[Kyle]

My all-time best Rangers team


Gk: Steve Simonson
RB: Kirk broadfoot
CB: Jean-Alan Boumsong
CB: Bilel Moshni
LB: Steven Smith (second spell)
RM: Chris Burke
CM: Kyle Hutton
CM: Ian two-foot tackle Black
LM: Greg Wylde
CF: Filip Sebo
CF: Jean-Claude Darcheville

That's a right squad in the wonderfully successful archaic tried and tested 4-4-2. I challenge any team to have a crack at beating these.

[Z]

Originally Posted by Novo

Well it hasnt opened up the league as far as the title goes because Celtic are still miles ahead of the rest so in that regard its boring but cup wise it has become more unpredictable and the race for 2nd place and Europa league spot has become open, but neautrals don't really care about the SPL anymore without Rangers there and finiaclly it has been hit hard, Hearts are ****ed and 3 or 4 other clubs look to be heading in that direction as well, in fact the Championship is probably going to be more interesting then the SPL next season now with Rangers, Hearts, Raith, Livingston, Dundee, Hamilton etc in there, Scotland will always need Rangers and Celtic though, imagine the league surviving with Hearts and Hibs being the biggest match of the year lol and they haven't even got that next season...

Of course, Celtic will always be at the top as long as they can maintain their financial status, which Rangers weren't able to do because it wasn't built on a solid foundation. It's been great for the rest of the league in terms of competitiveness though, as you say, the race for 2nd place, cup competitions etc. I'd say the SPL's more interesting now because of all of that. It had been stale for a very long time knowing that 1st and 2nd were sewn up. As an Aberdeen supporter it was a bit sad that the highlight of our season was potentially finishing in the top half of the league. Scotland won't always need those two clubs, it's only in the last 25 years they've had such a stranglehold over the league (well, not in the last two years since Rangers have been out of the top flight) - of course they've been big teams for longer than that, but Aberdeen used to be a huge team, there've been successful periods as well from the likes of Dundee United, Hearts, Hibs and Motherwell too. Having a local derby isn't as much of a big deal in Scottish football as it is in England IMO; there are only 7 actual cities in Scotland - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Stirling and Perth. Of those, only Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee can really be considered cities with more than one team - okay there are a few dotted around Stirling but none of them are major teams so it's not really the same - and only the Glasgow rivalry is particularly of interest because it's more to do with religion than anything else.

Aberdeen's a one club city, St Johnstone have the Perth support, Inverness Caledonian Thistle for Inverness... even without Rangers in the league you still have quite a few teams from in and around Glasgow in the SPL - Celtic, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, St Mirren... what would be ideal is if Rangers return to the SPL but don't manage to get back to the all conquering level they used to be at because I think it was killing the league having Celtic and Rangers being a class above the rest. Great for the fans of those two teams but just very dull for everyone else.

[Novo]

Originally Posted by Z

Of course, Celtic will always be at the top as long as they can maintain their financial status, which Rangers weren't able to do because it wasn't built on a solid foundation. It's been great for the rest of the league in terms of competitiveness though, as you say, the race for 2nd place, cup competitions etc. I'd say the SPL's more interesting now because of all of that. It had been stale for a very long time knowing that 1st and 2nd were sewn up. As an Aberdeen supporter it was a bit sad that the highlight of our season was potentially finishing in the top half of the league. Scotland won't always need those two clubs, it's only in the last 25 years they've had such a stranglehold over the league (well, not in the last two years since Rangers have been out of the top flight) - of course they've been big teams for longer than that, but Aberdeen used to be a huge team, there've been successful periods as well from the likes of Dundee United, Hearts, Hibs and Motherwell too. Having a local derby isn't as much of a big deal in Scottish football as it is in England IMO; there are only 7 actual cities in Scotland - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Stirling and Perth. Of those, only Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee can really be considered cities with more than one team - okay there are a few dotted around Stirling but none of them are major teams so it's not really the same - and only the Glasgow rivalry is particularly of interest because it's more to do with religion than anything else.

Aberdeen's a one club city, St Johnstone have the Perth support, Inverness Caledonian Thistle for Inverness... even without Rangers in the league you still have quite a few teams from in and around Glasgow in the SPL - Celtic, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, St Mirren... what would be ideal is if Rangers return to the SPL but don't manage to get back to the all conquering level they used to be at because I think it was killing the league having Celtic and Rangers being a class above the rest. Great for the fans of those two teams but just very dull for everyone else.

