Leaderboard

I have to say think the club have managed what looked like a very difficault situation exceptionally well, taken their time while a feeding frenzy of rumour and speculation was growing, issuing short, concise statements, and moving on. It's yet another sign of how much we've changed as a club over the past wee while, for the better, instead of what we had for years with everything in the public domian and mismanagement commonplace. Well done to the board and management team.

With a broad smile, Neil Lennon spat on a Rangers scarf (wrongly) thrown at him 20 yards from my seat in the Copland nearly 20 years ago so the pretense he's some sort of misunderstood angel will never, ever wash with me. But, like it or not, many Celtic fans will see him as a legend. That's fair enough, however, I always thought BBC journalists, and their chief sportswriters at that, were meant to be objective and tell all parts of a story. It always amazes me how the bad: the spitting, the cheating, his own bigotry and the misogynistic, threatening behaviour off the park are always ignored to treat him as some sort of victim. He's a nasty piece of work and I sincerely hope this is the last we see of him up here.

In Fivethirtyeight's global club rankings this is an incredibly close match. We are 62nd and they are 66th. A fantastic gauge of how good we are.

Over €10m in prize money already from the EL this season. Here's hoping for a kind draw at noon today!

Didn't get a chance to post after the game last night, but as I said before the game, what a time to be a Rangers fan. Love a European draw Friday. There were so many big performances last night. Totally agree with Ally McCoist and our manager that it was the best the front three have played all season. Kent and Morelos were outstanding, what a confidence boost that is for both and they have put themselves in the shop window in Europe again. Hagi's performance wasn't at that level but he still carried out an important role that is different to Kent. He was actually involved in all 3 goals scored while he was on the pitch, albeit in a secondary role. The first he applied the initial pressed which led to the inside pass, the second he made a clever interception and managed to direct the ball to Morelos, the third he was in the hole to receive the ball, turn and play a smart pass to Morelos. I thought the midfielders were very good too. At times I was just amazed that whoever had the ball I was on the edge of my seat. Kamara would get it and I'm thinking what's he going to do here, then it goes to Aribo and I'm thinking the same and so on. What a talented team we have. My only concern against better opposition is that without Jack we lack a bit of defensive discipline and aggression. Last but not least what a difference Patterson made when he came on. As much as Balogun deserved all the praise he got for last week, I'm just not a fan of a centre back playing rightback. They don't have the agility to defend against dribbling players in wide areas and you lose a lot going forward. Patterson's goal was outstanding, his run was so clever in the way he run across the back line inside before receiving it and his finish shouldn't be underrated. Many players would have just fired it at the keeper in that position and won a corner. He really does seem to have the potential to be the next Alan Hutton. Massive congratulations is due to the management and the team. Reputations are being built, player values are rising, the coffers are being filled (£500k for last night I think) and the increasingly important co-efficient is being topped up at club and national level.

It took me a week to get over the first bloody match and then they go and do that to us! Whatever else you say about this Rangers team they're entertaining. Kent and Morelos were outstanding and while not as effective Hagi worked so hard he too deserves a mention. It's the strangest tie to review, I mean we conceded 5 goals, that would normally deserve much scrutiny and criticism but when you score 9 in reply it can be glossed over. Of the 5 we conceded 3 were poor defensively and one was a dodgy penalty. That said while I don't think we set out to concede so many I do think the game plan was simply to overwhelm them upfront. Two very attacking line-ups was always going to leave us open. Some of our goals over the tie were things of beauty, Kent must be registering on the radars of richer clubs by now, if he wasn't already. Nathan Paterson's goal feels like vindication for the liberal hand-wringers on here like Gonzo, Bill and me... I'd like AC Milan next. For someone of my age they exude glamour and majesty, but whoever we get can I just say how proud I am we're in the last 16 of a European tournament for the second year in a row, Berwick, Brechin and Peterhead feel that bit further away again.

Who do you fancy in the quarters. I'll take the winner of Granada/Molde

They've only made the UCL groups once in recent times (last season) and they were very lucky because they dropped in at the play off round and only had to beat Cluj to get to the groups, who had had a very easy draw in the previous round (Celtic). This season they drew Midtjylland and were hammered 4-1 (3 late goals). Despite getting their share of the Champions League riches last season they have continued to sell their stars for big money and recruit on the cheap. They must be a very well run club to be performing as well as they are in those circumstances.

In some ways not drawing an English side in lunchtime's draw means BBC Scotland Sport can probably survive the pressure they must now be coming under from headquarters in Manchester for a chat with Gerrard. Had we drawn Man Utd can you imagine Match Of The Day, Football Focus and Five Live just accepting they couldn't speak to Gerrard or McAllister, who they must know fairly well. This might still come to pass of course.

