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The Westfalenstadium was the inspiration for modern Ibrox. Most stadiums were oval shaped with a running track whereas Westfalenstadium was 'square' with 4 separate stands each close to the pitch. Rangers directors visited Dortmund and were so impressed they chose that style of ground for the new Ibrox.

Good luck filling the stands when he is sold.

Rangers fans: Why does he [PC] keep tinkering with the team?! Also Rangers fans: Why does he [PC] keep picking the same players?!

If you’ve got a car to sell you don’t tell the market it’s near to clapped out. “It’s so good I don’t really want to sell it” is the line to take.

Tav has played as a RM, but it didn't go too well if I remember right. Having a player in front of you is completely different from having players running in all directions around you.

I'm not an expert but i imagine demolishing the copland and broomie and rebuilding the stands to be like the Westfalenstadion might be the most cost effective option. Would be pricey but when we get that 150 million bid for Lammers from Man U we could afford it.

We don’t rate the opposition.

My glass is back to being half full.... amazing what a win against and Edinburgh team can do 6 wins to a treble.... lets do it

We were much better today, showed a lot of effort and commitment and some lovely moments, especially from Diomande and Cantwell. Great to see Balogun and Diomande back and McAusland doing well for us too, especially tracking back. Dujon had a good game also. Well done to Dessers for his 2 goals. Lundstram started badly but came onto a good game. The keeper made a couple of excellent saves. I didn't miss Connor Goldson slowing the game down by taking too long on the ball and the boring passes along the back line. We have given ourselves a good platform now and need to carry the same urgency into our next game.

Remember when I said Silva should get a run as a #9? I was pished...

Just to keep Rousseau from overreacting ... no new thread just yet; Former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq are ready to launch an offer to bring 32-year-old Ibrox captain and right-back James Tavernier to the Saudi Arabian club this summer. (Slaati via TeamTalk) Steven Gerrard is closely monitoring Connor Goldson's situation at Rangers as the Al-Ettifaq head coach mulls over a possible double swoop on his former club for the 31-year-old centre-half and right-back James Tavernier. (Daily Record) Trabszonspor are making progress in their bid to sign Rangers left-back Borna Barisic and midfielder John Lundstram, according to reports in Turkey. (The Scotsman) Rangers are keeping close tabs on St Mirren teenager Ethan Sutherland, who has been linked with Manchester City and Chelsea after the Premier League duo recently sent scouts to watch the 17-year-old as he impressed on the wing and at left-back on loan to Alloa Athletic. (Football Insider)

Sorry. Wrong one. Here’s the correction.

Steve Bloomer - 599 games 352 goals and Derby's all time record goal scorer & England International (23 caps and 28 goals)

Rangers rubbish Hearts rubbisher Referee rubbishest

Mate, that's what being a fan is about isn't it. First thing I did after full time was check the league table and think the trebles on haha.

I wish he was younger.

Worst man on the park was the ref, all these small margin decisions went hearts way. So one sided.

Dessers doing his job, Cantwell's best performance, Butland with fine saves, and Balogun a rock. If only Lundstram would play like that every week - wouldn't mind a replacement though. Sterling solid too, Souttar with a few uncharacteristic sloppy moments. Most of the young players today far too erratic, namely Matondo and Silva, McCausland not so. Hope Sima is okay soonish.

I just want to thank Silva for giving me a good laugh this weekend, genuinely made me laugh out loud. Great result, let's start putting a run of form together now and at the least put pressure on Celtic.

Tavernier just covered the back-post run, preventing a sure goal. The sky is not falling down. I need to lie down...

What's all the Dessers talk? Totally hilarous criticism. He's hardly get a decent pass and if he does, his fellow attackers are all over the place or not catching up. Its him and Cantwell doing the most pressing, you wonder if we actually have "wingers", since they play so deep. Matondo is in his bad-game performance mode, far too hectic. Might score a hat-trick now, of course. BTW, I want Sakala back.

Agreed but he is lacking support. FWIW, I think McCausland has had a good first half after coming on though. Matondo clearly carries a threat but his decision-making really is dreadful.

