'Until we win 10 games in a row I am not convinced we've turned a corner.'

This was during a very dark period in Rangers' on-pitch history where the side was in the doldrums.

As far as Ferguson was concerned, there was no sign of an emergence from this until his side went 10 wins on the trot, or at the least, unbeaten.

We have won 6 out of the last 7 matches, so if we overlook the irrelevant result V Zenit, we've won 6 out of the last 6 meaningful matches. Last match of note we lost was Fiorentina on the 11th of last month.

I hate to say this to all you guys who loathe Allegri so much, but the results have MASSIVELY improved, and right now we're actually playing reasonably well too. It's not perfect, but inasmuch as we had to criticise Allegri for all that he got wrong at the start of this season, you have now give him credit as much as anyone for the turnaround.

I'm not saying we're fixed, we're not. I stand by Ferguson's statement about 10 meaningful matches - but I for one am willing to give Max the chance to continue this.

The team is looking, for the first time this season, relatively settled. They don't look as unhappy as they did. And the results have started to flow.

If we manage to keep this domestic form up for another 6 matches, I think it's a sure sign we've come out of that awful start to the season and are starting to feel more like ourselves again.

And I will give Max as much credit as anyone for the improvement.

But we'll see.

Yes, he deserves credit and we are improving but that disastrous start is what put us in this mess, and the bottom line, whether we can take the 3d place, is what will count in the end.

But even if we take 3d place, I really doubt our management will keep him. He's gonna stay for sure till the end of the season but I think it has been already decided that we will have a new coach next season, I don't think Allegri can do much to change that, bar remarkable title, which obviously won't happen.

What Jack said. Don't know about you guys, but I always knew we'd fight and achieve 3rd place - unless we have a radically disastrous season. This is the Italian Serie A we are talking about, not the Spanish La Liga. It was the title race that I was most interested in. Last year's surrender still leaves a horrible taste in my mouth.

Nevertheless, other clubs will falter one way or another, now and in the second half. Nothing surprising.

After the vile start we made, 3rd place would be a stunning, stunning achievement.

I gave us zero hope of making the Europa, never mind the CL.

Of course, most didn't. I knew how much our form and fitness affects the amount of points we gather (unlike some other clubs which even when playing at a lower level still rake up points), so in a way I knew we'd need just a push in the right direction to be on our way.

Obviously, like I said, with the state Serie A is in currently, other clubs are always going to drop points.

Shouldn't have lost those two games at home against Atalanta and Sampdoria.

I am willing to be lenient. Having just lost our 2 talismen in Silva and Ibra, plus an entire plethora of first-team players, the sheer level of change was always going to hurt. It wasn't like other clubs have done at the start of change where dead wood got shipped out and high quality players brought in. We lost some of the world's best players and gained some good players, in some cases very good - but very good doesn't replace Ibra and Silva and a glut of top players.

It's taken us a long time, and while you're spot on that we shouldn't have lost to such teams at home, I'm happy that guys like Acid seem to be getting proven correct. He had faith that while the start was sticky, the side would still turn it around and get back to winning ways.

I didn't believe it.

Now I do.

Thank you! I guess I'm just good with feeling like these. And that's why you may recall I never had any alarm bell ringings at the start of the season, I was cool and calm. It still will be close, we are not out of the woods yet, but I always believe it will be a combination of us winning a whole bunch of matches, and our competitors losing a few.

It's a cliché, but as they say "It's not how you start it's how you finish" that counts. Always does.

Dude, you wouldn't panic if you were in the middle of a gunfight!

I can see you standing up in a hail of bullets and calmly announcing, 'gentlemen, let us stop fighting and sit with a cup of tea discussing our differences'.

Can't say I disagree with this. When you've got to die, you've got to die. Panic never helps one bit.


Ha, so true. Not to say I've never felt anger, I have, it's just that I learned to control it (all of it) at a very young age. There is only room enough in me for good emotions - anger, depression or panic aren't the ones. Besides, this is Milan, football, sports, game, spectacle. Impossible stuff happens here.

Like I said, I am a tad disappointed we could not put up a fight for the title. Regretfully so.

Talk all you want about Allegri, but when did we FINALLY see a turnaround?

When Silvio Berlusconi himself had to PERSONALLY fly in and make the motivational speech to the players. I mean it's not rocket science here. The players were not happy to be under Allegri and this was glaringly revealed in the Gazzetta after that mess against Fiorentina.

Allegri had completely lost control of his dressing room at that time.

I give Allegri credit for certain things, but certainly not his abysmal application of tactics, or should I say non-tactics, and even worse (which is a feat in and of itself) his terible man management.

The man has lost all of my sympathy and support. And with every bad decision he makes, he makes me hate him even more. I think someone above said it best. He'll stay on no matter what this season, but come summer, he's out. One way or the other. He's just not Milan material, end of.

I respect your opinion, but I think it's pathetic and beyond ridiculous to hate the man. Can you state for the record what credit you give him?

