Uilleam

A new Brigadoon themed "away" strip is on the way. Well, how often do we actually win things? It's been leaked on-line. Below are a couple of cheerleaders modelling it.... Yanks, eh?

Some interesting, and objective, observations from The Times' football stats and data man, on BF. Barry Ferguson’s tactical notes left Rangers lost in Bilbao The interim head coach’s instructions confused his own side in their Europa League quarter-final second leg and reflect a wider theme from the Premiership Ferguson passes on a tactical note to Tavernier during the Europa League defeat ANDER GILLENEA/AFP Hamzah Khalique-Loonat, Football Data Journalist Friday April 18 2025, 7.20pm, The Times Barry Ferguson initially attempted to bat away questions about his Rangers future but, eventually, bit at one, “I know I can do the job,” he said. The Rangers manager was in a defiant mood. Coaches have a short time to compose themselves after a match before heading into their post-match press conferences, but more often than not, they are still stinging after defeat. This was no exception and when Ferguson spoke, his words came from his heart. So despite advancing his own ambitions to lead Rangers permanently, Ferguson also channeled his emotions as a proud supporter and former player. “I’m just concerned in terms of what happens; I just want my club to get back to where it should be,” he said. “That’s my main concern. Whether that’s me or somebody else, and if it’s not me, I’ll fully support them. I’ll go back and do what I was doing before and get right behind [them], making sure that we get the club back to winning trophies on a regular basis.” This was not his finest hour. The manager had reshuffled and reorganised his team throughout the game via slips of paper delivered onto the field, and they looked lost for large periods of it, as only Bilbao’s errant finishing spared Rangers an embarrassing scoreline. Most of ’recent failings cannot be laid at Ferguson’s door. He inherited a listing side, whose failings look worse because of Celtic’s brilliance in the league, and bravely offered to help right the ship. But that makes no difference to Rangers’ board who, come the end of the season, will have to consider whether Ferguson, at this point in his managerial career, is the figure to lead the club. Underlying statistics suggest that Rangers have got worse under Ferguson ION ALCOBA BEITIA/GETTY IMAGES Since Ferguson took charge in late February, Rangers have won and lost four apiece and drawn two matches. Among those ten games are outstanding results, such as Rangers’ victory over Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, memorable wins, like Rangers’ first win at Parkhead since 2020, and stirring acts of defiance evidenced this weekend against Aberdeen and at Ibrox against Athletic Bilbao. But the performances have not been as convincing; Rangers have been riding their luck, and their defeat to Bilbao was another demonstration of this. The first half was an almighty mess: Rangers had two — extremely optimistic — efforts from range, while Bilbao should have scored four, with Nico Williams (twice) and Oihan Sancet having golden opportunities before John Souttar fouled Maroan Sannadi inside the penalty area to give Sancet a spot kick. The shot count in the first half was 15-2; Bilbao had 268 passes to Rangers’ 175; and 22 touches in the opposition’s penalty area to Rangers’ none. Had Rangers come to play a defensive, tight first-half, those numbers would have made sense. There is logic in soaking up pressure, and playing to counter. Yet, the manager stressed before the match the difference between this match and the first leg was that his team needed to show some quality with possession — within seven seconds of kick-off, they booted the ball out of play. Ferguson’s words were not mere rhetoric, either: Rangers had come to play, but simply couldn’t. They strung together possession sequences of 10 or more passes on just three occasions. The visitors were pinned back by Bilbao, who found it easy to play through their press, albeit more challenging to pick apart their back five. But there was nothing redeeming about their work with possession; the forwards were isolated, the defenders unsure of when and where to pass to, playing short when direct options were better and going long when they were unprepared to contest the second ball — no better exemplified than in the moments leading to Bilbao’s penalty: Liam Kelly kicked long, with not long