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With the January transfer window now closed we know what Rangers have to work with between now and the end of the season.

First up in a run of four home matches is Livingston, Join Kev, Stevie and Iain as they provide the preview.

St Mirren look back - 0-8mins
Livi Preview 8min-close

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Comments

James Thomson

Well that's my glass well and truly half empty, cheers guys.

Greg Cameron

Away to tan my wrists after listening to that. Deary me

Boris

5pts behind with a game in hand. Majority of the fans totally behind and trust Clement. Good amount of momentum behind us. 3 bodies in the door which will only improve us. Lunny should be tied down asap with a new contract. Connor Barron is not the answer.

Derek Clark

I think my glass has well and truly been smashed after that! Get big Marv in to lay on some hands and give some faith.

Kevin Richmond

This episode has drained all life from me. Good lord.

Ronnie Gallacher

Wow!! That was the most negative preview of all time, where are all the facts to support your arguments around the clubs transfers policy in or out? The fact is, there aren’t any, it’s all assumptions to support an argument that in reality is likely way off the mark. Also, too many assumptions around what the club isn’t doing rather than supporting what the club is and has done. Again, where are your facts to support your argument that we are not scouting young Scottish talent? All the talk about players and contracts and moving them on, how? If the player wants to run his contract down, he can and if no one wants to buy them or even take them on loan, what does the club do? Come on boys, lighten up, the future isn’t as bleak as this pod would suggest. We have every chance of winning the league, I believe we will, and we do our main business in the summer. There needs to be some balance in the opinion and argument, it’s way too negative.

Angus Mackay

I'm sorry but I just don't understand the catastrophizing over the transfer window. We've brought in three very promising young players in positions that badly need strengthening and we've spent actual money in a window when very few clubs have done so. How about actually giving the new recruitment people some space to sort out the mess that they've inherited a matter of weeks ago, rather that berating them over players they haven't even had time to assess? Also, we don't know what they had to deal with; maybe, for example, all the time was that invested in Jefte was because it looked likely that Ridvan was leaving? What if Ridvan had left on the last day of the window and no groundwork had been done on a replacement? In terms of shifting deadwood, you need a willing buyer - even if they do only have six months left. We got rid of Cifu because there were takers, it would appear that no wanted Borna and the conveniently injured Davies was joined by Dowell and the perma injured Roofe. You can't sell injured players. Finally, I've lost count of the number of times today heard that I've heard that we're a Dessers injury away from a crisis up front, well the exact same is true across the other side of the city. Silva or Oh up front? I know who I would rather have. Appreciate the pod as always, guys, just thought that the transfer discussion was wildly off.

Jim McCutcheon

Thanks again guys,hopefully the players we have brought in are quality time will tell I trust the management's decisions , personally I would have liked a striker in but the cash flow it seems isn't there due to past mistakes, time will tell if this is a good window or not 🤔

DITA

Well, that was full of positivity and jovial banter……. The preview is normally one of my favourite shows gents, but that was an hour and a half of moaning!! Sorry, not impressed!!

Andy

Jeeso this was a tough listen

Stuart Campbell

Thought that was way too negative lads. Can't fix all past mistakes in one window - especially with cash already spent. Nobody is buying Jack or Barisic with 6mths left. Shankland doesn't suit managers style. Watson - they'll want £2m for. So why would we buy and loan with other priorities? The lad Cortes looks like he can also play CF worst case.

Bob MacCallum

Needed a proper striker in the window. Despite optimistic mutterings recently from some of our podders, Dessers is NOT the solution. We can only hope that Silva, Diomande and Cortes chip in with vital goals, if not a deluge of them. I fear for the league though.

Billy Jolly

Can’t believe youse think we’ll win after all the negative hypocritical talk

Colin Carstairs

Definitely Ronnie 🥹 Can sense the frustration from the guys.. Unfortunately unless you are privy to the clubs transfer policy then it’s all speculation imo.. for instance we dont know if Wright Matondo etc were offered or told to find new clubs.As for signing young hungry Scottish talent has bitten in the butt b4 with the likes of hastie etc.. plus Scottish clubs aren’t willing to sell to us unless it’s for an amount which makes it prohibitive for us. The boy bevan from A.Rs will be on an amount of wages which for us again is restrictive plus he has a chance to play in the EPL.. lots & lots of salient points on the pod tbf. We have a new DoF who is 3-4 weeks into the job & the 2 signings Diomande & Cortés are to me a sign that we are heading down a route where we are proactively looking to sign young hungry talent from all over rather than our league where we will be priced out.

