greig72

Title of this thread is an embarrassment. Am I the only one that gets embarrassed by this kind of thing?

I agree that Cousin's attitude is the problem. He's also been sent off two games in a row basically, which isn't exactly a fantastic advert. More worrying though is the acceptance of Kenny Miller as a potential automatic starter. This after two goals against a piss-poor Celtic, one of which he was unmarked at the back post and one of which was the easiest goal he'll ever score!? Also, I can't be the only one on here who completely panicked when the ball arrived at his feet. He did NOT look confident whatsoever!

Rangers and Celtic fans seem equally convinced that the Record favours the other. I personally think it's a load of bollocks, and as for the refereeing decisions thing - it's a big deal last season and this season because of various high-profile incidents, but I don't think anyone can seriously argue that Celtic by specific bias or deliberate actions benefit from more dodgy refereeing than we do. The Dundee United home game at the end of last season is a fantastic example. This just smacks of immaturity.

http://www.whoarethegreatestfans.com/ This is a new website, heard about it on Real Radio the other day - apparently its run by a fellow bear and the idea is to find the best-supported football club in the world, by counting registrations for each team plus you can add content like photo galleries from away matches, the best gers youtube vids etc. Site looks really young, I say we pile in fast!

This could potentially be fantastic news. Let's hope the deal goes through and he gets a run in the team FFS. Could be the signing of the summer, not that it would take a whole lot of beating.

This is a stupid idea. For the people saying we're already out of Europe, we're not out of Europe next season FFS!

Tims were pish on sunday, completely wasteful in possession. St Mirren, but for their uniquely unimpressive forward line, should have won the match. They have Dundee Utd away next weekend, could be a very tricky one.

RIP Allan.

I think most Rangers fans recognise that the Phil O'Donnell conspiracy theory is embarrassing and false, though my faith in that assumption is being tested by the posts on this forum. This is such an undignified way of losing a title. And this will not always be remembered as a tainted title. You wish it were so, but it won't. We threw it away with our shocking record against the top six, and my lasting memory of the league climax will be losing to Aberdeen in a game we had to win. It certainly won't be "remember that season Celtic took advantage of a man's death, blah blah blah", because that's obviously false and in poor taste.

FFS this is so so embarrassing. Seven points ahead in April, with one game in hand. Couldn't beat Aberdeen in the same ground Celtic panned them 5-1. And the excuses just pour in. Strange how people are suddenly more convinced now that Celtic used the O'Donnell tragedy to aid their title bid, than was the feeling at the time. Also, you are aware that the postponed game was ultimately played, and that Celtic were not awarded three points automatically? You will recall it was the one where they scored a goal in the last minute when Scott McDonald outjumped our entire defence. Christian Dailly looked as if he was already entering his evening nap. Poor signings, negative tactics, extended European run. Selling Hutton. Scott McDonald signing for Celtic. There it is.

If you don't understand the tribal nature football in this country then go home and watch rounders I don't know what the fuck rounders is, but I do know denying blatantly obvious allegations by attempting to divert responsibility to other parties based on thin air and conjecture is ludicrous. A minority of Rangers fans behaved violently and without a shred justification. To avoid further repercussions supporters need to take responsibility for overall behavior rather than submitting vague conspiracy theories. This thread is sickening. And ridiculous. ^^^ This post says exactly what I wanted to say. This is the most ridiculous excuse yet, and it's encouraging to see the vast majority reject it for the "thin air and conjecture" that it is.

This does piss me off big-time. Small clubs take great, sadistic pleasure in railroading bigger clubs. Though in fairness, we snap up their best players and bench them. It's one of those things that really gets under my skin but that I would never really complain about, because it's exactly what they want. They do it to piss us off.

What a load of pish. This Rangers team beat Lyon and Stuttgart this season, walked all over Werder Bremen at Ibrox, drew with Barcelona, horsed Sporting Lisbon away from home, and held Fiorentina for three and a half hours without conceding a goal. The English papers, as already noted, are obviously aggrieved at the Premiership teams that were knocked out earlier than we were. Ridiculous.

Ooft, there's some ridiculous posturing going on today in the wake of this Motherwell game. Being asked to play St. Mirren on Monday night then Aberdeen on Thursday night is unreasonable, no doubt. However, being asked to play our ordinary league game on Saturday, after a Wednesday European tie, is standard fare. This would seem to invalidate your implication that this was the SPL's doing, however you said some other things worthy of exploration. "You must now wake up and fight it with every fibre of your being. make it part of your daily consciousness." ^^lol. What pish. How do you suggest I go about this? Do I just walk around looking really pissed off? Do I post more frequently on RangersMedia? Do I phone up the SPL and get them to admit they're all Celtic supporters? What a load of utter pish. Your implication that the SPL support the "irish downtrodden" is also absolutely ridiculous. I don't have to explain why, since the burden for this as with other legless conspiracy theories, lies with the crackpot pointing the finger. Get a grip.

