rosshleach

BBC sport website has a ticker on the headlines saying Whittaker and Naismith have agreed 75% pay cuts.

Its already up on the STV player if you missed it folks: http://player.stv.tv/programmes/walter-smith/2011-06-07-2000/

It may help if someone in the know summarised things in full (pretty please). I think I generally understand what is going on, but it would be good to have a definitive finance perspective - cheers. On the Andrew Ellis front - and apologies if this has been mentioned before - he is a Director of the The Rangers FC Group Limited, but not the football club. I guess it does not preclude him being appointed later on but at this stage he has no boardroom role at Ibrox.

Today was as bad an Old Firm performance from us in a long time. It harked back to Big Eck's predominantly meek showings at Parkhead, and we look to currently have the same cohesion as the PLG team. Celtic deserve the credit today for having a game plan, and they executed their chances well. Their true quality will be measured at European level, but right now we are very much second best to them. Sadly this has become apparent in a 6 week period. Maybe things will change before May, but I currently doubt it. There are too many reasons why it went wrong today. I think in the SPL games we can handle a 4-4-2 against most sides, but I think we are being exposed consistently by Celtic, and we need a new approach. A 3-5-2 might fit the bill, as Bartley could drop into a 3 man defence defence to cover Weir (who would be a sweeper), Bougherra in right centre def covers Whittaker as a right wing back, and we have a 3 man centre midfield. I have moaned before about a lack of creativity and a ball player in our midfield, but its beyond belief how bad we are in there now. Edu I am afraid simply isnt good enough. Hopefully Ness is fit soon, as he is one shining light in there. Thats not to say a 3-5-2 would be the solution, but perhaps a better way to use the squad we have against the current Celtic team's formation. Lets hope that by some miracle the club gets sold, the debt disappears, and if we do lose the league, we start afresh with some new ideas and new faces next season. Most annoyingly, I think we have a squad of players, limited as they are in places, who should be optimistically fighting in every match to win the league. Too many of those who have done the business in the past are letting the team down when it matters. It a sort of poor man's 1997-1998 all over again.

depends what has been said, and how it is reported. the wily old fox might just be trying to get into the young pretender's head at the key moment of the season, to knock him off his stride. it could backfire or be a shrewd move. lets hope it is the latter.

a few quick thoughts - i know we are all frustrated, but i think we have a right to vent on a missed opportunity. We didnt impose ourselves on the game once in full flow. We started both halves well, but after a few mins Celtic took a control on the middle of the park twice. I have noticed this a few times before, and it was bad today, we have a tendency to play a very narrow formation, leaving opposition wide players loads of space. Today at times the Celtic players simply stood on the lines and always had plenty time to receive the ball. We let them play the ball to wide players before chasing them in possession. This is where most of our problems came from. We sat off them way too much, and allowed them to have confidence to knock it about at will. Most of the time it was from penalty box to penalty box, but you knew they would convert it into chances eventually. We dont have a clear approach to attacking play. Since Miller left we have not had much cohesion in the final third. I think Diouf looked good, and a Jelavic/Diouf pairing may be our best bet. I would get Davis permanently in the middle, and we need to figure out how to build a midfield around his play. Edu should have been chasing lost causes today, and for whatever reason didnt. Ness flitted in and out, but we should only expect so much (especially a wonder goal!) from such a young, but talented, player. Earlier comments from folk on fitness are spot on, we looked lethargic. David Weir's presence at the back may be a root cause. I could never slag the guy off, he has been a great servant, but if we end up playing counter punch football to cover his lack of pace its not good. The management have some work to do, the next 3 months are going to be hard work. Our chance to burst Lennon's momentum was there today, and instead Celtic have come out of this with even more belief I think. The great thing is that this is all still in our own hands, but some hard work on the training pitch will be needed.

i would go with the team in the first post as well. key to that team working will be: 1) playing in a manner to create effective width 2) when necessary, Diouf or Naismith moving centrally to put pressure on the centre halfs 3) being compact - a five man mid - when necessary my current take on things is that we are generally doing the business, without playing well. We cannot afford any more slip ups - although this weekend is a cup match. Psychologically though this match is very important. From what i hear from people, and read, without watching myself, Celtic have been playing well since the turn of the year. I think they are a team with a tendency to build up confidence by going on "streaks". They had a good start under Lennon, but then we burst their balloon big time in October. Much like the first old firm game, if we can turn them over convincingly i think the panic could set in again over Parkhead way. Smith has been known to throw a curveball, but I suppose his options are a bit more limited right now. 3-1 Rangers

