielder should push slightly furthur forward as well as the 2 full backs so giving the 'playmaker' options when he wishes to pass. Therefore could it be that other players are failing to carry out their duties and not just Barry's fault?? The niggling injuries have taking their toll on Barry. He's not going to be a box to box midfielder like Frank Lampard and chip in with 20 goals again, more a Paul McStay type midfielder. To be honest, on the few occassions when he was absent earliar in the season and the team was playing through Thomas Buffel I thought they played a better game. Malky

We need 2-3 players to provide a backbone of experience through the 'spine' of the side, preferably players who aren't afraid to put their heads in where it's going to hurt. Would also be good if they had 3-4 years left in them so we had something to build on. Aside from that I'd like to see us go for the likes of Gary Naysmith and James McFadden from Everton and Gary O'Connor from Lokomotive Moscow ( though unlikely after his Scotland disappearing act ). Naysmith would offer good competition for Steven Smith at left back and McFadden could either play wide left or upfront. O'Connor would make a better long term bet than Filip Sebo. Malky

West Brom midfielder Nigel Quashie has joined West Ham in a deal that could be worth £1.75 million. Albion will receive a guaranteed £1.5 million from the transfer plus a further £250,000 if the Hammers retain their top-flight status this term or regain it during any season in which Quashie is, or has been, under contract at Upton Park. Baggies manager Tony Mowbray said: "Nigel recently expressed an interest in getting back to the Premier League. "When West Ham lodged their interest in signing Nigel, coupled with my desire to create some revenue to bring in fresh faces, I thought it was an opportunity which suited all parties. "I want to thank Nigel for his contribution since I joined the club and wish him all the best at West Ham." Quashie joined the Baggies from Southampton in a £1.2million deal literally minutes before last January's transfer window closed. The 28-year-old made 30 appearances for Albion, scoring once in a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal in April. Quashie's departure will give Mowbray extra spending power to press on with his own plans to bring in new blood during the January transfer window. He is set to lodge a £4million bid for the Hibernian midfield duo of Scott Brown and Kevin Thompson from his former club. ' Also see that Anthony Stokes eventually went to Sunderland for £2million. Shows you the crazy money in the English game when Championship clubs are talking about spending this kind of money to chase the Premiership dream. Malky

'Rangers will have to compensate the SFA if boss Walter Smith is to succeed Paul Le Guen in the Ibrox hotseat. Smith, who led the Gers to seven consecutive league titles during the 1990s, asked his bosses to be relieved of his duties. But, with Scotland bidding to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals, Scottish football's governing body is determined to keep hold of the man who has revitalised the national side's fortunes. SFA chief executive David Taylor said: 'At this meeting Walter Smith asked to be relieved of his contract as national team manager for Scotland. 'This request has been refused and Rangers Football Club have been advised accordingly. That is all I have to say at this stage in terms of a statement from the Scottish Football Association. I think it says it all.' Taylor earlier conceded that Rangers are the one club who could convince the 58-year-old former Everton manager to quit as national team boss. He said: 'Walter indicated to us that the Scotland job was right for him, because at this stage he had no particular reason to become a club boss again. But this particular job is different.' It is understood that the SFA's reaction to Rangers' bid for Smith was not unexpected by the Govan club whose disastrous season took a further turn for the worse when they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Dunfermline. The Gers will have to wait to see if Smith resigns, a move that will leave the Light Blues open to a compensation claim by the SFA.' Personally I don't have a problem with Walter staying on in his capacity as Scotland manager to the summer as well as doing the Rangers job. Realise the Rangers job is going to take up a lot of his time due to the work involved in improving the teams fortunes but if I recall correctly Scotland have just 2 games between now and end of season. Would possibly placate the SFA so resulting in a reduced compensation claim. Malky

You also have your main goal scoring threat, Kris Boyd, currently banned from driving due to drink driving. To be fair, I don't think it's a Rangers problem but is primarily a Scottish/UK 'culture' problem that many a foreign manager has been astonished by, not just Paul Le Guen. The nine in a row players often came out with 'the team that drinks together wins together' alluding to that socialising off the park helped performances off the park. Paul Gascoigne openly admits that is drinking problem really took hold during his spell at Rangers. I think this is one of the issues Le Guen had with Barry Ferguson as I know Barry was organising nights out for the players to help them 'bond', something he witnessed himself as a youngster during the 9iar years. Sir Alex Ferguson, in his autobiography, mentions this same problem when he moved to Man United in 1986 and finding they had a drinking culture. Paul McGrath, Norman Whiteside and Bryan Robson are the players mentioned and it ended with McGrath and Whiteside being transferred out of Old Trafford. In the end it's really upto the players. If they have any pride in themselves as professional footballers and 'athletes' then the occassional beer, glass of wine etc is fine. It's when it turns into drinking sessions and the problem becomes more severe that the problems start. Malky

Arsenal have a massive squad. Is one of the reasons Arsene Wenger will probably not bring anyone in during the transfer window. They'd rather offload some of their fringe players at the moment than add to their first team squad. Malky

Always thought that due to his lack of regular first team foorball over last few months that Webster would be suscebtible to the odd wee twinge and niggle. Didn't think for a moment that it would happen on his first training session. Just hope he's not another Daniel Prodan. Malky

Lets face it. Due to the fact that Walter Smith and Ally McCoist are hotly tipped to be our next management team, and that they were also the main memebers of the Scotland setup along with Tommy Burns, it follows that the media are going to link virtually every Scotland player with Rangers over the next week. Especially ones who seem to be unhappy at their current club eg Paul Hartley. Personally I don't see it happening what with him being a big Celtic fan and him being close to signing for them in the past. I know MoJo did it but he was a one off. Also Hartley i believe is 30 years old, hardly a long term signing. Malky

Don't know yet whether the deal for Walter and Ally is done and dusted, but Craig Brown had an intriguing contender for the position in mind - Former Scotland manager Craig Brown believes Smith and Ally McCoist - also tipped for a return to Ibrox - are capable of reviving Rangers, and keeping their jobs with the national team. Brown told BBC Radio Five Live: "The chairman is very, very close to Walter Smith and Ally McCoist and they would make an excellent appointment in my opinion. "There would have to be a compromise if Walter was going there. "There is a possibility in the short term of him doing both jobs, there's been a precedent for that. "Guus Hiddink was PSV manager and also managed Australia and Mark Hughes for a time did both jobs (Wales and Blackburn). "It is far from ideal but you could imagine it being a short-term solution." Brown suggested that Italy's World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi could become a contender, if Murray was to consider another manager from abroad. "Of course Marcello Lippi's not in employment at the moment and he's a world champion," Like your thinking Craig. Malky

Well considering Fletcher is not rated at all by many Man Utd fans just maybe he may feel like a change of scene. Espcially since Bayern Munich now seem to be willing to discuss the transfer of Owen Hargreaves to Man Utd for £15 million+. Don't know what it is in particular they have against him, perhaps he's not flashy enough for their liking. Always shows plenty of endeavour and willing but don't think he could handle the pressure of being the midfield playmaker. Malky