[Welcome to Rangers, Philippe Clement!]

47 minutes ago, EngineeRFC said:

Thought that as well, but it might not have been for the want of trying. Who knows what's gone on behind the scenes?

He seemed to want to stress that everyone had been working card, so assume it is more of a case that we couldn’t find a deal that worked within our budget than we just weren’t looking.

[Euro Squad]

1 hour ago, bluenoz said:

Ridvan, Silva, Dio in

Roofe, Danilo, Lammers out

Why you leaving Cifuentes in when he is as good as out the door?

 

Surely leave Roofe or Danilo (whoever medical team is advising is going to be back first) and it is an extra body if we do make it that far?

[Scottish Football]

1 hour ago, Blueshoff said:

Have the rules changed since Ashley was trying to take over Rangers?

For once it’s probably something we should be thanking them for… 😂 

 

In terms of the change of stance to dual ownership it is probably more a case that the landscape of football ownership has changed significantly since then and if they didn’t allow it there is a risk of Scottish football being left even further behind.

 

Without getting in to the rights or wrongs of different ownership structures I have long wondered why someone with access to wealth hasn’t looked at a Scottish team as a viable option. Yes there is more TV and prize money on offer in other leagues, but compared to the costs of buying even a championship club it is peanuts. Sad truth is also it probably wouldn’t take that much investment to outstrip us and them either and start getting access to European TV money.

 

FFP is probably the biggest hurdle to it these days (especially if you are looking for access to Europe) but the levels of money required there are probably work around compared to some of the stuff that goes on in other leagues…

[Keeping It Real(ly Shite), Michael Beale]

6 minutes ago, Roy Hobbs said:

So what is remarkable about our sacking Beale? It happens constantly.

Think he is getting at it has been a massive stroke of luck that Sunderland picked him up so quickly.

 

Typically managers keep getting paid by the club (so they don’t have to make a massive lump sum payment) until they find a new club and then the contract can pretty much be mutually terminated.

 

Him getting to Sunderland so quickly probably means we only had to pay him another 2 months wages…

[Ross County]

All joking aside why does SPFL feel the need to do stuff like this?

 

Can understand stuff like the Christmas Eve game when it is being dictated by Sky, but as far as I am aware  this game is not on TV so they are free to pick any date they want (our game the following weekend is on a Sunday so literally could have picked the Tuesday or the Thursday if they wanted).

 

The focus should be on getting as many people to games as possible, so why pick a date they know is going potentially cause grief to folk?

[Rangers statement]

1 hour ago, SonicWill said:

Believe it or not, James Dornan MSP has come out in support of Rangers. He’s tabled the following motion in the Scottish Parliament. 
 

“Motion Number: S6M-11781
Lodged By: James Dornan
Date Lodged: 04/01/2024

Title: Calling for SFA Transparency

Motion Text: 

That the Parliament supports recent reported moves by Glasgow Rangers FC to get the Scottish Football Association (SFA) to release the conversations by video assistant referee (VAR) officials during the recent game against celtic FC; recognises what it sees as the longstanding culture of secrecy that exists within the ruling hierarchy of Scottish football; urges the SFA to ensure that all VAR decisions, and any other decisions requested by a club involved, are made publicly available on such a request, and believes that, if the SFA and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) continue with what it considers is their ongoing culture of secrecy, then there is a need to consider an independent regulator for football, similar to the plans reportedly due to be introduced into the UK Parliament, but one which would be unique to the circumstances of Scottish football.“

Don’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but he is correct that the secrecy of the SFA and SPFL has been a large contributing factor in us getting where we are now.

 

If there was a mechanism for allowing clubs to publicly highlight decisions they felt aggrieved by and space for the referee in question to explain their decision, whether that be a different interpretation of events from the club’s viewpoint or even just owning up to getting it wrong, it would help take the edge off of the whole referees favour one team.

 

It would require a culture change from a lot of people that clubs being upset about decisions is perfectly normal and that highlighting incidents isn’t put across as blaming or accusing the referee but trying to get a better understanding of a referee’s thought process and bring some respect back between players / clubs / fans and refs.

