Rangers FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

lubo_moravcik

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall you talking about posts on the huddleboard, so I assume we're even with that.

I see you on FF, enjoy 'sashing it up' :rolleyes:

Jelle1880

Nothing wrong with a good sash bash :pac:

lubo_moravcik

Beachballs out already

lubo_moravcik

Still struggling to score, how long before DU have another player sent off, just to be sure to be sure

Dempsey

lubo_moravcik wrote: »

Still struggling to score, how long before DU have another player sent off, just to be sure to be sure

Kenneth has been on a yellow card for a while now...

Jelle1880

The call's underway, masonic conspiracy and all that.
I asked for a penalty, just to make it sure.

Jelle1880

Ffs Lafferty, how dare you.

Dempsey

Jelle1880 wrote: »

The call's underway, masonic conspiracy and all that.
I asked for a penalty, just to make it sure.

Russell already got the call...

lubo_moravcik

convincing from rangers today, being a man down and that. We'll struggle like hell against them next week

Jelle1880

Looks like McCoist is determined to give his big pal McCulloch a game...

lubo_moravcik

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Looks like McCoist is determined to give his big pal McCulloch a game...

You don't like elbows??

Jelle1880

McKay coming on.

Pompey Magnus

lubo_moravcik wrote: »

convincing from rangers today, being a man down and that. We'll struggle like hell against them next week

They have won 3 league titles playing just as poorly as they have today so Celtic are in no position to feel confident.

Jelle1880

1-0 FT.
Glad with the points, but that was dire at times.

Broxi_Bear_Eire

Jelle1880 wrote: »

1-0 FT.
Glad with the points, but that was dire at times.

Yup but a win is a win is a win

KeithAFC

Good result. Nice goal by Kyle. Another clean sheet.

A Dub in Glasgo

Interesting read those Bain court papers. The papers can be found on mediafire

KeithAFC

Supposed to be illegal ain't it?

A Dub in Glasgo

Leaking the papers?

PARKHEAD67

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

Yup but a win is a win is a win

Your team is bad.Bordering on pathetic:rolleyes:

Broxi_Bear_Eire

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Your team is bad.Bordering on pathetic:rolleyes:

Thanks for your contribution now away and play with your toys and let the grown ups discuss things

PARKHEAD67

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

Thanks for your contribution now away and play with your toys and let the grown ups discuss things

Dont be silly.We're nearly as bad.The standard of Scottish football is diabolical at the moment.Celtic and yeerselves are constantly restrained financially.We need to get into the EPL. Or a suitable alternative.Celtic and yee are way too big for Scotland.WAAY too big.

KeithAFC

There was me thinking we are discussing SPL level teams.

PARKHEAD67

KeithAFC wrote: »

There was me thinking we are discussing SPL level teams.

SPL (outside of Celtic and yee) is Eircom league ****e.Agree or not?;)

bryaner

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

SPL (outside of Celtic and yee) is Eircom league ****e.Agree or not?;)

Don't insult the eircom league..:)

Broxi_Bear_Eire

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Dont be silly.We're nearly as bad.The standard of Scottish football is diabolical at the moment.Celtic and yeerselves are constantly restrained financially.We need to get into the EPL. Or a suitable alternative.Celtic and yee are way too big for Scotland.WAAY too big.

See could you not have posted that first then we could have a decent conversation at the moment theres no chance of either club going anywhere cut I do agree something has to change

Jelle1880

Seems like Bain's lawyers have called in the police regarding the leaked documents concerning his case against Rangers.

Broxi_Bear_Eire

Jelle1880 wrote: »

Seems like Bain's lawyers have called in the police regarding the leaked documents concerning his case against Rangers.

No surprise really I hope they catch whoever is responsible
In the same vein I hope they catch whoever is behind the malicious rumour that we are behind on the payments for Jelavic I have it on good authority from someone I trust that it is nonsense

Coillte_Bhoy

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

No surprise really I hope they catch whoever is responsible
In the same vein I hope they catch whoever is behind the malicious rumour that we are behind on the payments for Jelavic I have it on good authority from someone I trust that it is nonsense

One man's rumour etc....though i tend to believe you

Broxi_Bear_Eire

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

One man's rumour etc....though i tend to believe you

Normally I would be the first to be skeptical but on this occasion solely down to the person who told me it was nonsense I believe it is just that nonsense

RoryMac

The latest rumours about Jelevic are kind of what I was getting at yesterday, it's hard to know what the truth is when there are so many rumours flying around. We've been hearing for almost 3 years that Rangers were going under I think most of it is wishful thinking on the part of some people. I'm sure this latest rumour is nothing more than people putting 2 and 2 together after Jelevic missing Saturdays game and getting 5.