I never said I hate the man per se, although some of his horribly classless moves don't make me respect him. I just hate the type of coach he is.

I give him the credit he deserves for his first season, which although was largely in part to Ibra, during the second part of the season he managed to turn us into a highly cohesive unit imo. Some of those performances in the title head-to-heads were simply great.

I gave him credit just yesterday when we were discussing Abate and DS in the match thread. Saying that this is one of the few scenarios in which he's been smart in how he's handled DS's introduction into the team as well as his continuous growth.

Sure the credit is very little in comparison to all the criticism I give him, but can you blame me, especially about last season's outcome. At least this season he has the weak squad excuse...

Fair enough, reasonable comments. You did quite well there despite your face going red with fury as you threw darts at a photo of his face

For the record I think he deserves a huge amount of credit for moulding a brilliant LB out of a CM in Constant.

And an average LB into a mediocre winger in Emanuelson.

Emanuelson is technically a utility player. Technically decent all round but not especially wonderful in any position.

It's curious though that you've used, in a case for the prosecution, a player you label 'average' in the first place. Wouldn't a stronger case have been to use a great player who had been reduced to average or worse?

Well I do have that on the door to my bedroom

That was mostly just a stroke of luck as Constant has been played there before with Genoa. The fact that he actually looks good there has nothing to do with Allegri. But in all honesty I'm still worried about him for when we face really good opposition with technical players on the wing.

Like Juventus!?

Think Han, THINK

Come on han, this is beyond silly now.

You mean Isla FFS??

He made Constant look like Ashley Cole! Come on!

Juve had a bad game against us. i've seen them a lot this season, and they simply were not at their best against us. Their constant predictability of switching play constantly to the right wing and Isla crossing the ball into Constant's mid-secion everytime.

When I talk about really good teams, my mind instantly goes to the CL draw in a few days time. And what happens if we're drawn against Bayern? Man U? Barca? Do you think Constant can handle that as easily as Isla for crying out loud?


What's silly?

It's a fact that Allegri could barely control his dressing room at that time. There was talk of most of the players basically being against him. It's a fact that Silvio had to personally step in and do the job of the man he's hired to do.

Allegri's incompetence when it comes to man-management is glaringly obvious and there's no better example for it then this event in particular. Forget all the rumoured troubles he's had in the past.

You say he's terrible at man management and that he's tactically none-existant and that the reason we've turned things around is a speech from our owners. That's silly, it really is.

When did the results finally turn?

We had hit rock bottom in that game against Fiorentina. Literally the team was falling apart. It certainly was not Allegri who took care of that.

As for his tactics. Let's not kid oursleves. He tried every formation in the book. Going as far as to switch us to a 3-man defensive system because it's on "trend" right now. He stuck to the final one that finally yielded decent results although sometimes our perfomances are still as dire as they were before. And don't get me started on his technical assessment of players.

Urby is everything but the player he truely is, Muntari and Boateng can go from DMs one day to CAMs on another day, the list is endless.

I mean I know there has to be some tactical flexibility with players, they have to be able to play in more then one position, but this usually swings from CB to RB or DM to CM, not LB to CM to right wing attacker!

According to La Gazzetta, during half-time of the Milan-Fiorentina game, Allegri told his players in the locker room: "Well done, you've proven that you don't want me here anymore. Now at least go out there and prove that you're worthy of this shirt". That's the week when Berlusconi stepped in, before the Napoli game. Han speaks the truth.

+1

I can see Roman Abramovich riding into the Chelsea dressing room as we speak

In case you're not sure who I'm siding with here, Kurt is your answer.

I think it's slightly ridiculous to believe the players were inspired by a speech from a man with less integrity and credibility these days than Walter Mitty.

So what?

Berlusconi has always had the integrity of a nat, yet the Italian electorate decided to make him their Prime Minister FFS! And not once!

The point is Berlusconi is a powerful man, and at the end of the day he runs this club. What he says goes and that's that. The players respect him as their club president not as a politician or business man or corruption specialist.

And it's not about siding with anyone. It is a FACT (which you yourself like to speak of so much) that Berlu had to personally step in and pull the reins when Allegri had totally lost control of the situation.

Imagine what we would achieve if he would talk with them before every game. We would be invincible

He has, actually. Ever since that Napoli game, he's come to Milanello before every Serie A game, except for the last one due to bad weather conditions or something.

Well, he still has it in him. At least on some accounts. Nice to know some things don't change.

Makes you wonder why we even have a coach or decent player if all winning games takes is a pre-game speech from the Don.

As x-off said, Silvio has been stepping in. Which is sad when you think about it. What are we even paying Allegri for? To make stupid decisions on a weekly basis? If you can't even motivate your own players then I don't know what you're doing there to being with


It really does make you wonder what Allegri is doing there. I agree with you on that bit

Allegri will be gone by the end of the season anyway.

Being a Champ?

More of a Chump

Great