Say there was a section on the SPFL website where a club has a time period after a game to request clarification on any decisions and then the referee has to respond; it would create a system where everyone can see if a referee is consistently stating they misinterpreted / didn’t see / got an incident wrong (either in general or for one club in particular) that they are maybe not up to the level required but also highlight if a club is consistently complaining about decisions that is unjustified, or if teams are consistently highlighting unbalanced refereeing against one team (no guesses who I have in mind here…)

[Rangers statement]

I think he will live to regret that one.

 

I guess he is trying to come at it from the mental health angle - which is a cause he has long championed and we all respect is very close to him and his family. But it is a very clumsy piece which pretty much absolves Collum of any wrongdoing - and the European experience comment is just a cheap dig that isn’t even accurate as last time I checked Collum has never appeared in a European final!

 

The knuckle draggers comment is beyond the pale. Yes he might argue he has used it to refer to supporters of all clubs, but he knows fine well that it is a particular favourite insult of one particular set of fans and should be going nowhere near that kind of language.

 

Very disappointed in him.

[*****The Official Rangers vs Kilmarnock Match Thread*****]

Good to see Raskin back in the squad and hopefully we can get a nice lead early and get to see a good bit of Silva.

 

Got to admit I am a bit surprised there are no changes in that front 4. Dessers I almost grudgingly understand as there isn’t really anyone else but thought all 4 were poor in the OF and was expecting Clement to maybe swap one or two around to freshen it up with Wright or Matondo coming in for Sima or McAusland and maybe Dowell playing one further forward and dropping Cantwell rather than Sterling.

[Rangers statement]

1 hour ago, ger4life_1872 said:

I think the onside / offside is pretty irrelevant now tbh , it doesnt matter if they lucked out and got the correct result if they didnt properly follow the rules and protocols ,

Mcdonald had to resign (think lino possibly did too) despite them being correct in overturning the pen he wrongly awarded because they werent honest about the situation ,

We should be looking for similar outcomes

This. The offside actually does us a favour in highlighting the shambles.

 

If it hadn’t been thrown into the mix we would still be complaining about it but it is fairly easy to sweep it away as “well the VAR didn’t think it was a penalty” and it would just be another one of those incidents that would be banded into the some go for you & some go against you argument by supporters and in the press.  Not saying I think that is right, just what would have happened.

 

By seemingly throwing in the offside at a latter point they have made a massive mistake and allowed scrutiny of the decision on a point of fact not opinion, either the offside was looked at during the review or it wasn’t (in my opinion it wasn’t even just based on the length of time an offside call typically takes).

I suspect if we ever get an account of what happened it will be along the lines of;

- Collum made a snap judgement on the call (whether that was made deliberately or incompetently only he will probably ever know)

- either someone in the VAR or referring team has subsequently called it out as being the wrong decision

- they have then panicked and rushed out the offside as the justification hoping to clear the whole thing up not taking the time to think through the ramifications that trying to cover up the initial flawed decision actually makes the whole situation more serious

 

Unless they can provide evidence that clearly shows the offside was a material factor in the decision making process the issue is we basically have a VAR / refereeing team pushing out a lie to cover up what (I suspect) they have identified as a mistake.

[Rangers statement]

The more I think about everything that surrounded this game the angrier I am getting.

 

Why was nothing made of the challenge on Dessers?

 

Was there any VAR check carried out to confirm the ball hadn’t left play for their goal?

 

Why was O’Rielly allowed to reenter / remain on the pitch when he was still bleeding following the first injury?

 

Why was O’Reilly allowed to reenter / remain on the pitch with blood on his shirt after receiving treatment for the second impact?
 

Also throw into the mix why isn’t the book being thrown at them for refusing to give us any tickets when they had been taken tribunal and told they had to?

Whole thing stinks and is a direct result of years of getting their narrative out and people in positions to push their side.

 

If the handball incident is the one we can “get” them on it needs to be pursued as aggressively as possible as a first step to ensuring there balance going forward.

[Rangers statement]

4 minutes ago, Blacky Bear said:

All

We are also missing the FACT that as much as Dessers is an imposters and fucked it.

He was fouled 3 fucking times before Heartless get the ball in his marigolds.

