The Rangers FC Thread - Season 07/08

[jimbo22]

Originally posted by Jeebs:

Yeah, and who did we take instead? Ian Murray and Gary ****ing Caldwell.

Cant really complain, those were Bosmans

[Ter]

Cuellar should have no rival for PotY, IMO. Its that simple. The guy has done it from day one until yesterday, where it was the first time that you could say he had a bad game (which is his 52nd game of the season, not bad if you ask me).

He had a bit of a stinker away to Hearts when we lost 4-2

[jimbo22]

Originally posted by Ter:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Cuellar should have no rival for PotY, IMO. Its that simple. The guy has done it from day one until yesterday, where it was the first time that you could say he had a bad game (which is his 52nd game of the season, not bad if you ask me).

He had a bit of a stinker away to Hearts when we lost 4-2 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Cant really remember that game, was a while ago now. But if so then thats 50 games he's been good in.

Wouldnt cost him the PotY though

[TM]

Originally posted by Ter:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Cuellar should have no rival for PotY, IMO. Its that simple. The guy has done it from day one until yesterday, where it was the first time that you could say he had a bad game (which is his 52nd game of the season, not bad if you ask me).

He had a bit of a stinker away to Hearts when we lost 4-2 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

who didn't though

I'll say Cuellar for POTY and McGeady for YPOTY, although tbh I don't really care who wins the trophies, as long as we win the league

on the idea of players you'd want in the summer:

I'll say a CB to replace Weir who has done brilliantly this year, but we need some new blood as his legs are going

unfortunately I reckon we might need 2 CBs if King Carlos leaves

Klasnic would be quite nice on a bosman if we could get him, somebody who has some skill, knows where the net is and can hold up the ball

most importantly I think is the creative midfielder we've been crying out for, who can actually take a FK/corner and maybe even cross the ball. I reckon we might see a few of the squad leave this year, Carlos might be one and I think McGregor could be another who is interesting other clubs

[Ter]

Carlos might be one and I think McGregor could be another who is interesting other clubs

Just tell Spurs to get the chequebook out again. £30m for both please Juande

[jimbo22]

Has McGregor not already came out and said he wants to stay with us for the rest of his career (thought I read this soemwhere recently). I'd be surprised if he goes now that he's got the number 1 shirt locked down as his own.

Cuellar, IMO, would stay. However if we do get a big offer from him Sir David Liar would do exactly what he did with Hutton. So lets hope no big offers come in and we wont have to worry about it.

[TM]

However if we do get a big offer from him Sir David Liar would do exactly what he did with Hutton

that is what I fear with both players, Carlos seems quite contented in Scotland with the stuff I've read in the paper and McGregor is a Ger like Hutton. Can only take a big offer for Murray to start "persuading" them

[Caleyjag]

I can't see McGregor leaving this season. It's his first full year in the team as No. 1, a bit early to go. I don't think Murray will be willing to push out any other players either, not with the revenue we've had this season. Sure if the banks are knocking on the door we'd be doing it, but not when the club is in it's healthiest state in years.

[Ter]

If we were to get a large enough offer for McGregor / Cuellar then I'm pretty sure it would be accepted and they would be convinced to leave.

It's OK if McGregor leaves though as we've got Neil Alexander.

[jimbo22]

Originally posted by Caleyjag:

I can't see McGregor leaving this season. It's his first full year in the team as No. 1, a bit early to go. I don't think Murray will be willing to push out any other players either, not with the revenue we've had this season. Sure if the banks are knocking on the door we'd be doing it, but not when the club is in it's healthiest state in years.

I think Murray admitted in his interview with Setanta over the weekend that if another silly offer came in for a player it would be considered.

That is a scary thought, as Newcastle seem to be interested in Cuellar and they have a stupid manager with plenty of cash to burn so a sill offer could be on the cards.

[Gary Toner]

£6m for Boyd.... Deal.

[Caleyjag]

I'd have McGregor over Alexander any day though.

Good goalkeepers are rare in football. We shouldn't look to offload one as solid as Alan.

[TM]

I'd get Carlos to talk to Boumsong if Newcastle ever came calling, probably put him off

not that I'm saying he had the quality to play in that league, but he was going into a team devoid of confidence and with a terrible defence

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

Originally posted by jimbo22:

That is a scary thought, as Newcastle seem to be interested in Cuellar and they have a stupid manager with plenty of cash to burn so a sill offer could be on the cards.

If they bidded £15million + for Cuellar then we'd be more silly rejecting that bid than them making it. Anything less than £15million though i'd tell any team to get lost. We don't need the cash and I think he's happy to stay for the timebeing.

[Muzzza]

If a big big offer comes in from Carlos then we will lose him, but hopefully Walter will have another Carlos on his radar waiting to sign if needed.

