How far behind are they?

They don’t have the money, scouting or time to catch us this season. Relax and enjoy it.
 
Pleasingly Ralston was "decent enough" in parts against Hearts to offer them the false hope he might, just might, be a solution.

He isn't he is utter piss.
 
Funny thing is if you ever see their deranged Twitter conversations amongst each other, they genuinely think we're just around the corner from going into administration again.
 
We wont know until the transfer window closes in my opinion. we may lose key players and they will bring some in.
Still think we will canter the league!
WATP
 
In a two horse league they will finish 2nd, although I think the gap will be nothing like last season's 25pts.

There are 4 weeks till the transfer window closes and I believe Celtic will be very active in bringing in new faces (although a lot may depend on how much of a fee they get for Edouard) so we won't have a full picture of how strong they are until 1 September.

I'm a glass have empty Bear, a bloody pessimist if truth be told. I think this is not going to be the stroll to the title that many fellow Bears envisage but I'll be shocked if we are not celebrating 56 come May (or even earlier).
 
In a two horse league they will finish 2nd, although I think the gap will be nothing like last season's 25pts.

There are 4 weeks till the transfer window closes and I believe Celtic will be very active in bringing in new faces (although a lot may depend on how much of a fee they get for Edouard) so we won't have a full picture of how strong they are until 1 September.

I'm a glass have empty Bear, a bloody pessimist if truth be told. I think this is not going to be the stroll to the title that many fellow Bears envisage but I'll be shocked if we are not celebrating 56 come May (or even earlier).
Celt!c are abysmal but ultimately theyre still going to finish 2nd well ahead of whoever is in 3rd.

While they are worse than last season and we are stronger I cannot help but think, on the assumption we make the CL Groups, that those fixtures become our main focus and as such playing the Tue/Wed then weekend could prove a stretch at times.

The winning margin will be less than last season, I think, but it will be a winning margin so no need for pessimism.

Hope is important and springs eternal.
 
In a two horse league they will finish 2nd, although I think the gap will be nothing like last season's 25pts.

There are 4 weeks till the transfer window closes and I believe Celtic will be very active in bringing in new faces (although a lot may depend on how much of a fee they get for Edouard) so we won't have a full picture of how strong they are until 1 September.

I'm a glass have empty Bear, a bloody pessimist if truth be told. I think this is not going to be the stroll to the title that many fellow Bears envisage but I'll be shocked if we are not celebrating 56 come May (or even earlier).
I try not to get too excited and far ahead as generally think it only takes 2/3 good windows for one side and 2/3 bad windows for the other for things to swing around. However, success is not solely due to what happens in the transfer window but also due to the infrastructure of the club as a whole. Celtic from top to bottom are a state right now and i don’t think are positioned to close gap. I’m not sure they have the structure or quality coaches to turn this around in a year or 2.

They have a 2nd choice manager who came in months later than needed, is almost completely new to European football and looks deflated already. They’ve basically lost this summer to prepare and it’s showing in their results. He’s not supported by people he wants, instead he’s been stuck with Kennedy & Strachan who don’t strike me as being near the quality of Beale, Milsom etc. Celtic’s fitness alone would raise significant questions about how well the coaches are preparing them for the season. Appointing a new manager and not letting them have any of his own people rarely works out well. Are Kennedy & Strachan onboard with how he wants to play and able to put that across to the players effectively? I’m not sure.

Their scouting / recruitment department has been shambolic for a couple of years now and they’ve squandered millions on rubbish. They’ve been able to cope previously due to the ability to sell certain players for significant fees but they are now running out of quality assets who can help fund the signing of 3/4 new players. Hammond has left and not been replaced and they don’t seem to have a focused transfer policy. This summer has been haphazard bringing people in from everywhere. Getting 10/11 players in one summer is difficult and if you are successful with 60/70% of those it’s generally a good strike rate. However, they are signing a lot of foreign players who will likely need additional time to adapt to Scottish football too. It’s very risky.

At the top of the club they have a new CEO who is finding his feet. He has no experience of running a football club so nobody really knows how that will go. Their support seem disconnected from the club and have nothing but disdain for the board. It’s not like how we were in recent years where we could see the club as a whole moving in a positive direction and get behind it. There is no unity there and it might only take another bad result for them to be out shouting for the board to go again.

Ignoring them, Rangers ourselves have a real opportunity to build a gap. If we could make the champions a league this season and next then financially we’ll be back ahead of them and able to continue to develop an already excellent and settled squad. For me, the key for us is succession planning. They had no plan in place for when Rodgers left and since then it’s been decline. We must ensure that whoever leaves (players, manager or staff) in next few years that we are ready for it.
 
