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The Media
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Topic Started: 1 Nov 2017, 11:12 PM (581,070 Views)
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amccarten313
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16 Apr 2018, 06:07 PM
Post #2741
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- Ned Rise
- 16 Apr 2018, 12:03 PM
- bhoywunda
- 16 Apr 2018, 11:10 AM
- Torquemada
- 15 Apr 2018, 08:10 PM
Any highlights on BBC Scotland tonight? I can't see any on there or Sky!
Very good analysis from Stewart in particular. The similarities between the Rogic goal and Calmac's from last year's semi was uncanny
Aye, identical ball and first touch. Interestingly, the Zombie TV reckoned Dembele's touch was excellent yesterday, whereas he thought he'd miscontrolled it last year. Whit's the commentator daein Tom! had the exact same thought as well
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shugmc
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16 Apr 2018, 06:23 PM
Post #2742
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- Gothamcelt
- 16 Apr 2018, 05:53 PM
Some facts on the game from yesterday and also a wee bit about SKY and their 15 minute build up. Old Firm Facts on Celtic 4 Rangers 0, Hampden balloons and comfortable doingsOld Firm Facts reflects on yesterday's Scottish Cup semi final, a match that really did have everything ... Spoiler: click to toggle ByOld Firm Facts If you only listened to the first 15 minutes of Led Zeppelin IV, you wouldn’t even get as far as the vocals in Stairway to Heaven. You’d be stopping the album 21 seconds before Robert Plant told you about the lady who knows all that glitters is gold. If you watched just the first 15 minutes of Goodfellas, you’d drop out moments before learning why they called Jimmy Two-Times Jimmy Two-Times. Give up 15 minutes into Breaking Bad and you’ve just watched a bizarre short film about a chemistry teacher who enjoys driving a Winnebago in his pants. All of which is to say that 15 minutes is no time at all. Spend just 15 minutes on most activities and, chances are, at least 50% of those involved will leave unsatisfied. Apparently, though, that’s how much build-up Sky ‘SPFL sort of to an extent within reason MATTERS’ Sports felt a cup semi-final between the country’s two biggest clubs in our national stadium merited. Fifteen minutes that included TWO ad breaks, just in case we’d all forgotten to be #GambleLads in time for kick off. In fairness to Sky, it was still more preparation than Rangers put in. As the line-ups were revealed, it was a case of ‘What’s the goalie daein’?’ against ‘Where’s the goalie Bain?’ The selection of Craig Gordon was to prove one of many correct calls by Brendan Rodgers, as the keeper’s acrobatics during those seven second-half minutes when Rangers turned up were the difference between pulling off an embarrassing spanking and having to settle for a comfortable doing. Brendan Rodgers was frustrated during the game’s early exchanges as a balloon got in the way of his team’s play, but that's precisely what Graeme Murty told Andy Halliday to do. Ah yes, Andy ‘Ardy Flallibae’ Halliday. When Halliday’s name appeared on the teamsheet, you could feel the scales tipping away from ‘Cohesive Rangers performance’ and towards ‘Banter Years’. This wasn’t, however, your average Andy Halliday disappointment. This was a subbed before the break, tantrum in front of the fans, name sung by the Celtic supporters Andy Halliday disappointment. One for the ages, in other words. After stamping his lack of authority on the first 40 minutes, Halliday was unceremoniously yanked. As he headed to his seat, he received abuse from a Rangers fan and retaliated by calling him a “F**king bawbag”. Sky pundit Kris Commons admitted he could understand Halliday’s frustration but insisted footballers should be saving their outbursts for the dressing room, a point I believe he once made to Ronny Deila and John Collins in Norway. As he eventually took his seat, the midfielder finally achieved his lifelong dream of being serenaded by appreciative fans during a (there is no) Old Firm derby. Unfortunately, the fans in question were sporting green and white, and there was no hiding place for Halliday as thousands broke into “Na na na na na na na na na na na, Andy Halliday, Halliday, Andy Halliday”, to the tune of ‘Give It Up’ by KC & The Sunshine Band. ‘Give It Up’ coincidentally being Halliday’s approach to possession during the first half. Celtic supporters didn’t have it all their own way though. Goals, songs and a touch of schadenfreude made for a good day out, but there was one crucial component of the derby experience missing. The 90 minutes provided plenty of action for the Rangers TV commentary team to get initially excited and progressively more subdued about. Tom Rogic opened the scoring before Callum McGregor doubled Celtic’s advantage. McGregor took the plaudits, but you had to admire the composure and vision of Russell Martin to pick out his man in a crowded box. Rangers were handed a lifeline known as the ‘Barry Ferguson Advantage’ when Ross McCrorie’s foul in the box reduced his side to 10 men. Bobby Madden showed no hesitation in brandishing the red card, before booking Bobby Madden for dissent. Moussa Dembele coolly dinked the resultant penalty home. “Dembele’s impudent” declared co-commentator Andy Walker, prompting pundit Kris Boyd to remark “Sh**e news for his missus”. Olivier Ntcham’s penalty rounded off a victory which had Celtic fans casting their minds back to the semi-final draw, and the reaction of Rangers fans in particular. Footage of Rangers supporters celebrating the semi-final draw went viral last month, followed by Graeme Murty’s description of a “raucous and loud” reaction in his dressing room. Scott Brown was asked about the clip in a post-match interview. It was a delicate assist of a question, and Brown tucked it home with aplomb as he told viewers that “They can cheer as much as they want. I don’t think they’ll be cheering tonight”. A cheap shot maybe, but anyone associated with Rangers who genuinely expected to win this match needs to be sat down immediately with a comprehensive anthology of the Banter Years. Celtic’s official Twitter account also got a subtle dig in, referring not to Rangers but to “the Ibrox side” in a tweet during the build-up. A deflated atmosphere among the Rangers