ian1964

WALTER SMITH says Rangers only have one way of getting back into the title race ââ?¬â? by showing the same PRIDE as Celtic. Gers are seven points behind their rivals after Saturdayââ?¬â?¢s Old Firm loss. Smith reckons that thereââ?¬â?¢s little between the pair but insists they have to show more grit to claw the Hoops back. Champions He said: ââ?¬Å?There is not much between the teams but Celtic have shown pride and determination in terms of being champions. ââ?¬Å?It has seen them through a period when they have maybe not been playing their best football but have been winning games. Credit to them for that. We have not shown that edge. We have lost this month to Celtic and Hearts which has been disappointing for us ââ?¬â? it is something we have to develop.ââ?¬Â Smith knows there is little room for any more slip-ups. He wants his side to show the form they showed this time last season when they went on a 13-game winning streak in the SPL. Smith said: ââ?¬Å?We have a situation where we know we have to go on that type of run if we hope to get ourselves back in the championship race. Trailing ââ?¬Å?It was a big disappointment to lose the game and losing our home record at the same time. League wise, it gives us a lot to do now in the second half of the season. ââ?¬Å?We have reached the halfway stage and we find ourselves trailing Celtic by seven points which is not what anyone wants.ââ?¬Â Smith added: ââ?¬Å?We won the game at Celtic Park ââ?¬â? when the chances came we took them. There wasnââ?¬â?¢t much between the two teams in the first half there. ââ?¬Å?We took our chances and capitalised on an error. The games have been like that. We maybe edged the number of opportunities on Saturday but Celtic got the goal and we were struggling after that.ââ?¬Â Charlie Adam was a surprise starter against Celtic and Smith insists he still has a part to play at Ibrox even though the club will listen to offers. He said: ââ?¬Å?He gives us good balance and a bit of strength.ââ?¬Â Smith hopes Madjid Bougherra will be back for Sundayââ?¬â?¢s clash with Caley Thistle after missing the Celtic game due to a thigh strain. Meanwhile, Hamilton have made a bold bid to sign highly rated Gers reserve star Jordan McMillan in a six month loan deal. Advertisement Click here Accies boss Billy Reid is desperate to bolster his squad for their relegation scrap. And McMillan has been targeted as the man to help keep the club in the top flight. The 20-year-old is one of the most promising youngsters on the books at Ibrox. McMillan has yet to make his first-team debut but is a regular on the bench as one of the under-21 players. http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/article2081746.ece

Was thinking that myself..............shop window ?

I'm quite sure Nacho could've done a job on the left against the MOPES, he had been playing well in the reserves and has a good record against the dirty mob yet can't get a start so why do we all think Aaron or Fleck would do any better.I'm all for giving the young guys a chance but I would rather have seen Nacho starting on Saturday

Aye...............we've already got enough strikers, don't think he can play LM

I can't see Wilkie signing, paper talk, the guys knee is fooked

What...........play a player out of position ?, don't let WS hear you !!!

Dec 30 2008 By Keith Jackson DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA last night confirmed their interest in Rangers striker Nacho Novo and revealed they could table an offer next week. Record Sport revealed yesterday how the La Liga big guns were considering a January move for the 29-year-old after watching him gun down Iran in an international friendly in La Coruna on Saturday night. Novo jetted into northern Spain immediately after coming off the bench in the Old Firm derby to play in his second game in one day. He lasted an hour, won the man of the match award and scored twice as a Galician select claimed a 3-2 win. And yesterday Deportivo's president, Augusto Cesar Lendoiro - who attended the match against the Iranians at the Riazor - admitted the little striker is now high on the club's list of possible transfer targets. Lendoiro will have talks with boss Miguel Angel Lotina and sporting director Ricardo Moar Rios next week to finalise plans for the January transfer window. But last night he said: "Nacho Novo is a player who is attractive to Deportivo because of his Galician background and also because of his contractual situation in Glasgow. "We know he is out of contract at the end of this season so we would not be talking about a big fee. "But nothing is decided yet. These are the kind of things we have to discuss internally as we make our plans for January. "But there will be official talks in the next few days and Nacho Novo is a name that will come up." Lendoiro is believed to have been hugely impressed by Novo's performance against Iran and is understood to have joked to the player after the match that it was time for his return. Novo has just five months left on his current Rangers contract and had hoped to convince manager Walter Smith to offer him a new deal. He would find it an emotional wrench to end his Ibrox love affair-even despite his recent chronic lack of first-team starts. But it has seemed lately as if the striker is fighting a losing battle to win a place in Walter Smith's first XI, mainly appearing from the bench. And, having never played in the Spanish top flight, Novo would be faced with a difficult decision if Deportivo follow up their interest with a firm offer of a contract.