until half-time. Bilbao made uncontested contact on the first ball, and recovered it near their own penalty area. Dessers ran forward, to apply pressure, but behind him Rangers’ midfield four was disorganised. Bilbao had two midfielders unmarked in the centre of the pitch, and it took just one pass infield to precipitate a break which ended with Souttar felling Sannadi. There were countless examples of similar disorganisation across the opening 45 minutes. Yet across both halves, Ferguson made constant changes to his team, supposedly to fix these issues. These were not small adjustments or tweaks, but fundamental alterations to the team’s structure and how they played. Rangers started the match using a 3-4-2-1 with possession and a 5-4-1 without, but both systems were altered via messages to James Tavernier, scrawled onto scraps of paper, and the captain was then tasked with ensuring his team-mates understood the changes. The confused and unsure reactions of the players as they attempted to slot into position, only to look over to the bench and see Ferguson clarifying via finger motions, meant the changes were often not in effect until two or three breaks in play after the initial message had been passed on. Bilbao, meanwhile, were slicing through the spaces with ease. It was difficult to communicate amid the din, but Rangers’ players looked unprepared. After the match, the manager was unrepentant about how he set his team up, “My formation, I thought, was good enough,” he said. The subsequent first-half tactical changes, he explained, were injury-induced, referring to Ridvan Yilmaz. “You can’t help an injury after 23 minutes, then you have to shuffle, [there’s] people running about and it unsettles us for a small period of time,” he continued. “After getting in at half-time, I have to make another change, and then, obviously, [there’s] changes in the second half — but that’s part of football.” Advertisement The second half, to Ferguson’s credit, showed more promise. When Rangers built out, their structure was visible. The back four, spread across the pitch and supported by a midfield double-pivot, looked stable. With those players in place, the visitors could advance. Combination and approach play followed. Possession rose from 39 per cent in the first half to 50 per cent in the second. The shot count looked more even: Bilbao had seven to Rangers’ five; between the 58th and 69th minutes, Rangers had three to Bilbao’s none. Then came another of Ferguson’s tactical tweaks, and with it went Rangers’ momentum. Even then, Rangers were, frankly, lucky to still be in the game. Ferguson may point to the two penalty decisions he believed went against his team — the first, a shirt pull on Cyriel Dessers, the second a handball — and it’s entirely true that a penalty decision may have changed the course of the game. However, neither of those opportunities appeared to have been caused by Rangers continually stressing Bilbao in the way Souttar’s foul on Williams was. And this performance and Ferguson’s constant tactical tinkering sits among a wider backdrop of Rangers striving to find a playing identity, and somehow alighting on a defensive, counter-attacking gameplan that is not befitting of Rangers. Ferguson’s changes and tweaks have not been working, as evidenced by how his team’s attacking production has worsened, just like their defensive record But Ferguson stood by his changes. “That’s my job, as manager,” he said. “I need to try and find a formula to try and get back into the game. I’m not scared to make changes. “I said that when I took the job, watching Rangers week in, week out, there was no flexibility whatsoever — that’s a difference we’ve made since we’ve come through the door. “Whether that’s a back three, four, or a five, whatever, I’ve got to try, come up with scenarios that can get us back into the game.” The problem is, his constant tinkering quashed Rangers’ chance of a comeback on Thursday, and have left his team more generally without an identiy and idea to draw upon when they need to. The former midfielder has every right to make his case to Rangers that he should be the man to lead the club, that he can find a style of play that can bring the best out of these players, but right now, as Rangers’ performance against Bilbao showed, and the preceding nine games have intimated, it appears Rangers require a steadier, more experienced hand with a greater sense of clarity to return the club to the top of Scottish football. e