[Stan petrov]

Originally posted by Obi-Wan Kenobi:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jimbo22:

That is a scary thought, as Newcastle seem to be interested in Cuellar and they have a stupid manager with plenty of cash to burn so a sill offer could be on the cards.

If they bidded £15million + for Cuellar then we'd be more silly rejecting that bid than them making it. Anything less than £15million though i'd tell any team to get lost. We don't need the cash and I think he's happy to stay for the timebeing. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

15 million for Cuellar?

Sorry, but tharts ridiculous. One excellent season in the SPL does not make you worth 15 million. Half that at the most.

[TM]

I'd say the price tag for Hutton would be any sort of starting point. Anything over that and it would be accepted

don't think he's worth £15m to be honest as it is the SPL, but he's been a star in the CL and UEFA Cup though and that hasn't been unnoticed by plenty of clubs. A simple defender who does the basics and does it well, hard to buy in the market nowadays

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

Originally posted by Stan petrov:

15 million for Cuellar?

Sorry, but tharts ridiculous. One excellent season in the SPL does not make you worth 15 million. Half that at the most.

I didn't say he was actually worth that. I said if they were silly enough to bid something like that we should take it. The EPL set the trend with duds like Darren Bent made an £18 million player after scoring 13 league goals in 32 games.

Plus theres the Hutton deal now too. They've raised the bar, so why not take advantage if they keep doing it?

[Stan petrov]

Originally posted by Obi-Wan Kenobi:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Stan petrov:

15 million for Cuellar?

Sorry, but tharts ridiculous. One excellent season in the SPL does not make you worth 15 million. Half that at the most.

I didn't say he was actually worth that. I said if they were silly enough to bid something like that we should take it. The EPL set the trend with duds like Darren Bent made an £18 million player after scoring 13 league goals in 32 games.

Plus theres the Hutton deal now too. They've raised the bar, so why not take advantage if they keep doing it? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Im all for Celtic and Rangers taking advantage of the english greed and overcharging for our players, but I think you'd be lucky to get a bid of 15 million for Cuellar, and not accepting anything less would be stupid

The Hutton deal shocked most of us, but yeah, it does show the English really are throwing the money around and we should take advantage.

[jimbo22]

Originally posted by Obi-Wan Kenobi:

I didn't say he was actually worth that. I said if they were silly enough to bid something like that we should take it. The EPL set the trend with duds like Darren Bent made an £18 million player after scoring 13 league goals in 32 games.

Plus theres the Hutton deal now too. They've raised the bar, so why not take advantage if they keep doing it?

Not like stan to take things in the wrong way.

It would take a bid in similar size to Hutton's for Murray to accept. He'd look at it that we spent £2.5million and sold for £9million (ish) as a good thing.

One thing that also worries me is that Murray has put the Hutton fee to clear debts, if Cuellar is to move for a big fee then the same would probably happen with that.

We con only hope that Smith has another gem in the pipeline and we manage to hold on to King Carlos too.

[AndyJ]

Was walking through Central Station the other day with my mate and we seen King Carlos. My mate went and asked if we could get a photo with him

[RedRob]

The EPL set the trend with duds like Darren Bent made an £18 million player after scoring 13 league goals in 32 games.

It was 31 goals in 68 actually. And 16.5m, with a lot based on appearances and goals etc.

[ibroxhero]

I heard that Keegan was looking at Veloso. He doesn't bother with defenders you know

[ibroxhero]

Cuellar best get on the fluids big style

[Gary Toner]

RANGERS will face Celtic twice in 11 days following the release of the post-split SPL fixtures tonight.

The Light Blues go to Parkhead on Wednesday, April 16 and they will be back there on Sunday, April 27 in what will be their first post-split fixture if they progress in the Scottish Cup and UEFA Cup.

This match will decide the title in Rangers' favour if Celtic lose their next three matches - Motherwell (a), Rangers (h) and Aberdeen (h) - and fall to the Light Blues again on the 27th.

The SPL have not scheduled a Rangers fixture for the weekend of April 19 and 20 as the Ibrox men will play St Johnstone at Hampden in the semi-final on the 20th if they get past Partick Thistle on Sunday.

Instead they have set a home date with Motherwell for Wednesday, May 7.

The outstanding postponements with St Mirren at Love Street and Motherwell at Fir Park have yet to be fixed.

But it looks like the SPL would put this game on April 20 if Rangers are stunned by the Jaqs in Sunday's replay as Motherwell have no match that weekend.

Alternatively, either game could be set for April 23 if Rangers are eliminated from the UEFA Cup and then April 30.

However, if they march on in Europe it's Fiorentina or PSV on April 24 and May 1.

The fixtures look like this:

Sunday, April 27 - Celtic (a) ko tbc

Sunday, May 4 - Hibs (a) 2pm

Wednesday, May 7 - Motherwell (h) 7.45pm.