This as much as soft as fuck was a stonewaller and a red.

Again buried.

Cheating bastards.

 

Glad someone else brought this one up as I have been amazed there hasn’t been more discussion over this.

 

From the replays I saw it was clear there was contact on Dessers before the tackle was then made.

[Todd Cantwell]

1 minute ago, Laudrupsleftfoot said:

Think you’re right - needs a bit of compromise on both sides.

Nothing other than my gut but I am not sure Cantwell will compromise so I can see it being a key area for Clement going forward with Dowell or Lawrence being preferred for the role if he thinks they will fit the system better.

[Welcome to Rangers, Philippe Clement!]

Having had a chance to reflect as disappointing a result as it was yesterday it was a marked change in that it was a fairly even game that was decided by a couple of moments of quality (and a couple of lapses in quality from us).

 

Our game plan was solid and caused them some issues at times while nullifying their possession for the most part (I can’t really remember Butland having that much to do).

 

Address the quality with some new faces to suit Clement’s style and some injured players back and I see no reason that we can’t go on and win this league.

 

They think they have put some sort of marker down and Rodger’s comments about seeing off X managers suggests they think they have the upper hand when in reality since Clement has come in he has closed the gap (both in terms of points and play on the pitch) and they won a game which could have gone either way.

[Todd Cantwell]

I think one of the issues is Cantwell wants to play with a less constricted role where he has freedom to go and get involved in the game where and when he wants. The way Clement explains it his style is far more structured where if player A has the ball he knows where player B & C should be and what move they are going to make, that system requires players to be more disciplined and stick to areas of the pitch.

 

I suspect it is part of the reason Clement has kept going back to Lammers at times. He is fucking gash but is far more disciplined in holding his position than Cantwell (just he doesn’t seem to know what to do in the position…)

[Goldson]

Ha - if it’s the same one I am thinking of just watched it back when looking at the highlights to try and figure out who was to blame for loosing possession in the lead up to the 2nd.

 

Kyogo does get through but TBF Balogun fucks the offside trap and Goldson does a decent job of keeping Kyogo wide and forcing him to take a shot on from a tight angle.

 

BTW I am actually with you that medium to long term I think we need to be finding his replacement (and Balogun). He is now 31 and is starting to pick up some knocks after playing a ridiculous amount of games for us. Just think of all the issues we had today Goldson was not one of them.

[Goldson]

5 minutes ago, MacBoyd said:

Maybe not so much today as it was a good goal but he cannot handle their striker, he should be in his last season.

Seriously what was he meant to do with that goal today?!? The turnover in possession killed us but Goldson faced Kyogo up and forced him wider. Sometimes you just have to put your hands up and say it was a good finish…

[Why do our fans accept mediocrity?]

7 hours ago, psb07158 said:

No in that particular instance it’s certainly quality - but overall on a team level its mentality. We’ve went away from home and had transition opportunities and chances on goal I can’t recall in their stadium for a long, long time and still lost

At Ibrox in August we should have beat them and again, we lost against an atrocious back 4

In tight games, it’s mentality that gets you over the line - as we saw in Betis and against Aberdeen in the cup final. As @The Godfather posted earlier though, when we come up against them we just don’t believe we can win

I think mentality can 100% be aimed at previous teams for defeats against them however today for me was down to our lack of quality.

 

We created the opportunities that we easily should / could have scored at least 2, if not 3 goals but chose the wrong option / fucked it up every time vs they scored two (painful to admit it) well hit strikes.

 

We were forced into a midfield two in Lundstrum and Sterling who have good defensive qualities but are limited in attacking ability.

 

Tav was atrocious today, but someone with a questionable mentality doesn’t put in that kind of performance but have the ability to block out everything that has happened up to that point and hit that free kick (or perhaps more aptly would find it easier shirk the responsibility and let someone else take it). Probably a broader issue but I think we need to looking for his long term replacement as his performances in general this year have been pretty poor and some goals in key moments are covering over his general play.

[Ross McCausland]

Best of the front 4 for me today. He is an inexperienced lad making his way in the team.

In an ideal situation we would have a more experienced player ahead of him but we don’t ATM.

