Shortbread

Italian football isn't really a great comparison for season tickets as they show every single game on TV so attendances are never great. They have very decent TV money which helps with dwindling attendances. Inter and AC are currently going through massive cost cutting exercises too currently which aren't proving to be massively popular as they're both desperately trying to shift anyone on decent money.

It's really out of the way too which doesn't help either. I saw the new stadium when it was being built and it looked so impressive. I've been to the Stadio Olimpico in Turin for a few games and always enjoyed the atmosphere. Only been to 1 game that was a sell out but sitting near the ultras they really get the atmosphere going. Guys leading the chants basically sit for 90 minutes with their backs to the games getting the atmosphere going!

We're missing a huge opportunity not getting the ball down on the deck and getting it moving. In terms of fitness our players should be streets ahead and getting the ball down and stretching and tiring other teams, especially in division 3, by getting the ball moving is going to be better than constantly pumping long balls on the heads of centre halfs. Long ball does have its place but it shouldn't be the only answer away from home.

That's the only time I've ever left a game early. I was sitting there freezing my balls off and as soon as the second one went in I was off as I knew we were never going to get back into the game. I reckon if he'd have stayed he'd have got it right eventually but unfortunately time isn't something you get at Ibrox. Letizi was a total bomb scare though I can still remember the chants for McGregor that would go round the stadium and that couldn't have helped him.

It's been a massive 24 hours in the UFC. If you don't know what happened it when done something like this: 1. Rumours start that Dan Henderson is injured and is out of the Bones fight. 2. Henderson takes to twitter claiming to have had a great training session which is almost instantly retweeted by every fighter mentioned in the tweet. 3. Ariel Helwani reports that one of the fighters mentioned replies to someone saying he hasn't seen Henderson in a few weeks, tweet is pretty quickly deleted. 4. It's reported that Henderson is indeed injured and Chael Sonnen has offered to take the fight at 8 days notice. 5. Sonnen takes to twitter telling Jones he has 30 minutes to accept. 6. Jones refuses the fight and Dana announces that next weeks UFC 151 is cancelled, first time in UFC history a card is cancelled. 7. Dana White is pissed and announces that Bones will now headline UFC 152 saying that if he refuses this fight then Dana will be calling another press conference. 8. UFC announce that Jones will face Machida at UFC 152 and release a poster publicising the fight. 9. Machida turns down the fight saying he needs more time to prepare. Dana says Machida will now need to beat another top level opponent to regain top contender spot. 10. Vitor Belfort says he'll step in and take the fight. Fight is now going ahead! Jones is catching a lot of shit for turning down the Sonnen fight and rightly so in my opinion as he's been planning on fighting a wrestler anyway and it's hardly as if Sonnen has been in camp for months preparing for this one.

It's quite simple but I like it. Prefer it over the idea of an orange top to be honest. Never really get the appeal in having an orange away strip when it's not one of our club colours.

was a cracking finish to be fair. Both Southampton goals have been decent finishes today.

Ross Tokely actually gets paid to play football.

Serie B isn't the lowest level of professional football in Italy but comparing Serie B to the Scottish lower leagues is a real stretch. Most Serie B teams would comfortably beat SPL teams. I don't see Lee Wallace missing from Scotland long term. He might miss a squad or two but if he continues the way he's started the season Levein will need to call him up.

I was in work tonight when it was on and the guy talking about Ian Black when he was told the account was fake said something like "I just need to take it the way I read it" which perfectly sums up the way the media would love us to think. Another thing I thought was weird tonight was we've got season tickets flying out the door and we've got a Rangers fan on moaning that he bought 2 East Fife tickets but only received 1 and another guy on moaning that he couldn't get through to buy tickets for the East Fife game. They did mention the number of season tickets sold but just seemed strange to have those 2 particular callers on. Final thing was another caller talking about Black being booed and he compared it to Jimmy Johnstone getting booed (45 years ago) and then rather randomly Celtic players who'd played for Northern Ireland being booed. I generally don't bother listening to Scottish football phone ins as they tend to show that mental health issues are seriously under reported in this country. I'll need to try and make this a rare one off.

Didn't know that. Always thought it was that they couldn't stop.

I could only think he got booked for stopping as he did his run up. You're allowed to do the stutter before you strike the ball as long as you don't stop but he came to a halt before he fell on his face.

I love the random 'American Football' comment you hear in amongst the German as the ball sails into space,

This is as good a chance as any for Ally to develop his own individual style. I certainly don't have an issue with the big men up top but if we're going down that route let's see some width in the team. Some of the players Ally are buying should allow us to comfortably bully teams but I'd love to see Ally develop a team that's happy to get the ball onto the deck and comfortable with it to hold onto it. We're not going to start playing like Spain or Barcelona but we've got a great opportunity to make the best of a bad situation and nurture a team who win but also do it playing football.

Bit of a shite time but part of the great scottish run goes onto the M8 at the Hilton so they close it off for a few hours. Wouldn't be surprised if SPT don't take this into consideration though and close the subway at 6.

I used to sit in CF3 and it was quite quiet. Guys around me would go mental when we scored but there was never a huge amount of singing. Get a cracking view of the second half but during the first half the screens did help a bit at times. I'd usually be the fanny screaming for someone to take a shot and then you'd look at the screen and see they were about 40 yards out

Honestly would it even matter? We're past the days of people playing for the club they love. Footballers are in it for the money as it's a relatively short career and the fact that Kevin Kyle has agreed to come to division 3 is good enough for me. Kyle could come out tomorrow and declare his undying love for Celtic but as long as whenever he wears the Rangers jersey he puts in a shift that's good enough for me.

Emile Heskey would be on crazy money and I don't see what he would bring to the team.

I met Lovenkrands in Cube the night of the 2002 Scottish cup final. Was surprised he'd want to be in a club in Glasgow after an old firm final but he was pretty friendly. Basically I just congratulated him on his goals and told him to have a good night. Made me watch the game again on youtube. Some cracking players wore the jersey around that time.

I'm trying to forget it already....

It certainly wasn't a highlight but realistically it's just 1 game out of 36 and when we comfortably win the league I doubt 1-1 with Peterhead will even get a second thought. Hopefully this is the sign to the players that it isn't going to be as easy as walking on the pitch and walking off with a 6-0 victory and that they need to put the work in.

For me personally it was the Brugge game. Once Hateley had been sent off the atmosphere seemed to crank up a notch and I remember it being mental when Nesbitt scored. Was only 12 but still remember the atmosphere as being fantastic. Other shout would be the last few minutes of Rangers vs Aberdeen when Sebo scored. Guy sitting behind me who I never really spoke too pretty much assaulted me when the goal went in as he came crashing on top of my shoulders. Was a great feeling when he scored as the sheep were giving it laldy thinking they were getting away with a draw.

Emerson - Utterly gash and no doubt on a hefty wage while he was here.

Yeah I've visited Superga and the monument there and it's quite a humbling experience. It's unreal to think of the idea of an entire team being lost. Also some similarities with what's happened with Rangers in the past year.

I've been to see Torino play a few times as the wife's dad supports them. They've had a heck of a past and they've experienced some of the biggest highs and lows a football team will ever likely know. Listening to her dad talk about them it would be hard not to develop a soft spot for them.