Those successful periods from the clubs you have mentioned have only been short term, the last team to break into the top 2 when Rangers and Celtic were in the league together was Hearts and that's because they had money to do it back then and Rudi and Velika. and they still were the 2 most successful clubs in Scotland before the fergie stint at Aberdeen, the old firm is in the top 10 most profitable derbys in the World so it is vital to Scotland, and all those teams you mentioned haven't got the potential to be huge clubs, Butcher left Inverness to go to Hibs in a heartbeat because they have at least some potential as a club with a good fanbase , the problem with Scotland though is that their is not enough investment it hasn't moved on at all, Rangers and Celtic can't really move forward until they are playing in the Prem, neither of them will ever have the money to win the CL in today's world because they aren't making enough, huge clubs with 50,000 a week attendances but no aims that will truly forfill them

[Z]

Originally Posted by Novo

Those successful periods from the clubs you have mentioned have only been short term, the last team to break into the top 2 when Rangers and Celtic were in the league together was Hearts and that's because they had money to do it back then and Rudi and Velika. and they still were the 2 most successful clubs in Scotland before the fergie stint at Aberdeen, the old firm is in the top 10 most profitable derbys in the World so it is vital to Scotland, and all those teams you mentioned haven't got the potential to be huge clubs, Butcher left Inverness to go to Hibs in a heartbeat because they have at least some potential as a club with a good fanbase , the problem with Scotland though is that their is not enough investment it hasn't moved on at all, Rangers and Celtic can't really move forward until they are playing in the Prem, neither of them will ever have the money to win the CL in today's world because they aren't making enough, huge clubs with 50,000 a week attendances but no aims that will truly forfill them

Yeah but the reason they've only been short term is because of the stranglehold that the Old Firm have had on the league, and whenever a team has managed to break through there has been a lot of conspiring to make sure that they don't split up that two team relationship at the top of the table. I certainly feel like interest in the SPL has gone up among fans of all the other teams in the league. Aberdeen's a city of over 200,000 people and often pulls in around a quarter of that for really big games, I mean that's a sizable support all things considered. There's not enough investment in other teams so the league just sits and stagnates over time, that's why I feel like Rangers being ejected from the league and having to start at the bottom has been the best thing to happen in years, not because it's fun to laugh at Rangers (well, it is, but that's not why ) but because it's meant that the other teams in the league actually have something to play for and have a chance to build themselves up before Rangers return to the league.

[Novo]

Originally Posted by Z

Yeah but the reason they've only been short term is because of the stranglehold that the Old Firm have had on the league, and whenever a team has managed to break through there has been a lot of conspiring to make sure that they don't split up that two team relationship at the top of the table. I certainly feel like interest in the SPL has gone up among fans of all the other teams in the league. Aberdeen's a city of over 200,000 people and often pulls in around a quarter of that for really big games, I mean that's a sizable support all things considered. There's not enough investment in other teams so the league just sits and stagnates over time, that's why I feel like Rangers being ejected from the league and having to start at the bottom has been the best thing to happen in years, not because it's fun to laugh at Rangers (well, it is, but that's not why ) but because it's meant that the other teams in the league actually have something to play for and have a chance to build themselves up before Rangers return to the league.

Lol you can't put it down to conspiracies, they've had investement over the years because they are massive clubs and have huge fan bases here and abroad, back when we did 9IAR and nearly won the Champions League before all the corruption in it that year, we had one of the best teams ever assembled in British football, Souness, Ally, Hateley, Gazza, Albertz, Laudrop, a team good enough to challenge for the prem, we killed Leeds in the CL back when Cantona was playing for them that's the difference between Rangers/Celtic and the rest. and you don't pull in anything close to 50,000 your stadium can't even hold that many lol for your Scottish cup semi final with St Johnstone you didn't even manage 20,000 which just looks Terrible for Scottish football, Rangers playing in League 1 and 2 have still managed to sell out and break world record for attendances playing that low but SPL teams continue to faulter when it comes to support, we gave Dundee United 12,000 tickets and they didn't even manage to sell them.. And that prick McNamara wanted more before that, its a joke.