Well, if we are on the subject of West Indian batsmen: IVA Richards, The King, as he was known. Richards was batting against an English County side. The bowler managed to get him to play and miss, and said to the Great Man, "It's round and red, Viv, round and red." Big mistake, as a few deliveries later, he was a little loose with his line, and Richards, seizing the opportunity, hammered the ball over the boundary, and out of the ground, completely. Richards looked at the bowler, and said, "You know what it looks like, man. Go find it!"

BC Lara And, handily enough, here's an interview with Atherton, in which they discuss his record breaking scores, from last week's Times. MIKE ATHERTON | BRIAN LARA INTERVIEW Brian Lara: I couldn’t sleep before breaking record – so I played golf at 5am West Indies great, who scored world-best 375 against Mike Atherton’s England 30 years ago this week, explains why he was ‘not bothered’ when Matthew Hayden took his crown… or when he regained it six months later with a knock of 400 Mike Atherton, Chief Cricket Correspondent Thursday April 18 2024, 3.00pm, The Times Brian Lara: I couldn’t sleep before breaking record – so I played golf at 5am (thetimes.co.uk) It started with a word from the big man. Curtly Ambrose knew a graveyard pitch when he saw one, and, as a local, he was very well acquainted with an Andy Roberts special at the Antigua Recreation Ground. In any case, the series was already won and he fancied putting his feet up for a long while yet. Speaking to me from Mumbai, Brian Lara takes up the story: “At some point during the second day’s play, Curtly said to Richie Richardson [the West Indies captain for the series, who was injured for this Test], ‘Don’t even think about declaring. The pitch is flat, the series is won. Let the young man bat for as long as possible.’ ” That afternoon, then, was when Lara thought about it for the first time. “It” was the world-record Test score (365) held by Garfield Sobers since 1958, which Lara broke 30 years ago today, making 375 against my England team in April 1994. It prompted a remarkable sequence of scores, culminating in a world-record first-class innings of 501 for Warwickshire against Durham two months later, which included: 375 (v England); 147 (v Glamorgan); 106 and 120 not out (v Leicestershire); 136 (v Somerset); 140 (v Middlesex) and 501 (v Warwickshire). Atherton congratulates Lara after his record-breaking innings GRAHAM CHADWICK/EMPICS SPORT But before mentioning the big man and the record, Lara takes me back to Sydney in January 1993 and to his fifth Test match, when he made his first Test hundred, 277 against Australia. Sometime after that innings, Lara says Sobers “schooled” him about not understanding what was in front of him and the chance to make history. Lara says he remembers feeling elated after that first hundred and, after passing his double-century and making the game safe, the electronic scoreboard at the Sydney Cricket Ground flashed up a series of scores as incentives. One that stood out was Viv Richards’ 291, made against England in 1976 at the Oval, and it was that, rather than the Sobers record, that was in Lara’s mind then. To Antigua, then, 15 months later: “I had fallen in love with scoring big at Sydney,” Lara says. “I began to think if I got to the end of the second day, what would my score be? I passed 277, a great feeling, and got the triple, another great feeling. Sir Garfield was there promoting Barbados tourism and so if the captain wasn’t going to declare, there was only one thing on everyone’s mind.” Lara finished the second day on 320, needing 46 more to pass Sobers. Like those who had climbed Everest before him, he slept badly. In his excellent book, The Men Who Raised The Bar, the journalist Chris Waters quotes Len Hutton, who, the night before passing Don Bradman’s Ashes record of 334 and Wally Hammond’s world record of 336 in 1938, endured “an eternity of sleeplessness and introspection”. Sobers also said he had a “restless night” before he passed Hutton’s mark of 364. So did Lara. “I didn’t sleep at all. I’d had dinner in St John’s with some friends,” he says. “I was rooming with Junior Murray and we watched a couple of videos, had a laugh, but I couldn’t sleep. I realised around 5am that I wasn’t going to sleep, so I called one of my friends and we played golf, nine holes, and then I made it back for breakfast.” Lara made 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in June 1994, two months after his 375 GRAHAM CHADWICK/EMPICS SPORT The rest is history, with the remarkable footnote applied that, for the record-breaking shot, mid-morning, when he pulled Chris Lewis to the square-leg boundary to euphoric reaction, Lara nudged the stump gently so that the bail was a little out of its groove, precariously lodged. Did he know? “No, not at all,” he says. “I think the first time I heard about it was when I read about it afterwards.” Sobers’ record had stood for 36 years. Lara was almost a decade into his tenure when he got a call from his lawyer, Jonathan Crystal. “I was in Jamaica, and it was very early when I got a call from Jonathan, saying, ‘I have a number for you to call; your record has just been broken in Australia.’ So I got through to Matthew [Hayden] and congratulated him. I lay on my bed afterwards. I’ve had trouble convincing people over the years that these records are not what I’m all about. I was captain of West Indies and if you look at the numbers you’d call it a failure compared to the guys that went before. That was something I really wanted to make good. “So at no stage was I really thinking about it. I was not bothered about losing the record then and I wouldn’t be bothered if I lose it tomorrow. It’s great if you find players who can get to the top of those mountains.” Remarkably, within six months of Hayden making 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth, Lara had taken the record back — same opponent, same ground, same month — when he made 400 against Michael Vaughan’s England team in April 2004. Lara regains his record in April 2004 with a score of 400 not out. It was against the same opponent (England) at the same ground (the Antigua Recreation Ground, Antigua) in the same month (April) RANDY BROOKS/AP PHOTO “It’s like destiny, that’s how