support meant there was no defiant cry of “We are the Ibrox side, super the Ibrox side…”. It was only the weekend’s second most passive-aggressive tweet, however, behind the official Aberdeen account’s “Jst h8 it wen CERTAIN ppl bottle it at Hampden”. Celtic will go on to face Stephen Robinson’s Motherwell side in the final, after Derek McInnes proved he was not concomitant with silverware. McInnes did at least defy the 'he's run out of ideas' critics, by bottling it against a team that isn't Celtic or Rangers. As for Sky, now the semis are out the road they can get back to the red-hot intensity of English football, where compelling title races and fierce rivalry are the order of the day. Fierce, fierce rivalry. TOP 5 REPLIES TO @RANGERSFC 1. “Can we go back to bursting the balloons - at least we were winning that 8-4. What a load of pish” - @McDermidMe 2. “Announce Rangers TV highlights” - @Diarmuidmac88 3. “Delete all the tweets from today and we’ll pretend this didn’t happen” - @RobbieGraham72 4. “Imagine being 3-0 down and sitting there thinking ‘You know who we need? Jason Holt’” - @James1o1o 5. “F**K OFF” - @nathan_aitken https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/old-firm-facts-celtic-4-14536837 "Celtic will go on to face Stephen Robinson’s Motherwell side in the final, after Derek McInnes proved he was not concomitant with silverware. McInnes did at least defy the 'he's run out of ideas' critics, by bottling it against a team that isn't Celtic or Rangers."
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Belgrano
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16 Apr 2018, 09:50 PM
Post #2743
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- Ned Rise
- 16 Apr 2018, 05:37 PM
It's in chronological order. I know that. But from a very 'Old Firm'-focused flurry of pre-match news activity in the days running up to the game, it all went very 'what game?' very quickly.
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Gothamcelt
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17 Apr 2018, 09:00 AM
Post #2744
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Retired and now a BT Sports pundit
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Mark my words, there are things going on behind the scenes which should be setting off alarm bells. I’m told Bates got offered just a £250 pay rise so it’s little wonder he decided it was time to go. Do tell Kris.
King sized hangover Rangers’ problems right now start at the top – it’s high time Dave King had some major questions asked of him, says Kris Boyd There will be Gers fans who criticise me for writing this but what's going on at Ibrox right now hurts me just as much as it hurts any of them
Spoiler: click to toggle By Kris Boyd IT was a shambles, a disgrace and an utter humiliation for Rangers as a football club. Graeme Murty and his players will have to take some of the responsibility for what happened on the pitch at Hampden. Losing 4-0 to Celtic was embarrassing all right. No one in a Light Blue jersey can hold their heads high for the way they performed because, quite frankly, it wasn’t anywhere near good enough. The dire display only proved that many of them shouldn’t even be there. I’m sorry, though, the problems at Rangers right now start at the top. I have been saying it for months but, in my opinion, Dave King is guilty of gross mismanagement. If you ask me, it’s high time he had some major questions asked of him. Although maybe someone on that Ibrox board should just pay him the £20million he supposedly lost to David Murray and watch him go. I just don’t think his chairmanship of Rangers has been good enough. He sanctioned the appointment of Pedro Caixinha — which was doomed from the very beginning — and was then to blame in the negotiations with Derek McInnes. Now Murty is being left to carry the can for King’s incompetence. There will be Rangers fans who criticise me for writing this but what’s going on at Ibrox right now hurts me just as much as it hurts any of them. Listen, in the season I played for the club in the Championship, I was a disgrace and was rightly shown the door. But that was then the opportunity to rebuild — and yet here we are three years on and the club hasn’t moved forward an inch. I know some people think I have a personal agenda against King but I couldn’t care less. Fact is, I hate seeing my old club the way it is right now. And for me, those supporters who are paying their hard-earned money for season tickets are being appallingly short-changed. All they’ve done throughout the years is plough their money into the football club. I’d question where exactly their cash has been spent — and they should too. It’s time for them to open their eyes and see what’s going on because what is happening just isn’t right. Their loyalty in turning up every week, no matter what, has been remarkable in the last few years, genuinely incredible in my opinion. But there’s definitely an argument to say they’re TOO loyal. Mark my words, there are things going on behind the scenes which should be setting off alarm bells. Is there even a shirt deal in place for next season? Rangers should have their jerseys manufactured by one of the big sports firms, not a smaller company — but that seems to be the way they’re heading. Then there’s Mark Allen, the so-called director of football. I’m sorry, but what does he actually bring to the table? What does he actually do to earn his big-money salary? He’s meant to be building things for the future, so why did he allow an up-and-coming player like David Bates to sign for another club? I’m told Bates got offered just a £250 pay rise so it’s little wonder he decided it was time to go. It was similar with Danny Wilson. People might argue about how good those two boys actually are as players but what worries me is the way they were treated, the way their contract talks were handled. Do you think Wilson wanted to uproot his family and go halfway around the world to play in the MLS? But Allen seems to have mismanaged that situation and left him with no option. The club tried to put a positive spin on things when they brought in a handful of players during the January transfer window but it wasn’t good enough. I may have bought into it myself, if I’m being honest. I looked at the signings and talked them up, mainly because I wanted to see them do well. But Rangers shouldn’t be signing so many loan players when they’re trying