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  1. Rangers have a very proud history in Europe being the first Scottish club to play a competitive European tie whilst participating in the European Cup in season 1956-57 season and became the fist Scottish or British Club to reach a European final when in 1961 we lost 4-1 on aggregate to Fiorentina in the inaugural European Cup Winners Cup final. During this campaign we defeated Wolves in the semi-final the game that gave us the wonderful Wolverhampton Town song which has thankfully, found it’s way back onto our hymn sheet in recent years. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwzxN0jPiS4]YouTube - Wolverhampton Town[/ame] As we will all be ware off, John Greig was the only captain to lead Rangers to a European trophy when he captained Rangers to the historic and exhilarating victory over Moscow Dinamo on that unforgettable night on Barcelona (May 24th) John Greig also has the distinction of playing in two Cup Winners Cup Final as he also played in our defeat at the hands of a young and upcoming Bayern Munich team that contained the likes of Beckenbauer, Muller, Maier and the scorer of the winning goal, Roth. The 1967 Cup Winners Cup Final was historic in the fact that it was the first time two clubs from the same city had played in both major European Finals in the same year. Ultimately, Rangers wouldn’t match Celtic’s victory and were defeated 1-0 by the Germans in a game played in Nuremburg. Losing this final was a disappointing end to a disappointing season that saw Rangers finish the season trophyless for the first time since 1951-51 season and saw Celtic claim a clean sweep of trophies. This was also the season that bore witness to one of the most embarrassing defeats in our history when a Berwick Rangers side inspired ironically by Jock Wallace knocked Scott Symons charges out of the Scottish Cup. A result that at the time, and is still thought of as nothing other than a catastrophe. However, the defeat at Berwick hastened the introduction of much needed young blood with Sandy Jardine and Alex Willoughby both introduced into the team. Willoughby would score 16 goals in 14 games, a run that astonishingly saw him dropped from the Cup Winners Cup Final and replaced by Roger Hynd, a huge error of judgement from Symon that arguably cost Rangers the Cup Winners Cup Final. Rangers had defeated some very decent teams to get to the final with Glentorn, holders Dortmund, Real Zaragoza and Slavia Sofia all defeated. The tie against Real Zaragoza was decided by a coin toss after thhe clubs draw 2-2 over two legs. The Rangers team that evening was Norrie Martin, Kai Johansen, Davie Provan, Ronnie McKinnon, John Greig, Sandy Jardine, Davie Smith, Willie Henderson, Roger Hynd, Alex Smith and Willie Johnston. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_UEFA_Cup_Winners'_Cup_Final [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgn9tb4wZsE]YouTube - 1967 European Cup Winners Cup Final Rangers vs Bayern Munich[/ame] We would ultimately gain revenge on Munich when we defeated them in the semi-final of the same competition in 1972. The calibre of opponents we faced during this competition was simply outstanding. Not only Munich in the semi-final, but we overcame the likes of Rennes, Sporting Lisbon. However, the Munich side were mightily impressive and would go on to win the European Cup three years in succession. They also contained 6 West German internationals who would help West Germany win the European Championships mere weeks after Rangers defeated Munich. Sandy Jardine and the young Derek Parlane (who replaced Greig in the starting 11) scoring the goals. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e60DMeCc1_w]YouTube - 1972 ECWC Semi-Final Rangers vs Bayern[/ame] The highlight of this campaign was a balanced side, scoring in every away tie we played, the critical goals from Colin Stein, Willie Johnston and Alex McDonald and the conversion of Derek Johnstone into a superb centre-half. The early tie against Sporting was decided on away goals after Rangers lost 4-3 in Portugal after winning 3-2 at Ibrox. However, with the scores tied, the officials commenced a penalty shoot-out that we eventually lost. The officials had forgotten about the away goals rule and declared that the Portuguese side had progressed and only changed their mind when challenged by Rangers officials and Scottish media once they realised their mistake. The final in Barcelona was unforgettable and one of the major achievements in our long and proud history. Our opponents were off outstanding quality, as was shown in the later part of the game as the Russian’s tried to overhaul our 3 goal salvo. This was Rangers 14th European Campaign and was already our 2nd Final (we had also reached the semi-finals for The European Cup) and we became the first club to have reached three Cup Winners Cup Finals. Willie Waddell’s charges had a determination to exorcise the memories of Nuremburg and had a brilliant knack of raising their game in Europe that season which was in stark contrast to our domestic form. The game was hugely anticipated and everyone hoped that it would live up to the friendly between the two clubs when the Russians toured Britain in 1945 in a precursor to European Football. The match at Ibrox was fascinated, with 90,000 fans missing work and school to witness the light-blues take on the welcome visitors from Russia; [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnBb7ZgEEng&feature=related]YouTube - Archive Footage - Rangers V Dynamo Moscow[/ame] A game that would see The Rangers play in blue and white hoops. Rangers, as always were well supported in Barcelona with in the region of 16,000 fans making there way in varying ways to witness Rangers triumph. Rangers dominated the game for around 50 minutes and raced into a three goal lead thanks to Colin Stein and Willie Johnston. Despite a late rally from the Russians Rangers held on and won the game 3-2 finally getting out hands on a European Trophy at the 3rd attempt. The scenes at the final whistle are well documented and the over reaction from Franco’s Fascist Police Force was an utter disgrace and spoiled what should have been the best evening in our illustrious history. Historically, the events that evening have been blown out of all proportion with the Rangers support being accused of rampaging and destroying chapels and assaulting Nuns. None of which is even close to the truth. In fact, the Rangers support are held in great esteem in Barcelona for putting the fascist Police in their place. The subsequent UEFA ban led to Barcelona inviting Rangers to their pre-season celebrations the following season and Barca captain Carles Puyol stated as much when interviewed prior to last seasons Champions League encounter. http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0047/print.shtml [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlgmhGkh4Eo&feature=related]YouTube - 1972 ECWC Final 1st half Rangers[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rvPIy0Q8ps&feature=related]YouTube - 1972 ECWC Final 2nd half Rangers vs Dynamo[/ame] I guess the saddest aspect of the events was that John Greig wasn’t allowed to lift the trophy in front of the static Rangers support, but the celebrations on their arrival back in Scotland and at Ibrox certainly made up for any disappointment. Rangers winning team – Peter McCloy, Sandy Jardine, Billy Mathieson, John Greig, Derek Johnstone, Dave Smith, Tommy McLean, Alfie Conn, Colin Stein, Alex McDonald and Willie Johsnton (other members for the official squad – Penman, Parlane, Jackson, McKinnon, Denny and Fyfe) http://www.glesga.ukpals.com/rangers/rangers1972a.htm Cammy F
  2. The Wee Rangers Club have come up with some terrific deals to beat the credit crunch over the next couple of months. There is something there for everyone and all the deals are fantastic value. I am sure anyone who has been in the club this season will recommend it to others. Craig & Steve took ownership of the WRC in the summer and they have worked hard at making it a tremendous venue for all Rangers fans. Craig has double figures years of experience in the bar game and Steve is a superb chef who has worked in several top establishments. The quality of the food in the club is outstanding. AC Milan - Wednesday 4th February - 3 course meal for only �£10 with kids at �£5 within the John Brown Suite. Ideal for any bear who is struggling for time getting home from work etc. Valentines Day Dinner, Cabaret & Dance - This will be in the John Brown Suite with a fabulous night of entertainment and the best food in Glasgow available for only �£50 per couple. Don't pay the crazy prices people are asking when you can have a full night of entertainment for only �£25pp. Old Firm Game Live on the 15th February - For those that do not have a ticket for the Brendenbeau why don't you come to down to the WRC and watch the game live with hundreds of fellow bears. Earlier in the season this game was a huge success and the WRC was doing the bouncy into the wee hours. Chef's Special Afternoon - Sunday Roast - 1st March - This is