In other news just came across this, I'm sure some won't agree but for me a sign of progress on Rangers part,

http://ciarano.tumblr.com/post/10084151179/alan-kernaghans-ibrox-ambition

LondonIrish90

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Dont be silly.We're nearly as bad.The standard of Scottish football is diabolical at the moment.Celtic and yeerselves are constantly restrained financially.We need to get into the EPL. Or a suitable alternative.Celtic and yee are way too big for Scotland.WAAY too big.

You've as much right to join the bundesliga as you do the Premier League.

Scotland wants to maintain its independence as a football nation, it says so with force at every possible opportunity. No way are you wanted in England, as well as the baggage both clubs carry it would be yet another obvious example of Scotland using England when it benefits them.

Broxi_Bear_Eire

RoryMac wrote: »

The latest rumours about Jelevic are kind of what I was getting at yesterday, it's hard to know what the truth is when there are so many rumours flying around. We've been hearing for almost 3 years that Rangers were going under I think most of it is wishful thinking on the part of some people. I'm sure this latest rumour is nothing more than people putting 2 and 2 together after Jelevic missing Saturdays game and getting 5.

In other news just came across this, I'm sure some won't agree but for me a sign of progress on Rangers part,

http://ciarano.tumblr.com/post/10084151179/alan-kernaghans-ibrox-ambition

The link isn't working for me mate but if its about scouring and getting more young players from here over then its already been going for a while we signed a boy from Dublin last year a keeper Alan Smith its said the club has high hopes for him we also signed a boy from Limavady who is big into his GAA but je has got a lot of stick from a minority on both sides his parents were on TV recently saying how the club have been great in protecting him they also had locals on from both sides saying the nonsense was a disgrace and get it out of football

Jelle1880

It's about Alan Kernaghan, a former Irish international, who is looking forward to becoming a first team coach at Ibrox.

For some he probably won't be the right type of Irish though

Broxi_Bear_Eire

Jelle1880 wrote: »

It's about Alan Kernaghan, a former Irish international, who is looking forward to becoming a first team coach at Ibrox.

For some he probably won't be the right type of Irish though

Oh OK I knew he had been working at Murray Park for some time he is responsible for getting the scouting network set up down here

RoryMac

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

Jelle1880 wrote: »

It's about Alan Kernaghan, a former Irish international, who is looking forward to becoming a first team coach at Ibrox.

For some he probably won't be the right type of Irish though

Oh OK I knew he had been working at Murray Park for some time he is responsible for getting the scouting network set up down here

Sorry copied the link on my phone might not be working properly.

Yeah about Alan Kernaghan, as you said he's part of the youth setup at Rangers and is talking about them looking to Ireland for players, playing games against Irish youth teams and having a scout registered with the FAI.

Broxi_Bear_Eire

RoryMac wrote: »

Sorry copied the link on my phone might not be working properly.

Yeah about Alan Kernaghan, as you said he's part of the youth setup at Rangers and is talking about them looking to Ireland for players, playing games against Irish youth teams and having a scout registered with the FAI.

They have already started with the games my son played against there under 17's at Murray Park he scored

Broxi_Bear_Eire

A wee article about young Alan Smith from Cobh

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.ie%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fsmiths-bolt-from-the-blue-2873096.html&h=tAQAanPwo


A light sprinkling of rain hangs stubbornly over Glasgow's northside. Alan Smith squelches across the sodden pitch, swings through the revolving door and makes his way down corridors lined with pictures of former club greats, past the spotless changing-rooms with their personalised lockers and rows of neatly-stacked heart monitors, past the boot-rooms and offices and the line of excited schoolkids dreaming of, one day, being given the chance that he has now. All the things that make him proud to be a Rangers footballer.

He exits through a door at the other side and walks through the car park to the big blue gates that mark the main entrance on the Auchenhowie Road. Sometimes he'll sit upstairs in the canteen and wile away an hour or two ogling the collection of jeeps and sports cars that fill the space below, waiting to be reclaimed by their famous owners after training. It isn't the wealth or glamour that drives him, mind, but it helps all the same.

Today is down day and an eerie silence hovers over Murray Park. Just as well, he thinks. If the lads could see him now, a snapper manipulating him into a series of striking poses, he knows he'd never hear the end of it. Fourteen months a Rangers player and still his presence amuses them. He's still the exotic figure from that strange-sounding place on the southern tip of Ireland. "One, two, what's next Alan?" "Tree," he says and it cracks them up every time.