to bridge a gap with Celtic, they’ve got to be bigger than that. There are Rangers cheerleader pundits who point to the big money Celtic have spent in comparison to everyone else. But the money Rangers have spent is more than Aberdeen and Hibs put together — and Kilmarnock too for that matter — and yet they’ve only won four of the nine games against them. When it comes to signings Rangers have guys on loan who can’t get a game right now and yet we’re led to believe they’ll be signing long-term deals in the summer. How is that going to take Rangers forward? If you can’t get into that team now then how are you going to take the team to the next level? The worry is that Rangers aren’t going to move forward any time soon, not with the current board and directors in charge. Or Murty. He’s not responsible for the mess the club is in, but he’s clearly not helping the situation either. The way the team played at Hampden was utterly shambolic and he has to hold his hands up for that. He was quite happy to take the credit for drawing at Parkhead so he has to accept a certain amount of criticism now. He was the man who came out and said the players in the changing room cheered when the draw was made and Rangers got Celtic. That was all just false bravado and Murty trying to act big. Just like the way he chucked Andy Halliday under the bus by substituting him two minutes before half-time. Did you notice throughout the game, too, that Jonatan Johansson and Jimmy Nicholl stayed in the dugout for most of the 90 minutes? There didn’t seem to be a lot of togetherness there. But that’s Rangers right now. From top to bottom. The Kris Boyd Charity supports anyone experiencing mental health issues. To find out more, get help or donate visit thekrisboydcharity.co.uk https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/2514097/rangers-dave-king-major-questions-scottish-cup-celtic-kris-boyd/
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Martoto
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17 Apr 2018, 09:42 AM
Post #2745
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Is Boyd calling Murty a liar about the Sevco team cheering the draw? Or is he blaming Murty for them cheering it? I don't get this.
Is he implying that it's Murty and not level 5 that gets the papers to seriously promote a title challenge and a cup final place?
Did Boyd not claim to still believe at half time on Sunday that Sevco players still had the battle fever that had them pumping us 2-2 at Ibrox until we luckily got a man sent off?
At least he admits that the talking up of mediocre loan signings in January was just his wishful thinking. I wonder if he and everyone else will admit that this has been the case for every positive Sevco story in the past six years. Because "false bravado" sums up about 80% of Sevco media coverage and Sevco high command's own PR efforts. "Empty rhetoric" & "meat to throw to the public" as Michael Stewart put it.
Edited by Martoto, 17 Apr 2018, 09:47 AM.
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IainG
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17 Apr 2018, 09:54 AM
Post #2746
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Ah but I was so much older then,I'm younger than that now
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"Do you think Wilson wanted to uproot his family and go halfway around the world to play in the MLS?"
Er, yes.
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Forza
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17 Apr 2018, 10:37 AM
Post #2747
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From that Boyd bilge:
"Is there even a shirt deal in place for next season? Rangers should have their jerseys manufactured by one of the big sports firms, not a smaller company — but that seems to be the way they’re heading."
Why? Companies get what they pay for and they get associated with the baggage. Which is currently as toxic as any Whyte/Green/Mather/Wallace/Llambias stuff.
For what it's worth a Tim supporting mate who works with a kit supplier, who'll remain nameless, was relieved that they did not get the Hun contract which they had bid for, and that the new club's kits will be Umbro next year.
I am not sure that'll meet Boyd's standard.
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Father John Misty
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17 Apr 2018, 10:41 AM
Post #2748
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Scott Brown puts in as dominant a MF display as you'll see and Matthew Lindsay still manages to dig up some old hun to have a go at him. It really kills them how good Brown is but hey just can't admit it.
"A 4-0 Hampden defeat by Celtic ended Sir Alex Ferguson's time at Rangers - this Ibrox team's careers are on the line"
Spoiler: click to toggle THE 4-0 defeat that Rangers crashed to in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday may have been the heaviest they had suffered to Celtic at Hampden since they lost by an identical scoreline in the final of the same competition way back in 1969.
Yet, one of the players on the losing team that day 49 years ago has predicted the humiliating result at the weekend could end up having exactly the same consequences for some of those responsible as it did for his team mate Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson was blamed for the opening goal that Billy McNeill, who he had been deployed to mark by manager Davie White despite being a centre forward, headed home at a Bertie Auld corner in just the second minute and never played for the Ibrox club he had grown up supporting again.
Ronnie McKinnon - who played alongside his fellow Govanite in front of an astonishing crowd of 132,870, an all-time record for an Old Firm game, that afternoon - feels that several members of the current team could now suffer exactly the same fate.
Bruno Alves, Daniel Candeias, Graham Dorrans, Andy Halliday, Jason Holt, Russell Martin, Alfredo Morelos and Jamie Murphy have all been criticised for their lacklustre showings – while manager Graeme Murty has few backers left among the support following the pathetic capitulation of his charges.
McKinnon, now 77 and living outside Stornoway where he regularly watches Rangers matches on television at the Lewis and Harris Supporters Club, knows the game has moved on since his heyday, but he believes that suffering such an embarrassment will still have repercussions.
