Thistledhub

The normal cover for a defender / defensive midfielder would have been Whittaker, but with Bougherra injured, Whittaker, Broadfoot, Weir & Papac were all playing. McCulloch in front. The only person versatile enough to cover both areas was Dailly. Personally, I would have used Edu and pushed McCulloch back if needed. The real problem for us is that we dont see what goes on in training. Dailly may have been playing really well, we will never know. I still think that Walter Smith is a good manager. He was brought in to "steady the ship", an ideal person to do that as he does take the cautious approach. The ship has been steadied, but you cant expect someone like Fleck or Niguez to come on when they haven't played well enough recently. Lafferty is another youngster who booked his place with some good performances. I think people should lay off Walter Smith. He lost a really tight game to our nearest rivals because his so called "big" players were not allowed to play by the opposing midfield. Mendes, Davis & Ferguson were snuffed out. Of the 3, only Ferguson seemed to be passionate on the day, but he is a bit more demonstrative than the other 2.

Well thought out and well presented. I actually agree with quite a lot of it. Is a cup final the place to experiment? - I suppose if you are a couple down, then yes. But at 0-0 or 1-0 down, caution till a few minutes to go. Edu, Fleck & Niguez have all been given chances to shine recently and haven't. Lafferty was given his chance and stepped up, he got a place. That was a gamble by Walter Smith, which nearly worked so well. Lafferty played well for a while, but faded in the second half. Beasley has not been playing recently. I agree with the comment about experience, we need a measured balance between experience and youth, and the inclusion of Lafferty shows that Walter did take it into consideration. With Bougherra missing, the problem was always cover for the back four / defensive midfield. It meant that both Whittaker & Broadfoot were playing as well as McCulloch. Who is the cover? Dailly is the only one who could cover all those slots. I do agree though, I was not happy to see Dailly coming on. Regarding passion, there really was 4 guys who were bursting with passion - Ferguson, Boyd, McGregor & Novo. To the rest, it seemed like just a job. The ice rink surface was the same for both teams, but it affected our passing game. In the previous encounters against them, we have been the better side. We set expectations very high in August by completely outplaying them. They have learnt from every encounter. They gave no time to Ferguson, Davis or Mendes, setting about them constantly. Of the 3, only Ferguson came out with any real credit. Sad when you consider both have been among our best players this season. As to the formation - we lost when we changed to 442! In short - Walter Smith probably made 1 blunder in his substitutions. Our "big" players didnt produce it on the day it mattered. They are the culprits, not the manager. If you consider that it was a very very close game and could have gone either way and the fact that this was our worst performance against them, we wont be as poor again. I fancy us to win the league, and probably the cup as well, provided we have no more Cup Final freezes. Sorry for the rambling reply, not normally my style, but I am trying to dodge my boss, think straight and get over my real disappointment

I am far from a fan of Lennon, but I honestly believe that he is the biggest influence in the celtic dressing room and the main reason they are still top of the league

reakky good stuff guys - we should do this more! - I need to do some digging around and some scanning..........

After a night on the piss, me and my mates made a video of us singing, do you think we will be banned? (homage to Fat Eck!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbHh-VmtL9Y

As much as I would like us to be left alone to sing what we want to sing, we shouldnt sing either hullo hullo or the famine song. Like Nacho said, I dont hate Celtic fans, they mean nothing to me. Therefore the singing is not about hatred, it is about ribbing, piss taking etc. I agree that people sometimes take offence, but we football fans like to dish it out, but we are offended far too easily. I wish we could be left alone to sing what we want, but we never will because people take offence. We are just as bad. When Neil Lennon was paraded in front of the Rangers fans by Martin O'Neil, some of our fans were "offended", same as when players cross themselves. They were offended by Gazza's flute playing (poor hand positions there Paul!). It is all bollocks. If we all stopped being "offended", it would be much easier, but the politically correct brigade are putting a stop to all that. We are not any worse or better than anyone else. But we have stopped singing more of our songs than anyone else, is that because our songs are more offensive, or we are more concientious or is it just the rabid Tims looking for any excuse? My gut feeling is that it offends another country, the Irish and therefore our government get worried. Strange they dont do the same to the Scotland fans for the comment "English Bastard"......... ........."Hullo, hullo, we sing the Famine song, hullo, hullo, I know you think it's wrong.......... shame really, but I am not trying to offend, I am just taking the piss, honest Mr Dick.

How can anyone call Walter Smith a bad manager? Walter Smith is one of the most successful managers Rangers have ever had. Fact. As for Kris Boyd, he would never have been in the frame to start in this match, but probably would have been on the bench. Any player showing dissent in any way needs to be dealt with and Boyd has a record of showing dissent. All the good managers have done the same, Sir Alex Ferguson has shown many a star player the door, because no-one is bigger than the team. If these stories about Boyd getting a new arsehole torn are true, it may be the end of the matter, but he wont start on Sunday no matter what. If the stories are true, he will be missing from the bench as well. Honestly, I wish he had Wee Nacho's attitude, he would be a terrific asset to the club, but that is all he is, an asset. I hope he is in the squad. Walter Smith is one of the most successful managers Rangers have ever had. Fact. GET BEHIND HIM AND THE TEAM!!!!

