Swello

Can't say I've noticed quite honestly..

Looks like Tom English has been researching this thread (I do like his stuff normally - one of the better sportswriters)

He looks like a marshmallow with a monacle stuck on it. Because him and plenty of other professional Rangers sooks know that they don't have the knowledge of other Scottish clubs to make a living if Rangers disappeared..... Richard Gordon: So Chick, any team news on the St Johnstone vs Kilmarnock game Chick: Who?

Chick's summing up: Spoken like a true St Mirren man

For excitement - I guess that will depend on which team's fans you ask. It was exciting for 'Well fans as when Celtic were in the grubber - we had one of our best teams, played in Europe and finished second and third - we also had a couple of relegation battles neatly illustrating that diddy teams are nothing if not utterly inconsistent year by year. Raith Rovers fans probably look on it as a golden age I don't see a huge difference between late SPD and now - I think a lot is made of the decline in quality, but I don't see it. My memory of mid-90's football is far too many foreign haddies in the league, one half of the OF Weak, the other strong. There were still shite games in front of small crowds then - some clubs were skint, others weren't. I know a lot of people like to use "SPL" to cite stats, etc - but I just view the "Premier" as a constant since I started going in the 80's.

I actually think that in our next two league games against Aberdeen and Killie, we might see the type of Refereeing performances usually reserved for OF teams - a wee 50/50 here, a softish penalty there, so that 'Well have enough points to avoid Celtic winning the league at Ibrox and the armageddon that would follow...... In any case, I prefer the scenario outlined a few pages back where Rangers come to Fir Park knowing that a win for them hands Celtic the title, a win for us puts us ahead in second place. The number of furrowed mono-brows in the South Stand trying to work out what result they want will be worth the gate money alone

Playing at Hampden isn't simple as SFL & SPL clubs can't share a grun - so that part is maybe a step too far. They could share Parkhead though

We don't want one that has flute based version as a B-side

Celtic only 21 points ahead having played a game more? The league title is on!

The whole "keeping the fabric of the squad" thing doesn't make sense to me. Rangers could put together a squad in the close season that could comfortably finish second in the SPL with extreme ease and a low cost in terms of wages and no transfer fees. Surely if they can limp to the summer with a skeleton squad of U-19's and haddies, then it is far preferable to hemorrhaging money now?

I just can't understand why they don't just pull the trigger! The administrators words and deeds are miles apart. They have the power to sack who they want today if things are as bad as they say.

While Rangers are away in the lower leagues - we should have an SPL playoff at the end of the season between 1st and 2nd for the title. That way, even if Celtic were romping the league as would be expected, it would keep things interesting for TV until the last day of the season - even if Celtic would still likely win the one-off game....

But there must be a point when you attach so many conditions to protect yourself (Ibrox and MP owned by the club, no fallout from Ticketus, no liability for tax, playing squad still in place, club stays in SPL, etc, etc) that you get to the stage where it becomes a fairly pointless PR exerc.....ahhhh

I don't see how anyone can make an offer when it can't be clear what they are buying in terms of assets and liabilities...

Who knows - but it's nice to see the Rangers fans mindlessly lashing out at something else and giving their womenfolk a break.

But they've had 3 weeks to do the punting - why are still talking about it?

Very strange posture given that he was using the 4 OF games as a major argument against an expanded SPL just a few months back with the jist being that less OF games = smaller TV deal.

Not based on any facts - but my gut feeling is that if UEFA really started to look under the rocks to see the mechanisms that their member clubs have used to pay players over the years, they would have to hammer some far bigger names than Rangers....

This snash deserves it's own thread really.... My instant reaction to the idea to limit the punishment to "european" clubs is that it is entirely illogical. Look at Motherwell, Dundee and Livi - they all went into admin after over-spending in chasing 3rd place. Surely, these would be exactly the type of "financial doping" offences that deserve to be punished - ie - where a club rises above it's peer group by unsustainable spending? It is also completely possible that a club can reach the SPL by overspending in the 1st Division in a speculative way in the hope that SPL membership will pay off the "credit card" and then get into financial trouble. As far as I'm concerned, these "crimes" are equal and should be punished identically.

Since 'Well were in the grubber 10 years ago - I've taken an interest in the way other administrations have gone up here and south of the border - and the pace of action from the administrators in this case just seems completely out of step with every other one. Given that they are hemorrhaging cash in a pretty spectacular way, I can't get my head round the fact that there hasn't been far more decisive action in terms of cutbacks to staff and other "obvious" outgoings. The administrators seem to be running Rangers in a "steady state" the way we saw Bryan Jackson do at Motherwell after the big cuts had been made - when I would be expecting things to be cut to the bare bones.

I think they are going to use the more scientific "Good guy, Good guy, w**k" method. Kyle Lafferty should be very afraid.

Because of the worry?

Again - I like the sentiments and I want these things to happen - but the "death" of Rangers which you're basing this on is just misty eyed fantasy and nothing more. Do you honestly think that an entity called "Rangers" won't be about after this?

On Hearts - they are struggling badly financially and I can't see Romanov (even given his erratic history) cutting of his nose to spite his face to make a point, regardless of how satisfying it would be. On Celtic, I just find the idea of a PLC voluntarily making their trading environment markedly worse a bit far fetched. Better for them to have a badly wounded Rangers in the league, still piss all over them, qualify for the CL and retain season ticket levels, sponsorship and TV revenue, all of which would suffer without the other cheek. I would have thought that their fans would enjoy the boasting rights of pumping rangers 4 times a season for a few years rather than never playing them, but who knows....