“I remember the Scottish Cup final game in 1969 well,” he said. “We had a game plan and part of it was to stop Billy McNeill from getting headers.
“It was normally my job to guard McNeill. It wasn’t easy because he was absolutely brilliant in the air. But our manager Dave White said he wanted Alex Ferguson to guard McNeill. At the team meeting before the game I said: ‘Look, it’s my job to mark him’. The manager said: ‘Not this time. Fergie’s good in the air’.
“When the first corner came in I was standing in the middle of the penalty box, where I had been told to position myself. But the ball sailed high over my head and there was McNeill at the far post by himself. He headed it into the net. That one goal knocked the stuffing out of us. We never recovered.
“Fergie never played for the Rangers first team again. I could sympathise with what happened to him. He was just as surprised as me that he was chosen to mark McNeill. Of course, he has gone on to become probably the greatest manager Scotland has ever produced.”
McKinnon added: “But you know when you play for Rangers against Celtic that your career is on the line. It is all hyped up to such an extent that if you make a mistake you might never play again. You know when you go out on the park that if you don’t play well it might be your last game.
“When you play against your greatest enemy you have to stand your ground. If you can’t do that then you shouldn’t be on the park. The players understand that if they don’t play well then they could be on their way to Mandalay.”
Ross McCrorie, the 20-year-old who was given the nod to start in defence for Rangers, was sent off five minutes into the second-half when he hauled down Celtic striker Moussa Dembele inside his own penalty box.
Dembele took the resultant spot kick himself and promptly netted a Panenka that put his team 3-0 ahead against their 10 man opponents and as good as clinched their place in the final against Motherwell on Saturday, May 19.
However, McKinnon, who played at centre half for the Ibrox club between 1960 and 1971, is adamant that Rangers could have survived the loss of McCrorie and fought their way back into game.
“For me, it is all down to the defence,” he said. “They should be taking the blame. The very fact Celtic were getting shooting practice shows that something is wrong at Rangers that has to be corrected quickly. I would perhaps have played with a sweeper.
“Scott Brown is getting to be an old man now, but he is the star man every time they play. It is scary. He is a good player to have in your team because he gets stuck right in. He kicks people and makes it look as though they are kicking him. He is very clever in these tackles.
“The centre halfs are certainly the crucial players in the defence. If one of them gets sent off then the other team has a huge advantage. The back line becomes dysfunctional. They all try to make up for it. But look what happened the last time Rangers played Celtic. Jozo Simunovic got sent off and they still got beat 3-2.”
The loss at Hampden on Sunday means that Rangers will not be able to end their seven year wait to lift a major trophy next month and McKinnon, who won every honour in the Scottish game during his own playing days, believes it underlines that major investment is needed before they can challenge their city rivals.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I thought they were ready now, were ready to compete with Celtic. Graeme Murty did well against Celtic in two games at Parkhead last year. The scores were at least acceptable. They were good results. I didn’t see it coming. I thought they were doing well under Murty.
“To suddenly collapse like that is a disaster for him and his future prospects. It is a shame because he is a nice man who has done well in difficult circumstances. But the guys in charge can’t stand for any scores like that. They will have to do something.
“But how do they do that if they don’t have the dollars? They can’t get the manager they want because he costs too much money. It is all to do with finance and they don’t have the spending power just now.
“It’s a hot potato. If there was money to buy a good centre half, a good central midfielder and a good forward who could put the ball in the net it would help. They need that. But they don’t have the finances.
“The Rangers fans are fantastic. Ibrox is packed for every game. There were a lot of them at Hampden on Sunday. The supporters are sticking by them. But how much can they take? They must be bewildered by results.”
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Belgrano
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17 Apr 2018, 10:55 PM
Post #2749
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- Forza
- 17 Apr 2018, 10:37 AM
For what it's worth a Tim supporting mate who works with a kit supplier, who'll remain nameless, was relieved that they did not get the Hun contract which they had bid for, and that the new club's kits will be Umbro next year. I've heard it's Hummell - not Umbro.
That's a proper shampooer of a kit manufactuer unless we've been transported back to 1980s Denmark.
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Gothamcelt
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18 Apr 2018, 08:02 AM
Post #2750
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Jackson: It seems King’s board would rather poke out their own eyes than be forced to confront an unsightly truth. Ralston: “Events of Sunday will not be tolerated again. The club is bigger than any individual – and their agenda. It’s a line in the sand. No more.”
Even the sports writers are not singing from the same sheet.
Blundering Rangers chief Dave King should have axed Graeme Murty not Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace - Keith Jackson Keith reckons the experienced duo should have been handed the keys to Graeme Murty's office not shown the door.
