der Berliner

Just in ... we are willing (?) to pay Euro 5.3m for Diomande (I think not, he'S 11 months left on his contract)

... and we are interested in Luke Young (left-back) of Leiceister ...

43 minutes ago, Sutton_blows_goats said:

Gijs Smal has been associated with the two Scottish top clubs Celtic and Rangers FC for some time. The latter now seems to have taken the lead in signing the left back. According to Turkish journalist Orçun Ak, who says he writes for Ihlas Haber Ajansi, FC Twente has now reached an agreement with Rangers FC about the transfer fee.
 

https://www.twenteinsite.nl/transfers/transferproat-fc-twente-en-rangers-bereiken-akkoord-over-smal?twit=862

Another no-name Turkish journo pushes news about a foreign left-back's move which may or may not trigger the move of Ridvan to a Turkish club that a Turkish newspaper falsely claimed was forced upon Rangers by said Ridvan who seemingly knew not much about it. (I know that English speakers like their short sentences ... )

Let's hope we pull another couple of transfers like Diomande out of the hat, with no-one knows anything in advance about it.

4 hours ago, Idisi said:

Fashionable in those days. Today, so many superstars wear these pink boots, no matter the colour of their jerseys and socks. That really hurts the eyes, and you wonder what makes them wear this abominations. Money is my guess.

 

Over here, the Eisbären ice hockey team wears pink jerseys in November (Der Berliner?), raising money for breast cancer treatment. That is something I could agree with. 

Highlights ...

These are the games for the likes of Jack and Wright, yet, they get only a few mins. Very little from Cantwell today (not his weather). As I said pre-KO, we should have started the game with one more attacker, they hardly crossed the halfway line in the first half. 

We essentially stopped playing after the penalty, nothing unusual, yet Clement will probably be seething (and rightly so). Dire conditions, into the next round, off to the grog.

15 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

Tav, one assist, one goal 👋

Yeah, his usual fare ... not much more. 

6 minutes ago, Frankie said:

His first decent one of the evening...

Ha! Someone noticed that. 😎

That was one-way traffic all along, the goals were bound to come. Should have been more, I would assume the third will kill it and Dumbarton might run out of steam at some point. But it's the cup ...

Nice weather at the foot of the "Fortress of the Britons".

3 minutes ago, Malangsob said:

Beautiful evening for the fitba. 

 

Dessers high standard on display I see. 

 

Mon the Gers!

Time to check the record books and the days when we hammered the likes of Dumbarton by the half-dozen or even dozen with the likes of McCoist and Hateley leading the line, Laudrup et al ... 

It's been said yesterday that Shankland handed in a sick-note. Whether it is "mysterious" or "tactical" or just plain fact, who knows. In the meantime, reports have emerged that Ridvan "wanting away" as described in that Turkish newspaper (i.e. seemingly of the same standard as the Scottish Sun) were at best assumption and at worst a straight lie. At the end of the day, we shall see.

Regarding Shankland, the modus operandi of years gone by was to put a pre-contract in front of him and thus force the opposition's hand. He's not a freebie this summer, so that does not work. The silence on our side of this "saga" - and I mean every official, unofficial and ITK source - is far too quiet to make me think that this is actually a goer.

McCrorie

Tavernier - Goldson - Souttar - Ridvan

Lundstram - Raskin

McCausland - Cantwell - Matondo

Dessers

Subs: Butland, Silva, Jack, Lawrence, Wright, Balogun, Barisic, Devine, Rice.

Not even against the likes of Dumbarton do we move away from the de facto defensive 4-2-3-1 line up, leave one DM on the bench and buff up the attack from the off. Sure, one expects Lundstram and Raskin to be more attack-minded than usual, but why not start with another striker straight away, put them under pressure and see what happens? It's "doing Plan A better" ever since Warburton ...

Not much flying inside Scotland. Vladikavkas would be a problem though ...

Meanwhile, another rumour sprang up with another Bristol City player, this time striker Tommy Conway (21, English, but chose Scotland). 