Spoon

Comments spot on gents, there is plenty to be hopeful around Clement moving forward but the absolutel shambles of a transfer policy is like an albatross around our necks. The obsession with foreign imports both in terms of the DoF and signings is just a lot of blind faith gambles. Our track record just isn’t good when bringing in these ‘exciting’ exotic talents. I note the comments are all critical of the reality of this but for a number of years we ignore local talent tried and tested in this league for punts, potentials and transfer fee based scouting. The loan market just never excites me, Silva is here purely on a fee paid and not on recent form or record. The idea we have identified this hidden gem just isn’t evidence based. Stevie spot on around the identity and buy into a team. The Diamonde signing is baffling it’s Yilmaz all over again. A player who might well be good but he isn’t what we need just now. The board ignoring Shankland is baffling as is some of the comment from our support on him. The same nonsense as was heard around Colak, he doesn’t fit the style….yep he just scores goals…. Mentioned it elsewhere we seem unable to get the mentality or mechanism in place to identify forward players. Goalies we can spot a mile away, defenders we do ok identifying solid pros, midfielders we are hit or miss but forwards we just throw money at names. I was disappointed in the summer but you got shushed as these players were coming in from better leagues and would score here for fun…. Time to review our market and league expectations vs reality. I hope we don’t regret this, I fully trust the manager but this is a gash window and the repeated reference to Silva as some kind of of top signing is a red herring. He’s a loan and it’s kicking the can without finding a solution. It seems more and more like Clement was told that he would be judged on next season and this one’s a rebuild, they just couldn’t tell the fans. If we continue to kick issues down the line this won’t end we need a proper 2 year rebuild plan and just be honest about our expectations of trophies. Amazing the comments confusing criticism of transfers from expectation of the team and how we are playing, two different things.

David Watson

Can someone tell Steven we’ve won 17/21 and only one narrow defeat since our new manager arrived? Listening to this you’d think we were fighting relegation. Pod missed Strider’s ‘voice of reason’. Way,way too negative.

Granters

There’s a good argument that since a proper management team has come in the only genuine poor signing from the summer has been Lammers. Butland and Sima have been great captures. Sterling and Dessers are benefitting from proper coaching now. Cifu didn’t work and has been moved on quickly. We’ve been unlucky with Danilo and Sima injuries - sadly these things happen though. Not sure i share Stevie’s pessimistic take, tho i do agree with the bit about getting the young SPL talent before they move and become too expensive for us.

Danny

Not often I disagree with a pod, but holy fuck there’s some amount of panty wetting in this one. The Shankland love in is unreal, and quite frankly there’s nothing to back it up. He doesn’t fit into the system and he’s overpriced for what Hearts want. Could we have done with another striker, yes, absolutely. But fuck me, Shankland isn’t the answer. He’s a bang average striker for the SPFL. He’s a squad player at best. Quite frankly, I’d rather pick him up in the summer for next to nothing. As for not spending money, no club spent any real money world wide. The window was a quiet affair. Frankly there is no money. What is the clubs supposed to do, keep chucking money around that we don’t have, funded by loans from shareholders, what if they disappear? The way forward for the club is doing exactly what has been done this window. Bringing guys in that are young and hungry, and punting them for good money. Until that happens, forget it. The wage bill is far too high. As much as it’s an issue losing so many players this summer, it’s also potentially a silver lining as it’s going to free up a load of money that is being wasted on wages. The clubs wage structure needs to change. As for the lack of youngsters being in the squad, mcCausland is starting every game. Lovelace was getting game time but got injured. The others, particularly the CM’s obviously aren’t good enough. The manager has stated already that the youth players haven’t been getting coached correctly to allow them to make the step up, primarily when it comes to their off the ball work, which is particularly crucial for the midfield positions. What I do agree with though is that we should be focusing on having a core of Scottish players, Rangers supporters. That will happen in time with our youth, once they are trained correctly. Sorry lads but that’s a bat shit mental pod.

