Cammy F's Festive Weekly Rants

[CammyF 7,988]

The Boyd Done Good

 

As many long-term readers of my rants and posts on GersNet will testify, I have never been Boyd�s number one fan. However, I have always stated that if Boyd could improve on his all-round game, add this to his undoubted goal-scoring talent, then he�s be an asset to our team.

 

Saturdayââ?¬â?¢s game against Hibernian was in my opinion one of the best ââ?¬Ë?all-roundââ?¬â?¢ games Boyd has had in a Rangers jersey. He tracked back, he linked up play, his movement was decent and after missing a guilt-edged chance in the opening five minutes, scored a goal that only Boyd could score. It wasnââ?¬â?¢t a typical overhead kick, it was just the art of somehow getting the ball to nestle in the back of the net.

 

Saturday was also saw us witness one of the most one-sided 1-0 victories in a long time. Hibernian came with a plan to frustrate us, get everyone behind the ball and not allow our midfield the time or space to utilise Millers clever runs. Credit to the players, they stuck to the task well, even when those in the stands were displaying signs of impatience and were reduced to cat-calling.

 

Ferguson and Mendes showed further signs of a growing understanding and Mendes had his best game since the 4-2 mauling of the MOPES at Parkhead. His intelligent passing and audacious shooting was a joy to behold and certainly livened up the proceedings. I also thought that Papac and SW had very decent games in the full-back areas. With Hibs sitting deep, both took the opportunity to break forward and help to try to unlock the defence.

 

I was disappointed in Hibs� approach, as on their day, they are one of the better SPL teams and tend to play a very decent level of football. I know they had a few key players out injured, but expected them to put more into the game. It seemed that they had resigned themselves to a defeat even before a ball was kicked.

 

You're Just Our Feeder Club

 

This wee ditty is often sung when we play Hibs as we have over the years, signed various players from the Edinburgh club. In recent history players like Kenny Miller, Ian Murray, Steven Whittaker and Kevin Thomson have made the short journey along the M8 and joined Rangers from Hibernian. Others like Craig Patterson who went on to captain The Rangers and in my opinion, the best two players we�ve signed from Hibs are Andy Goram and Colin Stein.

 

Both these players went on to make outstanding contributions to The Rangers and both are rightly remembered with great fondness within our support. However, whilst Colin Stein took no time to settle into the groove at Ibrox netting a total of eight goals in his first three games, whilst Andy Goram leaked uncharacteristic goals in his opening spell between the sticks.

 

Stein with the subject of the first �£100,000 pounds transfer between Scottish Clubs and went on to become a firm favourite and a permanent fixture in the Rangers line-up. His bustling style and fantastic heading ability saw Stein score hugely important goals for Rangers including a strike in the Cup Winners Cup Final in Barcalona and the goal that won the 1975 championship. If I remember correctly, he is also the last player to have scored a hat-trick for Scotland. Colin lives local to me and some may find it surprising that he is now a joiner with a local firm and was a very decent at bowls!

 

Andy Goram recovered after a shaky start and established himself into Rangers folk-lore as one of the finest keepers we have had. The list of astonish saves is endless, but the one to deny Hugedonkey at Ibrox was one of the best saves I have ever seen.

 

Both players have actually attended various dances at our RSC and both were a credit to themselves and Rangers Football Club.

 

Worrying Rumours

 

Following on from Super Ally�s thread regarding worrying and shocking rumours - http://www.gersnetonline.net/vb/showthread.php?t=9290 here are a few that I heard (from various sources over the weekend) that are as worrying :

 

We have contacted and opened negotiations with Bobo Baldes�s representatives with a view to taking the Celtc stopper once his contract expires at Parkhead. This deal is said to be at an advanced stage and could be completed soon. Balde will see out the remainder of his contract at Celtc and move to Rangers in the summer under freedom of contract.

 

West Brom had a �£5M bid for Kevin Thomson accepted by Rangers and the deal was to be concluded in January. However, after Thomsonâ��s injury and West Brom losing sponsorship (with T-Mobile) this deal has been scrapped. West Brom are actually in some financial difficulty as they have lost and failed to replace T-Mobile as shirt sponsors and have gone public locally asking for local investors to invest in the club. However, I am led to believe that Birmingham City are also keen on Thomson and will test Rangersâ�� resolve with a �£5M bid in the summer. If we get a bid from Birmingham, Thomson will be sold.