Rangers interested in Scottish striker likened to Jamie Vardy ... never shy of a pompous headline over there, aren't they? Article also has some bits and pieces on Harry Souttar.

Quick check -  Conway - normal stats at Championship level, contract till 2025. City only has 3 recognized strikers right now though.

Quick check - Alexander Lind Rassmussen - 21, Danish, Silkeborg IF (Jan Bartram's old club, IRRC), 20 goals and 7 assists in 72 games, contract till 2026.

4 hours ago, Fa1833 said:

Those who aren’t fluent and have to translate 🤣🤣 

Plans

David Jurásek had everything to go to Mainz, the German emblem, until a last-minute proposal arrived, directly from Scotland

Rangers made a much better proposal to the SLB administration than Mainz's

Loan with purchase option

He was worth 12m (British pound) last summer. They will want a large chunk of that back, not least since he got a long contract.

Okay, now some rumours ...

Ridvan seems to be going to Galatasaray after all, not on loan, but with a 4m +/- fee involved. Or so they say.

Rangers are one of a several clubs who have reportedly made an approach for 21-year-old striker Luca Langoni. 

Langoni plays at Boca Juniors, has a contract till 2027, and is actually more a right winger. He will cost quite a bit.

Rangers are now looking at Benfica left back David Jurasek on a loan deal.

Jurasek moved to Benfica last summer in a 12m deal till 2028.

According to the Daily Mail, the Light Blues are one of a number of clubs showing an interest in versatile West Ham United defender Ben Johnson.

The report claims that Leeds United are keen on the young full-back, whilst Premier League side Sheffield United and Rangers are both monitoring his situation.

Old news ...

2 hours ago, Bluedell said:

You'll always find some fans who have an irrational dislike for a player and some of the hyperbole is unbecoming of a player who gave us a lot over the years.

 

Well, the big problem with him was that he was asked to play in a role that was required to score and assist. His big asset is his speed. Against the packed defences in the Scottish game, who essentially sussed him out after half a year or so, he simply did not score enough from the chances he created. His tally was utterly cool for a winger, no doubt about that. 

Now we have an upgrade in Sima, who is doing what he is asked to do, but let's have a look:

Abdallah Sima -  33 games (avg. 71 mins) - 15 goals - 3 assists

Ross McCausland - 21 games (avg. 57 mins) - 3 goals  -1 assists

Scott Wright - 99 games (avg. 36 mins) - 9 goals - 7 assists

Ryan Kent - 218 games (avg. 81 mins) - 33 goals - 56 assists* 

One can do the maths regarding goals and assists and the time inbetween each.

Anyway, we have an overload in wingers and wing-player still.

*How many of those was a foul for a penalty that was usually converted by Tavernier? Especially in Europe?

2 hours ago, alexscottislegend said:

You forget the high number of free kicks as well. We all know he is suspect defensively but if he wasn't, he would be in the EPL and the England team. To replace him, we would need to find a RB who can give us his goals tally (leaving aside penalties) and that is near nigh impossible on our budget.

I do not forget this. Like I do not forget all those attempts where he could not hit a barn door from a reasonable free-kick position but still pushed anyone else away, bar Borna on the odd occasion. Countless games where he managed to hit the first man with 8 out of 10 attempted crosses, a neat pass-back to a Yahoo to kill any hopes of a title back in the season pre-55. He's part of every slaughtering by the Yahoos past promotion etc..

He is having a good season now, as I noted above. Stats and performance wise. He will be with us for some time still, but he, like Ridvan, is not beyond criticism. And some of the latter levelled at Ridvan (and sometimes Borna) is ridiculous, not least if compared to Tavernier's performance on those very days.

5 minutes ago, CammyF said:

It's hardly the odd cross, his assists and scoring stats are unreal for a right back. All for a couple of hundred grand IIRC. 

... 7,5 years ago. He's not the future, nor the messiah of all right-backs. Point regarding his contribution and the criticism on his performances remains. He's having a good season now, as he had during the 55 one. And I'll stop turning this into a Tav debate now. I see your point, know the arguments, and do not agree.