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I try not to get too excited and far ahead as generally think it only takes 2/3 good windows for one side and 2/3 bad windows for the other for things to swing around. However, success is not solely due to what happens in the transfer window but also due to the infrastructure of the club as a whole. Celtic from top to bottom are a state right now and i don’t think are positioned to close gap. I’m not sure they have the structure or quality coaches to turn this around in a year or 2.

They have a 2nd choice manager who came in months later than needed, is almost completely new to European football and looks deflated already. They’ve basically lost this summer to prepare and it’s showing in their results. He’s not supported by people he wants, instead he’s been stuck with Kennedy & Strachan who don’t strike me as being near the quality of Beale, Milsom etc. Celtic’s fitness alone would raise significant questions about how well the coaches are preparing them for the season. Appointing a new manager and not letting them have any of his own people rarely works out well. Are Kennedy & Strachan onboard with how he wants to play and able to put that across to the players effectively? I’m not sure.

Their scouting / recruitment department has been shambolic for a couple of years now and they’ve squandered millions on rubbish. They’ve been able to cope previously due to the ability to sell certain players for significant fees but they are now running out of quality assets who can help fund the signing of 3/4 new players. Hammond has left and not been replaced and they don’t seem to have a focused transfer policy. This summer has been haphazard bringing people in from everywhere. Getting 10/11 players in one summer is difficult and if you are successful with 60/70% of those it’s generally a good strike rate. However, they are signing a lot of foreign players who will likely need additional time to adapt to Scottish football too. It’s very risky.

At the top of the club they have a new CEO who is finding his feet. He has no experience of running a football club so nobody really knows how that will go. Their support seem disconnected from the club and have nothing but disdain for the board. It’s not like how we were in recent years where we could see the club as a whole moving in a positive direction and get behind it. There is no unity there and it might only take another bad result for them to be out shouting for the board to go again.

Ignoring them, Rangers ourselves have a real opportunity to build a gap. If we could make the champions a league this season and next then financially we’ll be back ahead of them and able to continue to develop an already excellent and settled squad. For me, the key for us is succession planning. They had no plan in place for when Rodgers left and since then it’s been decline. We must ensure that whoever leaves (players, manager or staff) in next few years that we are ready for it.

Quoted wrong post, was intending to reply to Crouchy’s comment about them not being as far behind as people think.
 
Nothing is ever as good or bad as it seems. You wouldn't have to look too far on this board to a time when Gerrard was being questioned after our mid-season break in Dubai. Things didn't go well for us after that, especially after a very strong display against them before the break that season.

I agree with a lot of what has been written and whilst its true some of it does has an air of arrogance.

As Crouchy said above, generally over the journey the spoils have been shared. We should enjoy this whilst we can knowing that their sole mission is now to catch up.
 
I try not to get too excited and far ahead as generally think it only takes 2/3 good windows for one side and 2/3 bad windows for the other for things to swing around. However, success is not solely due to what happens in the transfer window but also due to the infrastructure of the club as a whole. Celtic from top to bottom are a state right now and i don’t think are positioned to close gap. I’m not sure they have the structure or quality coaches to turn this around in a year or 2.

They have a 2nd choice manager who came in months later than needed, is almost completely new to European football and looks deflated already. They’ve basically lost this summer to prepare and it’s showing in their results. He’s not supported by people he wants, instead he’s been stuck with Kennedy & Strachan who don’t strike me as being near the quality of Beale, Milsom etc. Celtic’s fitness alone would raise significant questions about how well the coaches are preparing them for the season. Appointing a new manager and not letting them have any of his own people rarely works out well. Are Kennedy & Strachan onboard with how he wants to play and able to put that across to the players effectively? I’m not sure.

Their scouting / recruitment department has been shambolic for a couple of years now and they’ve squandered millions on rubbish. They’ve been able to cope previously due to the ability to sell certain players for significant fees but they are now running out of quality assets who can help fund the signing of 3/4 new players. Hammond has left and not been replaced and they don’t seem to have a focused transfer policy. This summer has been haphazard bringing people in from everywhere. Getting 10/11 players in one summer is difficult and if you are successful with 60/70% of those it’s generally a good strike rate. However, they are signing a lot of foreign players who will likely need additional time to adapt to Scottish football too. It’s very risky.

At the top of the club they have a new CEO who is finding his feet. He has no experience of running a football club so nobody really knows how that will go. Their support seem disconnected from the club and have nothing but disdain for the board. It’s not like how we were in recent years where we could see the club as a whole moving in a positive direction and get behind it. There is no unity there and it might only take another bad result for them to be out shouting for the board to go again.