Celtic should have won yesterday, and they did. They scored a few goals from set pieces (we are mince at them admittedly). Lennon's style is poor man's Martin O'Neill, and one of O'Neill's main tactical strengths was a knack of being effective at set pieces (we always conceded goals from them when he was manager). Celtic have been a streak team under Lennon. When its going great, they have momentum, but when someone starts to chip away at them they go on bad runs. I expect them to have another bad spell at some stage before May. So.... we go hard at them in the cup next week, and most definitely in the league at the end of Feb, as this is the best way to place the doubts back over their dodgy defence and limited tactical outlook. A win for us in the cup could lead to a poor run on their behalf. If teams let Celtic impose their style on them they struggle. We have enough quality to do the business over them if we can find the spark again, which has been sadly lacking at our end in recent weeks. I also think Aberdeen will make it a lot tougher at Pittodrie on Tuesday, as they would have got a rocket from Brown/Knox. So if its a choice of Aberdeen knocking them out of the CIS, or taking SPL points off of them, I would always take the latter.

I wont be too critical as a win is a win. But I still cant fathom why the Gaffer cant pick his best side, and his best side playing in their best positions. McCulloch has done a heck of a shift in many positions, but now is surely the time to play Ness. I forecast an improvement in performance when big Lee is suspended. Jelavic had to drag us up out of the mire today, and without the service he wont get enough chances to score the goals to win us the league. There seems to be little strategy for the strikers. Jelavic will probably carry the can to do all of the running now, when he is better up top. EDIT - fair comments on the pitch and protecting Ness too.

i dont want to be too harsh as i am pleased we got back to winning ways. perhaps i am more frustrated as tonight we looked really clueless at times - what were the tactics? what exactly had the team been asked to go out and do? Why were we so well organised for 60mins on Saturday, then this? my main gripe being the manager seems to persist in playing folk in anywhere except their best positions. we have lots of players who are versatile, as the gaffer likes versatile players, and with a small squad they are necessary. its just - Weiss can probably play three positions, wide left, wide right, & off of a striker. Of those three it is crystal clear he isnt very good wide left (although passable), he never goes to the wing and always cuts back in, in a very predictable manner. By playing there he ends up getting worked up, and then he totally loses all on-pitch intelligence after half an hour. Naismith is the same, as in versatile, except he can probably play four positions (main striker as well). This season he has shown that he can play to a high level as a wide midfielder. He isnt anywhere near as good upfront. Or at least he hasnt shown it yet. Davis gets continually shunted out to the right, when he is one of our few true centre mids (and i agree that at times he isnt that good in the middle, but he has looked sharper in general recently). So... why not 1) drop McCulloch(!), and play Davis with Ness (who seems to have been given a thumbs over Edu), play Naismith on the left (as he is good on both wings), and try Weiss on the right? Or something like that. Its kind of like a nightmare where Whittaker always ends up in left midfield....when Wylde could play. I felt a bit sorry for Lafferty tonight as well - the team shape had gone to pot when he came on, and he had very little to work with. Eventually the manager is going to have to try Jelavic and Lafferty together, as it may be our only feasible strike pairing. Anyway, i dont want to be too negative. Rather to be constructive about using the scarce resources we have available in the squad. A win is good news, especially with Celtic strolling past Hearts tonight. Every point counts.

i think Owen is on a pay-as-you-play deal, so there is no incentive for SAF to punt him up the road. I am pretty sure his deal expires in the summer as well. Not convinced he is the answer, too much risk involved. Difficult to say who can come in. However, if big Mixu can uncover an Eremenko, i sincerely hope our scouting network can achieve the same. Going by Wattie's comments, he wants another forward come winger. A reserve full back could also facilitate Papac being a centre half if necessary too. Bain has done a decent job in difficult circumstances, and no one really knows what is going on behind the scenes. Only history will tell us this. I give him the benefit of the doubt until then. As for Peter Lawwell, i think he is the master self-publicist (the "sharp suited man" - laughable). He always seems to have the same picture in the papers published beside a story linking him to a EPL side for a Chief Exec role. Over his watch Celtic have been going rapidly downhill since the Strachan era, where in his first 2.5 seasons they were on a roll, strolling the league and getting last 16 in the Champs League. Funnily enough since Smith came back, the tide turned. Since then they have made one awful managerial appointment, and the second doesnt look better (and lets hope Lenny's luck runs out fast). I would rather have Bain than someone who actively recruits average players to sell a few shirts in another country. In the short-term this brings in revenue, but you need to do a bit more to develop the "global brand", especially for an SPL club, despite the Old Firm having ex-pat fans all over the place.