going to be the chef's special afternoon where he is going to offer fantastic selection of food at prices that makes it cheaper to eat in the club than at home. �£12.95 for 3 courses with kids under 12 at half price and kids under 5 eat FREE. For anyone who thinks 3 courses is too much you can have a 2 course meal for �£9.95. Psychic Night - 1st March - This is the much awaited return for the Psychic night that has proved so popular in the past. Tickets are priced at �£10 per ticket. Lets hope we get the news we want regarding this years title. League Cup Final Hospitality - 15th March - The WRC have a hospitality package that will include a 5-course meal, coach to the game and back to the WRC for more food and drinks. A price for this package will be finalised in the next few days. Mothers day Lunch - 22nd March - Rights lads & lassies why don't you take your mum down to the WRC for a fantastic Mothers Day Lunch within the John Brown Suite. At only �£14.95pp this gives you the opportunity to have a great meal with your wee mammy and at the same time show her where all the bears hang out. Match day Hospitality - This has proved to be incredibly popular this season and a number of match days are now sold out. At only �£35pp for a glass of champagne & canap�©s, 5 course meal and then return to the WRC after the game for more food. Cash bar available throughout the day. For more information or to book any of these fantastic offers please call the club directly on 0845 601 1873. http://www.theweerangersclub.com/
  3. After Big_Spliffââ?¬â?¢s fantastic article yesterday, I felt it was important to write this report while his general point of improving the match-day experience was still fresh in peopleââ?¬â?¢s minds. http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=735&Itemid=2 I doubt any Rangers fan would disagree with me in saying that in recent years the overall experience of attending a home match has steadily worsened. Not just from an atmospheric point of view but the overall quality of the service. Poor quality catering, aggressive stewarding/policing, lack of atmosphere, aging stadium, poor facilities outwith the stadium, awful shop, lack of security in the locus, terrible sound system, broken jumbotrons ââ?¬â?? we could be here all day, so Iââ?¬â?¢ll stop there. OK, criticisms made; how can we improve; how can we set the standard? Letââ?¬â?¢s start at the beginning and go through a typical match-day. Personally, like thousands of other fans, I go to most games along with a few mates. We live well outside of Glasgow so we leave early to ensure we miss any traffic problems and get through early enough to enjoy the afternoon. We have a few hours to spare and money to spend so whatââ?¬â?¢s on offer once we arrive? An official Rangers restaurant/cafÃ?© selling reasonably priced food ââ?¬â?? no. An official Rangers pub selling quality beer with organised entertainment ââ?¬â?? no. A museum where we can take our children, learn more about the club and educate away/foreign supporters ââ?¬â?? no. A few spacious shops with a range of different products relevant to the club ââ?¬â?? no. Entertainment and comfortable facilities inside the ground to get fans in early and build up the atmosphere ââ?¬â?? no. What do we have at our disposal then? A couple of burger/pizza bars and vans with no association to the club. A few local pubs ââ?¬â?? full to capacity - with only one or two accepting children. No museum to find out more about the club. One medium-sized, over-full shop with no space and a minimal effort at providing merchandise. A dirty, aging stadium with over-priced tepid food and minimal effort to entice you in early. Is it any wonder we have thousands of people milling around the place looking lost and bored? Welcome to Ibrox indeed! Now, I do think it would be unfair to suggest the club donââ?¬â?¢t recognise some of these issues. Recent improvements have been made: the stadium has been cleaned and painted in parts; Bar72 seems to be popular (if unaffordable for most bears); reports have been made into further extensions; corporate hospitality is adequate; and the club have tried to mimic singing section displays on the odd occasion. Unfortunately, this is as far as the budget seems to reach. But finance alone surely isnââ?¬â?¢t the only problem here? After all the stadium catering is already outsourced for what I assume is an acceptable fee. Why not do the same with other services? Iââ?¬â?¢d be surprised if certain pub/restaurant chains wouldnââ?¬â?¢t be interested in a development outside Ibrox. Argyle House already seems to do good business so imagine a larger version of that open most days which incorporates a museum. Iââ?¬â?¢m told the Hampden football museum cost less than Ã?£2million to build and recouped the money within 18months. For a wee bit more, surely we can put together the kind of finance to offer something similar and better? I also know the current administration views the stadium (e.g. the blue room//trophy room/changing rooms etc) as a museum in itself. Of course a tour should be part of any package but surely it can be based in a stand-alone building to maximise revenue? Attach a good value restaurant/pub then we have a museum that caters for all and would be an excellent daily tourist attraction ââ?¬â?? never mind a suitable supporter hub on match-days. The refurbished ââ?¬Ë?Wee Rangers Clubââ?¬â?¢ has shown what can be done on an affordable budget. Rangers should be able to do even better. The stadium corporate hospitality generally seems well thought of but a lower-price, more accessible alterative is undoubtedly required. To coin a phrase:ââ?¬â?¢ build it and they will comeââ?¬â?¢. Moving onto inside the stadium, again communication with the fans should be paramount. We pay upwards of Ã?£400 a season; Ã?£23+ a game for our tickets so surely our opinion counts? Yet, when are we ever asked to contribute - other than surveys to see if weââ?¬â?¢d pay double the price for a leather seat with small screen to bet? Martin Bain is often at pains to describe us as customers; so more chance to offer feedback would be nice. Related to this point is the one of security. All too often now overzealous stewards and police appear desperate to confront fans for the smallest of things. Harmless banners, gesturing to opposition supporters, swearing or singing the latest non-politically correct chant amongst other stuff. Fair enough, football isnââ?¬â?¢t just about tribalism and stressed working class men but neither should it be sanitised to the point where people are being driven away. There is a fine line so why not ensure it isnââ?¬â?¢t crossed via dialogue, regular meetings and assisting the general public with information on the alleged crimes they are supposedly committing? Not to mention actually ensuring our property is safe while we do watch the game. Just how far is Helen Street police station from Ibrox again? First point of contact in this situation should be the singing sections and fan groups. From the Blue Order to the Club Deck Loyal to the Union Bears and the East Enclosure sections; there are a range of fans ready and willing to work with the club security (and each other) to find common ground. Yet, we have them dotted around the stadium minimising the effect they have. Surely, one large singing section would be more agreeable. Obviously it might not be easy to find a suitable location given many fans wouldnââ?¬â?¢t want to move but it could be investigated surely? As should a standing section ala teams in the German league. Make the singing section a focal point ââ?¬â?? not a dot at the back of a stand suggesting they are an inconvenience or an embarrassment. All the above isnââ?¬â?¢t rocket science. It is just a general outline of where improvement could readily be found on an affordable, exciting level. Iââ?¬â?¢m sure we all have our own ideas which could be put forward. I also appreciate some of the difficulties within these suggestions ââ?¬â?? cash flow; space; staffing; time etc etc. However, these obstacles are far from insurmountable and we should challenge ourselves to face these challenges and improve. Rangers FC led the way in stadium development last century and Ibrox Stadium is still a place we can be proud of. But itââ?¬â?¢s not perfect and, coupled with the overall drab experience, the club are testing the patience and loyalty of fans by offering a product that, with every passing season, seems poor value for money. As we enter a worldwide two year recession, attempting to retain over 40,000 season ticket holders will take more than a lukewarm burger, a wet seat and a policeman desperate to arrest you for the temerity to back your team. In conclusion, the club should commission and facilitate a review of the match-day experience based on research and best practice elsewhere in the UK and beyond. Of course, supporters groups could lead this and, as weââ?¬â?¢re doing via this project, provide initial feedback to the club, leading to prioritisation and feasibility studies etc. The standard must be set. Improvement must be sought. Itââ?¬â?¢s time to welcome the supporters back to their home.
