ian1964

1-0 Malawi, 23 minutes played

He's hardly had a sustained run in his best position,so a tad harsh IMO.

I've seen it before, a few times actually, superb bit of sportsmanship from Goram

UNDER-FIRE Rangers star Kyle Lafferty has opened his heart to the Sunday Mail to dismiss claims he is skint and hit back at critics of his horror Old Firm tackle. In an explosive interview, Lafferty, 22: Denied having problems paying bills. Branded Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas "a joke". And defended himself over the horrific tackle that shocked Scottish football. The �£3.25million Northern Ireland international said he won't back down in two cash disputes revealed by the Sunday Mail - one with an English legal firm, the other with his former dog walker. The �£15,000-a-week star also insisted there was no malice in his tackle on Celtic defender Andreas Hinkel during last Sunday's SPL clash with Celtic. Lafferty has been under siege after a week from hell both on and off the pitch. He is being sued by his former lawyers, Beswicks, for �£14,373 in alleged unpaid fees. And his former dog walker wants almost �£1000 for care of his pet pugs. But Lafferty said: "Whenever I hear about these stories, my partner Tori and I just laugh. "If I knew they were right, then I would pay the money. They would get it in the morning. "All I can say is my solicitors are looking at it. I won't pay a guy money that I don't think he deserves." Lafferty insisted the disputes were not a result of any financial problems, adding: "I don't have money difficulties. "I've got a nice, big house. I've got two nice cars, including a Bentley, and I'm test-driving a Porsche. "Tori and I have nice clothes and we eat in nice restaurants most nights. "Only I know how much I'm earning at Rangers and I've got good people looking after me." He denied suggestions that he was spending large amounts on a gambling habit and said: "Everyone likes a bet, from people that are earning �£1000 a month to whatever footballers earn. "I admit that I like a bet but I wouldn't say that it's extraordinary money. "I'm no different from anyone else but I don't trust giving my details online, so any betting I do, I go into a bookies. "I think that's why gamblers get so bad, being online. It makes it so easy. I don't have any online accounts, I never have." Adding to the pressure on Lafferty over the past week has been the widespread and fierce criticism of his tackle on German star Hinkel 30 minutes into the game at Celtic Park last weekend. The challenge earned him a yellow card - but many fans and pundits believe it should have been red. No one was more outspoken than former Celtic star Nicholas, who said: "It was a disgraceful foul. He should have been off the park immediately. "I have no doubt Lafferty knew where he was placing his six studs as he came flying in and he has to go for a dangerous tackle like that." Lafferty hit back: "Ever since last weekend, I have been looking at the papers and this guy Charlie Nicholas. "I don't know much about him, although I know that he played for Scotland. I think he scored five goals for the national side - so that pretty much says it all. "I am 22and have beaten that record at a professional level already. I read his quotes about me and I think he's a joke. "Did he play for Celtic? I don't have a clue. I know pretty much all the top footballers and at first, I wondered if he was a cricketer. I had never even heard of him. "I've now heard stories about 'Champagne Charlie', so basically I just laugh at him. I think he's a joke. "Obviously, he has to go on the TV and make a couple of points. It's happened to a few players, also fellow Rangers players, and I don't think he's fit to lace their boots." On the tackle itself, he said: "Only I know what I was doing. "I went to go for the ball and I misread Hinkel. If you watch the footage, he's actually turned inside and he had the ball backwards and his whole body position moved from me sliding to when I finally hit him. "I never meant to hurt him. I would never go out to hurt a fellow pro. "I think if I made that kind of tackle against some other team in Scotland that wasn't Celtic in an Old Firm derby, there wouldn't be half as much press about it." One regret Lafferty does own up to was getting Charlie Mulgrew sent off in a match against Aberdeen during last season's SPL title run-in. The Rangers striker feigned injury from a supposed headbutt and admits he was ashamed of his actions. He said: "The thing with Charlie Mulgrew - to this day, I don't know why I did that. It was a big mistake. I let everyone down - my family and Rangers Football Club. "I think my attitude has changed a lot since the Mulgrew incident. "I am probably my own biggest critic. I knew my head was gone, signing for such a big club, and I think it all got to me. I think I thought I was better than I was. "I wouldn't say I became arrogant but I was probably a wee bit cocky with it." Lafferty, who has been plagued by injury since his �£3.25million move to Rangers from Burnley in June 2008, admitted that the past 18 months had been a steep learning curve, even though he knew what he was getting into. He said: "I grew up supporting Rangers so I knew both the football and the religion side of things with the Old Firm. I knew it was going to be hard and the pressure that would come with it. "But I think I'm big enough to take it and let my football do the talking. "A lot of people judge me - judge us all - before they meet us. But once they meet me, I hope they realise that I am down to earth and basically a good lad." He admitted that his conduct on the pitch could have made him even more of a target for irate opposition fans, but added: "I just take it as a bit of banter. "It has gone beyond banter sometimes though. I've had my cars scraped in the past. I've had people shouting abuse. "But it's nothing I can't handle and I just think they're jealous people." Lafferty also paid tribute to his fiancee Tori Smith for supporting him, saying: "I have to admit, she's been brilliant. "When things weren't going well for me, like last season when I had a lot of injuries, coming home to a house with Tori being there kind of takes my head away from the football part. "We haven't set a date for our wedding yet. I know it's a big day for both of us and we want it to be perfect." Sky Sports refused to comment yesterday but a spokesman said Nicholas would be made aware of Lafferty's comments.