I look at it,” Lara says. “Holding the record and regaining the record after it was broken, is just destiny. It has a greater meaning to me. I feel I understand it and I’d rather not divulge that meaning but I think I understand the meaning of these records and why I was placed to do it. Everything had to fall into place.” That “everything” is the rare set of circumstances that must arrive to allow a player the chance to make such a gargantuan score, even if they are good enough and have the ability, stamina and concentration to do it. It is not often in a competitive first-class game that a player will be given the opportunity to make 400 or 500. Can he see his records being broken, therefore? “Someone got 400-plus in county cricket, didn’t they? [Sam Northeast made an unbeaten 410 for Glamorgan against Leicestershire in 2022]. How often does the opportunity arise? It is very difficult because everything has to fall into place,” he says. “I think 400 is possible — if Tests go to four days that will make it hard but the way players are playing now, it would take much less time. I wouldn’t be surprised but it has to stack up a certain way.” Lara celebrates his 400 in 2004 REBECCA NADEN/EPA Lara had an astonishing record against England but until his post-375 run of hundreds in county cricket in early 1994 he had not done particularly well over here, struggling in county matches on the 1991 tour, as he battled to establish himself in the West Indies team. What was it about England, first of all? “As a West Indian growing up there were two massive series: the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy against Australia and the Wisden Trophy against England,” Lara says. “What made it more important was the close proximity and history with colonial England. Reading about that history of cricket between both countries triggers a little more emotion and puts a little more pep in your step. Because of that history, any young West Indian looked forward to the England series. “But I remember the press conference when I arrived after the 375 and people were asking what I was going to do to county cricket. I had to remind them I’d averaged about 25 on that ’91 tour. I appreciated English conditions and I hadn’t adapted very well then. “But I was a bit more mature by ’94 and had the ability to put an innings together. I cherished the pressure and the expectation. In ’91 I was trying to establish myself; in ’94 people expected great things and I worked better under those conditions.” The 501 recalls the well-worn anecdote of Chris Scott, the Durham wicketkeeper, who dropped Lara on 18 and bemoaned the fact that the great man would probably go on to make a hundred. And the rest. Batting records can involve flat pitches, a lack of balance between bat and ball, and matches that often result in a bore draw. So when I think of Lara, who I first played against at under-19 level, I don’t think of the 375, 400 not out or 501 not out — I think instead of some other innings that he played, such as the brilliant, unbeaten, match-winning 153 against Australia in Bridgetown in 1999. Most of all, though, I think of the majesty of his batting. There is no one I would have paid more to watch. It was almost a pleasure captaining against him when he was on song. A beautiful player. With his high backlift, the toe of the bat pointing towards the sky, and hands that could manoeuvre the ball at will, nobody in my time played with more style or grace. Where did that joyous backlift come from? “It was a bit less flamboyant for spin but the exaggerated backlift came from being diminutive and playing against fast bowlers, like Ian Bishop, growing up in the Caribbean,” Lara says “It’s momentum, really: getting ready to pick up the pace; crouched position, picking the bat up; good eyes and footwork, hands coming down naturally.” With T20 bringing more power to the game, the touch players and the stylists are in retreat. Lara, though, enjoys watching the modern game. “It’s more entertaining now. I enjoy teams trying to score at four, five, six an over in Test cricket. The modern Test game is fast-paced and there are a lot more results. I don’t feel the [Test] game has gone backwards because of T20 cricket,” he says. Among many, he loves watching India’s KL Rahul bat and thinks Suryakumar Yadav has a “wow” factor (“where do you bowl to him?”). From West Indies, he likes Nicholas Pooran and thinks Alick Athanaze can become a good Test cricketer but adds: “I appreciate players for whatever they bring to the team; not every player will be aggressive and stylish but they may serve a purpose in the team.” Looking back now at that two-month period, culminating in the 501 against Durham, how does he think he handled it all? He became one of the most famous sportsmen on the planet almost overnight. He was fêted everywhere he went. Life had changed. What advice would he pass on to his 24-year-old younger self now, if he could? “I handled it as well as I could but I wasn’t really ready for it,” he says. “If you look now it is very difficult for anyone in the media to get close to a superstar today. Back then, it was very easy. Everyone had access to you. It was trial and error. “There are many things I would do differently if I was speaking to my younger self but that is what life is all about. It’s spontaneous, and you have to make decisions. I learnt from it, that’s the main thing.” So speaks a man of 54, looking back at a particular time in his life that changed everything. Is it really 30 years ago? The ARG bouncing to Chickie’s disco. A full house. Sobers waiting on the sidelines. Lewis at the end of his mark. Lara, maroon cap, tapping his bat rhythmically up and down. The England captain, at short cover, clapping his hands to the beat, fiddling with the field to make Lara wait: “You’re making it hard for me, Mikey,” I remember him saying. Could England’s captain have done anything different in Antigua all those years ago? Could he have made it harder? “Not really, he tried everything,” Lara says. “In those days, captains kept the field up mainly so maybe he could have dropped the field back and frustrated me a bit more, turning boundaries into singles. “But, between us,” he adds a touch conspiratorially, “it was a pretty good batting pitch.”