  4. DAVID WEIR believes his good friend and former teammate John Hughes deserves great credit for the job he has done at Falkirk over the years and is confident his hometown club can pull clear of the SPL relegation zone in the next couple of months. David WeirRangers' League Cup semi-final opponents are currently languishing in eleventh place in the league table after a disappointing first-half to the season and four wins from 23 games has sent their confidence crashing. Weir, however, believes the form book will go out the window tonight at Hampden and that both sets of players will give their all to make it through to a showcase final against either Celtic or Dundee United on March 15. It will be a special evening for the 38-year-old defender who still has fond memories of his three year spell at Falkirk and being in a squad with Yogi Hughes. Davie joined the then First Division side in 1992 and went on to play over 100 games in a Dark Blue jersey. At that time survival football was served up on the old Brockville menu with the club skipping back and forth between divisions. And Weir insists that the current crop of players at the Falkirk Stadium have more than enough quality to avoid the drop and start climbing the league before May. He said: "I don't think staying in the SPL will be a problem for Falkirk. I know it's easy for me to say that but they have a lot of good players in their squad. "The first-half of the season might not have gone how they would have liked but there is no doubt they can pull away from that and I hope they can. David Weir "Over the years I think John has done a great job at Falkirk and he has firmly established them as an SPL club. "They were in the semi-final of the League Cup in 2007 and they have done the same this season so they will be looking to go one step further and that's something we need to be wary of when we face them. "But John's definitely raised the bar and brought a bit of stability and credibility to the club along the way." Davie is relishing the prospect of returning to the national stadium and still looks back at last season's epic League Cup final against Dundee United as one of the highlights of his career. David WeirKris Boyd's winning penalty in a dramatic shoot-out handed the defender his first winners medal in a Light Blue jersey and for that reason alone he would love to retain the trophy. He said: "All the players here want to beat Falkirk and reach the final, that goes without saying, but it will be a tough game. "We lifted the League and Scottish Cup last season so, of course, we want to do the same. "Winning trophies is a good habit to get in to but first and foremost we need to reach the final this year which will be tough. "Reputations count for nothing and it's the best team on the night that will go through. "It will be a great occasion and the fact that Falkirk is one of my former clubs will make it a wee bit more special."
  5. Set in Liverpool Street Station. Quality!!! [ame=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM]T-Mobile[/ame]
  6. http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~1522533,00.html Walter wants to know what gripe we fans have, so heres mine. I served my time as a Rangers supporter under John Greigs tenure as manager so I know crap football when i see it Walter, and given what i had to endure from the stands at Ibrox last season, well I can honestly say it was the most dire football spectacle i have ever witnessed in my life. The uber defensive policy, very difficult to stomach but for long spells effective and as the saying goes, the end justifies the means. With a commanding lead at the top of the table come march we put up with being outplayed and outclassed by everyman and his dog but as we entered the business end of the season the cracks began to appear. grinding out results from week to week had been a common feature and the league cup final was no different. outwitted on the day and very lucky to win the cup thanks to Kris boyd, a player who you tried your damned hardest not to play, opting for a player who didnt even want to play for the club and whos body language told us so every time he pulled on a light blue jersey. But it all went down hill from there. Suddenly your tactics were being slowly found out and teams started to take points from us and the commanding lead started to wither as the weeks rolled past. no one at the club seemed to be taking any notice though as we were starting to gain a bit of momentum in the Uefa cup. Again we grinded out results, playing for draws and hoping for penalties and it worked. But as a paying fan who went to all the Uefa cup games I seen two goals in one game and as for the other games, they were so bad id have rather have went to my work for nintey minutes for nothing! Fair enough Walter you got us to that final but to openly admit that you actually played for a draw in that final is a slap in the face to every Rangers Supporter who travelled to manchester and that follows the club. it is beggars belief that any football manager that got to a European final and didnt play to win it. And with that up the pan we went back to league business. But our team had been slowly imploding through the months and our worst fears were finally realised when we handed the title to the other side on a plate on the last days of the season. Truth is walter i seen it comming a long time before it actually happened. The players you chose week in week out werent up to the job. McCulloch, Adam, Daily, Darcheville, Whitaker, Cousin and ill include Thompson too, just werent up to the job but were the mainstays of the team. The problem was walter when it actually came to playing football and standing up to be counted they werent up to the job. But you enjoyed the plaudits of having a succesful season Walter. Getting to a major European final was a real feather in your cap to some but to us cash paying customers the reality was that we were absolutely dreadful. My wife quipped to me a week before the Uefa cup final that she would by me the DVD if we won all four competitions to which i replied "dont bother id only throw it in the bin". Why? Well the quality and class of football was well below the standard that i expect from Rangers Football Club. We were a laughing stock in Europe due to the way you set your stall out and as for the way you capitulated the league, a damned disgrace. i can honestly i didnt enjoy one game i witnessed at Ibrox last season. None at all. even if we won. Quite a damning stament when you consider I only missed two games. but i did hope that the new season would be better...... part two to follow.
  7. In case anyone hasn't seen it yet. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/...t_campaign.php Rangers supporters launch protest campaign by Thomas Jordan RANGERS fans groups today launched a "We Deserve Better" campaign to try and pile the pressure on the club's board. Chairman Sir David Murray's decision to sell off one of his leading players this month to balance the books has been met with a furious reaction from some Gers fans - who held a banner during last night's win over St Johnstone asking him to quit the club. The agreed sale of striker Kris Boyd to Birmingham City in a �£3.8m deal was the final straw for many and various groups such as the Rangers Supporters Trust and the Blue Order have now issued a statement urging supporters clubs and fans to unite and let the club know their feelings. advertisement Trust chief David Edgar said today: "This isn't a campaign to get the chairman out or anything like that. "We know he is in a situation where he hasn't been able to find a buyer for the club but we want to know what direction the club is moving in and we're looking for improvements." The statement lists areas in which he says supporters are concerned with and want explanations and they are as follows; - Only 2 league titles in 8 seasons - Only 2 cups won in last 3 full seasons - Losing to the worst European opponents faced since Valletta in 1983 - A state of the art training facility, yet no advancements in technique or set plays - No discernible strategic vision, either on or off the pitch - No long-term transfer or team-building plan - Only two youth players (McGregor and Hutton) of genuine quality produced in the last decade - Selling first team players to cover losses previously made on fringe players - Consistent failure to move fringe players on for reasonable transfer fees - Lucrative pay-offs for failed players - Failure to profit from our most lucrative ever season - Failure to engage with or interact with the support in any meaningful way - Treating Rangers fans with disdain as customers instead of valuing and working with them as supporters and part of the Rangers family - Inability to either attract inward investment, or to convince fans to invest in any meaningful way - Reduction in the status of our club from leading football force in the land, to almost social pariah status through a failure to challenge those seeking to link Rangers with sectarianism - A PR operation which only acts when senior club figures are personally criticised and all too often fails to defend the Rangers support - Fan morale lower than at any time in the past 24 years
  8. >How do you teach a blonde to do Mathematics ? >>Add a bed, subtract her knickers, divide her legs, enter your square root, leave your solution and hope she doesn't multiply !! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Cadbury met Miss Rowntree in a room on Quality Street, it was After Eight. He turned out the light for a bit of Black Magic ! He slipped his hand into her Snickers and showed her his Curly-Wurly. Not keen to have any Jelly Babies she let him have her up Bourneville Boulevard. She screamed with Turkish Delight as he took out his Fun Sized Mars Bar. It felt a bit Crunchie and she wanted some TimeOut to giggle at it and then compose herself but unfortunately he did a Twirl and came in a very Milky Way !!