 

Our finances appear to be a lot worse than any of us thought. Martin Bain has been tasked to make further reductions to the spiralling wage bill, hence the reason as many as 10 players will leave Ibrox in January. Kirk Broadfootââ?¬â?¢s agent was sent packing from Murray Park with a flee in his ear after inquiring about a pay rise for Broadfoot now he is an international player. It is believed that Kirk is on Ã?£2K per week and his agent asked for ~Ã?£4K and was politely told to ââ?¬Ë?beat itââ?¬â?¢. Wonder if this is why young Kirk was demoted to the bench recently.

 

All of the above is unsubstantiated but heard this from a few people, not just one source.

 

Get Into Them

Once the turkey and the roast potatoes (am I still allowed to refer to potatoes in this sensitive Old Firm week ââ?¬â?? donââ?¬â?¢t want to offended anyone especially at this time of year) has been digested, weââ?¬â?¢ll welcome our bitter neighbours to our home for the 2nd Old Firm game of the season. The damning statistics regarding our inconsistent form says that even a Rangers win (our 2nd of the season) will still see us trailing the MOPES by a point. That is as hard to swallow as the turkey ââ?¬â?? potentially 2 Old Firm victories and still behind them in the race for the SPL.

 

These encounters are never ââ?¬Ë?tameââ?¬â?¢, but itââ?¬â?¢s time that we crank this game up a notch or two. They have been allowed to swagger around in this fixture recently and itââ?¬â?¢s time that we reverted back to the days of Jock Wallace and got the battle fever on. Lets barrack them from start to finish, lets get on the backs of the officials, lets drown out their bile with Rangers songs (and the odd verse of the hockey cokey), lets get right fookin into them (in a non-sectarian manner you understand).

The Rolly-Polly Goalie should be our prime target. This ââ?¬Ë?manââ?¬â?¢ is unstable ââ?¬â?? lets hound him. The players should also be getting into his ear at every opportunity. We should be shooting on site (praying for squigglers), barging him at cross-balls and generally making his life uncomfortable. He isnââ?¬â?¢t in the best frame of minds, so lets try and capitalize on that.

 

Whilst doing all of the above, lets not get on the backs of our players, they need and deserve our full support. It�s worth remembering that anything other than a victory isn�t really good enough for us.

 

I would expect Walter Smith to now stick with the 4-4-2 formation and he could stick with Saturdays starting 11. Don�t be fooled by the MOPES claims of injury, suspensions etc, they�ll have their strongest 11 on the pitch on Saturday, make no mistake about that.

 

Please Santa, 3 points for The Rangers.

 

Merry Xmas & A Happy New Year

 

Just like to take this opportunity in wishing all fellow GersNet contributors and all Rangers fans a very merry xmas and a happy new year.

 

 

Cammy F

[Gribz 846]

Good read Cammy,

 

Now Balde is 1 player ive always thought as an animal but id take him over lee Wilkie any day of the week. Personally I cant see him signing for us for many a reason and this includes his 30k a week wage which we couldnt offer half that.

 

If we were offered 5 million for Thomson it would be hard to turn down and i dont think it would be disasterous. I wouldnt take anything less for him though.

 

Boyd:

Agree-ish RE Boyd, Ive been his no.1 critic over the years for his all round play, but he is coming onto a game since the Burley thing. But this will count for nothing unless he does it until the end of the season and we are league champs.

 

OF Game:

Agreed, we should get stuck right into them and make home advantage count. Boruc HAS to be a target and your right when we should hit shots from all over the place - he is a terrible shot stopper.

 

Id personally fit Novo into the team, he has an awesome record against Celtic. Hopefully Miller gets a good week to regain full fitness. But team predictions can wait for SAlly's match preview in the coming days.

 

Celtic are like a house of cards with Wee Tink, Strachan, boruc and the fans - a 100 mph performance by us could see another hiding for them

[Wija 0]

F*ck me.... if the Balde rumpur is true then I want WS and his team Out!

 

Agreed on the Roly Poly Holy Goalie... we must antagonise this reptile and get him riled straight away. He is 2 sandwiches short of a picnic, and we Bears love a picnic.

 

WATP

 

Rangers 3 - 1 C****c

[Super_Ally 0]

Gribz can get it posted earlier than usual if you wish as there will no doubt be greater interest and more discussion for this one.

[Gribz 846]

Gribz can get it posted earlier than usual if you wish as there will no doubt be greater interest and more discussion for this one.

 

Yeah mate go for it, I always put the OF one up a wee bit earlier. Obviously Xmas day is Thursday so a lot of people may not be on here. Team news isnt much of a problem anyway, we know Bougherra and Miller are carrying knocks but thats about it, and both are expected to make it.