Done, I hope all the bears that agree sign this petition

By Andrew Dickson WALTER SMITH insists Rangers have not been made aware of interest in any of their players ahead of the transfer window opening on Thursday. A number of Ibrox stars have been linked with moves away from the club in the last few days, with Andrius Velicka and Nacho Novo two of the latest. Nacho NovoOne report has claimed Hearts are keen on resigning Velicka while another has said Deportivo La Coruna want to take Spanish striker Novo back to his homeland. Smith is getting used to the speculation that comes with the transfer window system, having only become caught up in it for the first time when he returned to Gers. All he would confirm is that as he looks ahead to what's expected to be a busy month in the market, he will have to trim his squad before he can bolster it again. Smith said: "We would hope to be active in the transfer market in terms of bringing players in but that is dependent on who we get out. "We have too many lads in the group who are not playing and they don't like that, which means it's not conducive to having a good squad. "Nacho is going to Spain in one newspaper then going to Hull in another and there's quite a gap between the two. "We get to the open season when people are free to speculate but the fact is we've had no contact at this stage regarding any of our players.Charlie Adam "We will just have to wait and see what happens. You go for a few months when the transfer window is closed and you don't have any speculation but now it has started. "When I returned to Rangers, it was the first time I had really experienced that sort of situation with the window and there are a great deal of rumours at the moment. "Of course, we have scouts in place as people do at every club but, first and foremost, we must adjust our current squad before we look at bringing bodies in." Smith has hinted Charlie Adam might have a future at Ibrox after all, just days after it seemed his time with Rangers was poised to come to an end. The midfielder was a surprise starter against Celtic on Saturday and the manager was relatively satisfied with how the 23-year-old performed. He added: "Charlie has been in and out of the team and whether he's happy with that or not is another matter. "But he can do a job for us. He has done so in the past and will continue to do so in the weeks ahead."

Dec 29 2008 By Keith Jackson NACHO NOVO may have fired his way to a shock January return to Spain after starring for an all-star select in La Coruna hours after his Old Firm snub. The Rangers striker bagged a stunning double for his home region of Galicia on Saturday as the Spaniards beat Iran 3-2. Novo was flown by private jet to the North of Spain right after playing for only the final 16 minutes of his side's 1-0 defeat against Celtic at Ibrox. And he shook off his disappointment to steal the show with two terrific goals in front of a host of onlooking Primera Liga bosses who were among the 25,000 crowd at the Raizor. Novo, who only made it to the ground 30 minutes before kick-off, was subbed after an hour but left to a standing ovation from the home fans. And his performance is understood to have caught the eye of Deportivo La Coruna's president Augusto Cesar Lendoiro. Novo has become an increasingly frustrated figure at Ibrox because of a chronic lack of first-team chances and was linked with a s2million move to Hull City ahead of the derby defeat. The 29-year-old has never hidden his desperation to win over boss Walter Smith but hasn't started a game since November 9. The lure of returning home to play in La Liga could tempt him into ending his love affair with the Glasgow club. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/2008/12/29/exclusive-nacho-novo-set-for-la-liga-switch-86908-21002362/

I've not heard if Webster is back, but if he is and he is fit then he will get a chance when Bougherra leaves

Aye and if everybody thinks he is gash,then that will only make WS to keep playing him

At least it is a good picture !!!!!!

Shop window ?

I was being sarcastic

C'mon now,Lafferty is a '' YOUTH ''

Yip,if somebody comes in for any of our players they will be off

Maybe we should send this to WS http://www.aaronboria.com/

I think he will leave in January

By Andrew Dickson WALTER SMITH bemoaned Rangers' lack of a cutting edge after they failed to take their chances and lost 1-0 to Celtic. The Light Blues had several opportunities to go in front in the second Old Firm clash of the season but were off target too often. Ally McCoist and Walter SmithThey then paid for that when Scott McDonald put the Parkhead outfit in front and his strike ultimately proved to be the winner. Smith feels his men did play well enough to get a positive result from the derby but admits his men weren't sharp enough in front of goal. He said: "We are obviously disappointed to lose the game. I felt we started well enough and until the goal, I felt you could argue we were the better side. "But after we went behind, we lost a bit of composure as we started pouring forward in search of an equaliser. "Celtic defended very well from then on and we never created many opportunities - if any at all - in the latter stages of the game. "After having a lot of the territorial pressure, it was extremely disappointing not to get a good result with it." Smith accepts his men must improve in the SPL when 2009 begins, with a need for results against so-called lesser sides to get better essential. With one win each against the other, Glasgow's big two are seven points apart because of Celtic's better record against the teams further down the table.Walter Smith Smith added: "The Old Firm results cancel each other out and we're behind because of what we've done elsewhere. That has been our season. "We must face up to that fact and there is no margin for error now. Celtic have that but we don't. We have to make sure we can go on and keep winning in the months ahead. "Another disappointing thing is that we've lost our unbeaten home record. We have played extremely well at home and I felt we did that for the first hour here today. "Now we will keep going, we'll push on and make sure this defeat does not affect us too greatly. "There wasn't a great deal between the teams and we felt we could win this one but that didn't happen and we must look to bounce back."