Greg Paterson

Big fan of the preview but a lot of nonsense in this. Mistakes were made in the summer but a clear change in direction showing there’s an attempt for it to be rectified. Young Scottish players are not good enough for what we need, there will always be outliers but across the board not good enough. The signings in the winter (I would have liked a striker for the record) but it shows an alignment to the trading model we all called for. The reality is the young players in Scotland might be hungry but they aren’t good enough. If we only signed Scottish players in the winter and failed this season everyone would be calling for heads for a lack of ambition. This idea that the players we don’t want can just be punted makes no sense. If they don’t want to move then they will stay. Which proves why we are aligning to the trading model that promotes a higher turnover. Big fan of the pod guys but just disagree this time 👍

Michael

Understand the disappointment re striker. However a very Negative pod. Like a broken record with complaints rehashed over the last 6 months . This talk will not help us, the support, get behind the team.

Heart and Hand

I got absolutely pelted on Twitter for daring to say that I'm looking forward to the rest of the season!

Gordon Mitchell

Jeesh. Put me off listening to these. You sound like the nutters you avoid on FF tbh. Please tell me why Shankland is good enough? Why should we explain to you? You want to sign him.

Grant Macarthur

Nice positive pod to get us roaring this team to the title, cheers for that lads. Please don’t forget this team have cut the points gap since Clement came in and won a trophy. We are stronger coming out of the window than we were going in.

Rick Swan

Well that was a dreadful listen and in my opinion mostly unjustified. The derogative and bitter language used about some of our players was classless and petty. Yes, it’s not worked out for a number of our players and some are not good enough but we bought them, they do their best and deserve more respect. It should be pretty clear that limited or no funds were available in this window due to the shambles of the summer window that the Board need to take ownership of. A decent striker would have cost big money, probably much more than getting Shankland, a player unlikely to fit in with the system we play. I do agree that we should be looking more closely at buying and developing the best talent in our own league and have undoubtedly lost out on a number of quality players. Unfortunately many of our fans expect the more sexy signings so perhaps there needs to be a necessary adjustment to that expectation. This would also enable our own youth players to be introduced more safely. However, if I was a young Rangers player listening to the bile aimed at some of our players in this podcast I would be wondering if I was at the right club to flourish in the game.

Granters

How do you know we’ve not been trying to move on players like Matondo, McGloughlin, Davies and Wright? We likely have been, but you can’t sell players no-one wants to buy. Who’s going to pay for Borna when they can get him for free in 6 months? It’s not a game of Football Manager. Also, we HAVE tried SPL talent. We brought in Souttar, Wright and Jack in recent seasons. All 3 show the risks you find shopping in that market.

Billy Forrester

Utter nonsense from Mr Harrigan ref the recruitment. Who says we were ever interested in McKenna, or Connor Barron, they aren’t any better than we have now, how can we sell wright if no one wants to buy him, same with borna, why should we buy doig at an inflated price, he also does silva an injustice, that man will score goals and can certainly be deployed as a striker. That was depressing and we may as well just hand that mob the title listening to Steven ffs 🤦‍♂️ Poor listen that one and his views on recruitment and what we should have done etc are laughable

Craig

Quite alot I strongly disagree with here. We shouldn't consider paying over the odds for players just because they are in the Scottish league. £3m plus two players for a 29 year old in the spl... Ffs

Doogz

Had to give up listening Kev coming across loud and clear but can hardly hear when Steven is speaking

Taryn

Wow, wasn't prepared for that. Is it possible to unhear things? Unjustifiably negative considering our position.

Stuart Campbell

The downsides of recording just as the window closed last night. I'm off for a nice warming cup of Strychnine

Michael Gray

Stevie, the level of change you are expecting with only 3 changes allowed in Europa league isn’t realistic. We’ve been more active than most this winter. Calm down

Taryn

Thought I had tuned in to SSB listening to this!

AJG

The sound quality was that bad I gave up listening.

Chris Scott

Quite the tantrum over Shankland not being signed, impressive really.