  9. DAVIE WEIR hopes that a win at the Caledonian Stadium tomorrow can kick-start Rangers title challenge this season and that the club can follow that by going on a lengthy winning run. David WeirWith the Light Blues trailing seven points behind league leaders Celtic a victory in the Highland capital is now imperative at the start of 2009. Weir is fully aware that there is now an additional pressure on every Rangers player to hit top form week in, week out but has no doubt his team can rise to the challenge. He said: "It's true that there is not any margin for error for us now but perhaps that is a good thing. "We all realise that we can't drop any more points and we have to win every game. "This is always the case when you are at Rangers anyway but even more so now. "We've got to out and make things happen and only we can turn our current situation around. "There is still a lot of football to be played this season and anything can happen but we have to improve, especially away from home." Inverness Caley are currently joint bottom of the league with SPL newcomers Hamilton and their home record is the worst in the top flight. Nevertheless, Davie is expecting a 90 minutes battle with both teams in desperate need of three points. He said: "Everywhere is tough. In this league there no ground that you go to and get points easily. Steven Naismith "Inverness has been one of the harder places to go in the past even though they are in need of a good result as well. "We can take nothing for granted and all the players are aware that we need to play well to get all three points." Steven Naismith's return to the Gers squad is a huge boost for the club and Davie is delighted the club's �£2million signing is back in action. He said: "He has been out for a long time but he has worked very hard and he now deserves his chance to get back. "He is a good lad and the sooner we get him back into the squad the better. "You always welcome quality players returning and he falls into that category. He will offer competition up front and that's good. "I'm sure he will be desperate to make an impression.
  10. First Adam and now McCulloch. I wish they would show it on the park at not in the papers.
  11. As Rangers search for solutions to their title predicament, they have been urged to put their faith in the $5million man yet to be granted a proper opportunity to prove his value. Maurice Edu cost that round sum, about �£2.6m in August from FC Toronto, before sterling began its exchange-rate plunge, but the American international has started only two games this term - the last back in October. Even when Kevin Thomson's cruciate-ligament injury robbed Rangers of a natural holding midfielder in November, Edu did not receive the call to step up and fill his place. Now, however, it's understood the player is winning his battle to convince the Ibrox management team that he is worthy of more exposure as the club seek to claw back a seven-point deficit against Celtic. Former U.S. national coach Bruce Arena, now David Beckham's boss at LA Galaxy, is in no doubt that Edu would thrive under the pressure of the 'must-win' situation currently confronting Rangers as they prepare to face Inverness Caley Thistle on Sunday. Arena has watched the 22-year-old develop from his formative days at the University of Maryland and believes the time is right for Walter Smith to trust Edu's ability to add more steel to his side. 'Maurice is a player who can step up to that kind of pressure and do well,' said Arena, who led the U.S.A to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup. 'It's always a difficult time when you are a scrambling in a title race. Rangers are chasing Celtic and it can feel like an awkward time to introduce young players to the starting line-up. 'But there is no better way to really see the kind of potential a player has. If Walter feels comfortable that he can place Maurice on the field, then, within no more than a couple of games, Maurice will show the qualities that he has. I'm sure he is a player who can help Rangers in their current situation. 'Rangers have paid good money for him and that is another reason why he probably needs to play more. The club has made an investment, so the quicker they can bring him on, the better it is for everyone. 'But Walter is a very experienced manager and my view is that he will make a good decision in this situation. He has seen a lot of young, promising players come and go and I'm sure he will understand when it is the right time to introduce Maurice to the Rangers first team on a permanent basis. 'Right now, Maurice lacks experience, but he has the tools to become a very good player indeed. There is a great deal of promise there. 'It was always going to take him time to adapt to the different demands of professional football in Scotland but he has the right kind of self-confidence and I'm sure he has faith in himself making the breakthrough.' Edu has established himself as part of the U.S.A national squad under Arena's successor, Bob Bradley, and needs more first-team outings to maintain that position in the push for a place in the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. The fact he has not made an immediate impact at Ibrox comes as no surprise to Arena, who is well versed in the difficulties of American players leaving their homeland to seek their fortunes in Europe. 'I know coach Bradley thinks a lot of Maurice and will be keeping an eye on him,' said Arena. 'In America, though, we have been through this situation with a lot of players - DaMarcus Beasley is one example who has had similar experiences in the past. 'The unfortunate thing for American players is that, because of their lack of exposure to high-level games on a consistent basis in the States, they tend to be a little bit up and down when they move overseas. 'They take a little bit longer to establish themselves but, once they cross that bridge, they tend to have a very strong quality to them and are players who can really help teams. 'With the right period of adjustment, Maurice will be a strong contributor to Rangers. 'America needs more players playing in a better environment. Seeing a player like Edu move to Rangers motivates other young players in America to improve their standard, so that they might get a European opportunity of their own. 'Everyone here is hoping he will establish himself in Scotland and I'm sure he will.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1103320/Rangers-Edu-tipped-thrive-heat-title-run-in.html
  12. This again from the eveningtimes. DJs quote at the very end sums him up for me, what a tosser!!! CELTIC and Rangers fans tend to blow things out of all proportion when their team loses an Old Firm game. And it is no surprise that many Gers supporters are predicting the title race is over after such a poor performance by their team at Ibrox on Saturday. But, believe me, it is not done and dusted yet. Seven points is not too great a gap to bridge by any means. There are a lot of games still to be played by both clubs and points to be dropped. Yet, Rangers must start to show some fight, a quality which I felt was totally lacking in their dire display against the Hoops, if they want to win the SPL this season. My old boss Jock Wallace used to tell me that you need a bit of fire in your belly. Well, what player in a light blue jersey had that hunger, that burning desire to win, at the weekend? What I found particularly alarming was the lack of fight Rangers displayed once they had fallen behind to the Scott McDonald goal. They just couldn't raise their game. That, for me, was the greatest disappointment. Walter Smith kept the players in the dressing room for a long, long time after the final whistle. I am sure a few of them left the stadium with a flea in their ear from Walter and his assistants Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall. What they need to do now is react to this defeat in the same way that Celtic did when they were beaten 4-2 at Parkhead back in August and go on a decent winning run. That means picking up points both home and away. I don't think there is any need to change the favoured 4-4-2 formation or drop anybody from the side. But a few players really need to get their fingers out and show that they know what it means to play for the club. If they do, the situation Rangers find themselves in can definitely change. A few weeks ago when they fell seven points behind with a defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle everybody wrote them off. On Saturday, they could have reduced Celtic's lead to just one point with a win. As Walter has pointed out, though, there is now next to no margin for error. They maybe need to be more direct in the coming weeks and months and start to win ugly a bit more to keep up the pressure on their city rivals. Walter raised a few eyebrows by selecting Charlie Adam ahead of Aaron, DaMarcus Beasley, Kyle Lafferty, Lee McCulloch and Nacho Novo wide on the left. He has not been regularly involved in the first team squad in recent weeks and there has been speculation that he has been told he can leave Ibrox during the January transfer window. But he has a proven track record in the fixture and poses a real threat from dead ball situations. Plus, the manager sees all of his players in training and must have felt that Charlie was his best option. He is just one of several players who must have a long hard look at themselves and try to improve. No way is it adios for Novo NACHO Novo is the latest player to be linked with a move away from Rangers during the January transfer window after again being overlooked against Celtic on Saturday. But I am sure the little Spaniard, who came on as a late substitute at Ibrox, will be one of the last players Walter Smith will want to see leave. Despite Nacho's frustration at his lack of first- team starts this season, he is best utilised as an impact player. He can change the course of a game all by himself. There is a lot of dead wood in the Gers squad which Walter will be far more interested in getting rid of in the next month. I think getting a centre half in has to be Walter's priority. He has been linked with big Lee Wilkie up at Dundee United. That is a signing I, and I am sure a lot of Rangers fans, would welcome. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2478464.0.0.php