Spoiler: click to toggle ByKeith Jackson It's hardly the first time Dave King and his Rangers board have made a monumental misjudgment. But yesterday, by making outcasts and scapegoats of their two most senior and respected professionals, the men in charge of Scottish football’s very own FC Hollywood succeeded in turning yet another drama into an unadulterated crisis. The suspensions meted out to captain Lee Wallace and one-time talisman Kenny Miller have added a car crash quality to the derby defeat at Hampden on Sunday which effectively killed their season stone dead. But if Ibrox powerbrokers were thinking with clarity and precision, Wallace and Miller would not have been thrown to the wolves yesterday morning when they were told not to darken the front doors again between now and the end of the season. Rather, they would have been thrown the keys to Graeme Murty’s office and told to prove they know better than this accident-prone caretaker who, by his prolonged exposure to the job, is doing more harm than good. Absentee chairman King admitted as much last week when he tried to punt season tickets on the back of an implied promise to upgrade the manager before the start of the next campaign. This was textbook King. He has perfected the art of making a noise when he ought to be quiet and then staying silent when his voice is absolutely required. Even so, given King belatedly appears to have worked out Murty is not up to the job, it defies all logic that the board jumped on his side of this simmering argument yesterday by attempting to make pariahs of their two most experienced players. Given Murty is already a busted flush in the eyes of his own disenfranchised squad, surely it would have made more sense to let Wallace and Miller attempt to bring this group back together for the final five games of a season which could now become even more of an embarrassment than it already is. The risk here appears obvious to everyone outside of King’s beleaguered regime. These players were already in a mutinous mood with Murty and now there is even less reason for them to fall into line behind a manager who has used up the last of their respect by emptying two of their most valued team-mates. Worse still, if the board had paused to think it through, they may have reached an obvious conclusion. That it was as a direct result of Murty’s naivety, inexperience and lack of leadership that this toxic issue was dumped on their doorstep in the first instance. Any manger worth his salt would have seen this s***storm brewing from a mile off – even as Celtic were mercilessly disembowelling his side on Sunday afternoon – and taken appropriate steps to ensure it did not get out of hand. But, rather than do that by protecting his players and leading them from the front, Murty was busy attempting to limit the damage only to his own reputation. The substitution of Andy Halliday moments before half-time was not only a grotesque moment of grandstanding but also a blatant attempt at self-preservation. Worse still, it perfectly illustrated the lack of empathy between this stand-in boss and the group over which he has control. Rumours abound of a breakdown in communication between Murty and these players that stretches back weeks and months. There is a feeling, at least among a large section of this dressing room, Murty has failed to show his players any kind of professional courtesy or respect. This is perhaps why so many tell-tale signs of indiscipline and disharmony bubbled to the surface on Sunday as derby day reached boiling point. Halliday’s outburst from the bench. Daniel Candeias storming up the tunnel. Greg Docherty and Alfredo Morelos having to be dragged apart in the tunnel. And then the impassioned – if ill thought out and crudely delivered – post-match outburst from Wallace and Miller that may have ended their Rangers careers. Rather than fillet the pair yesterday maybe it would have made more sense for the Rangers board to ask what brought them to this point where they couldn’t help but vent their frustrations. Even if they did overstep a mark it ought to be obvious to King and his cohorts these two players care passionately about the direction this club is taking and the erosion of the standards they used to uphold. Word has it Miller and Wallace were spotted late at night in the team hotel before Sunday’s mismatch, locked in a stony-faced conversation about Murty’s tactical plan. It looked very much to those who witnessed this conversation as if they had unlocked some serious flaws in Murty’s orders. If so, they were hardly wrong. Their mistake appears to have been in telling this to his face in the highly-charged aftermath of Sunday’s demolition job. That Murty then went to the board to sort out Wallace and Miller, rather than order them into his office on Monday morning, merely underlines this notion he is out of his depth and unable or unwilling to confront problems as they arise. This is not a kindergarten he has been placed in charge of. It’s a dressing room full of professional footballers who tend to appreciate straight-to-the-point, uncomplicated language. It’s this failure to connect with his players on a human level that his caused a divide to grow between the coach and his squad. This disconnect may not have been obvious behind the closed doors of their Auchenhowie training complex but when it was dragged out into the open and exposed to the heat of the derby-day battle at the weekend it became quite glaring. For King’s board to ignore it and hope sacrificing Wallace and Miller might make it all go away is another indication of their own mismanagement of a club that has lurched from one humiliation to the next since they first stormed into the boardroom, armed with the best of intentions but precious little else. In Wallace and Miller they have at least two thorough, consummate professionals who appear to have a clear and shared view of exactly where Rangers are going wrong. It seems King’s board would rather poke out their own eyes than be forced to confront an unsightly truth. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/blundering-rangers-chief-dave-king-12381558
Inside Rangers meltdown as details emerge of vitriolic attack that led to Lee Wallace and Kenny Miller suspensions Ibrox board are livid at lack of respect shown towards manager Graeme Murty as they vow to clamp down on dissenters.