Saturday, May 10 - Dundee Utd (h) 12.30pm

Sunday, May 18 - Aberdeen (a) 1.30pm

[Peacemaker7]

So in fact it's highly possible the game on the 27th could win us the league officially.

[Ter]

Here is the latest now. Good to see my fixture guesses were more or less right apart from the Motherwell game

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

THU 10 APR: Sporting Lisbon (A) – UEFA Cup

SUN 13 APR: Partick Thistle (A) – Scottish Cup Quarter Final Replay

WED 16 APR: Celtic (A) - SPL

SUN 20 APR: St Johnstone (N) – Scottish Cup Semi Final

THU 24 APR: PSV/Fiorentina - UEFA Cup Semi Final Leg 1

SAT 26 APR: Celtic (A) – SPL (Will be moved to Sunday if we're still in UEFA Cup)

THU 01 MAY: PSV/Fiorentina - UEFA Cup Semi Final Leg 2

SUN 04 MAY: Hibernian (A) – SPL

WED 07 MAY: Motherwell (H) - SPL

SAT 10 MAY: Dundee Utd (H) – SPL

WED 14 MAY: UEFA Cup Final

SAT 17 MAY: Aberdeen (A) - SPL

WED 21 MAY: FREE

SAT 24 MAY: Scottish Cup Final

Still to be scheduled:

St Mirren (A) – SPL

Motherwell (A) – SPL

[TM]

probably better going out of at least one competition this week, yeah I know we want the lot - but I'd rather just have the SPL title and if we win another cup, then the Scottish Cup

obviously in a fantasy world, we'd take all 4 but it's not going to happen

[matty_8]

Aberdeen away on last day, I would love to see Gers parade trophy up here, or even win it. What a day that would be

[Peacemaker7]

Originally posted by TM:

probably better going out of at least one competition this week, yeah I know we want the lot - but I'd rather just have the SPL title and if we win another cup, then the Scottish Cup

obviously in a fantasy world, we'd take all 4 but it's not going to happen

Would rather go out the Scottish if it came to it. I know we're know going to win the UEFA but I would rather get to the Semi/Final than win the Scottish when all is said and done. It's been 36 years since we were last in Euro semi, we win the Scottish regularly.

Obviously, I'd be delighted to have it all

[GingerFurball]

Pathetic, our first game of the season was away, so we should finish the season at Ibrox.

[smith69gers]

Originally posted by TM:

probably better going out of at least one competition this week, yeah I know we want the lot - but I'd rather just have the SPL title and if we win another cup, then the Scottish Cup

obviously in a fantasy world, we'd take all 4 but it's not going to happen

Spot on would love all 4 but if we had to lose 1, then it's bye bye UEFA

[Stephen Wilson]

surely you'd MUCH rather go out of the scottish cup than the UEFA cup? Granted, it's only the semi you'd go into, but if you get a semi anything can happen.

[Peacemaker7]

Originally posted by matty_8:

Aberdeen away on last day, I would love to see Gers parade trophy up here, or even win it. What a day that would be

Hell no I want it all done and dusted long before then!

[matty_8]

Originally posted by smith69gers:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by TM:

probably better going out of at least one competition this week, yeah I know we want the lot - but I'd rather just have the SPL title and if we win another cup, then the Scottish Cup

obviously in a fantasy world, we'd take all 4 but it's not going to happen

Spot on would love all 4 but if we had to lose 1, then it's bye bye UEFA </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I disagree. Sorry but we have won the Scottish Cup many a time but not won near anything in Europe in my lifetime. I would much rather see Rangers competing in UEFA semi final against PSV than in Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen, as much as I would love to beat the Dons at Hampden again after last time (Rod Wallace assault on Leighton )

[GingerFurball]

Ter, your dates don't add up.

[Peacemaker7]

Originally posted by smith69gers:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by TM:

probably better going out of at least one competition this week, yeah I know we want the lot - but I'd rather just have the SPL title and if we win another cup, then the Scottish Cup

obviously in a fantasy world, we'd take all 4 but it's not going to happen

Spot on would love all 4 but if we had to lose 1, then it's bye bye UEFA </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats just a silly attitude tbh. Getting to the UEFA Semi is much much more important than beating a couple of diddy teams to win the Scottish Cup. We have and will win that cup many more times in the future, we will not have many chances to be in a Euro Semi/Final. Think bigger .

[GingerFurball]

Originally posted by Stephen Wilson:

surely you'd MUCH rather go out of the scottish cup than the UEFA cup? Granted, it's only the semi you'd go into, but if you get a semi anything can happen.

Of the 3 left, I'd take the UEFA Cup over everything else, though to lose the league from this position would be tough to take.

