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https://x.com/RangersReview55/status/1885302535369421082 Nico Raskin averaged the most tackles and interceptions per 90 (7.72) of any player in the UEL group stage.

Manager deserves great credit for this. We’ve been poor domestically no denying but to get this finish with our fixtures (I think we were the only team to finish top 8 having played 4 of the top 8 ) is a very good outcome.

Stevens has been involved in England squads for his age groups and at his age needs to be playing.

I'd add Propper to that list but choose Dessers. He seemed to really enjoy using his strength against the big defenders. His play leading up to the second goal was a joy.

Watching it back, whilst the run was superb, the calmess, composure and control he showed to pick out Cerny was exceptional.

A fine run from Dessers for the second goal last night, you'd never have seen Boyd manage that 😎

I don't like these loan deals it's like hiring a kilt when you look at it the next day you say to yourself thank fuck i didn't buy it because i think once these teams see these duds in action it will be return to sender .

Stevens has moved to Dunfermline on loan... https://x.com/RFC_Youth/status/1885342285329571958

5 mins of highlights from last night

Cerny is often very high on that right side on some of these diagrams. I have therefore wondered what a similar player on the left would bring to our play.

Both look like a a 4-2-3-1 to me, both watching the games and looking at the diagrams.

Thanks for the heads-up @craig 😀

I scrapped some data. I thought it interesting the average positions from our last two matches. A clear difference in set-up, from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 last night. #1 : vs Dundee Utd #2: vs USG

I'm not Dessers biggest fan but there can be no doubting that playing him in a set up where he is not the lone striker has actually improved his contribution. My criticism last night would be the decision to play Bajrami as the 10 and not Igamane. Igamane looked a little lost in the wide role. Sort of reminded me of when we used to do that to Hagi a few seasons back and wonder why he was ineffective. Dessers and Igamane playing closer together would be interesting to see.

One of the big differences between Kyogo and Dessers is that Kyogo has been able to score in big games. That's not a specific criticism of Dessers. Most of our team have fallen short when it come to big (domestic) games. compared to their Celtic counterparts. However Dessers still does a job for us, whether off the bench or starting as he has done the last few games. The big man doesn't deserve the criticism or abuse that the hysterical section of our support come up with.

Dessers and Tav were great, but got to go for the much-maligned Dessers.

He does. I’ve long thought that our Europa League form can’t continue. I thought Gerrard had cracked it by building a team that was solid and could control a game a bit, even out of possession, and was more physical and aggressive than most teams. As those players have moved on and been gradually replaced by a different type of player I have expected the results to trail off but they’ve kept coming. I think the Ibrox effects accounts for some of it.

Coefficient points is great news for the other mob, straight into the CL every year for them.

https://x.com/HandsAcrossTW/status/1885400387596738571

I dont think there was ever any interest in katic

Peanuts compared to the champions league we need to win our league and qualify for this money league

Katic has signed for Plymouth. Bullet. Dodged.

If we maintain our Thursday night form there is no reason we cant progress to the next round

Czech mate, Lenny

I can't vouch for this, but it came winging, comet-like, to me, through the ether, so it must have have some authenticity. Surely? Maybe? Just under £9m so far in prize money alone. Not accounting for tv money and ticket sales. Not sure what we clear per home game after overheads, £1.5-2m something like that maybe, anyone have a more accurate number? Europa League prize money Winner : £10.95m Runner-up : £5.9m Semi-finalists : £3.54m Quarter-finalists : £2.11m Round of 16 : £1.47m Reaching knockout round play-off : £250k League-phase wins : £379k League-phase draws : £126k League-phase defeats : £0 How much have Rangers banked so far? Taking the above numbers into account, Rangers have already boosted their transfer kitty courtesy of this year's revamped competition. Gers got £3.64m just from qualifying and topped up their prize money with performance-related bonuses. Wins over Malmo, FCSB, Nice and USG swelled the coffers by around £1.5m, with draws against Olympiacos and Tottenham adding another £252k to the pot - which totalled £1.768m. Malmo 0-2 Rangers (£379k) Rangers 1-4 Lyon (£0) Rangers 4-0 FCSB (£379k) Olympiacos 1-1 Rangers (£126k) Nice 1-4 Rangers (£379k) Rangers 1-1 Tottenham (£126k) Manchester United 2-1 Rangers (£0) Rangers 2-1 USG (£379k) Total: £1.768m How much has Rangers league position earned them? Rangers will also be due another chunky sum from UEFA for their final finishing position of eighth. Each position in the table is worth £63.4k, meaning the club that finishes 36th will earn that figure with an additional £63.4k added for every position higher - and the high-flying Gers have therefore netted a tasty £1.775m For making it automatically into the last 16 Rangers know that they will earn at least an additional £1.47m as well as £252,800 add-on for being in the top, meaning that the league stage campaign in total has earned the Ibrox club more than £5m in bonus money. On top of the £3.64m earned just for making it into the main competition. All of that adds up to a grand total of £8.905m - without including ticket sales from four home matches, and for what promises to be a sell-out crowd for the last 16 match regardless of who the opponents are.