Spoiler: click to toggle ByGary Ralston Rangers have laid down the law and told foul-mouthed players they’ll never disrespect the club again. Kenny Miller’s Ibrox career is over and skipper Lee Wallace is “highly unlikely” to play for the club again after their abusive tirade at Graeme Murty. The former Scotland players have been suspended following their explosive dressing-room rant at the stand-in boss after Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic. Miller, 38, and Wallace were summoned to Ibrox yesterday morning to face the music with managing director Stewart Robertson. Now Rangers have made it clear dissent in the ranks will not be tolerated as they try to qualify for the Europa League in their last five games of the season. Miller’s contract, which expires at the end of the season, is set to be paid up and Wallace, 30, who has 12 months to run on his deal, made available for transfer in the summer. The Ibrox board are livid at the lack of respect shown to Murty and his office. They are particularly incensed at the behaviour of club captain Wallace, one of the highest earners at the club. Murty declared the full-back fit to face Celtic on Friday afternoon but he did not even make the bench on Sunday afternoon. He has been unavailable through injury for much of this season and club chiefs are furious he vented such vitriol at Murty when he was at his lowest ebb. Miller and Wallace let loose with a savage verbal onslaught that slaughtered his pre-match planning and matchday preparation in front of stunned team-mates in the dressing room after the 4-0 defeat. A Rangers source said certain individuals had been a “disruptive influence” at Ibrox for too long. And added: “Events of Sunday will not be tolerated again. The club is bigger than any individual – and their agenda. It’s a line in the sand. No more.” Concern has been growing about the negative attitudes and influence of a “small group” of first-team squad members. Even if Rangers finish second in the Premiership and qualify for Europe their futures are far from certain. A club statement confirmed Wallace and Miller had been suspended “pending investigation”. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inside-rangers-meltdown-details-emerge-12381975
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tinytim81
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18 Apr 2018, 08:23 AM
Post #2751
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- Gothamcelt
- 16 Apr 2018, 08:47 AM
Good honest assessment from Bill Leckie. BIG MATCH VERDICT Celtic’s Scottish Cup triumph over Rangers was more like The Invincibles against The Invisibles says Bill LeckieThe Ibrox side's performance at Hampden was a masterclass in being nowhere to be seen on a day that the Hoops strolled their way into the final Spoiler: click to toggle By Bill Leckie THE good news for Rangers fans is that their team’s right back in the hunt for a major trophy. The bad news is, it’s the World Hide-And-Seek Championships. This was a masterclass in being nowhere to be seen when the chips were down, in turning their backs on a mate in bother, in failing to go in where it hurt when it mattered most. A gutless, shapeless, utterly hopeless excuse for a performance, just when their fans demanded nothing less than absolute commitment and unquenchable desire. You know that book for kiddies, Where’s Wally? Well, yesterday an angry army of Bluenoses was looking for 14 of them. This was The Invincibles versus The Invisibles, it was Men against Non-Entities. It was, somehow, an even worse display by a losing semi-finalist than Aberdeen had produced 24 hours before. In his white boots, Celtic skipper Scott Brown looked for all the world like he’d come out the tunnel in his stocking soles — and the truth is that, for all the pressure the opposition put him under, he might as well have. Rangers, quite simply, had no one brave enough to tread on his toes. Whenever he won the ball off one of them, there was never a second charging in for handers. Neither did Rangers have anyone clever enough to match the darting runs into space around the box that led to Tom Rogic teasing home the opening goal and might have seen him net a first-half hat-trick. And, maybe most telling of all, Rangers had no-one physically strong enough to deal with the runs in behind them of Moussa Dembele, making it merely a matter of time before one of them — in this case, young Ross McCrorie, was rag-dolled once too often and panicked into a red card. In fact, let’s be brutally honest here. Rangers had nothing; no leadership, no obvious plan, no pace, no guile, not one bit of quality that might have made this anything other than what it soon turned into, a kitten on one end of a see-saw and the boulder from Indiana Jones on the other. Their fans turned against manager Graeme Murty as soon as it went to 2-0, though you had to feel some sympathy for a guy who’s in a job for which he isn’t qualified. He’s been trying to coax something out of a dressing room that is clearly pulling in a dozen different directions, all of this at the end of a week when his chairman has thrown him under the bus by publicly writing off his chances of still being there next season. Not for the first time in recent weeks, he looked lost on the sidelines, a man alone. By the end, facing microphones and notebooks, he seemed not too far away from bubbling. The right thing to do would be to shake hands and let him go now, because the best he can hope for is a second place he’d get no credit for. The worst? As Celtic flicked and tricked and their legions gave it the big Olé, as three became four going on however many you wanted, as one half of Hampden emptied like water going down a plughole, he must have had a horrible premonition of what might happen after the split, with trips to Parkhead, Pittodrie and Easter Road looming on the horizon. As for Celtic? The 90 minutes Brown enjoyed — playing the game at his own pace, sticking his chest out when he felt like it and putting his foot in only when he really had to — summed up just how comfortable this all was. There’s no doubt they’d been well up for this ever since Murty’s staggeringly naive admission that his men had cheered when the draw was made. If they needed any further encouragement to up their game, it surely came when he then came out pre-match and played the old broken record about the gap between the two teams shrinking. Talk about walking onto a left hook? Amidst ever-growing gallusness at one end — Rod Stewart up on his feet after a sherbet or two, leading a chorus of Always Looks On The Bright Side — that gap made the Grand Canyon look like a crack in the pavement. It got to the stage where Celtic were playing rock, paper, scissors to see who got to take their second penalty and make it 4-0. And, if that wasn’t humiliating enough, there was the now-obligatory Alfredo Morelos Sitter, this one so much harder to miss than to score even some Rangers fans managed a mirthless laugh at his unerring ability to freeze under pressure. It came at the end of a mad spell when, three goals and a man down, they suddenly produced a flurry of chances, Craig Gordon flying to save magnificently from the Colombian’s header then tipping over when Bruno Alves rose to meet the corner, before Mikael Lustig sliced a clearance over the keeper and onto the bar. The ball fell, four yards out, to the unmarked Morelos with Gordon on the deck. He could have blasted it, dinked it, done just about anything except what he did, which was to dither and scuff and hit flailing legs, then sit there, head in hands praying the ground would open up. If the ease with which Brown strolled through this summed it up from Celtic’s point of view, then surely that miss epitomised everything that was wrong with Rangers. Indecisive, confidence shot to bits, nowhere near good enough to cope on a stage this important. Fifteen minutes in, ref Bobby Madden had stopped play so stewards could dispose of a batch of stray blue balloons floating around the pitch. It would be a harsh critic who suggested Rangers would have been better keeping them on and getting rid of their players. Harsh, but fair. https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/2509206/celtic-rangers-invincibles-invisibles-bill-leckie/ It got to the stage where Celtic were playing rock, paper, scissors to see who got to take their second penalty
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DELSCORES
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18 Apr 2018, 08:27 AM
Post #2752
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- Forza
- 17 Apr 2018, 10:37 AM
From that Boyd bilge: "Is there even a shirt deal in place for next season? Rangers should have their jerseys manufactured by one of the big sports firms, not a smaller company — but that seems to be the way they’re heading." Why? Companies get what they pay for and they get associated with the baggage. Which is currently as toxic as any Whyte/Green/Mather/Wallace/Llambias stuff. For what it's worth a Tim supporting mate who works with a kit supplier, who'll remain nameless, was relieved that they did not get the Hun contract which they had bid for, and that the new club's kits will be Umbro next year. I am not sure that'll meet Boyd's standard. Don't get why the nameless kit company applied for the business.if they were relieved not to get it.