fair play to the big man, he was surplus to requirements, and could have got lost down south and he has become a revelation through some hard work on his part, and a great fairytale story for the Blackpool fc. i hope he gets a big move to a top EPL club and cements his place in the national team midfield. i was at the spain match and he didnt look out of place, pinging passes all over the place. you win some and lose some when you sell players on, lets just hope Ness, Wylde, Hutton et al push on and become permanent fixtures in the gers team.

what we are needing - if Webster can cover defence (and Broadfoot is fit for the remainder of the season). i think we are lacking in quality in terms of a midfielder with ability on the ball (Davis apart). it might make more sense to spend any money from Miller on a player of this ilk.

i am not surprised that this seems to be the direction of things (i.e. two 10 team leagues), but i am disappointed. when i was at uni i did a dissertation on the economics of football and i interviewed a few people from within scottish football, including Chris Robinson (the then majority shareholder at Hearts). he was pretty frank on all my questions and we did discuss league size. he had a strong and clear view back then that 16 teams is unviable as it requires only 30 matches, which is understandable on the face of it. what frustrates me is that there are various ways of adding matches (and by that i mean meaningful matches) to the fixture list such as a revamped league cup, playoffs etc. the league split has been of varying success, but it does suggest that meaningful matches do attract the attention of floating fans. throwing some meaningful matches into a rejigged season calendar (to minimise the risk of excessive cancellation of fixtures) would surely make the product more attractive. however, self interest (and i include Rangers in this) means that we end up with a sub-optimal outcome, which is the "consensus". This means that the Old Firm are kept reasonably happy, safe SPL teams like the Edinburgh clubs are happy, and those threatened with relegation are kept sweet. Sky and ESPN no doubt will have their say, and probably want as many Old Firm games as possible. i am probably in the 16-18 league camp, with a better league cup and playoffs (but not for the league title). its worth a try, and if it is crap, then go back to 10. we never seem to try. regardless, changing the league structure will only go so far to improving things in Scottish football. All the Scottish clubs moan about money, but at the end of the day the root cause of low attendances and crap tv deals is the poor quality of product on show. If clubs were better at producing talented players the wider benefits would knock on (better transfer fees, more spectators through the gates, and more tv money). Rangers (and Celtic) are in a funny place as they are at a saturation point for attendances, except to possibly increase ticket prices. I dont see how the same old four games a season will create the ability to raise ticket prices substantially. The only way we will get out of our current situation is consistently produce better players in-house, and to accept that the best players will leave for pastures new from time to time, but that the foundations of the club remain strong. The better organised the club is, the more likely we will be able to benefit from any future changes to the Champions League, or introduction of an Atlantic League/European Super League. I also think the solution does not always has to be to buy in players - i would prefer a core of quality home grown players supplemented by a few good foreign players.

keep the faith. i didnt see the match today (very annoyingly) so i cannot judge on what went wrong, and who was poor. it seems that most of the team failed to perform. i think Smith needs to carefully rotate the squad when necessary (agreeing with those who give a shout for a Wylde to get a go in wide midfield instead of playing Whittaker out of position etc, and if Webster is fit he needs to be given some playing time, if only to rest Weir), be more positive in his formations from time to time (today was crying out for a Miller with Beattie or Lafferty partnership 4-4-2), and pray for no more injuries. We really need Jelavic back, as he forces Smith to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, and Naismith has probably been our best player and i am sure he was missed today. i still believe our first team is better (and more experienced) than Celtic's and a couple of good results can lift things again. Lennon may have pulled a result out of the bag today but lets see if they can keep it up. Remember - they were ready to drop more points against St Johnstone until two injury time goals saved the day, and in general they have been rubbish since we beat them at Parkhead. The pressure will build as the games come along, and Celtic are inexperienced over the course of a season, and have shown fragility on many occasions. It is still in our hands. The next month to six weeks is challenging, but this is where league titles are won and lost. The league is always the top priority, and Smith really doesnt want to repeat 97-98 again, so lets hope the team takes the bloody nose that we got today and they channel it into a determined response.