NixonRFC

He was carrying an injury for most of the first half of the season to be fair, the rest done him the world of good.

Add taking an extra year to get back up too, that's the biggest embarrassment ever to fall on us, not being good enough to get out of the second tier, particularly when by that point there was a backup mechanism of the Play-Off's in place, an utter shambles.

How different would Scottish Football have looked like without him? He pushed us beyond anything in Scotland to the extent the only team capable of catching us was the tims, that then pushed the both of us beyond everyone else, Scotland went from a League in the 80s 4 or 5 teams fancied their chances of winning every season to a two team league at best. With the Taylor report, the reconstruction of the European Cup/Champions League, the end of the 3 foreigner rule, Sky becoming a rights monster I'd say our growth was inevitable but maybe not quite as quickly without Murray.

You see how many caps he won with England at variour age groups as he was coming through and he clearly had a high ceiling at one point, I get the temptation to take a chance because if he realises that potential here he could be an unreal signing but I wonder what Beale thinks we can do differently to get more games out of him because it's not something we're exactly renowned for.

Only played more than 30 games in a season once and that was his first full season, since then he seems to have been riddled with niggling injuries. Games (starts) 2022-23: 25 (15) 2021-22: 24 (13) 2020-21: 26 (14 2019-20: 23 (21) 2018-19: 19 (11) 2017-18: 43 (36)

😄 this is actually true.

I was on the bus home from the game last week when Sportscene was on and I obviously wasn't gonna watch it back when I got in but saw folk on twitter say he was absolutely buzzing about the sheep beating us, hates us and doesn't mind showing it. 😄

Apologies bud 😄 just before I replied to you my brother phoned me with they stats I hit you with and I was that raging with them and him for telling me I just had to get it out haha, didny realise I'd ever be so triggered over the term glory hunter 😄😄

I genuinely think they intentionally phoned in a lot of those cups when we were out the league to give the diddy teams the perception that "life without Rangers is good", as soon as we came back into the League the showed zero mercy to any diddy who had regularly papped them out of cups for years before it.

Seen this earlier, a year already man, time just absolutely disappears now.

I've dived in studs up in front of the ref here, right?😄

Confidence, when you're playing as well as he is he just knows he can do anything and it'll work out. Just when I thought I couldn't be more depressed... pretty hard to disagree with any of that when it's down in black and white. To the bridge!

Fuck sake, what glory, we've won two major honours in 12 year, this is our 14th season from the 23 this century that we've finished it trophyless, the 5th time in seven since we came back to the top flight that the tims are winning a treble. The split hasn't even started yet and our season is stone dead, if we're accusing Rangers fans of glory hunting then they're following the wrong team.

If we're doing a deal worth £7m for a player than his agent will make sure he's being paid like a £7m player, I'd imagine he would've been our top earner when he signed in 2018, he might not be in our top five earners now but he'll be on more than £17k p/w for sure.

This would look different if Billy Gilmour stayed and played 100+ games before moving on and then Patterson got an opportunity to play 100+ games, this season should've been the year Rory Wilson broke into the first team and you'd hope he'd get ~100 appearances under his belt before moving them on. I'm not sure what guys like Mulholland can do other than develop these boys to a certain extent, then it's upto the first team manager to create a pathway to the first team for them but two of those didn't think a pathway was there (Gilmour and Wilson) and the other (Patterson) got into the squad but there was little opportunity available to make that position his own. Add King, Lowry and Devine and the next generation is knocking on the door, they need an avenue to the first team, King got thrown in at the deep end and time will tell if that's going to have an adverse effect on him, Lowry is the one the fans think can make the grade, timing is key though, in normal circumstances this would be an opportunity for him to get 5 starts in his preferred position under his belt but given what he's going through personally that might not be possible right now. I think people just look at the lack of youth in the first team and assume we aren't producing the talent but I think we are but for one reason or another we've not had the chance to see them progress into the first team, and ones that have then not in anyway near a regular basis.

The only we we (and them) would get invited into the EPL is if the top 6 clubs resigned to join a European or World Super League, that's the only avenue I could ever see there being any scope to get in but doubt it would ever happen.

That's the one we should be embarrassed about, not one we actually done really well to win, shambles we didn't clean up in 2020-2021

I think it'll be nearer £7m, we paid £3m for Hagi, he's barely kicked a ball in 15 months since a career threatening injury, I'd be amazed if we got our full money back on him let alone break even

I'd agree with you, like I said he was signed as a back up, someone who could come in and take the pressure off the main guy, I think he's held up his end of the bargain.

I don't see the problem in it, it's nostalgic but it'll take a lot of people back to a time in their lives that they really enjoyed, whether we like it or not it's been 20 years since we've won a treble, the longest it's ever been between trebles and none where probably as against the odds as that one, it was an incredible season with the most incredible finish, a team that wouldn't give up. I'm proud of that team and loved that period in my life, if folk think it comes across as tinpot that's upto them but I'd tell them to lighten up and enjoy the memories of what those guys gave us.

You're no celebrating the club you're celebrating that specific team, that tim team was probably the strongest in my lifetime, winning a Treble against them was one of our biggest achievements in my opinion.

He is a back up striker, when you only play with one forward you'll always have your main striker and everyone else is back up, his numbers and performances in comparison to anyone else in that position in the squad suggest he should be our main striker but the fact Beale prefers Morelos is on him. 17 goals in 28 starts should tell you he hasn't failed, the goals alone in the CL qualifiers and the fact he was the top goalscorer in the League before injury should be enough to tell you he's more than pulled his weight.

I don't think it's realistic to play 11 kids but I'd definitely be prioritising Souttar, Yilmaz, Lowry (if he's in a good enough place emotionally), Matondo and Lovelace over the next five games, including the tim game, along with the four we can say for guarantee will be regulars next season (Cantwell, Raskin, Goldson and Tavernier), if McCrorie is fit I'd give him game time too, work around those principles and give ourselves a chance to see who can realistically offer us what.

That's on Beale though isn't it, he clearly prefers Morelos, Colak is a back up striker and his numbers don't lie, if everyone was as much of a failure as he was we'd have been a lot closer in every competition.

I think it's unfair to call Colak a failure, he was essentially signed as a back up CF, came in, hit the ground running, scored a couple of massige goals in Champions League qualifiers and was leading the League scoring charts when he got injured. 17 goals from 28 starts is really impressive and if Morelos was doing his job properly I think more people would appreciate what Colak was providing.