[0762]

Note Stevie G confirmed that Morelos was the assigned 1st choice pk taker for this cup final. So Tavernier did not, in fact, let Morelos take that pen! Also lets not forget Mikey Johnson's absolute "sitter" at 1-0 - set up meticulously by a proper "holding" CF named Edouard and "fluffed his lines" running in on a fully exposed Rangers goalie by being "too cute" instead of slamming the baw "low n hard" past a desperate McGregor and crucially on target for 2-0!! Swap Morelos for Edouard in this game and the French striker would've likely scored a "hat trick". Also remove Morelos from this Rangers team and question, "How good a team are they"? He may well be gone in January as he suggested to a Colombian tv sports host and contrary to what Gerrard has been uttering!

[hibeejim21]

A real smash and grab by an off form Celtic today!!  The only goal was offside, Tavernier should have taken the pen and not let Morelos take it and the often seen 10 men shutting up shop against 11 worked for them.  Once Celtic scored a goal against the run of play after Rangers had spurned so many chances, you could feel that would be the dagger to the heart of Rangers and Celtics experience in these situations allowed them to see out the game.  Unlucky for Rangers in the end but they are closer to Celtic on the field now than they have been for a long long time.

Are they though ?

The Tims played an hour with a young winger as striker and the last 30 mins with 10 men. If you can't win in those circumstances today questions have to be asked about their bottle.

---

Note Stevie G confirmed that Morelos was the assigned 1st choice pk taker for this cup final. So Tavernier did not, in fact, let Morelos take that pen! Also lets not forget Mikey Johnson's absolute "sitter" at 1-0 - set up meticulously by a proper "holding" CF named Edouard and "fluffed his lines" running in on a fully exposed Rangers goalie by being "too cute" instead of slamming the baw "low n hard" past a desperate McGregor and crucially on target for 2-0!! Swap Morelos for Edouard in this game and the French striker would've likely scored a "hat trick". Also remove Morelos from this Rangers team and question, "How good a team are they"? He may well be gone in January as he suggested to a Colombian tv sports host and contrary to what Gerrard has been uttering!

Morelos is a good player, good awareness but when he has time to think he invariably fucks it up. He doesn't play for the team either.

In any other league he is a red card waiting to happen. The refs here have stopped booking him for some reason.

[0762]

Morelos should've been red-carded in the second half and also what happened to the rule that covers persistent fouling??? I gave up counting the number of fouls committed by Morelos and as for his "simulation" antics!!??? What a joke - "throws himself" at every opp and never booked!! IMO Golum had a decent ref display today but failed re application of said footie rules covering this particular Rangers player esp re that cynical foul on Julienne. Is there some kinda ref conspiracy to help Morelos in avoiding a ban or is it just a fear of intimidation from many of the poisonous bastards who support Rangers FC or intimidation from the spin propagandists within the Govan club itself??

[hibeejim21]

Don't think the refs want to break the narrative that he is a reformed character this seasons discipline wise.....but is he xxxx. Any club watching him the day would see he isn't clinical enough, nor is he clear headed enough on the park.

Thats twice now Celtic have beaten them with makeshift sides and if they lose at parkhead in 3 weeks I reckon the wheels will come off. Gerrard has made some really,really poor signings - 7 million for Kent is just insanity..absolute daylight robbery. Ojo and Aribo haven't impressed me at all, and the big Swedish centre back is a donkey. Oh and they signed Andy king from Leicester ffs...has he kicked a ball ? Brendan Barker as we know has bags of pace but he is incredibly lightweight, a medium wind would blow him over.

To be fair Davis and Defoe will do a job for them, but they aren't getting any younger. Sevco have gambled everything on winning the title this season.

[St Charles Owl]

A real smash and grab by an off form Celtic today!!  The only goal was offside, Tavernier should have taken the pen and not let Morelos take it and the often seen 10 men shutting up shop against 11 worked for them.  Once Celtic scored a goal against the run of play after Rangers had spurned so many chances, you could feel that would be the dagger to the heart of Rangers and Celtics experience in these situations allowed them to see out the game.  Unlucky for Rangers in the end but they are closer to Celtic on the field now than they have been for a long long time.

Are they though ?

The Tims played an hour with a young winger as striker and the last 30 mins with 10 men. If you can't win in those circumstances today questions have to be asked about their bottle.