Aye, we are still in the cup despite a poor performance, and correct me if I'm wrong but we are still unbeaten in the Scottish cup for three years ??, we live to fight another day.

It's a fix

Mmmmmmm, there is a joke in there somewhere......................I just can't see it

No it's not, I watched the draw SIMPLES , leave the paranoia to the MOPES.

TBH, I don't really see the point in your post,it's the luck of the draw SIMPLES.

Togo prime minister wants the team out today

First thing I'd do would be to put him on a new contract

Rangers donââ?¬â?¢t want to lose one of their best finds in recent years and so far have refused to even put a valuation on the central defender. Wilson has only just turned 18. Earlier this season, when he was 17, he became the youngest Rangers player to appear in a competitive European match. Ibrox boss Walter Smith ââ?¬â?? Fergieââ?¬â?¢s former assistant at United ââ?¬â?? is confi dent Wilson is already capable of handling the pressure of big matches. And Rangers are now bracing themselves for a Premier League raid led by United. Sir Alex has also been alerted to Real Madridââ?¬â?¢s decision to make midfi elder Mahamadou Diarra available in the January transfer window. Diarra, 28, was linked with United when he was at Lyon. But any chance of a move to United or another top European club all hinges on Realââ?¬â?¢s valuation of the combative ball-winner. Diarraââ?¬â?¢s agent Frederic Guerra said his client was available. But he added: ââ?¬Å?For now, in January, it is possible but it will be very difficult. It depends how much money a club is willing to pay the player and how much Real want for the player." ââ?¬Å?His contract finishes in 2011, so he still has time to run.ââ?¬Â

Bougherra defiant about Africa Cup of Nations MADJID BOUGHERRA insists the shootings in Angola haven't shaken his desire to triumph at the Africa Cup of Nations. Shattered Togo have withdrawn from the competition after Friday's machine-gun attack on their team bus killed three people. It led to calls for all British-based players to withdraw from Africa's international tournament. But Rangers star Bougherra, right, is staying focused on Algeria's opening match tomorrow. He said: "Of course, this is a very serious and unfortunate situation. But all we are thinking about is our match against Malawi. "We have had good preparation for the competition and, mentally, we are equipped to deal with this. "Our aim is to go as far as possible in the Africa Cup of Nations and bring joy to the Algerian people." Algeria's team bus came under attack in Egypt in their World Cup qualifier two months ago. Three players were hurt, but Algeria battled back to win a play-off and secure a place in the finals. Bougherra added: "We've been through so much. But we have kept on fighting and never given up. We can't let anything break our concentration as it's so important to get off to a good start." Celtic midfielder Landry N'Guemo's Cameroon side could also be withdrawn. Boss Paul Le Guen said: "I'm a little worried. It was a tragic incident. "It's not worth losing lives for the sake of football. If this continues, we will have no choice but to consider withdrawing from the tournament." Hibs boss John Hughes has been trying to contact Sol Bamba at the Ivory Coast camp. He said: "We've been trying to get in touch with Sol just to make sure everything is alright but we haven't managed to speak to him yet so I don't know what the update is." http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/scottish_sport/668692/Rangers-ace-vows-to-stay-in-Africa-despite-Togo-team-attack.html