For those of an analogue disposition The Europa League draw in full Ferencvaros v Viktoria Plzen Porto v Roma Winners to play Lazio or Athletic Bilbao in round of 16 Twente v Bodø/Glimt Fenerbahce v Anderlecht Winners to play Olympiacos or Rangers in round of 16 Union SG v Ajax PAOK v FCSB Winners to play Lyon or Eintracht Frankfurt in round of 16 AZ Alkmaar v Galatasaray Midtjylland v Real Sociedad Winners to play Manchester United and Tottenham in round of 16 The seeded team, named first, will play at home in the second leg. First legs will be played on 13 February, with the second legs a week later.

Four million Euros. Sounds a bit better than an extra home match.

Archie Stevens has loan interest. I was hoping to see a lot more youngsters go out on loan after the news that the B-team was being scrapped.

Enjoyed it when Bolton were in the Premier League, they make a good run of it. But they have to get back into the Championship first. They appointed a new manager today (Schumacher), former Plymouth manager who won that league with record points 2 seasons ago.

Could run forever and a day that lad

Nijinsky again reincarnated as Colin Bell. What a player. What a team.

Nijinsky.

Coincidental that we're seeing an improvement in Dessers when he has a striker playing with him?.

Yip, big Cyriel for me as well. I've criticised him so I should praise him too. Other than that sublime bit of control with his calf (I think?) not much came off for Igamane last night, but his presence draws defenders and I think that creates more space for Dessers and he made the most of it. He should have scored towards the end, but his overall work rate was impressive last night, he led the line and his run and cut back for our second was perfect.

I think we all know that, so the anger should be directed at those who sanctioned the deal and not the player. Given our financial constraints it would be doubly foolish to sell him on the cheap. Guy contributes, is rarely injured, has a brilliant mentality. Wish we had more with those attributes.

I thought Raskin hardly put a foot wrong and seemed to relish the chance to show his form against his fellow Belgians, but big Dessers for me led the line very well, his link up play was much improved, some terrific long runs in behind that should have led to more than just one assist... I wasn't totally convinced he was offside for the goal he had ruled out, but I only saw one replay when I got home. Overall for me he led from the front last night and gets my vote.

Big Phil must have reclaimed the support of a few by now. Last 16 is huge for us, and anyone should be able to see the improvement in a lot of our young players. The future is blue

He’ll know nothing about it. His butler and valet accompany him to matches with a hamper of the finest fare. I believe the sandwiches have the crusts cut off. The Earl Grey is brewed in situ and poured from a silver teapot. Wine, of course, for the late summer and early spring matches otherwise Courvoisier or the Linkwood for colder weather. Clos de Mesnil for cup finals naturally.

If we throw that kind of money at 'successes' like Dessers then we'll be in admin 2.0 in a few years. (In fairness, it's not a criticism of Dessers per se.)

And remove Kasanwirjo as well.

Will catch up with the thread tomorrow. I was very nervous before the game tonight and found it nerve wracking but ultimately exhilerating. Raskin, Tav and Dio were my top picks.

Brilliant achievement. Dessers, Diomomde, Radkin & Tav were outstanding tonight.

Rangers in heavyweight chase to land Nicola Bertola According to The Daily Mail, Koppen has had his eye on a cut-price swoop for Spezia centre-half Nicola Bertola, however, the technical director has been dealt an early blow in the race for the towering defender’s signature. The report claims that Inter Milan are also considering Bertola and it would be an uphill battle to compete with the Serie A champions. At 6ft 4inches tall, the Italy Under-21 international would be more than capable of coping with the demands of Scottish football, even if his statistics suggest that he is more refined than that. Currently playing in Serie B, Bertola would jump at the chance of playing regular European football and in front of 51,000 fans every other week at Ibrox. He also ticks every box needed for a club trying to kick-start a player trading model. Moving on in-form Ben Davies, who was refereed to as a “brick wall” this week, on a permanent basis and then replacing him with Bertola is how it should be done. Yes, he is young, but he has played in all of Italy’s top three divisions and has been a near ever present this season for Spezia. Bertola is also out of contract in the summer which means that Rangers could afford a player who, under contract, would be out of their reach. If Inter follow up their interest, the giant stopper would probably be sent out on loan to start with and this could be Rangers’ best chance of nicking an unlikely deal. https://www.rangersnews.uk/news/rangers-could-replace-brick-wall-defender-with-nicola-bertola-as-nils-koppen-eyes-italian-transfer-swoop/

Unbelievable. It was a tougher set of fixtures than Celtic had.

https://x.com/RangersFC/status/1885025243099517018 Rangers Football Club @RangersFC We can today confirm that Rabbi Matondo has joined German side @Hannover96 on loan, subject to international clearance. Everyone at Rangers wishes @rabbi_matondo all the best for his loan.

We’ve appointed former spurs sports science guy Sam pooly into our back room team.