  13. Celtic have completed the signing of Czech Republic Under-20 defender Milan Misun from FK Pribram The 18-year-old left-back has signed a four-year contract with the reigning Scottish Premier League champions. "It's a tremendous honour to sign for a club of Celtic's stature," Misun told Celtic's official website. "I know that there are some quality players at Celtic and I will need to work extremely had to break into the first team." The defender opted for a move to Glasgow despite interest from Italian Serie A club AC Milan. He is a young man with certainly a lot of potential Celtic manager Gordon Strachan Celtic have deployed Lee Naylor and Mark Wilson in the left-back position this season, but Wilson is a naturally right-footed defender. "We are delighted to complete the signing of Milan Misun," added manager Gordon Strachan. "He is a young man with certainly a lot of potential and we will be doing all we can to maximise his potential and try and ensure that he is a success at Celtic." Last week, Celtic captured Derry City winger Niall McGinn and Dundee United goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska has signed a pre-contract agreement to join in the summer. MY SPORT: DEBATE One for the future I think, but already playing for Czech U-21 team so can't be all bad?? Powered_Up_Pac-Man Whilst on trial at Celtic's Lennoxtown training centre, Misun was joined by FK Pribram team-mate Anton Fantis, but the SPL leaders have put a possible move for the 16-year-old on hold. Strachan said he had yet to make a decision on whether to sign Brann Bergen defender Erlend Hanstveit, although it appears unlikely he will be offered a deal. Hanstveit cut short his Celtic trial to return to Norway for his wedding and will learn Strachan's thoughts through the club scout. "We need to make contact there through John Park," Strachan said on Friday. "Once we make contact then we will make clear our decision." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/7783307.stm
  14. So despite the warnings on this forum, no doubt in the gutter press and I am sure within the confines of Murray Park and the away dressing room at Tannadice, for the eighth time in 9 games Rangers return from Dundee without the 3 points. How we manage to sustain such an embarrassing run is mystifying. Whilst Dundee United have a reasonable home record, before today�s game they had the best home defensive record, and had won 5 out of 8 games, they are hardly invincible. Indeed one of the SPL�s less glamorous clubs, Kilmarnock, have travelled to Tayside and returned victorious. There is no doubting we have a superior squad to choose from. The league table does not lie and a ten point gap tells it own story. Over the course of the season Dundee United are frankly not even close to us. So why do we struggle in so many one off games against the Arabs? The previous article on this topic pinpointed the key factors for our lack of success in this fixture. Levein�s tactical nous and ability to set up his team to frustrate and even dominate Rangers, particularly in midfield, allied to his team�s ability to carry out his orders and undoubted quality within the ranks. As the team�s trudged off at half time however you would be forgiven for believing that Smith, Ferguson and co. had learnt from past mistakes and figured out this Dundee United enigma. Surprisingly Levein did not field his usual 5-man midfield that we often struggle against. The extra man in midfield has previously allowed United to dominate the engine room and hence possession and the pattern of the game. Many suggested we should play a five-man midfield to combat Levein�s favoured tactic whenever the fixture list pairs the two sides. However I was not in favour of altering our team to counteract what should be inferior opposition. It would also have meant disrupting the deadliest strike force in the league. In any case Levein continued with a 4-4-2 formation and this likely contributed to an upturn in fortunes during the opening 45 minutes. Perhaps, also, as a result of a fine early Kris Boyd turn and strike thumping Rangers into the lead, but the customary pattern of United�s midfield dominance and Rangers long ball football did not ensue. Rather Ferguson and Mendes, supported by McCulloch and Davis, enjoyed not playing at a numerical disadvantage in the centre of the park. With Boyd forcing us into an early lead before any real pattern of the game had formed, United resorted to long ball football up to Daly and Feeney. This played into the hands of Weir and Broadfoot who were comfortably repelling all the straight, long balls. With United unable to take control in the centre of the park, they could not dominate possession and territory, nor pin back our midfield and defence. Boyd and Miller were receiving decent supply and the only worry was that we had not taken a greater lead in at half time. With a more competent display from the linesmen in particular we may have done. The only positive for the Arabs in the first half was Conway, when they could get the ball to him. Time and again he linked well with Dixon on the United left to get forward and swing balls in. Whittaker and Davis could not get near them and allowed too many balls into the box. The signs were there in the first half and you would expect Smith to have spotted this from his vantage point high up in the stands. Maybe the players were a bit too comfortable in the first half and did not go for the kill. Though I am not convinced that is the case and is merely an example of picking holes using hindsight. At half time Levein must have put a real rocket up his team. They came out second half and attacked us from the off, though there was no change in personnel and little change in tactics. The commitment and effort of the Dundee united players, allied to the ability to feed their left hand side with more of the ball destroyed Rangers in the opening ten minutes of the second half. They came out with their manager�s words in their ears, the Rangers player were simply not prepared. We learnt nothing of United�s few successes in the first half, allowing Conway and Dixon the time and the space to fire balls across our box. Wilkie playing an unusually advanced role for a centre back converted the first at the back post, Feeney despatching the second just four minutes later. There was nothing clever or inspiring about United�s play, a competent right back, a confident goalkeeper or a dominating centre back could have prevented these foals. For me most the blame lies with the right back, who had a wretched afternoon and was afforded little protection from his midfield partner. Fortunately there was time left to snatch at least a point or even a victory if we could hit back soon. However all the composure and cohesion had left our play. The player�s were shell shocked and needed to get back into this game fast. With Lafferty replacing McCulloch and Novo later replacing Miller we were able to salvage a draw. Novo a man who is never beaten, never accepts defeat, came on and immediately got in United�s faces. Not long after his introduction he produced a fine run and pass to set up Lafferty. He opened his body and showed excellent composure to beat Zaluska, a man who has a habit of foiling Rangers strikers. As much as we pushed late on we struggled to fashion any more quality opportunities and were left snatching a draw from the jaws of defeat. Smith, the players and fans alike will be left wondering how we ended up having to sneak a draw from a game in which were so dominant first half. We could have left Tannadice with no points having been second best only for the opening period of the second half. We showed first half we have the beating of United. Tactically we were superior, we were committed and our quality players stifled and dominated their Tannadice counterparts. As suggested in the previous article it is difficult to precisely identify why one team becomes another�s bogey side. Why do United hold somewhat of an Indian sign over us? This weekend Levein did not demonstrate the tactical nous that has often outwitted Smith. It would also be churlish to put it down to luck. Perhaps, the psychological issues previously proffered as the reason are key. How else can a dominant team coasting to half time fall behind with two quick goals right after the break. A lack of belief, a lack of confidence in holding a lead against a bogey side and most worrying a lack of character and winning mentality within the Ibrox ranks. If we are to finally start going to the hard to win venues and emerge victorious and somehow ensure it is Celtic and not ourselves who go into these ties feeling the pressure of remaining in the title race then it is up to the management and the leading players to find this winning mentality and install belief in the rest of the squad.