Even if it means bringing in our serial Croation shitbag, we need Sterling in the middle or wide right. He gives us energy.

Just wondering, has anyone thought about moving Tav to right wing?

I'm no fan of Borna, but we need to start with our strongest team, and for me if Ridvan is not available then Borna should start is all I'm saying, too much tinkering with the team is not the right thing to do especially when we are going through a bad spell. Is it possible to play Sterling at RB with Tav in front of him on the right?.

Things that managers and players say in pressers are not necessarily true.

The Everton-Scottish: Tommy Ring, Clyde, Alex Parker, Falkirk, George Thomson, Hearts, Alec Young, Hearts, Alex Scott, Rangers, Ian Durrant, Rangers, Stephen Naismith, Rangers and from older times Jimmy Caskie and Torry Gillick plus Walter and Archie. Any others? Coming the other way, Stuart McCall, Trevor Steven and Gary Stevens. What a trio. We won’t see their likes again. Nikica Jelavic wasn’t really Scottish, only a bit.

The paean for Willie Woodburn contains the lines: We know your heart’s at Ibrox Park With the boys in Royal Blue Royal Blue features in the anthem Who’s That Team. I always thought “light” was to distinguish Rangers from the dark blue of Scotland but more knowledgeable folk say it’s derived from an early newspaper report describing Rangers as “the light and speedy blues” presumably because they ran rings round a team of cumbersome heavy-footed opponents.

Bit harsh. Maybe.

I agree, but not to belittle Balogun, he was a bit of a journeyman when we brought him in. He's done great for us when he has played but there is no reason to think we cant go out and get a similar quality player with a similar profile. That's when Koppen and his team need to step up.

That chap used to play for the Hearts - what was his name, Knott-Goodenough Simms? - has scored for Coventry. Coventry let United get three first, unfortunately.

Matondo cannot start for us, can’t do it. Needs to be an impact sub.

Ooft!

anyone thought of just moving him out of the club

After the last three performances, the only realistic way to view Sunday is with a sense of dread. We have been bloody awful recently. A Hearts fan was goading me yesterday and I just reminded him that Hearts fans should maybe not get uppity about things that happen at Dens Park, which soon put his gas at a peep. Tosser.