Bill Bones

Rangers won 1-0 at Fir Park in Jan 2006 with the following: Waterreus,Malcolm,Murray, Andrews,Kyrgiakos, Smith, Ferguson, Buffel, Burke, Boyd, Love nkrands. The season before a team containing Alex Rae,Namouchi and Ball won 3-2. Vignal scored twice. They've been treading water for around half-a-decade. And yet every tme we play them you hear the line that it's the worst Rangers side ever. I'm not sure I buy it.

Yeah,fair enough,good points steelboy. Maybe a bit of pragmatism is needed in what will be 3 games that could potentially shape our season. I've just always been a Reynolds fan and like the look of Hutchinson,who's strong,aggressive,good in the air. It has the makings of a very good partnership. It's the tinkering around that worries me,what was the plan in defence today? From watching a pishy stream it looked like Hammell in midfiled and Reynolds at left back,at least for some of the game. This type of carry-on is beginning to grate. Square pegs in round holes and all that. I thought against Celtic we had some limited success by playing balls into the channels for McHugh to latch onto. Can't really comment on this from today but it might be a tactic worth pursuing,his movement/speed looks to be his best attribute. Anyway, the next 3 games are pretty important,be interesting to see how Gannon responds after poor displays in the last two matches.

Maybe my judgement is clouded by remebering Craigan's displays against St.Mirren from earlier this season. I'm not convinced he's a better option than the other 3. Reynolds is in his fourth season and must have played around 150 games. Stick him at the back with Hutchinson. Expierence is fetishised, but then in Scotland the typical response to a setback is calls for more grit,hacking,long,aimless punts and get it up the park nonsense.

Reynolds,Hutchinson and Saunders are better options in central defence than Craigan. We've suffered plenty of hidings,looked dodgy at the back etc. with Crags in the side. The MoTM displays yopu mentioned were awarded on here so I wouldn't take much heed of them. The same people had O'Brien down as a superstar and now think he's pish,want to pay for his fare north, and so on. I'd stick with Hutch and Reynolds for the Boxing Day game. For me,the key is to have a settled back four. Gannon likes a change and while I reckon it's valuable to keep the midfiled and front guys on their toes a bit of continuity at the back would do us some good. The changes today looked completely unnecessary and were not beneficial at all.

Oh, I see.

Who'd be your choice to replace him?

Plumped for Tom Hateley. As Brazilian stated upthread, Hateley was plucked from obscurity while Ruddy is highly rated and seems to have impressed most of the clubs during his various loan assingments. Hateley's been very good in his role,a true seneschal in front of the defence. Two-footed,good in the air,dangerous set piece delivery - a great bit of business. 7th place. Need to see the January dealings if one wanted to make a bolder prediction. I think we'll need to get used to Gannon abusing the loan system, awarding of short term deals(6,12 months etc) and bedding in youngsters. This makes even medium term projections difficult. Luckily all the other teams we're naturally competing with are penniless too. I think Gannon will be here for 3 seasons in total. Seems about the length of time managers stick around for.

I see Craigan is the latest to benefit from Willie Kinniburgh syndrome- a spell out of the side and suddenly he's the answer. This was always going to be a really difficult spell but the next 3 games offer the chance to get the points tally moving again. I'm not sure if they're "must win" games either-we're 5th in the table. Must win games are when you're bottom or second bottom in April.

Laugherty is coming on. What a horrible lot they are.

Come back on. We're superb from corners this season. Hutch again,powerful header. Murphy did well to win the corner,driving into the box and attempting a cutback.

Meechan on for Hammell

Ruddy came for the through ball and missed it,Miller toepoked it past him and placed it into the net despite Hateley's best efforts

Terrible defending there,making Miller look good.

Easy to be critical but the season starts again next week. Let's try an get out of here without the goal difference and confidence taking a hammering. Aberdeen losing so still in 5th.

Papac with a terrible attempt there. Easy for Ruddy. Half-time. Still in with a chance I suppose,especially after the first 15 minutes when we looked a shambles.

Weir ballons an effort miles over. Keep it to 1-0 for as long as possible and hope they get anxious.

Hateley pulled Boyd's shirt. Yellow card too.

Shocking decison there. McCulloch heads behind but goal kick given

Still working for me here. Saunders does well against Boyd from another cross.

We're getting destroyed. Gannon can't have learned 3 at the back on his UEFA Pro coach. Nobody else plays it (apoligies to Napoli under Reja).

Hammell in midfiled, Reynolds at left back I think. Whatever it's changes for the sake of it.

Och well.

Gulp. An early change looks in the offing. If we're going defensive I think the 4-2-3-1 from earlier in the season would be better suited for today's game. 3 centre-halfs just get in each others way. St.Mirren in the League Cup springs to mind.

These guys say they will show the game. Good stream but not in English,at the moment anyway. Advertised here as well

3/5 at the back fills me with dread. Reynolds in midfield?