[GingerFurball]

The decision to schedule the Celtic game first is bizzare to say the least, given that there's the possibility of us winning the league there if Celtic continue on the run of form they're in.

[Ter]

Seems strange having Aberdeen v Rangers / Dundee Utd v Celtic on the same day.

There would probably be worse carnage with large volumes of supporters going up the same roads, stopping at the same places than there would be from a well organised and policed Old Firm match finale. Strange.

[TM]

Originally posted by GingerFurball:

Pathetic, our first game of the season was away, so we should finish the season at Ibrox.

think the reason lies in between what happened in 2003 when we were at home playing against "lying down" Dunfermline and Celtic were playing against "tough" Kilmarnock at Rugby Park

I think both are away on the last day to stop anything happening like this again, even though we won the title fair and square and it was just Sutton etc throwing out the dummy

[jimbo22]

Originally posted by GingerFurball:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Stephen Wilson:

surely you'd MUCH rather go out of the scottish cup than the UEFA cup? Granted, it's only the semi you'd go into, but if you get a semi anything can happen.

Of the 3 left, I'd take the UEFA Cup over everything else, though to lose the league from this position would be tough to take. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'd rather lift the UEFA Cup than win the league, although there are many in the support who would say the opposite.

[lovenkrands01]

Originally posted by TM:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by GingerFurball:

Pathetic, our first game of the season was away, so we should finish the season at Ibrox.

think the reason lies in between what happened in 2003 when we were at home playing against "lying down" Dunfermline and Celtic were playing against "tough" Kilmarnock at Rugby Park

I think both are away on the last day to stop anything happening like this again, even though we won the title fair and square and it was just Sutton etc throwing out the dummy </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

They had another 37 games in which they could have won.

[Gudge]

Originally posted by GingerFurball:

The decision to schedule the Celtic game first is bizzare to say the least, given that there's the possibility of us winning the league there if Celtic continue on the run of form they're in.

Not really, we've got pretty much no chance of winning the league at the tattie bowl

I think we could win it against Dundee Utd if we win it at all

[lovenkrands01]

Theres a video of Calum Elliot dancing his wee socks of with his boyfriend.

Some of the comments are priceless.

[GingerFurball]

Originally posted by Gudge:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by GingerFurball:

The decision to schedule the Celtic game first is bizzare to say the least, given that there's the possibility of us winning the league there if Celtic continue on the run of form they're in.

Not really, we've got pretty much no chance of winning the league at the tattie bowl

I think we could win it against Dundee Utd if we win it at all </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

There's a 13.89% chance of us winning the league at Parkhead.

Low, but still significant enough to make me wonder why the SPL thought it would be a good idea for them to schedule the OF game when they did.

[jimbo22]

Originally posted by GingerFurball:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gudge:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by GingerFurball:

The decision to schedule the Celtic game first is bizzare to say the least, given that there's the possibility of us winning the league there if Celtic continue on the run of form they're in.

Not really, we've got pretty much no chance of winning the league at the tattie bowl

I think we could win it against Dundee Utd if we win it at all </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

There's a 13.89% chance of us winning the league at Parkhead.

Low, but still significant enough to make me wonder why the SPL thought it would be a good idea for them to schedule the OF game when they did. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We could win the league in any of the games after the split depending on results. So they had to put it in there somehow.

[Frankie]

Don't care where we win the league - as long as we win it.

Going by Sunday's performance that's certainly not guaranteed by any manner of means. Awful first half (despite a return to 4-4-2) and while the second half was a bit more exciting our defensive play could only be watched through my hands at times.

We really need to improve a fair bit if we want to deliver this title.

[Ter]

I wasn't too worried about Sunday's performance to be honest. I think we all knew we were going to struggle there as usual but after Celtic's surprise defeat it has to be seen as a point gained and not points dropped.

[McD]

4-4-2 is only going to exacerbate problems at the moment, I think. We sit far too deep, even in that formation, to press the game for long periods. On Sunday, we had two men up front chasing loose balls with little midfield support instead of one and all this resulted in was less protection for our centre backs - it showed. Far too stretched and lethargic, especially against a young, tight, lively side like United. Pretty much all Ferguson did was stand around and bark instructions. Whittaker and McCulloch, like Broadfoot last Thursday, seem to have forgotton how to complete a simple pass.

I remember the start of the season where Ferguson was making good runs from box to box, Hutton and Papac were pushed far up the flanks aiding the two wide men, and we were able to command teams, bully them and stroke the ball about in their own half. A far cry from the last couple of months.

So I fear for us a little. Something's will have to give and Thursday night might be one step too far. Cousin's return is a boost, but it's probably not best to pin too much belief on a guy who is a match-winner one game then hardly interested the next. Our biggest advantage in the league is probably Celtic's form.