Angus Mackay

Interestingly, the manager has now confirmed that a number of players had offers to go but didn't want to leave, which speaks volumes for the positivity and optimism within the camp. I hadn't even thought of that as a reason for no-one leaving. I think the main takeaway from the comments section is that making this particular pod without Alex maybe wasn't the best idea :-)

Linda Mackay

So negative about the transfer business. How do we know they didn't try to get a striker. I don't think it's realistic to do all Steven expected to happen in a January transfer window. Also trying to get the likes of Matondo, Jack and Wright out the door is easier said than done. Hopefully Clement is looking at some of the Scottish talent and we look to bring them in during the summer. Quite a hard listen this one!

mountaingoat

Terrible pod guys. Maybe wait a day after the window shuts next time eh

Ross

I understand the concerns around not signing a striker but we needed a CM and you need to pay for quality, Diomande will make us a profit and he instantly improves a midfield that needed upgraded, look at how our midfield coped against celtic you can’t honest tell me we didn’t need a good quality press resistant CM? And i agree we need to get more scottish players but maybe alot of them don’t wana come to us because of the abuse they might get outside of football as they know how toxic scottish football can be?

Had to give up, terrible

Doogz

Thought it was Whispering Bob Harris on the preview today, sort your mic out Steven

Ross

Also one of yous said both are loans with options to buy and trying both before we buy, that is incorrect, Diomande is an obligation to buy, he’s 100% gona be a Rangers player, David explained this on twitter last night, Diomande is 100% coming back next season regardless of how he is (hopefully good) cortes will hopefully be good and snapped up but need to try and be abit more positive here

Paul

Enjoyed the pod boys. Some very valid points

John Davidson

Love you guys but Steven sounded like a manchild going on about our transfers.

Angus Mackay

TBF, I doubt the wage thieves were the ones being chased in January, especially given the economic climate. Also the way the gaffer suggested that it was something he was pleased, rather than annoyed, about.

Granters

I don’t disagree, but we HAVE signed Scottish players from the SPL; Jack, Souttar, Wright in recent times. One’s been piss poor and the other 2 have shown flashes of quality but injury prone.

Ross

Spot on mate, i do think guys like Watson Lennon miller and Barron are prospects but we cant turn our nose up at one of the highest rated young players in Scandinavian football who come through the right to dream academy especially when our best CM right now is Lundstram and a Right back

John Hood

Depressing pod when things at Ibrox are definitely looking up. Usually my favourite but will maybe give it a miss until the boys sort their heads out. Sounded like equivalent of Kerrydale Meltdown in parts!

Granters

Contradicted himself too all over the shop. We need to sign Scottish players!! Why are the likes of Wright, McGloughlin and Jack still on the books?? (Scottish players). We’re not giving Academy players a chance!! We’re asking too much of MacCausland (Academy player).

Allan Osborne

This has been a terrible listen guys. I'm disappointed we didn't get a striker as well but this was way over the top. Some of the remarks re some of the players are incredibly personal.

Granters

Exactly. We’ve hired what seems to be a proper management & coaching team finally and now we need to trust their judgement. They will encourage the board to sign the right players as and when the opportunity comes along; i think Diomande is a classic example of this.

Ross

I wonder if fans are scarred from the dross brought in by Beale and Wilson over the past few years but am not gona lie i think signing one of the best CMs in Danish and Scandinavian football is exciting its a market we’ve neglected for years and same as Cortes last season he was the best player in the Colombian league very highly rated only just turned 20 played for all the age groups and has a full cap, didn’t work out at Lens because they play a system that doesn’t involve wingers and we have a good chance of taking advantage of that and getting him on a loan to buy before he becomes unaffordable

David A

Guys I get the frustration but you really need to get a bit of perspective,I see this season ending very successfully for us

Paul

Haha I thought you were spot on mate. All about opinions. I don't agree with everything big Alex says all the time. But that's life.

David McAllister

Very negative pod, time to get behind the team and manager... in Phil we trust

Granters

Seriously fella, what ‘dross’? The problem has been management and coaching rather than players. Who have the genuine flops been? Lammers, Cifu (both shipped out quickly). Danilo is a player but been unlucky with 2 bad injuries. Matondo, Davies - aye, probably could’ve spent that money far better. Wright? £500k SPL signing. Always going to be hit or miss stuff. He’s has his moments at Hampden. TBH the hit rate has been decent and a lot of them looking more the part now they’re under proper coaching.