Glad to see most people in this thread are being reasonable, and since the two major points have already been covered (we weren't scoring today if we played a third half; Mike McCurry was guilty at Ibrox last week in our favour), I have nothing new to contribute, save for my support of common sense. This was a major test for us today - the question was whether we had the strength to do what was required to win the SPL. We had to win three games, all of which against teams with no remaining prizes to play for. We failed at the first hurdle not because of bad refereeing, but because of lethargy and football that lacked bite. Simple. Besides, if we go through the season and and retrospectively correct every refereeing decision that was erroneous, do you really think we'd be in a better position? Celtic and Rangers would both have less points than they currently do, no question. So let's stop whining about this pish.

What a constructive post, congrats. Welcome to RM! I agree with the original post, some of the postponements have been very frustrating this season and I fear it may cost us dearly. It seems a little disingenuous to complain about that since we initially requested a postponement against Gretna (still don't quite understand that one; a confidence boost against the league whipping boys might have prepared us better from the 3-0 battering Lyon gave us), but the SPL has brought embarrassment on itself over its handling of these fixtures, and in particular the Fir Park situation. The fact is, the league is still ours for the taking. The purpose of the league is to prove you can hack the pace, that's why it's not the cup. If we have to go to Pittodrie on the last day of the season and have to beat them, then so be it; if we deserve the championship, then we should be able to beat Aberdeen on the same patch as Celtic beat them 5-1. Indeed, we could seek advice from Queen of the fecking South.

Not the point. The performance was unconvincing and the scoreline flattered us. More to the point, McGregor's injury didn't particularly affect any significant outcome of the game - Nakamura had him beat for the Cuellar penalty incident, and he saved Scott McDonald's penalty regardless of his injury. And his successor didn't stand a chance for the last goal. And if we hadn't lost Cuellar, Nakamura's shot would have gone in and would likely have lost the match anyway. Did you see us scoring again? As for the last minute goal - the timing has no impact on the outcome of the game, so saying that we almost managed to hold on isn't a great deal different from saying "if only we'd snuck another goal", and before you know it they've had Vennegoor of Hesselink sent off and we've won the game comfortably. Suffering from such a defeat is extremely hard to take, especially under the late circumstances, so it's understandable why people are upset. I don't consider people's negative reactions to the game to be "disgraceful"; personally I think that 4-5-1 against Lyon and Barcelona is perfect, for stifling vastly superior opposition, but against a team we're supposedly equal to it's a tiny bit embarrassing. We're showing them too much respect, and they trampled all over us tonight. The reaction isn't just to the scoreline, but to the tactics and to the performances.

I agree; many fans seem to forget that Sporting were Champions League opposition. I'm disappointed to see Davie Weir missing the return leg, but I think having drawn nil-nil, we are in a stronger position than them. However, I'm concerned about Walter's tactics. Given that we basically have to play them over ninety minutes and either beat them or match them with a score draw, our lack of attacking bite is beginning to concern me. I always thought that our overly defensive play was going to number our days in the UEFA cup, though I've continuously pointed at Greece as a successful equivelant in their European Championship win. In other words, the opportunity is there, but if we stick with the same defensive mindset and show a similar lack of invention as we did not only last night but in many of the previous ties, then I think it's party over.

Great thread! Has to be Scotland for me.

That is right, simultaneously they won fuck all. True enough; but league titles are of the moment. Reaching european finals are memorable, let's be honest. And I wasn't saying I disagree with the idea, I'm just pointing out it has the potential to backfire, especially since we ended up in the UEFA Cup having failed to make the last 16 in the CL.

I'd co-sign this, as it seems that certain top-level English teams regard the Carling Cup as a runabout for the youth team. It would certainly add intrigue, though it's hard to see how it wouldn't be dominated by English teams. Obviously this year, the CIS Cup was a welcome return to trophy-winning form, but I don't think there's too many people in here that would generally regard it as a competition worth the match-fitness it costs, except of course when it contributes to a treble. It's sort of fitting, in fact, that it was 'won' by Kris Boyd; it's a bit of a substitute of a trophy.

I'd say we're arguably in better shape than we have been in the last eight years, never mind the disaster that was the last two. Even in McLeish's treble winning season, it was hard to argue that we were conclusively the best team in the country. This year, a couple of meaningful Old Firm victories, of which let's face it we've only racked up one thus far, would be a big thing for this long-suffering supporter.

surely on current form (mcgregor's and gordon's), he should be number 1 by now? cuellar's classy but the spanish have a few good players in any position, so its going to be tougher for him. Craig Gordon had three man of the match performances within the last two months, let's not forget in the EPL. I rate McGregor very highly, but Gordon is a world class keeper, and McGregor suffers big-match nerves (with the exception of Bremen) - sold a goal to Lyon at Ibrox, and nearly chucked one into his own net at the Nou Camp...

This would be a hilarious way of getting under their skin, though on the other hand they did reach the final that year, something I'm constantly reminded of, so this could somewhat backfire...

I certainly fancy our chances of making the semi-finals and possibly more. I think the reason that we're percieved as outsiders is because of what some would call negative tactics. I think we were found out against Lyon at Ibrox, because I think that our defensive style of 'anti-football' (lol) is similar to keeping our head above water at the highest level, but in the UEFA Cup it could be spot on; certainly did the trick at Ibrox against Bremen...