In the end the job opportunity in London was too good for me to turn down. It was not an easy decision to make but one I do not regret. I think Spurs are not the right club for Alan Hutton but I wish him well there.
It was disappointing to lose Alan Hutton but it was a good piece of business for the club. I feel we could have tried harder to delay Hutton's departure until at least the summer but he's moved on and we cannot use his departure as an excuse for lack of success this season.
Personally I was glad when the January 2008 transfer window passed and I am sure many other bears feel the same. As soon as February was here, Walter Smith knew the squad of players he had at his disposal for the title run-in. Our success, or failure, this season is in their hands.
Selling Hutton and bringing in Christian Dailly is like swapping a Mercedes for a 15 year old Fiesta but in Walter we trust! The lads in my office were laughing that we had signed Dailly as he is a player I have not rated for years. He was not good enough for many of the Premiership clubs he played for and in most bears opinions he is not good enough for Rangers. We have to be a unit so I'll support him for the good of the Rangers cause but surely some of our reserve and youth players should be played.
This season is the most important for Rangers since my move to London. This year is a big one for Rangers as we must win the league title. Coming second to Celtic is just unthinkable. It is possible they will win the league but we must give our all to ensure we are singing "Championi Championi" at the end of the season. Of course our goal from the minute the players returned for pre-season was to bring home the SPL title. This is still very much in our own hands. In fact this season's title is ours to giveaway. At the time of writing we have 14 league games to play, including three Old Firm games.
Rangers collecting silverware is long overdue. It is great to be in a Cup Final again. Even though winning the League Cup is not our top priority it is a competition I like to see us do well in. The first time I witnessed Rangers lift silverware was in 1984 when Rangers beat Celtic 3-2 in the League Cup Final courtesy of a Super Ally McCoist hat-trick. Let's go out and win this season's Cup Final in style. Hopefully it will not be the first trophy we win this season. We cannot take winning it for granted as Dundee United will prove difficult to beat.
The last 10 years seem to have passed very quickly. I moved to the smoke when Dick Advocaat replaced Walter Smith as Rangers manager and a lot has happened at our club since then. I never expected Walter would return for a second spell. If you said to me 10 years ago that we would go a few seasons without a trophy I would have laughed. At that point we had thrown 10 in a row away but renewed optimism came with the appointment of Dick Advocaat. Of course in his first season we won the treble.
Like Advocaat's first season, Walter Smith could guide Rangers to winning all three domestic trophies.
Off the field 2008 is a big year as we expect a fan to be appointed onto the board of Rangers. Everyone knows that supporter representation was promised by David Murray at the last AGM. The candidate selected to represent our support has to have the balls to question Murray and endeavour to influence decisions made by the board. Someone who is voted for by all sections of the support - Season Ticket holders, RST members, members of each RSC and such like - not just a puppet who will say "Yes Sir" to everything and anything put forward by Murray. As a founding member of the Rangers Supporters Trust I am delighted that 5 years from launch one of our main goals will be achieved. Why is it taking so long to get a fan on board though Mr Murray?
Over the last few years the club has done little to defend themselves and their support from bad press and harsh criticism. The candidate should endeavour to get people like Graham Speirs, for example, banned from Ibrox.
I do not want to go through the list of probable candidates but I imagine all fan groups, not just the RST, will put someone forward.
The vast majority of fans thought Paul Le Guen was by far the best candidate to replace Alex McLeish as Rangers boss. I was personally delighted that we had managed to secure the services of such a high profile manager but looking back in hindsight it was the wrong choice. When Craig Moore was made the Rangers captain to replace Barry Ferguson when he moved to Blackburn many people thought he too was the best candidate for that role, but he turned out to be one of the worst ever captains of our great club (no true Ranger would ever choose to play at the Olympics ahead of captaining Rangers). The fan selected to join the club's PLC board has to be the right man (or woman) for the job. Every fan has a list in their head of things they would do if they had even a bit of control.
On and off the field, 2008 is a big year but it will be a successful one if we win silverware and a Rangers fan gets on the board. The league title coming home to Ibrox will spark off major celebrations for bears across the world so let's bring it on.