For me him and Yilmaz were the only two out there today who were willing to take the ball and drive at them consistently. It doesn’t always come off and can look bad when you lose possession but I’d rather have players who want to make something happen than guys who just want to keep it safe and choose a pass over trying to beat a man.

[Abdallah Sima]

Aware I am probably going to get shot down for this but outwith his goals I don’t think he offers enough.
 

He has played 29 times for us this season and has 2 assists and I am struggling to think of too many times when he has ripped an opposition RB apart and been a main contributor in our creative play.

[Set Piece]

24 minutes ago, MarzM said:

Here is the thing about Tav (and i'm not hating on him).

Tav crosses the ball (either in play or a freekick) 10 times.

He hits the first defender 5/10 times.

He over hits the cross 4/10 times

He gets it right 1/10 times.

It's always been the same. However, he crosses the ball so often...it looks like he gets a lot of assists (which in fairness, he does)...but he is fucking murder! We MUST have someone else who can take a freekick? 

Either that or he HAS to be told to stop fucking floating freekicks into the box. It's pish!

Same is pretty much true of Borna to some extent. Borna’s deliveries are probably a bit more consistent but a lot of the time he is swinging a fairly pointless ball from too deep in to the box which does not give the attacker the opportunity to go and attack it and where our attackers are outnumbered.

[I think we need Hagi back in Jan]

35 minutes ago, King Jela said:

Did you no catch the reason he ended up leaving on loan? As shite as he is, he's not coming back to be backup to Cantwell. 

I would wager that our former manager’’s attitude and approach to favouring players he liked and bombing out those he didn’t has a large part to do with him leaving. The prick managed to fall out with Sakala ffs!

 

I have no issue with Hagi coming back wanting to make a starting position his; whether or not he is capable would be Clement’s decision. I do think we now have a manager who is capable of handling the situation. Which leads back to the original point of out of the three options:

 

- continue with Lammers getting game time

- spend some of our limited resources on a backup to Cantwell / Lawrence and divert resources from budget for other positions

- bring back Hagi

 

my preference would be Hagi.

 

Out of interest which of those would be your preference?

[I think we need Hagi back in Jan]

24 minutes ago, King Jela said:

Why don't we just get rid of both and bring in a footballer that isnt completely shite? 

Crazy concept, I know. 

 

Ideally yes, but if we are working with limited budget in January there are other areas that need more urgent attention than what is effectively backup to Cantwell.

[I think we need Hagi back in Jan]

Just now, .Williamson. said:

Lammers isn’t a footballer, Hagi is a shite one 

Sad state of affairs that this has to be discussed 

Think describing Hagi as shite is a bit extreme. He is massively inconsistent and when he is not on it he can be horrific, but at his best he is capable of producing moments that can change / win games.

 

Do I want him long term as part of our squad going forward? No

 

Would I prefer him to be the backup to Cantwell / Lawrence over Lammers? 100%

[I think we need Hagi back in Jan]

5 minutes ago, .Williamson. said:

Nope. 

We need players in but we don’t need Hagi, he’s one of the ones we need to permanently offload. Don’t know where you think he’s even being fitted into the team positional wise. 

If he was at the club ATM he would be playing in CM (was playing that role at the start of the season) but by the time we could get him back hopefully our midfield injury situation has cleared.

 

For the second half of the season I would 100% have him back. Unless we have miraculously found the budget for a massive overhaul I can’t see a no. 10 being a priority over other areas in the January window so would rather have Hagi back than persist with Lammers.

 

Hagi can be sugar or shite. Lammers is just shite.

[*****the official Rangers vs St Johnstone thread*****]

9 minutes ago, stevemac said:

thatll be absolutely shite for us tbh, and a bit shite from him considering we've looked after him during a long term injury layoff

True but I can understand if he has become a bit disillusioned. He came up here with a decent reputation and was getting game time in the Championship and then watched the clusterfuck that has been our front line for the last 18 months and couldn’t get near the team, throw in a bit of home sicknesses from a young player and it’s hardly a surprise.

 

Hopefully his mind can get changed if he can see that he is more likely to get a chance under Clement.