  15. Away Day Blues Whilst the result at Tannidice wasn’t really a surprise, the manner in which we conceded two goals in three minutes, was the most predictable aspect of the game. Once again we entered a tricky away fixture with absolutely no width in the team and allowed the opposition unchallenged runs from the halfway line to our 18 yard line then confound this error by allowing crosses to be thrown along our six yard line. In know it’s an old, lame joke, but McGregor must be a vampire as he is scared of crosses. He is rooted to his line and every team in Scotland now knows how to trouble us defensively – get men out wide, deliver into the box and cause mayhem. We actually started well on Saturday and took control of the game and should have been two or three up before halftime. Boyd took his goal well but unfortunately for us, Miller chose Saturday to display his worst performance since his return. Hard to overly criticise Miller as he has bone well since his return, and in fairness, he looked like he was carrying an injury on Saturday. Finally, Mendes and Ferguson gave us a glimpse of the partnership that can develop between them, but when DUFC changed their tactics after the break, they were overrun (again) in the midfield area and worryingly, Walter Smith appears not to notice when we are being overrun in that area and is slow to react to opposition changes in tactics, formation etc. Having a look back on our away record for the last calendar year, it makes terrible and tragic reading. Since Last Christmas we have thrown away numerous critical points away from Ibrox and this ‘form’ resulted in us throwing away last seasons SPL title and it appears that we haven’t learned for this harsh lesson. It is getting harder and harder to imagine where a Rangers away victory is going to come. Is it fair to say that we are incapable of playing away from home in the SPL? Sure we can point to outstanding victories away from Ibrox in the last year – 4 v 2 at Torbett Towers, 4-0 at Tynecastle, 3-0 at Easter Road – but these are the exceptions rather than the rule. We can all point to gross incompetence from officials, especially this season, but lets be honest, our level of consistency and performance has been sadly lacking. We are easily beaten – we are easy to play against – we are easy opposition. We are lacking in the basics – we can’t retain possession from a throw-in – we can’t defend crosses into our area – we can’t capitalise on our attacking set-plays – and we can’t kill teams off when we get into the lead. These failures aren’t new, they have been around since the PLG era (not blaming PLG here by the way). They just haven’t been addressed properly. We now have two massive games at Ibrox and nothing less than six points will suffice form these games. Hibernian and Glasgow Hibernian are the next two visitors and will have had us watched and will have witnessed our weaknesses and know that we are venerable. We must counter this by playing to our strengths. However, I fear that our manager will see these games, well the OF game in particular as ‘must not lose’ rather than ‘must win’. Given this, I fully expect us to approach these games with an air of caution. This will mean our ‘flair players’ will be reigned in and / or replaced by McCulloch, Adam et al. If we defeat Hibs on Saturday (no mere certainty) then I will be shocked if WS doesn’t revert to 4-5-1 against the MOPES. This actually wouldn’t be the worst move against them, however, it will depend on the personnel deployed by WS. He’ll go with a midfield five of Davis, Mendes, Ferguson, Adam and McCulloch with Boyd as the ‘target man’ and we’ll spend the entire 90 minutes throwing aimless (and hopeless) balls up to Boyd that will be food and drink to the Ork-like MOPES defence. If we played with Ferguson, Mendes and Davis as a tight three man midfield and then played Novo and Lafferty (or Beasley or Aaron) wide supporting Miller then in my opinion, we would destroy them. Their defence is immobile and struggles against pace and skill. I know many won’t be happy with Boyd being dropped, but if we revert to 4-5-1, then he has to be the one that misses out. 4-4-2 would also work against both Hibs and the Mopes, but within that 4-4-2 there MUST be a wide player with genuine pace that can deliver quality into the box. Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life During my time as a Rangers supporter I have seen a change in myself and others when it comes to being optimistic about the Rangers. In the early to mid 80’s when I first started going regularly, you knew Rangers were going to struggle, but you always held the belief that one day, all this would change and the Rangers would once again become the driving and dominant force of Scottish Football. Call this naivety of youth, but when going to watch Rangers in those days, there was a genuine feeling and belief that it would turn around (or maybe it’s just the romanticism of the mists of time playing tricks with me). And it did turn around – David Holmes had a vision and managed to persuade Graeme Souness to become manager of the Rangers. After a sticky start, we eventually won the league (and the league cup for good measure) and all those long hard days going to witness Rangers struggling at Love Street, Boghead, Fir Park et al (sounding familiar), not only seemed worth it, but appeared to be a million years away. Suddenly, the Rangers were once again the team to beat. We were the Champions and we are ready for all comers. Nothing appeared to be going to go wrong and we started to edge closer and closer to 9-in-a-row. Added to the excitement of reaching, and hopefully surpassing this achievement was the news that our greatest foes and bitter of bitterest rivals were in financial turmoil and couldn’t match us on or off the pitch. It was around this time that I think we all took our eye off the ball – we all dwelt on the MOPES misfortune and none of us could see the trouble that was just over the horizon. In fact, it would be fair to say that any pessimism from Bears was met with derision. By Christ, I wish I had listened to those fellows sooner than I did, and I wish that ALL of us had taken heed of them ‘doom and gloom’ message. When I finally realised that our Custodian wasn’t all he was cracked up to be and that not everything in the Rangers garden was rosy, those ‘doom merchants’ were a vast minority. Just like today, the custodian had cast his spell and the majority of us were taken in by his rhetoric, half-truths and promises of moon-beans and the like. More recently, I believe that the majority of Rangers fans have woken up to the harsh reality that we are broke, we are rotten from the top to the bottom, but the vast majority still believe that the man who has gotten us into this mire, is the man who will actually save us. This is an unbelievable situation to be in. We all finally admit to SDM being capable for our demise yet the vast majority still harbour images of SDM riding over the horizon on his white charger galloping to our rescue. When in the cold light of day, nothing can be further from the truth. The January sales are looming large on the horizon and WS has publicly stated that we must move on 10 players. Adam, Burke, Beasley, McCulloch, Daily, JCD et al have all been mentioned, but realistically, who is going to buy those players from us? Who is going to match their current wages? The stark realism here is that we will have to create money at some point this season to compensate for the European failure. Christ, we got to the CL group stages and then to the UEFA Cup Final last season and still made a loss (even adding in the sale of Hutton to Spurs). So in conclusion, for this Bear, it has become almost impossible to have an optimistic view on Rangers at the moment. There is no feeling that better times are ahead, and the recent good times -2 last minute SPL title victories and a UEFA Cup Final -whilst being welcome have been smokescreens and have just severed to paper over the cracks and offer false hope. The only positive being a Ranger at the moment? At least we're not one of them...... Go on SDM, prove this old pessimistic so-and-so wrong. Cammy F -
