der Berliner

In the running for an Ajay left-back on loan ...

One of the better Turkish journos: Rangers and Galatasaray continue negotiations for Rıdvan Yılmaz, but there is no agreement or a new official offer made by Galatasaray yet. Rıdvan will start the Hibernian match tonight in the first 11.

Meanwhile, on the transfer front, the BBC Scotland relies on "Rangers Review" for information ... Nordsjaelland midfielder Mohamed Diomande is expected to arrive in Scotland on Wednesday to finalise his move to Rangers after a £4.5m fee was agreed and the 22-year-old will sign a long term contract at Ibrox. (Rangers Review) La Gazzeto dello Sport though ... Roma in negotiations to seal Borna Barisic transfer as Rangers news emerges Roma are now in open negotiations to sign Rangers defender Borna Barisic before the end of the January transfer window, according to Gazzetta Dello Sport. The Italian newspaper has reported in its print edition [24 January, pg 23] that the Croatian is on the radar of the club, who have recently parted ways with Jose Mourinho. Ridvan doesn't want to go to Verona, which doesn't mean Galatasary is off the table ... again via Turkish reporters. Imagine that we lose two left-backs at once ... albeit both for money.

No surprise there really. Some of the Turks' rumour-mongers are worse than ours.

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 ...

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.

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.

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

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".

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.

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 ...

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?

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.

... 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.

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.