DMAA

It’s the way to go. It’s at that age you can get the best value. I’d advocate far more money being spent on 16-19 year olds. The youth team should be full of internationals and future title winners, not random kids who’d just make the bench at Stenhousemuir. 

38 minutes ago, Uilleam said:

 

So is Kal Naismith another player we underestimated, like Fleck? If he’s out of contract in the summer he’s probably a better player to have on the bench than the likes of Kranjcar and Herrera. 

In any case, Rangers have to be sure to go back to Helsinki and have a very close look at their other young imports. I remember from

the Morelos clips on YouTube some other very good foreign players around him, all around his age. 

Definitely getting towards a figure we could accept. But the bottom line is who we could bring in and they don’t seem to be confident they’ve got a realistic target in mind. 

38 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

BTW, while adding another striker in case of Morelos' departure is required, we should not forget that we usually play a 1-up-top model and as of now, we have Cummings, Herrera and Miller for that slot, but also Murphy, O'Halloran, Dodoo and Windass able to play as strikers or secondary strikers should we adopt a 2-up-top selection.

 

Given that Tavernier is suspended, we might either see Hodson as his straight replacement, or indeed go 3-5-2 and have Herrera and Cummings up top, should Alfredo go Chinese. I know many people have written him off, but we have hardly seen Herrera in such a situation for any greater length of time.

I think you’d get the best out of Herrera if paired with Cummings, it would be a big man - wee man partnership which would suit his style far more than being a lone striker. However I’m not at all convinced the “best of Herrera” is very good. Morelos is a unique app round striker and very hard to replace imo. 

Tyler Roberts is away

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11698/11229698/leeds-agree-deal-for-west-brom-youngster-tyler-roberts

4 hours ago, craig said:

All of which is good because they aren't Celtic players, and they will no doubt have to pony up a sizeable chunk of the wages.

Just read that they paid “upwards of £5m” and most of his 40k a week wages (which is £2m a year). That would explain why Chelsea let him go for such a ridiculously length of time. As you say good news for us ultimately because it just means they are being propped up by players who don’t belong to them and won’t make them money. 

Great result. It must be because of this games programme that we don’t see these guys making the bench. Hopefully after a summer clear out opportunities will arise for some

of them. 

6 minutes ago, StuGers said:

 

Im sure they actually paid a stupidly high fee for Roberts’ loan.

The number wasn't released but as with Musonda they said it was a 7 figure fee. So although those are two loan signings, their spending is well into the millions for the season.

12 minutes ago, SlimJim said:

Get a loan and spend in the summer when more players are available and cheaper. Oli Burke would be a good loan.

I suppose we could do what everyone else is doing and only agree to sell if we get him loaned straight back to us.

In any case, I'd stick rather than twist. A 26 year old Cuellar went for £7.8m in 2008, a 23 year old Hutton went for £9m in 2008, a 25 year old Boumsong went for £8m in 2004 (that's £11.5m in today's money).

Morelos is 21 and a striker (traditionally worth far more than defenders). It's not a lot of money in the context of the money around today.

7 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

 

By this stage of the window we couldn't possibly get good value on a replacement, we'd just get ripped off.

The worry here is Morelos losing form due to wanting a move, much like Dembele.

I think he'll be worth more in the summer. He has far more creativity and a better all round team behind than the first half of the season so a great chance of more than doubling his tally so far.

Replace him with Kris Boyd. Low-ball Killie to unsetle him and get him to force a move?

Keeping with a 4-2-3-1, could Cummings possibly swap in for Windass in that behind-the-striker role? I think he'd be more dangerous than Windass there, better at long shots and as a natural striker would get into better positions. 

4 minutes ago, Tannochsidebear said:

Murty's post match interview on Sky was interesting. He notes (ad did JC when interviewed) that Cummings is not up to 90 minutes yet, but Murty is looking forward to seeing them play together, saying it was exciting (or words to that effect) and he thinks they will work well together.

 

What does that say about our system that Murty's intention is to play twin strikers? 3 at the back, or lighter in midfield?

I think the 4 at the back will stay because Tavernier and John have done well. The diamond is a possibility but that doesn't really work very well with the players we have. 4-2-3-1 allows Murphy in particular more freedom to attack and get some goals.

Very good article. I feel sorry for defenders sometimes because very often their reputation is at the mercy of their managers tactics. Walter Smith made Danny Wilson, Kirk Broadfoot etc look rock solid, even against the likes of Man Utd at Old Trafford. Warburton may have brought Tavernier to Rangers but he was also at fault for making him look very poor defensively.

Tierney's stats are surprisingly bad. Even with a high score for duels % it's almost as though he avoids them with how low his duels per 90 score is. To be fair it could be that wingers go for deeper crosses against him rather than trying to beat him, that would also explain the low cross blocking score.

I had assumed it would be a bosman actually. Would be good for the club to at least get a couple of hundred thousand.

1 hour ago, Gazza_8 said:

Apparently he's having a medical with Colorado Rapids and wanted £22k a week from us.

Bye Danny. You won't be given a 3rd chance.

Still disappointing for Rangers to lose a first team starter for nothing when we're in the financial condition we are. At 26 and playing well he could have at least fetched 500k with a year or two on his contract. Disappointing on that front, but it sounds like it was 100% his fault so no need to dwell on it.

Main thing is to get David Bates tied down, hopefully this gives him some encouragement to do that because he should be starting alongside Martin now. There's a potential McRorie-Bates home grown long term partnership there. If those two fulfill their potential that would be fantastic for the club.

Apparently a bid for Dembele was “nowhere near” Celtic’s valuation.

He’s not going anywhere this month, the Dembele Dollar has crashed against the pound and they are clearly in total denial. 

Is there nowhere at all to listen to this game?

I'm a little bit worried about this one for a few reasons. Main one is the lost warm up match at the weekend, in comparison to Aberdeen getting a perfect warm up match against decent opposition. Three new signings starting (probably) could backfire too, they're getting thrown in at the deep end. Danny Wilson apparently not starting and David Bates not in the squad also a worry.

Hope I'm wrong and the new signings rise to the occasion and Murty does it again, after all big games is his speciality.

I think he's going to struggle to start if Docherty comes in because we'll have Docherty and Goss, with Halliday and Holt as backups. A loan could get him fit again and ready for next season. He'll take a long time getting fit by wee appearances off the bench I think. Hope I'm wrong.

23 hours ago, BEARGER said:

On the Rossiter to Wigan possibility, why would any club take a chance on him after his record with us? More like a loan deal if they had any sense.

A loan to a Scottish top flight club would be ideal I think, Hamilton or somewhere he'll get games. Gives him first team football in our league and potentially helps his team take points off our rivals.

If only there was an AC12 for the BBC.... (Line of Duty fans know what I'm talking about)

1 hour ago, les186 said:

Craig Levein telling BBC Scotland (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42747012)  that Hearts have used the transfer of Jamie Walker to finance the deal for Naismith. Also that they will not be able to afford to keep him after the 6 month loan deal. I thought he was going to play for nothing? Doesn't seem a good deal selling one of your best young talents to finance a deal for a guy who may spend more time on the treatment table than on the pitch.

I'd personally like to Naismith back, a future Kenny Miller figure in the dressing room, and a better player too. It could be Rangers wanted to see how he got on at Hearts for 6 months before deciding. After all, there's no harm in first letting him prove he can keep injury free and get match practice for 6 months, whilst at the same time giving Neil Lennon a headache  gives us time to slim down the squad and make some room for him too. I know some will disagree but he's an excellent goalscorer, very few midfielders score as many as him.