Doogz

I could hardly hear you, sound was brutal, Kev was loud and clear.

Derek Eaglesham

Agree with the majority here, appreciate the work the lads put in but the preview is becoming a tough listen. Without Strider it feels very negative.

C. J

Lads, Scottish players are just players. They’re either of the required level of quality or they aren’t. Silva is a better footballer than Shankland. Diomande is better than Barron. Cortes is better than Armstrong. Their careers will reflect that, believe me. Step outside the Scottish bubble. Celtic aren’t winning leagues by scooping up Scotland’s finest, they’re picking the best they can get, from wherever they can get it.

C. J

We also spent more than basically every top team on earth this window.

NK

Many are missing the point. Let’s judge our strategy based on outcomes. Trophies won? Board sanctioned the summer waste, and not just fees. High wages and a bloated squad. Steven made great points about our budget and wages. Matondo is paid 28k per week. How much is Ross McAusland on? Or would Shanklands wages be? We need a balance and a strategy. And in my view Scottish players know what it means, hence 9 in a row. Matondo et al don’t. I appreciate the balance, many of the pods are too happy clappy. What have we won in the last 10 years? We need to demand better, we have wasted millions.

Ross

3m and 2 players for Shankland! Forgetting we clearly don't have even half of that available for transfers, it's utterly ridiculous.

David

How absolutely self entitled do we sound !!! Buy players and we still moan. Folk getting their pants in a twist about Barron and Shankland. Next level, I don’t think so.

David

100% here. I’m sick of hearing about strikers. You need buyers to take players. No one is buying now!!! The English bubble is deflating and that’s cause ffp. If we bought silva in AS A STRIKER on 1st feb it would be different. So glad the window is closed. I actually turned this pod off, bring back Cammy !!!

David

Looking forward to our relegation battle over the next four months with this squad of dead weight 😂😂😂

Thomas scroggie

We have also said it will take a few windows to sort this squad out and I believe we are stronger at the end of this window

James McNeill

Biggest issue we had in January is our wage bill is massive and no one wanted to buy our dross. We deffo needed a new midfielder so I get why we splashed on Diamonde

James Cameron

Making a lot of assumptions on what we could do! Made a pigs ear of it in the summer. Done what we can with funds available and it's hard to get players to leave on the wages they're on. Far too much negativity considering where Clement has taken us so far and the new head recruitment has been in the door a month. Get a grip

Doug Maclean

Wow. I used to look forward to every preview pod but it has become an unnecessarily negative rant. 😞

Graeme Homer

Dunno why people are shocked at the level of negativity that Stevie pollutes these pods when Strider isn’t around to police him. Barron wants to goto England! Similarly Doug doesn’t want to come back to the UK McKenna is a Celtic fan and made the club aware he wouldn’t sign ever for us when Gerrard was here. Fuck most of our issue stem back to the false idol and his refusal to sell. How does the club over come that? Well we’ve got a new board, footballing board and manager and you’re still not happy! Shankland isn’t good enough, why should we over pay for him, especially when he doesn’t fit or style! Oh wow Burnley got an Albion player! He’s not good enough for us and you would moan about a B team player signing before a first team player and Burnley isn’t anywhere near our level. You wouldn’t think we won the SLC, won the group in the UEL and closed the gap!

Ian MacLeod

If Silva had come in on the 31st Jan instead of the 31st Dec, I think the whole analysis of the window (throughout the whole fanbase) would have a been lot more positive. The fact he came in in December actually is better for us as he's had quite a few match minutes under his belt to acclimatise to everything.

Andy Irvine

Ooof , that was a really rough listen guys. Understand the frustration but I feel with this manager the team is in the best overall place it’s been for years . If PC is happy ( don’t think he would take any shit if not) then that’s good enough for me. I think if Strider is missing the pod needs another upbeat / glass half full podder ( are there any more in the H&H stable ?🤣)

Craig Skinner

Had to put off after Harrigans rant, an absolute red neck. Thats me off these for a while.