KRIS BOYD will turn his back on a mega-bucks Premiership move to STAY at Rangers - provided the SPL champions pay him �£20,000-a-week. Sport of the World can reveal Boyd will reject massive offers from Birmingham and Middlesbrough to sign a new contract at Ibrox. However to make the deal happen Gers chief executive Martin Bain will have to find another �£2,000-a-week, after offering goal machine Boyd, right, �£18,000-a-week to stay. That would mean a �£1million per year deal for Boyd - yet that's significantly less than is already on the table down South. As we exclusively revealed last week, Boro boss Strachan wanted Boyd to team up with Celtic's Scott McDonald at the Riverside and was prepared to offer the SPL's record scorer �£25,000-a- week to move to the Championship. Yet even that �£1.25m deal was dwarfed by Alex McLeish who has offered Boyd an incentive-based deal worth more than �£1.5m-a-year to join him in the Premiership with Birmingham. That would net Boyd a cool �£30,000-a-week if he hits his targets and is way more than he is asking from Rangers. However the 26-year-old believes he is currently in the form of his life and if Rangers can raise the bar to offer him a �£1m-a-year contract he would be happy to sign on for the next four years with his boyhood heroes. It remains to be seen if cash-strapped Gers can cough up the extra money too keep Boyd which amounts to more than �£100,000-a-year on top of their original offer. But having come this close to fighting off Boro and Birmingham, Gers may go the extra mile to tie their man up on a new long-term deal rather than risk losing him for nothing this summer. Meanwhile, Lee McCulloch urged Boyd to think carefully before being tempted to quit Ibrox. McCulloch said: "For Kris it's a choice of money or trophies. Any player wants to win things and his chances of doing that elsewhere obviously depends on where he goes. "What I do know is if he stays here he's going to be worshipped even more by the Rangers fans and will be playing for a fantastic club that's going to be challenging to win things every season. "But it's up to the club to do everything they can to keep him. "That should be their priority because when you have someone scoring that amount of goals every season and playing as well as Kris is just now, he becomes one of the most important players in the squad. "Everyone's fingers are crossed in the dressing room they can come to some sort of deal. "I don't know what he is thinking, but I just hope he stays and I know all the other players feel the same way. "It's up to the club to meet his demands, as long as he is not being greedy, and get the contract signed - because he proves every year that he is the best in Scotland at scoring goals." http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/scottish_sport/668984/Kris-Boyd-is-set-to-snub-the-Premiership-and-sign-on-at-Ibrox.html

Cracking goal Adam scored

Highlights about to start on the beeb

See oor Charlie scored again !! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/8442419.stm

Text I received,'' Togo team bus attacked,loads of shots but only three hit the target,was Samars involved ?''.

That's where I was heading mate,unbelievable that teams are willing to carry on IMO, remember we still have the WC to come and I for one would not attend if Scotland had qualified

Aye,I'm having a wee bevvy in the hoos and waiting for my wee chinese to arrive

Aye, me to, looks like you and me are the only ones talking , I know Gers110 is lurking there

Half time,first and only attack and they score,good enough for Manure

Big Eck has Birmingham playing the same way he had Scotland playing

If this is not a good enough reason for all the teams to boycott the tournament then I don't know what is

1-0 Birmingham