[Z]

Originally Posted by Novo

Lol you can't put it down to conspiracies, they've had investement over the years because they are massive clubs and have huge fan bases here and abroad, back when we did 9IAR and nearly won the Champions League before all the corruption in it that year, we had one of the best teams ever assembled in British football, Souness, Ally, Hateley, Gazza, Albertz, Laudrop, a team good enough to challenge for the prem, we killed Leeds in the CL back when Cantona was playing for them that's the difference between Rangers/Celtic and the rest. and you don't pull in anything close to 50,000 your stadium can't even hold that many lol for your Scottish cup semi final with St Johnstone you didn't even manage 20,000 which just looks Terrible for Scottish football, Rangers playing in League 1 and 2 have still managed to sell out and break world record for attendances playing that low but SPL teams continue to faulter when it comes to support, we gave Dundee United 12,000 tickets and they didn't even manage to sell them.. And that prick McNamara wanted more before that, its a joke.

Well, you can put it down to conspiracies to some extent, seeing as the house of cards that was the Rangers bank balance came crashing down around them and they got ejected from the league, it was a bit like seeing the Wizard of Oz being unveiled I'm not some conspiracy theorist but I think there were a lot of people whose careers depended very much on maintaining a fierce Glasgow derby that conquered the league and to no longer have that was critical for them. That's not a conspiracy or intended as one in any way, that's just a fact.

It was a cup semi final against St Johnstone, we still pulled in an overwhelmingly large support for that game - the League Cup final game was full of Aberdeen fans, it was mental. Scotland's not a big place though, Glasgow's the only city that's even approaching 1 million people in and around the area so it's natural that Glasgow based clubs are going to have the largest support bases. One city clubs like Aberdeen and Inverness are likelier to have stronger supports than clubs from small towns or clubs from cities with more than one team.

[Novo]

Originally Posted by Z

Well, you can put it down to conspiracies to some extent, seeing as the house of cards that was the Rangers bank balance came crashing down around them and they got ejected from the league, it was a bit like seeing the Wizard of Oz being unveiled I'm not some conspiracy theorist but I think there were a lot of people whose careers depended very much on maintaining a fierce Glasgow derby that conquered the league and to no longer have that was critical for them. That's not a conspiracy or intended as one in any way, that's just a fact.

It was a cup semi final against St Johnstone, we still pulled in an overwhelmingly large support for that game - the League Cup final game was full of Aberdeen fans, it was mental. Scotland's not a big place though, Glasgow's the only city that's even approaching 1 million people in and around the area so it's natural that Glasgow based clubs are going to have the largest support bases. One city clubs like Aberdeen and Inverness are likelier to have stronger supports than clubs from small towns or clubs from cities with more than one team.

That wasn't really a conspiracy though.. Just bad money management from the people in charge just like Hearts right now, Gretna in the past. Rangers or Celtic for that matter don't need any help to live with the standard of the league in the past with the players both of them have had

Look at the attendance of Rangers v Dundee United and then look at the attendance of Aberdeen and St Johnstone.. There is a 25,000 difference which is huge and frankly you can't tell me that they can afford to do that year in year out, 19,000 is just not good enough, Aberdeen should be getting more then that, there really isn't any excuse considering how many people turned up for that open bus parade

[Z]

Originally Posted by Novo

That wasn't really a conspiracy though.. Just bad money management from the people in charge just like Hearts right now, Gretna in the past. Rangers or Celtic for that matter don't need any help to live with the standard of the league in the past with the players both of them have had

Look at the attendance of Rangers v Dundee United and then look at the attendance of Aberdeen and St Johnstone.. There is a 25,000 difference which is huge and frankly you can't tell me that they can afford to do that year in year out, 19,000 is just not good enough, Aberdeen should be getting more then that, there really isn't any excuse considering how many people turned up for that open bus parade

It was a semi final on a Sunday in Glasgow which is 3 hours away, personally I think 19,000 people travelling down to go see Aberdeen play a pretty average side (and lose against them ) is a good turnout; St Johnstone's support was tiny. Rangers and Celtic have such dedicated fans precisely because of all the success they've had - I don't really like the term 'glory hunter' but it's obvious why so many people are drawn towards those two teams - they play well, they win lots, they earn silverware, they can afford better players, play better football so they play well, they win lots, they earn silverware........... and for every other Scottish team's support, it gets a bit weary knowing that unless either or both of those teams has a rare **** up in a cup competition, the best they can hope for is to reach the latter stages of a cup competition to try and instigate some kind of excitement among the more casual fans and get attendance up.