  16. Walter Smithââ?¬â?¢s second era at the club began with a match against Dundee United so it is perhaps fitting and not entirely unexpected, football often throws up strange and repeated coincidences such as this, that yet again the Arabs will provide the opposition in a monumental encounter that will go a long way to establishing our title credentials. The prospect of 4-in-a-row cannot be contemplated and if we are to prevent that eventuality then we have to stop the trend of our performances against Dundee United. Whilst our overall recent record does not make for terrible reading against Dundee United, indeed since the 5-0 victory in Walterââ?¬â?¢s debut game in charge of his second tenure, we have won 3, lost 1 and drawn 2 of our encounters with the Dundee club. However those two draws have been highly damaging to our league aspirations. Two league points dropped back in April during our hectic run in ultimately contributed to our downfall in attempting to reclaim the league flag. The second draw, our only meeting with United this season back in November allowed Celtic to take a 2 point lead in the SPL over us for the first time this season. It is the worrying trend of our inability to consistently take 3 points on the road against the more capable opponents in the SPL that is giving particular cause for concern prior to heading to Tannadice this weekend. After having returned the points difference to 4 between ourselves and Celtic this weekend past, we cannot afford anything less than a victory on Saturday. However we have not returned from Dundee with the 3 points since a 4-1 victory in April 06 when Prso and a Boyd hat-trick secured the result. In the last 4 seasons, stretching back to 04/05 under Eck, we have travelled to Dundee 6 times, but only once have we made the return trip with and addition to the win column. 1 win, 3 draws and 2 defeats highlights just how difficult a game we have in store. This kind of record is not good enough for a side with title aspirations and it is this sort of form that demonstrated why we have found league titles difficult to come by in recent seasons. Why one team becomes another sideââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Å?bogey teamââ?¬Â is difficult to pinpoint. When a team is regularly thwarting your side season after season, despite numerous changes in playing and coaching personnel for both sides, how do you identify the key factors? Is it luck? Is it a psychological problem? When you have struggled against another team in the past perhaps it is distracting you even before you take the field? It is impossible to quantify or qualify what causes this over a sustained period. What we can do though, is look at the reasons for our recent trouble. Why have so many of these competitive fixtures followed a similar pattern? In Smithââ?¬â?¢s first and highly successful spell at the helm we regularly dominated all opposition in Scotland. We had the players and the managerial set-up to mastermind victories against all opposition and in any scenario. Since his return to the club, many believe the old campaigner has been out-thought by his counter-part at Tannadice whenever the two lock-horns. Whilst Smithââ?¬â?¢s record against Leveinââ?¬â?¢s United makes reasonable reading, 4 wins, 2 draws with just the solitary defeat, it doesnââ?¬â?¢t even begin to tell the whole story In the League Cup Final, a match that was decided on penalties, only the introduction of Boyd saved Smithââ?¬â?¢s blushes as we were out thought and out played for large portions of the game. In the league encounter a month later, 3 times we had to come from behind to secure what at the time looked a decent point in the title run-in, to continue a fairly miserable run of form up Tannadice. We will of course all remember the 3-3 draw earlier this season when the influential Thomson stole a point in a game we should have won handsomely. What has become the stingiest back line in the league this year simply did not turn up that cold autumn night and despite an impressive attacking display, defensive lapses cost us the points. So Smith has an acceptable record against Dundee United overall, however it is one we would all like to see improve. To begin that with a vital victory this weekend would no doubt boost the confidence of our squad during a critical period in the Championship race. If we are to gain the required result, Smith, his coaching staff and the squad must look back at previous fixtures to understand why we struggled and to ensure we are better prepared. The major issue surrounding what is often a fraught fixture for us Rangers fans is in controlling the game. Win the midfield battle and that can set the platform to win the match. We cannot surrender quality possession and territory to Dundee United time and again, and hope to sneak a result thanks to individual quality on our part and individual error on Unitedââ?¬â?¢s. As many other SPL managers appear to be becoming aware of, if they flood their midfield with players and restrict our quality midfielders the time and space they need to operate they can effectively stop us playing. The team then resorts to long ball tactics, up to players whose strengths are not playing as target men. When this starts happening we continually give possession back to the opposition and put ourselves under pressure. This tactic is more rewarding for Dundee United than many other sides because of the quality of player they can deploy in midfield. Willo Flood, on loan from Cardiff City, always appears a step above anything else we might expect from opposition in the SPL out with Celtic. Flood is ably supported by a previously unavailable wealth of midfield talent in Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben (excellent finds for Craig Levein who combine good technical ability with natural athleticism) and formerly Mark Kerr (now Aberdeen). Scott Robertson brought in to replace the departing Kerr, from city rivals Dundee, has become a key player making a significant impact at Ibrox as he scored their third of 3 goals. Flood, Gomis and Robertson appear to be the players in favour for a strong United midfield, with Conway and Swanson enjoying regular games too. Levein has often deployed a 4-4-2 formation this season, but it will be interesting to see if he reverts to a five-man midfield again this weekend to give his side the numerical advantage in the centre of the park. Even prior to losing Thomson to long term injury this season, Dundee United have already proven they have enough in their ranks to give us a hard game. Although in a change from recent encounters, our troubles were not caused by Dundee Unitedââ?¬â?¢s strength in the middle of the park but by our own defensive frailties and an impressive game by Sandaza. With Unitedââ?¬â?¢s ability to nullify and dominate our midfield identified, the loss of Thomson is even more concerning for this game than any other. Our current first choice midfield of Ferguson, Mendes, Davis and possibly Beasley is lacking the fighting qualities and the screening of the defence that Thomson brings. With Levein likely to pack his midfield and the hardworking and technically gifted talents of Flood, Gomis, Robertson and co. we are going to have to battle hard for the points this weekend. It may require Walter to consider bringing in a more defensively minded player, in the Thomson mould, to combat the effective United midfield unit and allow the flair players to hurt the opposition. That would mean bringing in Edu either for Ferguson or Mendes, or sacrificing a forward player to field a 5 man midfield and match United in the central areas. However the prospect of breaking up what is a burgeoning and exciting forward pair of Boyd and Miller would be counter-productive and will not be considered by Smith. Neither will sacrificing the attacking qualities of Ferguson and Mendes. Instead I think he may ask for a disciplined display by one of the midfield pair, most likely Ferguson, to sit in and fill the defensive role performed by Thomson. Whether this will be effective is yet to be seen, but I am not convinced. If, as we have seen before, United manage to dominate this midfield battle, we begin to see why United have enjoyed such impressive displays against the more celebrated opposition from Glasgow. With a lack of control of the midfield, the defenders and deep lying midfield continually look to hit the long ball to Boyd and his partner, in this case likely to be Miller. Neither player can play as a dominant target man and with the towering figures of Wilkie and Dods at the back, will prove even more ineffectual in the role. Dundee United have enjoyed a stranglehold on possession and territory thanks to these tactics and more of the same will be uncomfortable viewing for the light blues this weekend. If Dundee United control the centre of the field and Wilkie and Dods continue their success at the back, then Craig Levein has unearthed the man to hurt us. In a devastating 2 goal display at Ibrox, Sandaza along with a solo strike by Robertson almost secured an impressive victory for the Arabs. Plucked from Valenciaââ?¬â?¢s reserve team, Sandaza made a decent start to life in Scotland in Unitedââ?¬â?¢s pre-season games. However he struggled once the competitive matches got underway until the boost of an accomplished display in Glasgow. In a game where unlike recent showing, United struggled to contain Rangers, Sandaza took full advantage of a night off at the back. Having regained third place in the league and with the best home defensive record in the league, if Flood and the Dundee United midfield continue to outshine their Rangers counterparts, they will be confident of the backline defending the inevitable long ball football and also of taking advantage of the lionââ?¬â?¢s share of possession with Sandaza and most probably Jon Daly to seize upon any opportunities created.