Haggerty sums up a lot of what is wrong with modern Scotland. The promotion of victimhood as a good thing, self-obsession and just an all-round whiny pain in the arse. No surprise PQ adore her.

It's a great pity we couldn't have had full houses at Ibrox for these games that would have been a much welcome chunk of income as well , but the virus put paid to that

I think his issue was that it was the first question. If it had been asked as the fourth, he probably wouldn't have had an issue. Davie was just unlucky.

You might be right. I understand his style is based around relying on two or three match winning players being supported by everyone else in the team. This was not unlike Walter Smith's Rangers in his first term, but is miles from Gerrard's 'total football' philosophy. I think he is able to organise and motivate players, at least initially, but as @stewarty points out above that can only last for so long. Anyway, nothing was funnier or more enjoyable than watching his own fans turn on him, that's got to have hurt.

I noticed. Great to see a young Rangers player being given a chance by a football legend who has made mistakes himself. Humanity, humility and decency.

He is the most despicable person ever to have been involved with Scottish football, a classless, sectarian, bigoted NED, and an average player, the Scottish gutter press are just as bad for glorifying him.

I admit to being a little surprised at the generosity being shown towards Neil Lennon in these parts. I see no merit in the man at all. He played like an angry adolescent struggling with discipline resistance and as a manager he's lost every dressing room he ever walked into.His leadership qualities don't seem to extend much beyond shouting, bullying and attacking his players. Since he first came to Celtic he's constantly hidden behind his acquired image as an Irish Catholic victim of sectarianism, brawled in the streets, shit himself, threatened women, called us dirty orange bastards and generally acted like the low-grade ned he clearly is. I can understand why those like him among the Parkhead support would want to see him as one of their own but the way the Scottish media has continually pushed a concocted narrative about a fictional character called Lenny who is intelligent, generous and benign is enough to make you puke. Lionise Lenny? Not me. Not ever.

I think that we may need to be a bit more praguematic, but I am confident we can Svjek them up.

A tricky one but could also have been a lot worse. Just wish we were able to go as love the city!

Taking that draw. Very winnable. What makes it better is the two Ukrainian sides got tough draws (Roma and Villarreal) so that could help the co-efficent. Man Utd v AC Milan is the tie of the round.

I'd like us to get Dynamo Kiev and beat them and secure our place in the group stages for the riches of the Champions League. We should not have to go through the diddy qualifying rounds any more.

Ac Milan would be good. Huge Glamour but a chance of going through, Kent for me is always better when Morelos plays. As is the team as a whole.

Astonishing result over two legs. We may mention who we all fancy in the next round but I would say a lot of teams wont want to be drawn with us at the moment. As for the English sides I think leicester may have had been the toughtest due to their style of play but with them being out its an advantage, I dont see Slavia Prague as being too scary in their place. Arsenal would be their for the taking - keep Saka and Aubameyang quiet and that would be it. Man Utd - weak defence that could be got at. Tottenham - Weak at the back also but Kane and Son are frightening when they click. Id like to avoid Shakhtar, Villarreal and As Roma first.