Meanwhile, Gers are checking on Bristol City left-back Cameron Pring, and considering a swoop as they look to fill their problem position. (Scottish Sun)

Quick check: Cameron (lewis Moir-)Pring - 25-year-old Englishman, contract till 2026, average stats.

Former Rangers midfielder Rino Gattuso has denied the Ibrox club the services of Josh Doig after the 21-year-old left-back agreed a £4.3m transfer to Marseille from Hellas Verona. (Sunday Post, print edition)

4.3m ... we were never going to pay anything close to that.

Rangers are pursuing a move to sign 26-year-old FC Twente left-back Gijs Smal, whose current contract is due to end this summer, this month after missing out on Hellas Verona's Josh Doig collapse, but the Ibrox club could opt to wait until he becomes a free agent to avoid a fee. (Football Insider)

Rangers, Leeds United and Sheffield United are among the clubs keen on landing West Ham United defender Ben Johnson on loan this month, with the 23-year-old out of favour with the Premier League club and out of contract this summer. (Football Insider)

I would assume, we will have to cut ties to e.g. Davies first.

Winter usually ain't a problem, as there is ice hockey in the town. The bigger problem is the Rangers-/Eisbären-less summer ...

And I, for one, are not much interested in any other football event, unless there is a Rangers player involved here and there.

1 hour ago, alexscottislegend said:

And how many times has he dragged the TEAM out of disasters too?

By scoring a penalty (that anyone else might very well have converted) or whipping in one good cross out of 15? There is no denying in Tav's worth to the side over the years, yet, the amount of criticism he escapes as opposed to Borna and Ridvan is somewhat baffling. 

It looks very much no Doig now ...

1 minute ago, CammyF said:

Haha - that's desperation. He's getting moved on because he's failed (for various reasons) to break into the team and make the left back position his own.

 

Said above, Borna isn't great, but history will show Ridvan was signed to replace him and failed miserably.

 

We need a new left back in this window 

Mate, you made your point, I don't agree, you can move on.

In for a laugh?

Rangers want to sign Benfica ace David Jurasek as Manchester United £8.6m move opens door for transfer

Rangers have seen the door opened for them to sign Benfica star David Jurasek amid an £8.6m Manchester United development, according to HITC.

Writing on their website (13 January), the news outlet report that the Portuguese giants are closing in on a deal for Alvaro Fernandez on loan with an option to buy worth £8.6m.

And that should see Jurasek allowed to leave Lisbon after arriving for £12m in the summer, with Rangers keen on doing a deal for the 23-year-old Czech Republic international.

“Alvaro Fernandez, HITC has been informed, is close to joining Benfica from the Red Devils, cutting short his loan spell at La Liga outfit Granada in the process,” they wrote.

“The Spain under 21 left-back will move to the Primeira Liga powerhouses initially on a temporary basis, albeit with an £8.6 million option-to-buy clause in his contract.

“HITC also understands that Fernandez’s arrival will open the door for fellow left-back David Jurasek to leave Benfica. Rangers and Marseille are fans of the 23-year-old Czech Republic defender.

But Philippe Clement is seemingly adamant on getting rid of Yilmaz and replacing him in this window, and the transfer of Josh Doig could be the first domino to fall.

The Scot is heading to Marseille according to reports, and Verona want to replace him with Yilmaz. With Benfica then signing Fernandez from Manchester United, that leaves the path clear for Rangers to bring in Jurasek and give the boss what he wants.

Whether it’s a loan or a cut price deal it will be interesting to keep an eye on in the coming days, but Rangers could be set for a new saga to get underway.

Quick check: Jurasek has a contract till 2028 and was signed for Euro 14m this summer. these guys should sell their medicine rather than their rumours.

1 minute ago, CammyF said:

Clearly? Yeah, that's why we are looking to move him on 

Maybe he wants to go? Maybe he is the only sellable asset that brings money and wants to or is willing go? Borna has six months left and no indication that he won't do a Morelos, Kent etc..