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paranoid_and_proud
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18 Apr 2018, 08:35 AM
Post #2753
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- DELSCORES
- 18 Apr 2018, 08:27 AM
- Forza
- 17 Apr 2018, 10:37 AM
From that Boyd bilge: "Is there even a shirt deal in place for next season? Rangers should have their jerseys manufactured by one of the big sports firms, not a smaller company — but that seems to be the way they’re heading." Why? Companies get what they pay for and they get associated with the baggage. Which is currently as toxic as any Whyte/Green/Mather/Wallace/Llambias stuff. For what it's worth a Tim supporting mate who works with a kit supplier, who'll remain nameless, was relieved that they did not get the Hun contract which they had bid for, and that the new club's kits will be Umbro next year. I am not sure that'll meet Boyd's standard.
Don't get why the nameless kit company applied for the business.if they were relieved not to get it. He said it was his pal who worked for the firm, not the firm itself.
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Dogg
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18 Apr 2018, 08:35 AM
Post #2754
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Jingle Jackson putting forward a very emotional defence of his dressing room sources.
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tinytim81
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18 Apr 2018, 08:43 AM
Post #2755
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If you think about it, Miller and Wallace rounding on the under 20's coach because he can't beat a vastly superior Celtic side is pretty disgraceful. Murty never asked for this responsibility. He's a coach, not a manager. Verbally abusing the guy and screaming at him in front of the other players (especially when one of them is the club captain) is disgusting.
Wallace signed up for the 'journey'. He took the money over a real career and now he's blowing his stack at an innocent party because the reality of his decision is finally sinking in.
Both of them should be out on the street.
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Bobby Carroll
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18 Apr 2018, 08:45 AM
Post #2756
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Alex Rae interviewed on shortbread for his take on the latest episode in sevconia. 'I think the board have been indecisive '. interviewer: 'they've just sacked the 2 most senior players in the team, that's pretty decisive Alex' 'maybe I didn't phrase that right' he spent the rest of the interview stuttering and contradicting himself throughout, trying and failing to sound semi intelligent. why anyone at the BBC thought this moron could bring any semblance of insight into this, is astounding. perhaps having an EBT gets you a free pass on the nation's broadcaster.
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gary1888
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18 Apr 2018, 08:54 AM
Post #2757
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- Gothamcelt
- 17 Apr 2018, 09:00 AM
Mark my words, there are things going on behind the scenes which should be setting off alarm bells. I’m told Bates got offered just a £250 pay rise so it’s little wonder he decided it was time to go.Do tell Kris. King sized hangover Rangers’ problems right now start at the top – it’s high time Dave King had some major questions asked of him, says Kris BoydThere will be Gers fans who criticise me for writing this but what's going on at Ibrox right now hurts me just as much as it hurts any of them Spoiler: click to toggle By Kris Boyd IT was a shambles, a disgrace and an utter humiliation for Rangers as a football club. Graeme Murty and his players will have to take some of the responsibility for what happened on the pitch at Hampden. Losing 4-0 to Celtic was embarrassing all right. No one in a Light Blue jersey can hold their heads high for the way they performed because, quite frankly, it wasn’t anywhere near good enough. The dire display only proved that many of them shouldn’t even be there. I’m sorry, though, the problems at Rangers right now start at the top. I have been saying it for months but, in my opinion, Dave King is guilty of gross mismanagement. If you ask me, it’s high time he had some major questions asked of him. Although maybe someone on that Ibrox board should just pay him the £20million he supposedly lost to David Murray and watch him go. I just don’t think his chairmanship of Rangers has been good enough. He sanctioned the appointment of Pedro Caixinha — which was doomed from the very beginning — and was then to blame in the negotiations with Derek McInnes. Now Murty is being left to carry the can for King’s incompetence. There will be Rangers fans who criticise me for writing this but what’s going on at Ibrox right now hurts me just as much as it hurts any of them. Listen, in the season I played for the club in the Championship, I was a disgrace and was rightly shown the door. But that was then the opportunity to rebuild — and yet here we are three years on and the club hasn’t moved forward an inch. I know some people think I have a personal agenda against King but I couldn’t care less. Fact is, I hate seeing my old club the way it is right now. And for me, those supporters who are paying their hard-earned money for season tickets are being appallingly short-changed. All they’ve done throughout the years is plough their money into the football club. I’d question where exactly their cash has been spent — and they should too. It’s time for them to open their eyes and see what’s going on because what is happening just isn’t right. Their loyalty in turning up every week, no matter what, has been remarkable in the last few years, genuinely incredible in my opinion. But there’s definitely an argument to say they’re TOO loyal. Mark my words, there are things going on behind the scenes which should be setting off alarm bells. Is