Ignoring them, Rangers ourselves have a real opportunity to build a gap. If we could make the champions a league this season and next then financially we’ll be back ahead of them and able to continue to develop an already excellent and settled squad. For me, the key for us is succession planning. They had no plan in place for when Rodgers left and since then it’s been decline. We must ensure that whoever leaves (players, manager or staff) in next few years that we are ready for it.

Great post, sums up the current mess at Scumdome perfectly.

As you say, if we could make CL group stage these next two seasons it would finally put the club on a stable financial footing, and see us progress further ahead of them. However I hate looking too far ahead, things never seem to go the way you envisage - cannot imagine SG being here any longer than the next two seasons and that will impact us greatly.
 
Probably not as far behind as people think.

These things can swing fairly rapidly.

Enjoying being ahead and their pain for the time being. Let’s hope it continues, but history suggest, we usually share the spoils over the course of time.
In the grander scheme of things they probably aren’t all that far behind at all.

Despite rumours about banks calling in loans and money being diverted to a compensation fund for victims of their historical abuse they’ve still been able to spend more money this summer than the rest of Scottish football combined.

Had they succeeded in recruiting Howe and his team they would likely have given us a very tough run of it this season.

But they didn’t and instead ended up with a guy who realistically was third or fourth choice on their list.

Add to that an absence of the footballing infrastructure they were intending to build around their new manager (no director of football, no head of recruitment) and a CEO who’s gotten off to a disastrous start and the impression left is of a club winging it without a coherent plan in place.

On top of that there’s also a divided squad with several top players eyeing an exit and the club looking like it may need the funds from those departures before it can replace them and the whole thing begins to tally up to something bordering the shambolic.

But the managerial appointment, as it usually is at any football club is key and the idea that the prickly big oaf in the trackie with only a D list resume to wave in his defence is going to surmount the myriad problems his club is facing and build a dynamic cohesive team that will usurp us at the top of the pile looks far fetched in the extreme.
 
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Probably not as far behind as people think.

These things can swing fairly rapidly.

Enjoying being ahead and their pain for the time being. Let’s hope it continues, but history suggest, we usually share the spoils over the course of time.
Depends on who you talk to

Guy on here in the last week said they’re just a keeper and a striker away. So further than some people think
 
I would be confident we could retain the title again next season but I don’t buy into us being miles ahead.

Decent management team and a couple of decent windows for them and they could turn it around. Can’t see either club going on a mad run of title wins again any time soon.

We will have players coming and going aswell and at some stage in the next few years our management team will most likely change
They are nowhere near where we were. Unless there is a major financial collapse. You are bang on, a few players, decent management from board down and they are back in it. We simply need to adopt an attitude of winning every game no matter opposition. One game at a time and recruit in advance like the B players coming in. Gerrard and his team are savvy and have good foresight. As long as we recruit well, don't break the bank, live within our means we will be leaders. Our biggest challenge looking forward is ensuring continuity of management as Gerrard will leave, when is the question. For now enjoy every moment of sunshine
 
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?
it’s Gona take more than 1 or 2 transfer windows to even get up to a par IMHO!
1. tgey can’t afford it.
2. Loads of new personnel behind the scenes.
3. New manager.
4. Time for players to settle and gel
5. They’re only looking at doing it half arsed because they’ll probably keep the back room staff.
There are more reasons but I think they’re in for a massive shock.
Hopefully we keep going and kick on again next season.
House of Cards!
 
I try not to get too excited and far ahead as generally think it only takes 2/3 good windows for one side and 2/3 bad windows for the other for things to swing around. However, success is not solely due to what happens in the transfer window but also due to the infrastructure of the club as a whole. Celtic from top to bottom are a state right now and i don’t think are positioned to close gap. I’m not sure they have the structure or quality coaches to turn this around in a year or 2.

They have a 2nd choice manager who came in months later than needed, is almost completely new to European football and looks deflated already. They’ve basically lost this summer to prepare and it’s showing in their results. He’s not supported by people he wants, instead he’s been stuck with Kennedy & Strachan who don’t strike me as being near the quality of Beale, Milsom etc. Celtic’s fitness alone would raise significant questions about how well the coaches are preparing them for the season. Appointing a new manager and not letting them have any of his own people rarely works out well. Are Kennedy & Strachan onboard with how he wants to play and able to put that across to the players effectively? I’m not sure.

Their scouting / recruitment department has been shambolic for a couple of years now and they’ve squandered millions on rubbish. They’ve been able to cope previously due to the ability to sell certain players for significant fees but they are now running out of quality assets who can help fund the signing of 3/4 new players. Hammond has left and not been replaced and they don’t seem to have a focused transfer policy. This summer has been haphazard bringing people in from everywhere. Getting 10/11 players in one summer is difficult and if you are successful with 60/70% of those it’s generally a good strike rate. However, they are signing a lot of foreign players who will likely need additional time to adapt to Scottish football too. It’s very risky.