What he likes, though, is that once they lace their boots their minds turn resolutely towards work. "That impressed me from the start," he says. "Everyone here takes training very seriously. If you make a mistake someone will always have a word with you. It isn't anything personal against you. Just 'you're better than that' or 'you shouldn't be doing that'. They want to see you improve."

He shares a flat with Kamil Wiktorski, an academy kid from Poland, within walking distance of the training ground. Because they are under 19 the club grants a generous amount of freedom and trusts them to be model professionals in return. The kids

in the apartments bind easily because they generally come from abroad and share the same burden of having to settle into a new environment. To Smith, they are as good as family now.

At the club he talks about the staff and players in the common footballer's patois: McCoisty, Durranty, Sinky, Kirky. And then there's Kerny. Alan Kernaghan, the former Republic of Ireland international, is now a youth team coach at Rangers. They chat occasionally but never about Kernaghan's salad days with Ireland because that would be to make more an issue of it than it needs to be.

He just loves watching Kernaghan about the place, mad as a hatter he thinks, but with a lifetime of experience and enthusiasm to impart. "We went to Turkey after Christmas last year and Kerny came with us," he says. "He was treating it like it was still Windsor Park. Doing all the sessions with us, jumping into tackles, giving advice to the players. It was boiling hot but he'd join in the runs anyway, just to keep us going. Incredible really."

Kirky is Billy Kirkwood, his under 19 manager, the coach he needs most to impress if he wants to reach the next level. Off the pitch, Kirky cuts a happy, serene figure but can sometimes seem abrasive when they are between the whitewashed lines. Some kids can find it a little off-putting but Smith knows not to take it personally.

"They don't like players getting carried away with themselves," he explains. "It's the philosophy here. The way they see it if you can't handle one guy shouting at you on the training pitch, then how the hell are you going to handle 50,000 screaming at you in a stadium? You have to be able to take the criticism."

He knows how they work now. Same as any club on the planet really. The quicker you learn and adapt the better your odds of survival. Nobody told him it would be easy here.

* * * * *

WHY Rangers? He's more than half-way into his two-year contract and, still, it remains the first question on most people's lips. He understands their curiosity but he hasn't yet come up with a clever or profound answer and supposes he never will at this stage. The best response he can think of can be easily distilled into two simple words: why not?

As a kid growing up in Cobh, he remembers feeling no great affinity to either half of Glasgow's football divide, nor detected it among his friends or classmates. For a time he danced to a Liverpool beat until Chelsea stole his heart -- "before the Abramovich era," he insists -- because he liked their blue jerseys. Sometimes on his FIFA PlayStation he would pick Rangers as his team. They wore blue jerseys too.

Playing was the thing, though. Winning and getting better. He was around 10, he thinks, when an enlightened coach at his local club, Springfield Ramblers, had a notion to throw him in goal and, suddenly, a clear pathway opened up in front of him. At 15, he switched to Crumlin United, not out of scorn for Springfield, but because if you wanted to be seen by the scouts then Dublin was the place to be.

By then they'd already noticed. At 13, he made the first of four trips to Nottingham Forest, his horizons expanding with each visit. He remembers just snatches of those days now. He was at Aston Villa while David O'Leary was still manager. Visited Derby three times. Spent a day at Hull, Blackburn and Aberdeen. A few days at Celtic's training base in Lennoxtown. One club stood out over the others, though. Maybe the last club he'd have expected to come calling.

He first heard from Rangers in June 2009, when Paul Hamilton, their Dublin scout at the time, approached him after a game for Crumlin. The following March he went over on trial and was instantly charmed. They met him and his parents at the airport and brought them to their hotel. The food in the adjoining restaurant was excellent and subsidised. In the mornings they would collect him and take him to Murray Park where the facilities were like nothing he'd ever seen.

They convinced him too that they weren't pampering him because he was from the south of Ireland, or that he was unique in some fashion and required special treatment. Nothing would have driven him from the place more quickly. That was merely how they operated, he sensed, a taste of the professionalism that seemed to run through the club at every level.

"They were upfront with me and looked after everything. I'd been to one or two clubs -- I won't name them -- where it was like just be here or go there. You had to look after yourself and, when you're that age, it can be a bit difficult. Here there were no problems. The people made me feel at home. They're Scottish anyway so they're very similar to the Irish. That's the reason I came here."

In a way he wasn't taken aback by their interest. He knew that Alan Maybury had been on trial a few years before. And that Phil Cowan, the Rangers scout in Belfast, had brought four Crumlin players north to play in a tournament the year before he signed. This year he has met players from two Dublin clubs over on trial but can't say if any of them have signed. Rhys Murphy spent a week at the club last month but opted to stay at Arsenal.