there even a shirt deal in place for next season? Rangers should have their jerseys manufactured by one of the big sports firms, not a smaller company — but that seems to be the way they’re heading. Then there’s Mark Allen, the so-called director of football. I’m sorry, but what does he actually bring to the table? What does he actually do to earn his big-money salary? He’s meant to be building things for the future, so why did he allow an up-and-coming player like David Bates to sign for another club? I’m told Bates got offered just a £250 pay rise so it’s little wonder he decided it was time to go. It was similar with Danny Wilson. People might argue about how good those two boys actually are as players but what worries me is the way they were treated, the way their contract talks were handled. Do you think Wilson wanted to uproot his family and go halfway around the world to play in the MLS? But Allen seems to have mismanaged that situation and left him with no option. The club tried to put a positive spin on things when they brought in a handful of players during the January transfer window but it wasn’t good enough. I may have bought into it myself, if I’m being honest. I looked at the signings and talked them up, mainly because I wanted to see them do well. But Rangers shouldn’t be signing so many loan players when they’re trying to bridge a gap with Celtic, they’ve got to be bigger than that. There are Rangers cheerleader pundits who point to the big money Celtic have spent in comparison to everyone else. But the money Rangers have spent is more than Aberdeen and Hibs put together — and Kilmarnock too for that matter — and yet they’ve only won four of the nine games against them. When it comes to signings Rangers have guys on loan who can’t get a game right now and yet we’re led to believe they’ll be signing long-term deals in the summer. How is that going to take Rangers forward? If you can’t get into that team now then how are you going to take the team to the next level? The worry is that Rangers aren’t going to move forward any time soon, not with the current board and directors in charge. Or Murty. He’s not responsible for the mess the club is in, but he’s clearly not helping the situation either. The way the team played at Hampden was utterly shambolic and he has to hold his hands up for that. He was quite happy to take the credit for drawing at Parkhead so he has to accept a certain amount of criticism now. He was the man who came out and said the players in the changing room cheered when the draw was made and Rangers got Celtic. That was all just false bravado and Murty trying to act big. Just like the way he chucked Andy Halliday under the bus by substituting him two minutes before half-time. Did you notice throughout the game, too, that Jonatan Johansson and Jimmy Nicholl stayed in the dugout for most of the 90 minutes? There didn’t seem to be a lot of togetherness there. But that’s Rangers right now. From top to bottom. The Kris Boyd Charity supports anyone experiencing mental health issues. To find out more, get help or donate visit thekrisboydcharity.co.uk https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/2514097/rangers-dave-king-major-questions-scottish-cup-celtic-kris-boyd/ Maybe concentrate on Kilmarnock kris you know the club who pays your wages. So unprofessional to be spouting that sort of nonsense when you play in the same league as the club in question.
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Covcelt
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18 Apr 2018, 08:55 AM
Post #2758
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Does that wee carrot Wilson still work for shortbread Haven’t heard from him in ages
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Gunner
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18 Apr 2018, 09:00 AM
Post #2759
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I'll play anywhere, as long as I get a game!
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- Forza
- 17 Apr 2018, 10:37 AM
From that Boyd bilge: "Is there even a shirt deal in place for next season? Rangers should have their jerseys manufactured by one of the big sports firms, not a smaller company — but that seems to be the way they’re heading." Why? Companies get what they pay for and they get associated with the baggage. Which is currently as toxic as any Whyte/Green/Mather/Wallace/Llambias stuff. For what it's worth a Tim supporting mate who works with a kit supplier, who'll remain nameless, was relieved that they did not get the Hun contract which they had bid for, and that the new club's kits will be Umbro next year. I am not sure that'll meet Boyd's standard. I've a mate, who works in the kit industry and I got messaged from him yesterday - before all the hummel stuff came out telling me they would be in hummel next season...
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Luigi
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18 Apr 2018, 09:02 AM
Post #2760
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Everyone's Fantasy Football first pick
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- Bobby Carroll
- 18 Apr 2018, 08:45 AM
Alex Rae interviewed on shortbread for his take on the latest episode in sevconia. 'I think the board have been indecisive '. interviewer: 'they've just sacked the 2 most senior players in the team, that's pretty decisive Alex' 'maybe I didn't phrase that right' he spent the rest of the interview stuttering and contradicting himself throughout, trying and failing to sound semi intelligent. why anyone at the BBC thought this moron could bring any semblance of insight into this, is astounding. perhaps having an EBT gets you a free pass on the nation's broadcaster. I stopped listening to anything Rae says when he tried to take credit for Jack Ross's success as St Mirren manager. Said that he laid the bedrock for their success and he would have turned them around anyway if he hadn't been sacked
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