Andrew Hunter

Some interesting points raised by the podders, albeit a tad negative. It's not easy to shift players who are on high wages.

James McCabe

Absolutely bang on with the vast majority of the things that have been said on this pod. Stevie is 100% correct what exactly is our DNA here. What exactly are we trying to achieve with this signing policy. Like them I’m struggling to see any sort of middle to long term plan. Far too much short termism if u ask me. Well done lads excellent pod said exactly what had to be said.

Martyn Dick

That’s was a tough listen…think the timing of the recording of the pod maybe bred a bit of negativity. Think there was some truth but maybe also some views a bit ott.

Steven L

Jesus steven have a chill pill

CJT

Interesting. I think sums up what a lot of us have become as supporters . In effect scared to be hopeful and protecting ourselves from the effects of hope being unfulfilled again. My view is we’re in a decent place from where we’ve been. Best manager since Smith in my view and a squad good enough to win this league this year. I had no expectations from this window and I’m not on the Shankland train. In the grand scheme of things I think it’s been fine particularly as the big boys didn’t shake the tree this year to allow some of the players we might have looked at from filtering down as the move chain builds. If we don’t get ourselves up for this the negativity will build when the odd disappointing result pops up we’ll end up back where we started where we’re wanting the whole thing burned down,. Good foundations being built, let’s get behind it.

Scott Watson

Looking at the comments before I listened to this I thought it was going to be like listening to a radiohead album. Didn't seem that bad... 2-0 Rangers, brace by Sterling playing up front after Dessers hobbles off due to being stung by a wasp

allanrfc

A disgrace we didn't sign Connor Baron is the worst take I've ever heard in the history of podcasts.

David Kiltie

I agree, Ian , such is the weird psychology of the transfer window. Another disappointing window was summer 2022. I have a feeling that had Yilmaz and Davies been signed 10 minutes before the deadline the mood music would have been more positive yet both had poor seasons regardless of when they signed. I agree with IainC’s point about the DOF. Everyone wanted Ross Wilson out the door but I reckon having a summer with the position vacant was even worse, since there was no one to temper Beale’s reckless approach. Apropos the bloated wage bill, contracts are contracts. McLaughlin was given an extension this time 2 years ago when it was anticipated that he would be McGregor’s successor as no 1 keeper. You can’t blame a player who is late in his career for clinging to a lucrative contract. Several players will leave in the summer, to free up wages and reduce the amortization charge in respect of FFP rules.

David Kiltie

A deal for Shankland has a specific nuance. For Hearts he is the talisman - as I understand it their second top scorer is own goals! Also this season 3rd place would guarantee group stage football, a rare beast for any club outwith us and that lot. Ergo his value to Hearts is greater than how many possible buying clubs would estimate.

Stephen

I thought the transfer section in this was absolute misery to listen to. Everything was worst case scenario and complaining about signings before they have kicked a ball. Don’t understand that Silva is being completely dismissed as a goal scorer either.

Doug Maclean

It is something that David needs to look at sorting. Lots of bad connection clicking and dreadfully unbalanced sound levels. The post match after the press conferences also sounded like 2 people using one microphone and not being aware of where the microphone is. There are lots of good and inexpensive answers to improve the audio. H&H is brilliant in content but needs a review of the technology please 🙏🏼

Neil Browning

Like many who've commented already, I had to turn this off. Plenty of mental takes, but the points about lack of insight into our plans took the biscuit. Show me one club who explains this to their fans ahead of windows..... Some perspective wouldn't go amiss here lads

Jamie Gourlay

My account was locked as my bank had to block my card. Was gutted missing the preview yesterday as part of my match routine. Just listening now and have read the comments. 13 minutes in and all seems fine.... Now getting into the transfer section. All valid points but for fans who don't like the club being challenged then it's not for them. Bar a striker, I think January's business was decent. We don't know about FFP given our wage bill too. Look at the EPL and the enemy....FFP has changed how business can be done now. I do agree with the Scottish recruitment. Give the new recruitment team time as they werent in charge of last Summer.... Yep... just too much negativity and discussion points in one pod. Alot are valid but you'd need to split it into 2 or 3 pods.

Thomas Blair

Normally my favourite pod, hard listen riddled with contradictions.