Yes, well, there is fuck all we can do about it. But I don't think we should look at it with unalloyed horror.

It is to do with 'dual ownership' rules. These strictures may change if/when LUFC is promoted. You would hope that Cavenaugh retains the controlling interest of the controlling interest, as that would mean the interests of LUFC would not override those of Rangers.

Some, like the Glazers, but all?

It's a development arm of a sports' business. I don't think it is a separate entity. Cavenaugh is not a sports' business guy, and it seems that when the 51% threshold is reached, he will own 26%, and the 49ers, 25%. It seems to me that if you want to invest in sports, you might be wise to get in tow with people who know how to run sports' businesses. We can assume for the moment that Cavenaugh, and the 49ers are on the same page.

I have the feeling that it is a long term thing for the Americans. I don't think that they can buy another NFL team, as the rules probably preclude it, and other barriers to entry (price, principally) would be huge. Extending the 'empire' into other US sports, at the top level, would be similarly extortionate. European soccer, thus, looks like a decent bet, for a price less than prohibitive. Rangers, Scottish football, is something of an outlier, literally, and it doesn't seem to me that anyone bona fide could make a short term killing, or at least a quick return of such significance as to pique the interest of heavy hitters in the sports business world. (Jumped up corner boys, these guys are not.) In other words, significant players will -of necessity- look to a longer term return. Do you drink instant coffee? I don't.

So, the 49ers fans hate the owners? How do the Yanks maximise profits and value?

You're right: the driver of everything is a successful team on the field of play.

What have they done at LUFC? Has it all been bad, cynical, and exploitative? Has any of it?

It defies explanation.

Neither do those who attach themselves to modish 'causes', merely on, it seems, the grounds of their trendiness - 'woke advocates' as you style them. Is that kind of thing not more your cup of chai?

Rangers blunder ref banned by own FA for penalty errors 4 hrs ago Rangers FC Europa League Rangers Gossip By Mark Walker Rangers blunder ref banned by own FA for penalty errors | Rangers Review Bosnian ref Irfan Peljto was handed a six-match ban by his own FA earlier this season for three mistakes in one game. And two of his errors involved his failure to award clear penalties. Rangers boss Barry Ferguson was fuming after his side were denied what he insisted were two clear penalties in their 2-0 quarter finals defeat in Spain to Athletic Bilbao. The Ibrox club were unhappy that Peljto or his VAR team didn't give spot kicks after Cyriel Dessers had his shirt pulled in the penalty box by Yeray Alvarez and they claimed there was an Athletic handball in the box after a Nico Raskin effort in the second half too. Peljto has history with Rangers after awarding Belgian club Union St Gilloise a penalty three years ago in a Champions League qualifier for a controversial handball against Connor Goldson. And he was also sidelined by his own Bosnian FA for an error-strewn disaster of a game in September this season. The 40-year-old, who has been a FIFA ref for ten years - was in the charge of a bitter derby between Zrinjski Mostar and Borac Banja. And in a scathing verdict, the Committee for Referees and Refereeing of the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, confirmed that Peljto made three mistakes in the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw. According to their assessment, he failed to award a penalty for Borac and then missed a foul in the very next attack, which led to a goal for Zrinjski. His final cock-up came when he failed to award a penalty to Zrinjski Mostar, which should have been given. He was suspended for six games in the Bosnian league and the VAR officials for that game were all also handed six-game bans. The Bosnian FA statement explained: "In the 25th minute, the referee, although very well positioned and with a clear view of the incident, failed to recognise an obvious foul and award a penalty kick to FK Borac. "In the 26th minute, the referee, although well positioned, failed to award a direct free kick for the away team after a clear foul which led to a goal for the home team "In the 90th+5 minute, the referee failed to award a clear penalty kick for Zrinjski too."

He's not a Yank. However....... He is.

Women's rights are not important, then? Tricky to argue that, but I am sure you will be able to put the gals straight on these matters.

Lord Hodge stopped the Magic Roundabout yesterday morning.

And you have the xPen statistics to back this up, no doubt.

When you can barely trap the ball, are unable to pass the ball to a member f your side, and when your movement, at its best, is sluggish, then you are unlikely to win the match, irrespective of strategy, tactics, formation, etc. The paucity of basic skills, clear for 80% of the game, was, frankly, embarrassing.

The Final, of course is in Bilbao......So

If you say so.

Athletic Club 4/11 Rangers 17/2 Not much optimism, there, although Rangers has shortened from 9/1 this morning, with some bookies now offering 15/2. There is a very significant difference in odds, in a two horse race. We might suppose that this divergence reflects perceptions of Rangers' chances of winning over 90mins.

Carlo Ancelotti will be looking for a new billet, come the end of the season, or so it is rumoured. Just, em, sayin'....

The U-18 goalkeeper, apparently.