At the top of the club they have a new CEO who is finding his feet. He has no experience of running a football club so nobody really knows how that will go. Their support seem disconnected from the club and have nothing but disdain for the board. It’s not like how we were in recent years where we could see the club as a whole moving in a positive direction and get behind it. There is no unity there and it might only take another bad result for them to be out shouting for the board to go again.

Ignoring them, Rangers ourselves have a real opportunity to build a gap. If we could make the champions a league this season and next then financially we’ll be back ahead of them and able to continue to develop an already excellent and settled squad. For me, the key for us is succession planning. They had no plan in place for when Rodgers left and since then it’s been decline. We must ensure that whoever leaves (players, manager or staff) in next few years that we are ready for it.
There’s a massive difference between adding players in here and there in key positions to create a settled squad (squads) with strength in depth at nearly every position and “oh sh1t we haven’t got a GK or a real back line and teams roll right over our powder puff midfield” … a massive difference!
 
They were absolutely brutal all over the park against a very poor Danish side mate.

McGregor aside, not one single player in their side would even make our 22 man 1st team squad.

They think their midfield is strong, yet Soro and Turnbull were absolutely invisible against a very ordinary team.

They will strengthen enough to finish 2nd, but they'll still be miles behind us.
West Ham played from deep and walked right through their midfield
 
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?
it’s Gona take more than 1 or 2 transfer windows to even get up to a par IMHO!
1. tgey can’t afford it.
2. Loads of new personnel behind the scenes.
3. New manager.
4. Time for players to settle and gel
5. They’re only looking at doing it half arsed because they’ll probably keep the back room staff.
There are more reasons but I think they’re in for a massive shock.
Hopefully we keep going and kick on again next season.
I’ll stick my neck out here and say they won’t finish second - I think 3rd or 4th is likely for them this season - moon howlers gonna howl!
 
Why is it BS? Is an opinion that all. Perhaps I'm being more cautious and not getting caught up in how they acted towards us. I ain't calling your opinion BS
A few means 3

They need at an absolute minimum:
1 top keeper (ideally 2)
2 right backs
2 centrebacks (arguably 3)
A left back with Taylor as back up
3 for the midfield
2-3 for their front 3 depending on if Edouard goes

To have a squad of comparable strength and depth to us

So, for me, to say "a few" players puts them right back in it is miles wide of the mark.

Then there's the "decent management" from the board room down comment as if that's a click your finger and it magically appears scenario

As we saw with Gerrard, it can take years to put such structures in place and for them to be effective.

So I disagree 100% that you and the guy you quoted are "bang on"

Let's see who is right if they only bring in Hart, Buta and one more (unfortunately that's not all they're likely to do, so we won't know). But objective analysis of the clubs and squads suggest they are far more than 3 players away from competing with us.

I hope their board and management (who can easily be upgraded with a click of the fingers) think as you do. Would probably give us 3 years of unchallenged titles if so.
 
They've now signed James McCarthy on a four year deal according to the Daily Mail a few minutes ago.

Once a decent player but I've no idea how he fares now (still got something or a has-been?). They say he was 'offered' to the dhims.
 
I’ll stick my neck out here and say they won’t finish second - I think 3rd or 4th is likely for them this season - moon howlers gonna howl!
This squad struggles to finish 2nd

I'll wait to see what they do before the transfer window closes as they have much more opportunity to improve their squad than their contenders for 2nd.
 
There’s a massive difference between adding players in here and there in key positions to create a settled squad (squads) with strength in depth at nearly every position and “oh sh1t we haven’t got a GK or a real back line and teams roll right over our powder puff midfield” … a massive difference!

Yip, definitely. There's a lot of panic buying and short term thinking going on with them whereas in contrast it appears every Rangers signing has been well scouted and thought out. Even last season, they had so many loans that it was all very short term and now they've gone back there's a big hole in the squad.
 
They've now signed James McCarthy on a four year deal according to the Daily Mail a few minutes ago.

Once a decent player but I've no idea how he fares now (still got something or a has-been?). They say he was 'offered' to the dhims.

Struggled massively with injuries. On his day a decent player who will definitely improve them but they will hopefully struggle to get him fit
 
Let’s just assume they are breathing down our necks and we keep strengthening as best we can, they took their eyes off us and we lept over them without them even knowing it. We should not repeat their act of stupidity.
 
Let’s just assume they are breathing down our necks and we keep strengthening as best we can, they took their eyes off us and we lept over them without them even knowing it. We should not repeat their act of stupidity.
Good thinking, get Steven and Gary on speed dial and let them know.
 
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