By Andrew Dickson CHARLIE ADAM insists Rangers can still catch up with Celtic and win the league the way the Parkhead club did last season. The Light Blues find themselves seven points behind in the title race after they lost today's Old Firm derby 1-0 at Ibrox. Kenny Miller, RangersBut having seen the title go to Glasgow's east end after Gordon Strachan's men made up a similar gap before the summer, Adam sees no reason why Gers can't do the same thing. He said: "It was a tough day for us. Goals win you games and on this occasion it was Celtic who managed to score. "The first goal has a big say in what happens in these games. It has been that way over a number of years. "We had opportunities to score and might have won if we'd gone ahead but we never did that and they made the breakthrough. "Now we'll get on with it. We'll bounce back and we know there is still a long way to go in the championship. "We're perfectly capable of winning anywhere and we know we've got to roll our sleeves up, work really hard and try to claw the gap back.Davie Weir "Celtic did that last year so I don't see why we can't do the same thing again ourselves this season. "The title is not lost and there are plenty of games left to play with lots of points up for grabs. "There will still be twists and turns from now until May and it's just up to us to capitalise on it if Celtic make any mistakes" Adam was a surprise starter as he came into the team for the first time in four weeks at Kyle Lafferty's expense. Although he has been linked with a January move away from Ibrox, he's determined to stay and fight for his place. Charlie Adam, RangersAnd having lost in the derby after he was a winner last time out, he's just as eager to ensure he tastes victory in the big game again in the future as a Gers star. Adam added: "It has been the case a few times now that I've only played in certain matches but I train as though I'll play in every game so I was prepared to play. "When I'm not in the first team, I'm taking part in bounce games or in the reserves so it's not a difficult situation for me. "To come back into the team was fantastic and it showed the manager still has faith in me. "It was great to be back in the side but you obviously you to come in and get victories so it was disappointing the way the game ended."

Aye,our very own poster Cammy had a wee run in with the police,witnessed by myself,Frankie & Johnnyk, but I will let him tell you about it

RANGERS were last night warned they face competition from two of Europe's biggest leagues for the services of Sporting Lisbon defender Tonel. But the Portuguese player's agent insisted that the lure of European football every season could convince the player to resist advances from Spain and Italy. Marcelo Cipriano, Tonel's Brazilian-born agent confirmed that the Ibrox club have been closely monitoring his client, left, but is adamant that no move has been made yet. He said: "There has been no contact with Sporting, or with me, from Rangers. I know they have been observing Tonel since last summer but nothing has come of it so far. "I spoke to the player last night and he has heard nothing. "Tonel is a very good player and in the last two seasons has been one of Sporting's best players. "It is normal for clubs to be looking at him and I know that others in Spain and Italy, as well as Rangers, have been observing him. "No club has made an offer, though, so there is nothing anybody can say." Cipriano, who had a spell as a striker at Birmingham City, knows his client is out of contract at the end of the season and believes his next deal will be vital. He added: "Tonel is very happy at Sporting. He has a high status in the team and with the supporters. "But he is now 28-years-old and is at the stage where he has to look at his career and look after his family. "We know Rangers are a very good club. They play in Europe every season and it is appealing for any player to take part in top European competition every season. "Going to Scotland would not be a backward step but nothing has been offered."

RANGERS fans everywhere will spare a thought at today's Old Firm game for the victims of the Ibrox Disaster on January 2. 1971. John Greig and Sandy Jardine lay a wreath at the Ibrox Disaster memorial in 2007Back then, an awful accident on Stairway 13 at the end of the Rangers-Celtic derby resulted in the death of 66 supporters while 145 were injured. It remains the worst tragedy in Scottish football and the events of that day and those which followed are indelibly etched in the minds of the players involved at that time. John Greig and Sandy Jardine both played that fateful day when Rangers came from behind to level Jimmy Johnstone's opener through Colin Stein. At the final whistle, a horrific crush developed on Stairway 13 - the quickest exit to the Copland Road tube station - and fans began to fall and suddenly became trapped as others fell on top of them. It turned into the blackest day in Rangers' history and the victims of that day shall never be forgotten. As has become tradition, a wreath will be laid at the memorial to the Ibrox Disaster victims and other supporters who have lost their lives at the stadium on the nearest home game to January 2. This year that falls today and the ceremony will take place ahead of the match. RIP

That's because Peter Martin is a MOPE