As for the open top bus - that was going through the city of Aberdeen and they'd already won it; of course a lot of people are going to turn out to see that - people from villages all around the city as well, it's an isolated part of Scotland so there are hundreds of people being drawn in from every direction as well as in the city itself. I think Aberdeen could have a really decent support base if we re-established ourselves as a successful team, at least we won the League Cup this year and we're hopefully going to finish 2nd. We were meant to be getting a new stadium, but as always, funding has been non-existent so nothing has changed.

[Novo]

Originally Posted by Z

It was a semi final on a Sunday in Glasgow which is 3 hours away, personally I think 19,000 people travelling down to go see Aberdeen play a pretty average side (and lose against them ) is a good turnout; St Johnstone's support was tiny. Rangers and Celtic have such dedicated fans precisely because of all the success they've had - I don't really like the term 'glory hunter' but it's obvious why so many people are drawn towards those two teams - they play well, they win lots, they earn silverware, they can afford better players, play better football so they play well, they win lots, they earn silverware........... and for every other Scottish team's support, it gets a bit weary knowing that unless either or both of those teams has a rare **** up in a cup competition, the best they can hope for is to reach the latter stages of a cup competition to try and instigate some kind of excitement among the more casual fans and get attendance up.

As for the open top bus - that was going through the city of Aberdeen and they'd already won it; of course a lot of people are going to turn out to see that - people from villages all around the city as well, it's an isolated part of Scotland so there are hundreds of people being drawn in from every direction as well as in the city itself. I think Aberdeen could have a really decent support base if we re-established ourselves as a successful team, at least we won the League Cup this year and we're hopefully going to finish 2nd. We were meant to be getting a new stadium, but as always, funding has been non-existent so nothing has changed.

Those Aberdeen fans werent expecting good old Stevie May to end their dreams in style, they might off well have used Easter Road or tynecastle for the other Semi final.. I cant really ever see any other club in the future apart from Rangers or Celtic moutaining a serious European challenge or winning the league not unless a Shiek comes over from a far away land and shows them the cash but the financial gains of winning things in scotland are so poor that it really isnt worth it, ive always been a firm believer Rangers and Celtic should be playing in the Prem, they are to big for Scotland and being wasted there, their maximim potential will never be revieled until they are playing in the Prem, the rest of Scottish football would be like be more like the standard of the Welsh league but the all the Tv deals would benifit Scotland so much more but it wilk probably never happen.. and do they really think Aberdeen need a new stadium? they average 13,000 in a 21,000 capacity stadium at the minute, probably best using the money to improve the team

[Novo]

[MTVN]

Was wondering why the Hibs-Kilmarnock game wasn't on telly today and found this:

HIBS last night booted BT Sport out of Easter Road and refused them permission to screen their SPFL survival shoot-out live against Kilmarnock today.

The major broadcaster wanted to show the game to a large TV audience around the UK as both clubs try to avoid finishing in 11th place.

But it’s understood the Leith outfit refused to answer BT Sport’s request to show the match – in which Terry Butcher’s men need to win – as they felt it might harm their chances of a full house inside the stadium.

Muppets

[MTVN]

Saints!!!!!!!

[LeatherTrumpet]

Go the Perth Rangers against the Dundee celtic. Great time to score

[LeatherTrumpet]

2-0

quite a game

[Novo]

First match of pre season tomorrow, Gingerbear is on the prowl and The better version of Sturridge and Suarez are back in business

[Alf]

Every Rangers fan should know the name Bill Struth

[Novo]

[Novo]

Lovely little ground

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Novo

First match of pre season tomorrow, Gingerbear is on the prowl and The better version of Sturridge and Suarez are back in business

Miller and Boyd back where they belong

[Novo]

Very true LT, hope they both get a good run out tonight, I want to see how sharp they look, hopefully Gingerbear and Gallagher get lots of gametime as well

[Novo]

[Novo]

Nice 3-0 to start pre season, Class finish by Miller.. He will score them for fun this season, wouldn't surprise me to see Gasparatto break into the starting XI next season

[Novo]

Ally confirms Gingerbear will play his first game back from injury, its been about 8 months now and Boyd also will play tomorrow

[Locke.]

Another injury looms I'm afraid

[Novo]