Yes they are absolutely closer. They are still not there and I am sure Celtic will stretch their lead over them once their focus is only the league, but Rangers have now shown themselves to be the 2nd best team on the field in Scotland by a bit of a margin, and thats not been the case for a while. Whether they can push on from here remains to be seen but an Old Firm one-two looks like it might be a more regular occurrence again.

[0762]

Don't think the refs want to break the narrative that he is a reformed character this seasons discipline wise.....but is he xxxx. Any club watching him the day would see he isn't clinical enough, nor is he clear headed enough on the park.

Thats twice now Celtic have beaten them with makeshift sides and if they lose at parkhead in 3 weeks I reckon the wheels will come off. Gerrard has made some really,really poor signings - 7 million for Kent is just insanity..absolute daylight robbery. Ojo and Aribo haven't impressed me at all, and the big Swedish centre back is a donkey. Oh and they signed Andy king from Leicester ffs...has he kicked a ball ?  Brendan Barker as we know has bags of pace but he is incredibly lightweight, a medium wind would blow him over.

To be fair Davis and Defoe will do a job for them, but they aren't getting any younger. Sevco have gambled everything on winning the title this season.

Yep. That is an accurate summary compared with what Saint Charles Owl is saying with no reference to the general standard of footie in the other Scot Prem clubs that has diminished and it is a factor that disguises how good Rangers actually are and, as previously commented, look at the amount of money "dished out" by the Govan club anyway - with no reward/success whatsoever!! And, as you say, Lenny provided invaluable experience and opportunity to quite a few young kids in that final - 18 year old Frimpong who was unfortunate to receive that red card but what a "breath of fresh air" (watch his post-match interview - it's brilliant!), Lewis Morgan who was played in the wrong position but "soldiered on" up front and Mikey Johnson later on who should've finished off Rangers at 0-1 when brilliantly sent through on McGregor. This action is far more positive and enterprising compared with Gerrard's usual listing of "bought players", debt rising weekly, with nobody coming in from their youth dev ranks!!

[St Charles Owl]

So what you are saying is that the reason Rangers are just behind Celtic in the league and are now getting to cup finals is nothing to do with what Rangers themselves have done but is actually a product of the rest of Scottish football basically being shite??? Ok, if thats you assessment then fine, but it still means Rangers are now the 2nd best team in Scotland and however that has come about they are closer to Celtic than they have been for years. They may not win anything but nobody bar Celtic has won anything for quite a while anyway!!!

Also I was clear about putting in the "on the field" statement, you guys are far better versed in what may or may not be going on off the field and it would appear that by any fiscal measure then Rangers are still well behind Celtic off the field but on it they appear to be closer.

[hibeejim21]

So what you are saying is that the reason Rangers are just behind Celtic in the league and are now getting to cup finals is nothing to do with what Rangers themselves have done but is actually a product of the rest of Scottish football basically being shite???  Ok, if thats you assessment then fine, but it still means Rangers are now the 2nd best team in Scotland and however that has come about they are closer to Celtic than they have been for years.  They may not win anything but nobody bar Celtic has won anything for quite a while anyway!!!

Also I was clear about putting in the "on the field" statement, you guys are far better versed in what may or may not be going on off the field and it would appear that by any fiscal measure then Rangers are still well behind Celtic off the field but on it they appear to be closer.

They HAVE improved, just nowhere near as much as is being made out AND they are hugely reliant on morelos. The rest of the league HAS regressed badly early in the season - Clarke has left killie, Aberdeen had a iffy start, the Edinburgh clubs both have struggled with poor management.

By the law of averages, they've signed so many players & gone through so many managers that eventually they had to make improvements.

If they don't win something this season the monkeys will turn on gerrard big time.

[0762]

Huge applause and well put Jim!!! SCO wanted clarity re on field observations by people who watch Scot Prem matches and he has got it!! I must finally add, "Didn't you find it so noticeable how all these members of the Rangers Appreciation Society from the media and other sources suddenly 'crawled out of the woodwork' to 'beat the drum' about their so called resurrection and breaking Celtic's domination etc etc etc". IT DIDN'T HAPPEN AND IT WAS ALMOST AS BAD AS OBSERVING THE SAME SOCIETY 'PREACHING' ALL THESE YEARS AGO ABOUT RFC WHEN THEY WERE NOT EVEN IN THE SCOT PREM ANY MORE AND PLAYING IN THE SCOT LEAGUE 2 BUT STILL CRAVING REPRESENTATION AND RECOGNITION". It is a pity that the Rangers product is so "toxic" and lacking any kinda humility, otherwise they may have garnered more sympathy from the Scot footie community at large.