Smith knew he wanted to be a Rangers player on his third visit to Murray Park. There was talk of an offer from Manchester United then but it failed to turn his head. "The way I saw it I'd more of a chance here than at United," he says. "They've, what, three keepers at under 19, another three in the reserves and probably four in the first team squad. Competition is good but you don't want too much of it."

At first he found the going tough. His grandfather was seriously ill at the time and an ankle injury before Christmas knocked the stuffing out of his season. He'd hurt the same ankle as a kid and, back then, he would apply an ice-pack and be back between the posts the following week.

At Rangers they put it into a cast, even though there was no break, and oversaw four months of rehab. Now his ankle feels stronger than ever and he can't wait for the season to unfold.

Nothing proved more what they were about: not rushing players back from injury, taking the long-term view. He hopes it's a good sign. Sometime around December or January he expects to hear word from Sincy [academy director Jim Sinclair] about whether they'll offer him a new deal at the end of the season. The next stop, he hopes, is a place in the reserves and a shot at making the first-team squad.

He's settled enough that it would be a wrench to leave now. He can't recite the history of the club chapter and verse or tell you how many Irish players graced these walls before him. He is mystified too when he hears the word "brave" being ascribed to him, as if he is doing something noble or heroic. He scoffs at the notion that he is some kind of pioneer, consciously laying a path for others to tread after him. He sees himself as a young footballer hungry to go places, not as an agent of change.

"They treat me like any other player here and that's the way I want it. They don't feel as if they have to protect me from anything because that would only put it into your mind. You're just another player. I don't know if they're doing anything behind the scenes but in front of people they don't treat you any differently. If I was getting special treatment I don't think that would go down too well with the other players."

His father keeps an eye on the various Rangers websites and, the odd mindless comment apart, the vast majority of fans have been supportive. People inevitably wonder how, if it comes to it, he'll be able to cope with the heat of an Old Firm derby in the toughest place of all between the posts. He just shrugs and asks if it is any different to Emmanuel Adebayor lining out for Tottenham at the Emirates or Owen Hargreaves taking the field in Manchester City blue.

"It is intense," he says of the Glasgow divide, "but it's no different to any city rivalry. You get people who are die-hards, hate everything about the other side, but the majority are there for the atmosphere on the day. They're passionate but they have nothing against the other side. It's the same with the players. There's no bitterness at all. You see the pics in the paper when they're away with Scotland, Allan McGregor joking with Scott Brown on the golf course. Charlie Adam having a laugh with Kris Commons. They all get on great together."

Adam's brother, Grant, is one of those ahead of him in the Ibrox queue and he loves spending time watching McGregor and the diligence he brings to the craft of goalkeeping. He has the taste of big-time football now. He sat on the bench when Chelsea visited Ibrox for a pre-season friendly and the occasion gave him goosegumps. He was in the squad for last year's Youth Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park and, although the crowd was just over 10,000, it still generated the atmosphere and electricity of a full-blooded Old Firm clash.

By all accounts, he is rated highly by his coaches but he is wary of hype. Soon after his arrival Walter Smith was quoted as saying he would be a first-team squad member within two years, but he hadn't met Smith at the time and he is certain the then Rangers manager couldn't possibly have seen him play. "The only time I'd pay attention is if Ally McCoist came to me and said something to me directly," he says. "If it was in the papers that McCoisty said this or that about me I'd just ignore it."

Judgement day will arrive soon enough, he supposes. Right now all he can do is shake off the minor groin injury he picked up in his last game against Hearts, keep impressing Kirky and cement his place in the Ireland under 19 team under Paul Doolin. "That's the next step," he says. "Try and get into the reserves. If that doesn't happen then see what else I can do. Go to another place and try again. Keep going."

His work is done for another day now. The threatening skies have cleared and he's ready for the short stroll home. Happy as a football kid could be. When he leaves, whenever that might be, he knows he'll go a far better goalkeeper than when he arrived and he can think of no better reason to be here.

lubo_moravcik

Broxi_Bear_Eire

lubo_moravcik wrote: »

My your conversation skills are great this weather and here was me thinking you were one of the better Tic fans about looks as though I could have been wrong. Or is this an attempt at humour if so its not bad

lubo_moravcik

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

My your conversation skills are great this weather and here was me thinking you were one of the better Tic fans about looks as though I could have been wrong. Or is this an attempt at humour if so its not bad

Just a wee bit of humour before the nerves and dread of next weeks game.
Thanks btw, and the feelings mutual BBE, you're not one of the blinkered ones.