Rangers work the nine to five to secure place in the last 16 Rangers secured their passage into the last 16 of the Europa League after yet another incredible tie against Royal Antwerp of Belgium produced another goal-laden game. The match in Belgium last week finished 4-3 to Rangers, and many did not see another high scoring game, but the two clubs traded high scoring blows yet again in a match that saw Rangers win 5-2 on the night – and win 9-5 on aggregate. The match had everything from goals, a contribution from Alfredo Morelos that secured his involvement in eight of the nine goals over the two legs and an incredible return to first team action from Nathan Patterson merely days after many questioned if he’d ever play for the club again. Steven Gerrard made one change to his starting eleven from the side which started against Dundee United on Sunday, with Glen Kamara coming in for the injured Ryan Jack. Rangers got off to best possible start in 9 minutes when Alfredo Morelos profited from some good pressing from Ianis Hagi and Ryan Kent, which allowed the latter to set up the Columbian to pass the ball into the empty net. Rangers then dominated proceedings and looked like they were in a comfortable position until Lior Refaelov equalised after some good work from Lukaku had left Leon Balogun exposed on in the right-back position. The big Nigerian was filling in for James Tavernier who was injured in the first-leg in Belgium last week. Rangers were without Nathan Patterson last week due to his Covid related mischiefs had rendered him unavailable through the need to self-isolate. Many had assumed the youngster had signed sealed his Ibrox exit with his behaviour. However he was named on the bench tonight and with the unnatural right-back Balogun being targeted by the Belgians, Gerrard decided to act and introduced the youngster for the second-half. It was a bold move, and one which paid off within 16 seconds of the restart. Rangers kicked-off and worked the ball to Morelos, who played in the right-back to run in and finish nicely to score his first goal for the club. It was an incredible moment and a reminder that seven days is a long time in football. Rangers looked safe at this point and the feeling was that the tie was all but done and dusted when Kent scored the third in the 55th minute. The move started with a great take and turn from Ianis Hagi who fed the ball to Morelos. The Columbian beat his marker easily and cut it back into the path of Kent who finished neatly from six yards. It seemed that Rangers had all but secured the tie, but Antwerp hit back immediately thanks to Lamkel Ze. A great ball from Refaelov allowed Lamkel Ze to get between the onrushing McGregor and Connor Goldson to turn in from a tight angle. The Cameroonian is famous for having tried to force a move from Antwerp by turning up at training wearing a Anderlecht shirt. The stunt didn’t work, and his goal tonight was a reminder that he was sorely missed by the Belgians in the first-leg. That goal had blown the tie wide open again, and all of a sudden Rangers had gone from a position of comfort to one of feeling relatively safe – but looking over their shoulder. However Rangers responded positively and got their fourth on 78 minutes from a penalty after Alfredo Morelos was yet again involved in when he was fouled by Maxime Le Marchand. Referee Paweł Raczkowski had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Borna Barisic converted to score his third penalty of the tie. That pretty much sealed the proceedings at 8-5 on aggregate, but Rangers were not finished yet. Scott Wright, who had come on for the impressive Ryan Kent with ten minutes remaining, ran down the right flank in the closing stages of injury time and cut into the box, only to be fouled by Nana Ampomah. Barisic waved the responsibility on this occasion to allow Cedric Itten, who had replaced Morelos with five minutes remaining, to step up and hammer home the fifth on the night. The win ensures Rangers passage to last 16 of the Europa League, whilst remaining undefeated since their campaign started on 17 September in Gibraltar against Lincoln Red Imps – a total of 11 games. Steven Gerrard was delighted with his team’s performance stating: "I'm very satisfied, the performance was outstanding in a lot of areas. Some of our play was outstanding, the first three were top high-level goals. But, as a perfectionist, we still have to look at the areas we went wrong in tonight. "It was probably Alfredo's best performance of the season. He likes this competition. I wouldn't have liked to have marked him, that's for sure. Physicality is a big strength of his. It was a performance off all-round quality." RANGERS: McGregor; Balogun, Goldson, Helander, Barisic; Davis, Aribo, Kamara; Kent, Hagi, Morelos SUBS: McLaughlin, Wright, Bassey, Itten, Zungu, Patterson, Stewart, Simpson, Arfield, King. ROYAL ANTWERP: De Wolf, Buta, Gelin, Le Marchand, Lukaku, Hongla, Verstraete, De Laet, Gerkens, Refaelov, Lamkel Ze SUBS: Boya, Avenatti, Ampomah, Miyoshi REFEREE: Paweł Raczkowski

And yet a lot of Rangers fans wanted to get him out the door! thankfully SG has more sense

I always think managers can be lucky through no efforts of their own. When Rodgers left and they appointed Lennon, Steven Gerrard must have thought there was a god up there after all.

Offt. Gerrard not happy with Davie Edgar after that first question!

Beat Slavia and it will stand us on good stead if we win the league and play in next seasons champions league

Their star man Sima is only 19, very interesting. Scored a cracker last night.

A very good draw all things considered but we were so close to drawing Molde!! ?

Angela has been groomed. She hail hails from the Isle of Bute, has achieved an HND in Journalism from Cardonald College, and is a founder member of Call it Out. Angela has powerful backers, Kevin McKenna is Godfather to her one year old son, Cosgrove regularly has her on his Podcast, and BBC Scotland love her participation. She is presented as a modern day, every day harassed Mum. Regularly, Janey Godley utilises endless video clips of her son, adds voiceovers and the Nationalists lap it up. During lockdown last year, her ASDA order was late, Angela called Jeanne Freeman. In turn, the Health secretary called the ASDA boss in Scotland to rectify the food order/delivery. Angela wields considerable power. I have very occasionally heard her being ridiculed by Shereen Nanjiani. Angela regularly appears on Shereen's BBC Radio Scotland's Saturday morning current affairs/chat show. Angela is an unquestioning supporter of the IRA, her Achilles Heel is the murder of Lyra McKee. She reason's the IRA no longer exist, how can they be involved? Again, we have no satire in modern, new Scotland. Angela will eventually come up against someone who will administer a verbal/cerebral doing. She will react by playing the vicTIM card, she has been groomed.

