starchief

So, we're now joint FOURTH What a table!

Now let's shut up shop...hang on, we've no defenders...we want four, we want four, we want...

Walker - retired from football to help run the family business Ridgers - Nairn County McNulty - Was at Elgin until end of last season but not there now. ??? Smith - no information after leaving ICT. Zibi - went to OKS 1945 Olsztyn (Poland) but now at Korona Kielce (Poland) Walker's shortbread. (very nice!)

David McNamee or Jay DeMerit would enhance the squad though and are probably doable (or at least worth asking about). Cregg was alright. Not great but would be decent for us, whilst Benji would surely get in ahead of Blumanshtein, Sanchez or Odi.

Someone posted this list on the Scotsman website of players looking for a club - one or two not bad names in there: Vitor Lima Michael Ball Jay DeMerit David McNamee Fernando Ricksen Patrick Cregg Greg Cameron Richard Hastings Stuart Elliott Tony Stevenson Jose Goncalves Abdessalam Benjelloun Lionel Djebi-Zadi Mark Burchill Mark Archdeacon Michael Fraser Filipe Morais Charlie Miller Keith Gillespie Stephen Glass Francis Jeffers Leon Knight Ryan O'Leary

To be fair, the team I (and no doubt others) picked were before it was announced Cox was injured. Unfortunately, that means Proctor for Cox at RB. No-one else really.

That's a good few injuries to first-teamers McCann - Innes - Gillet Cox Sanchez - Blumanshtein - Foran (I know Foran's played a couple of halfs but he's still not fully 'back')

Esson Cox - Tokely - Munro - Golabek Duncan Hayes - Duff - Ross Rooney - Foran It's a bit of a last chance saloon. We've been losing goals recently, so it's now: can we win again or do we just shut up shop for a while. Cox came as RB and he can't do any worse than Proctor, so he stays in. St Mirren are weakest in defence, so that's why I've gone for two up. It's quite a flexible line up too.

I'm not too sure where to put my vote. Priority absolutely is to stay in the SPL. That said, I think we should try to stay in the cups for as long as possible. I believe a weakened team to Parkhead was the wrong idea. Winning there gives a boost for the whole season. I don't think playing well in one negates doing well at the other.

I'll be interested in hearing the formation. That could be anything (although I suspect it's 4-2-3-1 again).

I watched the Spurs v Arsenal Carling Cup match. Gawd that was awful. Two bitter rivals send out their reserves. I'd want my money back if I'd bought a ticket. Can't imagine any Rangers v Celtic, be that league cup or not, being treated so frivolously.

I struggle to get any sympathy worked up for Dundee. Sure, a lot of clubs are having difficulties but this club just doesn't seem to learn it's lesson. It's always all-or-nothing for them. No slow progress, eventually building up to a decent SPL squad, then attracting investment to go further. Perhaps it's time they were put out of their misery.

Esson Proctor Duff - Tokely - Munro - Shinnie Ross - Cox - Duncan - Foran Rooney Normally Tuffy but not against Celtic. Time to try out the sweeper system. Foran to get some match fitness and possibly a goal. No real chance of him lasting, so Hayes on the bench, ready to come on for him when legs are tiring. I think that will make him more effective than Ross there. All hands at the back. Sneaking a goal our only chance.

Disagree entirely. In a 4-2-3-1 system, he shouldn't be dropping deep but he holds the ball well and is willing to go wide to receive. It's always a tough shift being the centre point but all that was missing yesterday was a bit of luck.

I'll half agree with IHE in that I didn't think Tokely had a good game. However, I don't think that's anything to do with ability and all to do with playing LB. It just looked completely unnatural to him. Proctor - talented defensive midfield or sweeper, otherwise, he's a fill-in at right-back, right-midfield or central defence but not first choice there (or even second). I'd even prefer Cox at RB and Proc in the central if needed. Aside from that, no real complaints. Rooney looked as though could but it was just one of these days. Hayes and Ross both did well. Odi had a decent game, although Sutherland looked as though he should have got on earlier. I don't think Duncan would have done much to change the game. He digs in but isn't much of a passer. Not much between Cox and Duncan although slightly different players. I don't think Duncan's a bad player, just not a great player. Not a game-changer. Just looked at the table and it seems we're joint bottom (ignoring goal difference natch).

I would agree with that before the match but with hindsight, a sweeper system might have been better, with (actually might as well show rather than explain): Esson Proctor Duff - Tokely - Munro - Shinnie Hayes - Cox - Duncan - Ross Rooney Seems a bit negative but needn't be with Duff and Shinnie bombing forward. I wouldn't blame Butcher for not going with that for this game but maybe this is the formation until we get a bit more form back.

Next game: Tokely to RB, Golly at LB. Ross is finding himself out of position, whilst Proctor's just not got it at RB (good midfielder or sweeper though).

Tackle of the season from Barr against Rooney!

What's the odds that within five minutes, Black makes an immediate impact...on Cox's leg!

Braga looked bloody awful. Shows how bad Celtic were in Europe.

Well, I love matches like these. Highly tactical, very cagey. Just my thing. Excellent result for Rangers. Bit disappointed Weiss didn't get on. I'd have thought he might have been decent for the last 15 minutes to pin back Utd with a few runs. A decent result for Scotland in European football. Who'd a' thunk it?

Meanwhile, Boyd is warming the bench with Boro taking on Burnley. How the mighty...

Looks like Broadfoot is playing at left-back then? So I guess Whittaker at RB, with three central defenders.

Bit of a reserve line up from Man Utd. Man Utd: Kuszczak, Brown, Ferdinand, Smalling, Fabio Da Silva, Valencia, Fletcher, Gibson, Park, Rooney, Hernandez. Subs: Van der Sar, Owen, Anderson, Giggs, O'Shea, Jonathan Evans, Macheda. A win is too much to hope for* but it's possible Rangers could hold them to a 0-0. Still, I fancy it'll be a small win to Manchester. Glad to see Whittaker's back. I'm a big fan of him when he's in midfield. I think he should make a long-term decision to switch there from full-back. No Fleck in the Rangers line-up/subs though. Don't know if he's injured or just a flash in the pan. Tough night for Kenny Miller, although I know next to nothing of Smalling. Weiss is probably the secret weapon in reserve. If they keep it tight, then, with the clock running down, I could see him causing a bit of trouble coming on for the perennially disappointing Naismith (I thought he was going to be a much better player than he is). Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac, Whittaker, Davis, McCulloch, Edu, Naismith, Miller. Subs: Alexander, Lafferty, Foster, Beattie, Weiss, Little, Hutton. *and yes, I do hope the Scottish team beats the English team, be that Rangers, Celtic, Ross County or Formantine Thistle. Mind you, won't stop me smiling if they get cuffed.

The report at the time was that McInnes just offered training facilities but he wasn't able to sign him. "I couldn't go anywhere with it even if I wanted to," St Johnstone boss Derek McInnes told the club website after Duff played in a 2-0 loss to Bolton. "I've offered Stuart training facilities which helps him and he is helping us by playing when required." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/8832273.stm