The next game is the most important every time. No-one should give a thought to the next league game yet. The cup final is the one - at the moment! Are we joining the EPL bandwagon that says the league is everything and all else should be left for the reserves and kids to play in? Come on and think about this. EVERY match is important to us. Till last season, any silverware was desperately wanted, has that changed? The Rangers I grew up with wanted to win everything and to do that, the next game, regardless of the competition we are playing against or which competiton it is becomes the most important. The "one game at a time" mantra is not banded about for nothing, that is how the winners do it. Now let us win ALL 3 trophies this yerar!!!!!

Totally agree - NO SACKING AT IBROX! At the end of the season, win or lose, Walter Smith will probably call it a day. Moyes was my shout for next at Man U

I thought that the ICT keeper made about 6 saves last night. Maybe I was watching a different game! We had 8 shots on target, a couple were cleared by defenders. We had 13 corners and had them pinned in their half for most of the game. Ferguson made a few good passes through, Bougherra ran his socks off again. We lost a match, dropped 3 points, but we are still in this.

The ICT centre halfs looked in control of any high ball, therefore a winger probably wasnt the answer. Let's be honest about this - the starting line up looked ok and by the end we had almost everyone in attack. The subs were all attacking options. We had 8 shots on target and a few more off target and 13 corners. It was very one sided and we should have won. But it is easier for a team to come and stop goals if they have the athleticism and the organisation than it is to score goals. I am not sure Walter Smith should carry the can for this one. In fact, i dont blame anyone. We needed a bit of guile to open up the defence. If we had scored 1 early on, I am convinced we would have scored more. We are not out of this yet

I see Sasa as an asset in the side. he gets up and down ok, delivers crosses and passes well and adds the occasional goal - great! BUT - he is prone to lapses in concentration, especially if the opposition are attacking down the left side (our right). Check out the Falkirik goal the other week, Sasa was caught ball watching. This may seem that I am being petty, but I think if he can rid himself of this, he could be outstanding.

I have a spy at Blackpool, I will have a chat and find out what they think of Charlie. I am told he has already caused a lot of laughter in the dressing room. The comments about Alan Gow when he was there were that he was a really good player and he is very quiet in the dressing room. Charlie is a bit more vocal!

I am sure that Gordon Ramsey supplied the pass for my winner against Celtic in the European Cup Final...........

He was brilliant. I was lucky enouth to see him and Wee Willie, they were both magnificent. Baxter was called "The Surgeon's Knife" by the press for his passing skills. I once played golf with Alan Ball (I know, namedrop!). I mentioned the 1967 match and Jim Baxter. Alan Ball hated him for 2 reasons, one was the fact that Baxter played so well that day and took the piss instead of completely hammering England and the other was that all through the game, he called him Jimmy Clitheroe! For those who dont know: http://www.jimmyclitheroe.co.uk/ He was infuriating at times, he would rather ridicule the opposition than score lots. In the 1963 match, he was truly brilliant. Scotland had 10 men, when "the boss" as my father called Eric Caldow, was carried off with a broken leg (no subs in those days), Slim Jim scored both. he was also one for the birds, booze and the bookies. I am sure he would have been a great player today, but i am also sure he would have had more headlines for the wrong things than Gazza as well!

There are a lot of candidates, someone mention Robert Prytz. He turns out in a Gers strip for the sixes all the time! but the greatest compliment has to be from Paul Gascoigne. When asked about the highlight of his career, I expected him to say about the brilliant performance against Matthaus in the World Cup 1990, but he said "to have played for a club as great as Glasgow Rangers" - superb!

Its an exageration to say MOST people, but ALOT of the discussion is about it, you can't deny that. And alot of it is blaming him and saying "he's shite" etc etc. This is probably one of the longest running threads (page wise) apart from the actual Match Day threads, and most of it is the same re-hashed debate over and over.. A alot of the discussion is on Boyd's performance I'll give you that. However I can't recall seeing too many posts or threads where people specifically blame Boyd for a defeat/dropped points. He is not as lazy as Cousin!

Tell your mate I'm warming the car up as we speak He is a real talent with the work ethic of a sloth on dope

What if Paul Le Guen was given time? What if Kris Boyd was fast? What if Wee Willie Henderson was 25 again? What if the Rangers support got BEHIND the team? What if my Auntie had a willie - she'd be my uncle!

I will add mine later, but here is a point from my mate who is a Hull City fan....... "Can you take that lazy good for nothing Cousin back top Glasgow please?"

I think Ferguson is doing ok, he is doing a lot of the donkey work to let Mendes play further forward. Edu was poor against Forfar, not in the same league as Ferguson.

For me, anyone who wore the blue shirt is fine by me.

1. Mendes 2. Bougherra 3. Davies That is for Scottish Football Player of the Year!

Great Topic! Andy Goram Gary Stevens Richard Gough Carlos Cuellar Artur Newman Brian Laudrup Giovanni Van Bronckhurst Paul Gascoigne Jorg Albertz Michael Mols Ronald de Boer

Check his goal record this season - it isnt as bad as you might think - 11 goals in 23 matches is a reasonable return. I also think he will score a good few more by the end of the season.