Having no seedings and no country protection adds extra to the draw. It should be done more often or all the time in all competitions.

Wee sidenote: Hagi had a hand in all three goals while he was on, first forcing the chap into a hurried pass, then twice laying the ball on the plate for Morelos to set up Patterson and Kent.

Oh wow, I didn’t realise you got £500k just for participating last night, I thought that was for winning. Great news, that’s another 1.1m in the bag then.

This could get interesting. Lord Mulholland, the Lord Advocate when the Crown Office implemented its mass arrests' programme, may be called to give evidence, and be cross examined in Court, by the silk acting for Mr David Grier, who is claiming significant (read eye-watering) damages for wrongful arrest, unlawful incarceration, denial of Human Rights, traducing of reputation; the usual stuff, in Ceausescu's Scotland. I wonder if the Crown will fold and agree settlements, to save its washing being laundered in public, to allow Lord Mullholland to save face, and, to best serve the public interest by not undermining, even more, confidence in the competence of the country's system of justice. If I was a betting man....... Judge in Rangers case to be witness James Mulholland Friday February 26 2021, 12.01am, The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/judge-in-rangers-case-to-be-witness-spb0pdbjr Compensation claims have arisen from arrests made during investigations into the sale of Rangers football club The judge at the centre of a doomed Rangers fraud investigation is set to be called as a witness at a £5 million damages action brought by the club’s administrator. Lord Mulholland is expected to be questioned at a Court of Session action about the time he was in charge of Scotland’s independent prosecution service. Lawyers are set to ask him about the role he played in police and Crown investigations into alleged financial wrongdoing at the club. David Grier, an administrator with Duff & Phelps, a financial consultancy, is suing the Crown Office and Police Scotland over the alleged unlawfulness of the investigation. Grier was one of a number of men arrested during an investigation into the sale of the Ibrox club to Craig Whyte, a businessman. He and his co-accused were brought to court but acquitted after judge Lord Bannatyne concluded that there was no evidence to prove prosecutors’ claims. Yesterday Andrew Smith, QC, the lawyer for Grier, told judge Lord Tyre that Lord Mulholland “is clearly going to be pivotal in this case”. He added: “Lord Mulholland will probably be on our list just in case my learned friend for some reason does not wish to lead him.” Grier — who has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing — is claiming that prosecutors had no evidence to justify him being arrested and charged. Grier is also suing the chief constable of Police Scotland for acting unlawfully when he was arrested during an investigation into wrongdoing at Rangers. He is seeking £2 million in damages from the force. The legal actions stems from a police inquiry into the financial position of Rangers during the past decade and the sale of the club to Whyte. This month Tyre ruled that the Crown had “no probable cause” to prosecute Grier. The judge said that Grier’s legal team still had to prove that the prosecution against their client was conducted maliciously. He wrote: “Where, as here, the charges were dismissed as irrelevant, it seems to me that it will normally be difficult to argue that reasonable and probable cause existed from an objective standpoint.” Yesterday Gerry Moynihan, QC, senior counsel for the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe, QC, said that Mulholland was being approached to provide a witness statement for the case. The case is expected to be called on March 9. The parties will debate whether Tyre’s recent judgment about the prosecution lacking probable cause applies from the time Grier was arrested and appeared initially in court, or whether it applies only at the time the case was called in the High Court. The full hearing in the case is expected in April.

the only job he hasn't been fairly swiftly sacked from is his first round at celtc where he under performed in the easiest management gig any football manager has ever had. he had a budget 10 times all of his rivals and 20 for most.

Yes, all fair points. The rumours of how his Hibs tenure ended certainly back up what you're saying. I think I'm just touchy to any narrative that suggests somehow our success this season is down to Celtic having a poor manager, I don't think they did, he just isn't as good as ours.

Poor man’s Calvin Bassey

Joining Brenda, All hail, hail Jeremy Ping-pong, knocked out of Europe tonight for the third time this season. Those Young Bhoys, what are they like?

dinosaur of a manager who bullies his players into some initial success then implodes.

Really hope we can put this behind us now and give this lad as much game time as possible between now and may.

So chuffed for the lad. Doubt an All-Black rugby bummer would've scored that. ?

A 'well informed' idiot at work was telling anyone who listened yesterday that Martinez and Maloney will be in place after the summer. Made me smile.