What's your predictions for next week?? I'll be over there going through my usual mix and range of emotions.

tommyhaas

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

A wee article about young Alan Smith from Cobh

Interesting read. I wonder what the reaction would be if he made it at Rangers and got into the Irish squad

Jelle1880

I don't think it'll be the Rangers fans that will give him stick for it.

RoryMac

Jelle1880 wrote: »

I don't think it'll be the Rangers fans that will give him stick for it.

To be fair the young GAA player that joined got stick from both sides

Broxi_Bear_Eire

lubo_moravcik wrote: »

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

My your conversation skills are great this weather and here was me thinking you were one of the better Tic fans about looks as though I could have been wrong. Or is this an attempt at humour if so its not bad

Just a wee bit of humour before the nerves and dread of next weeks game.
Thanks btw, and the feelings mutual BBE, you're not one of the blinkered ones.

What's your predictions for next week?? I'll be over there going through my usual mix and range of emotions.

To be honest I will think the worst I always do even though I might come on here and be confident I never am seen many of these games go against form or whatever. To be Frank I would settle for a draw but more importantly after all the crap of last season I hope the game is remembered for the right reasons

tommyhaas

Jelle1880 wrote: »

I don't think it'll be the Rangers fans that will give him stick for it.

Google 'Aaron McGregor Rangers'. One of the top results is an apology from a Rangers fan site for the abuse a minority of their members posted about him

Personally I wouldn't support him on the basis that I can't understand how an Irish Catholic could represent a club with such a history of discrimination against Irish Catholics, a tradition that a section of its fans still uphold

Broxi_Bear_Eire

tommyhaas wrote: »

Jelle1880 wrote: »

I don't think it'll be the Rangers fans that will give him stick for it.

Google 'Aaron McGregor Rangers'. One of the top results is an apology from a Rangers fan site for the abuse a minority of their members posted about him

Personally I wouldn't support him on the basis that I can't understand how an Irish Catholic could represent a club with such a history of discrimination against Irish Catholics, a tradition that a section of its fans still uphold

Maybe because the majority now know that it was wrong and the young player you are talking about his parents have said it was abuse from both sides nut stressed the club have been great in protecting the young fells. You need to have a look at yourself you complain about what's happened on the past but you are being every bit as bad as the morons you describe.

tommyhaas

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

Maybe because the majority now know that it was wrong and the young player you are talking about his parents have said it was abuse from both sides nut stressed the club have been great in protecting the young fells. You need to have a look at yourself you complain about what's happened on the past but you are being every bit as bad as the morons you describe.

I never said I'd give him abuse, just that I wouldn't support him, there's a distinction there. My point is simple, and its that I don't see how he can reconcile his own background with that of a club with the history Rangers have, and the beliefs that a section of their support still maintain

Don't get me wrong, if he does well in the first team, I'm sure the majority of Rangers fans will get behind him, however it inevitable that he will eventually have to hear his own supporters singing sectarian songs, songs specifically aimed at his nationality and/or creed

Jelle1880

tommyhaas wrote: »

Google 'Aaron McGregor Rangers'. One of the top results is an apology from a Rangers fan site for the abuse a minority of their members posted about him

Personally I wouldn't support him on the basis that I can't understand how an Irish Catholic could represent a club with such a history of discrimination against Irish Catholics, a tradition that a section of its fans still uphold

I said it before, the so-called 'abuse' was mostly tongue in cheek.
I can think of 1 member on that site who probably meant it, and I think he's even banned now.

As for this weekend: Jelavic is fit apparently, but McCoist also hinted that he put McCulloch on at Dundee United to give him valuable minutes, which to me means he'll play him against you lot

Pompey Magnus

tommyhaas wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't support him on the basis that I can't understand how an Irish Catholic could represent a club with such a history of discrimination against Irish Catholics, a tradition that a section of its fans still uphold

Just because Rangers had a horrible past when it comes to Irish Catholics doesn't mean he should have felt some moral obligation to turn them down when they offered him a contract, we'd all be forever stuck in the past if that was the case.

Black people now play baseball, members of the PSNI now play GAA, women can now access most golf courses. To do so involves all these people having to accept that these sports previously discriminated against people like them and getting over that, so you shouldn't hold it against Smith for doing the same. Hopefully the lad will do well there, even if for no other reason that his presence in a Rangers (and Ireland) squad will further help to isolate the minority of idiots among both sets of fans.

In other news I understand there may be a familiar face making an appearance in the away end of Ibrox next Sunday...