  17. Boyd And Miller – A Partnership To Win Us The League? Whilst the 7-1 romp on Saturday against 10-man Hamilton was a marked improvement on recent results, and given the fact that the team appeared to be more balanced than in recent times, it was the reappearance of the Boyd/Miller partnership that rightly captured the headlines and was the topic of conversation and debate post-match. There is no doubting that the reintroduction of Davis, Papac and Beasley ensured that the team was balanced and that we had an outlet out-wide. Consensus on how effective Beasley is to the team is divided, but it can’t be denied that an outlet wide helps develop the play, negates the need to thump long and aimless balls forward and gains us possession and set-pieces at the business end of the pitch. However as stated above, it was the strike partnership of Boyd & Miller who stole the show and the subsequent headlines. Boyd looks a better player whilst partnered with Miller, and some say the same is true about Miller. I would argue that point. Miller looked a better player when paired with Cousin (and vice-versa) but that ship has sailed and there can be little argument that the Miller / Boyd partnership is the most effective we have at our disposal. Our second goal (Boyd’s first) on Saturday encapsulated this partnership to a ‘T’. Miller made an intelligent run, received the ball (on the deck!) from the midfield, played a sublime pass into Boyd’s path and Boyd dispatched the ball into the back of the net. Neither Boyd nor Miller would be placed into anyone’s ‘top strikers’ compilations, but they do have their strengths and they do appear to complement each other. This partnership will only continue to flourish if both keep fit, they are continually given quality service and if BOTH are kept in the starting 11. To ensure that we continue to get the best out of Boyd / Miller, we must continue to play with at least 1 wide player in the team be it, Burke, Beasley or Aaron. We must also look at the effectiveness of the midfield as Ferguson and Mendes don’t appear to complement each other. Could the introduction of Edu be more beneficial until Ferguson regains full fitness? Or at least until the partnership develops into a workable solution? There were times even on Saturday that Mendes and Ferguson were out-muscled, out-played and out-manoeuvred by struggling Hamilton Accies. Getting back to the question posed above, whilst Boyd and Miller will never come close to partnerships like Brand & Miller or Hateley & McCoist, if we continue to play to their strengths and they continue to develop this growing and fruitful partnership, they may just have enough ammunition to fire us to the SPL title. I will say one thing, the next 3 games are critical if we are to have any chance of dethroning the MOPES. Victories against DUFC, Hibs and then the MOPES are critical and to ensure we get these victories, both Boyd and Miller have a huge responsibility in continuing scoring and playing well. However, I have an awful feeling that WS will throw us all a curve ball and will rethink his tactics and personnel for these games. Watch out for the reintroduction of the likes of Adam, McCulloch, Daily et al. In my opinion, WS will approach these games with a degree of caution and may even revert back to his 4-5-1 formation from last season. Last Minute Winners Whilst watching the excellent Everton v Aston Villa game yesterday, my thoughts were drawn not only to the ex-Gers on show (Arteta and Cuellar – Arteta had a decent game as did CC playing an unfamiliar right-back role – did MON graduate from the WS school of coaching!) but to the fact that, if my memory serves me correctly, we’ve not won a game for a while with a last minute winner. The last game I can remember us winning in a dramatic, last minute fashion was when PLG was manager and Sebo slotted home to defeat Aberdeen at Ibrox. Now, off the top of my head, I can name various games prior to this when we’ve won with (what appeared to be) the last kick of the ball : Lovenkrands in the Scottish Cup Final Rod Wallace against DUFC at Tannidice Jorg Albertz with a deflected shot to defeat Hearts 1-0 at Ibrox Jorg Albertz with a rasper to defeat Hibs (eventually!) 4-3 at Easter Road (wonderful game that was) In fact, it was considered that Rangers were the masters of winning from both unwinable positions - who can forget going 3-0 to Shelbourne in DA’s fist game and storming back to win 5-3, or trailing DAFC 2-0 on a cold, wet and dull evening (is there any other kind in Fife?) then winning 4-2 during AM’s reign - and the masters of late strikes. It is always better to have a game won long before the last kick of the ball, but there is just something really satisfying wining a game (and a League Title) at the death. However, this skill may not have been as apparent as my memory suggest, it just appears that we used to win many games in this manner and appear not to be doing so recently. Atmosphere Last weeks rant was entitled ‘Groundhog Day’ and whilst we appear to be discussing the same failings month on moth, season on season etc, we’ve not had a discussion regarding the (lack of) atmosphere for a while, so here goes. Anyone who is a regular visitor to Ibrox will know that there is little atmosphere generated out-with the dedicated ‘singing sections’. It is hard to deny that TBO, East Enclosure, Club Deck Loyal et al are welcome additions to Ibrox (for their banners, displays and wit as well as their singing) but they are hardly helped by the rest of the stadium. It appears that supporting Rangers today entails turning up to Ibrox, shouting abuse at Rangers players then buggering off after 70 minutes. Now, before going on, everyone is entitled to leave when they want and to sing if they want, but surely it would be more beneficial to actually SUPPORT the team in song and by staying the course, rather than abusing them and leaving early. Another thing I have noticed recently is that if the rest of the stadium are going to join in, they’ll only really join in when songs like ‘Big Jock Knew’, ‘The Famine Song’, ‘The Sash’ and ‘Derrys Walls’ are sung. When Rangers songs are sung, it appears to be reserved for TBO. I find this infuriating and can’t understand why others don’t join in with the many wonderful Rangers songs. There is nothing better when we are in full voice singing the likes of ‘The Blue Sea Of Ibrox’, ‘Every Other Saturday’ and ‘Follow Follow’. Also, I can’t be the only one who thinks and would love to hear 50,000 Bears singing ‘Wolverhampton Town’. So come on Bears, we are entering a crucial part of the season and the team need (and deserve) our support, so lets get behind them, lets get those vocal chords stretched and lets get Ibrox rocking. I’m sure opposition teams love a morgue-like Ibrox but wouldn’t be as assured in a cauldron-like Ibrox. Cammy F –
  18. Rangers 2, Motherwell 1 by Amir Rashid JOHN FLECK was on top form as Rangers dug out a vital win which keeps them hot on the heels of league leaders Hibs. Fleck has only just returned from an injury lay-off but his quality shone through in a difficult game in bitterly cold conditions. With leaders Hibs defeating Dundee United 3-0 on Friday, the Light Blues knew they could not slip up and they made a bright start. After just two minutes a nice bit of skill by the young Englishman Kane Hemmings down the right, led to a cross in the box for Jamie Ness - whose shot went wide of the left post after being forced to shoot from an awkward angle. Hemmings had the ball in the net minutes later but it was ruled out for offside and then Fleck began to dictate proceedings. Fleck showed why he is so highly thought of on 15 minutes, when a mesmerising run down right left three opposing players in his wake before rounding the keeper and unluckily hitting the foot of the near post with his shot. Moments later Fleck was involved again when his beautifully crafted through ball nearly released Isa Bagci through on goal but an excellent intervention from the Motherwell defender led to a corner instead. The break-through came on 26 minutes when a perfect Fleck corner found Bagci unmarked on the six-yard line and his header beat the diving Steven Coutts. Rangers were hungry for more goals and after the half hour a sweeping move by the champions led to Ness finding Gregg Wylde out wide who delivered an inch perfect cross that was headed just wide by Bagci.John Fleck Motherwell's only decent chance in the first period came when Steven Lawless slid a ball in for Ryan Martin in the Rangers box - he pulled the ball back across goal but fortunately for Rangers there was no one there to meet it. Fleck came desperately close to scoring in the early moments of the second half. He collected Chris Scott's clearance and his pace took him past the last defender before his shot was well saved low down by Coutts. The rebound fell back kindly to Fleck but he was unable to seize the opportunity. Then in 51 minutes Bagci found Fleck on the edge of the box and he hammered a venomous strike that was tipped over the bar for a corner by Coutts. Motherwell controlled the majority of possession in the second half, with most of Rangers attacks coming from breakaways. Motherwell however failed to create many goal scoring chances with their possession. The Rangers defence was solid - tackling and clearing away any dangerous balls into the box. Captain Ross Perry led by example at right back, with commanding central defenders Scott and Danny Wilson both playing their part. Arturs Vaiculis's goal was tested on 72 minutes when Motherwell came forward in search of the equaliser. Substitute Calum Hendrie and Ryan Martin linked up on the edge of the box before the latter released a thumping shot to the top right corner that was excellently saved by Vaiculis With 15 minutes left the Clydesdale Bank player of the month Wylde burst away down the left flank, before releasing a low cross along the Motherwell goal that found Archie Campbell who slotted the ball into the back of the net from close range. Motherwell refused to admit defeat and came back at Rangers when Paul Slane skipped pass Ness near the corner flag and struck a shot from a tight angle that rattled Vaiculis's crossbar. And in stoppage they got their consolation goal when Hendrie picked up the ball and ran with it into the box before finishing with a stunning strike into the top left hand corner of the Rangers goal. RANGERS: Vaiculis; Perry, Wilson, Scott, Wylde; Ness, Hutton, Stirling, Fleck; Hemmings (Campbell), Bagci (Forbes) No chance of Fleck getting a game then, I mean the lad is obviously playing good football the way it should be played
  19. By Andrew Dickson WALTER SMITH insists Hearts beat Rangers at their own game as they won 2-1 against the Light Blues at Tynecastle. Strikes by Marius Zaliukas and Laryea Kingston in quick succession gave the Jambos a commanding lead midway through the first half. Charlie AdamAnd although a Christos Karipidis own goal gave Gers a lifeline, the hosts packed their back line and held on to the three points despite having Lee Wallace sent off. A defensive approach helped Smith's men so often last season and he was frustrated at seeing his side stopped by the same tactic. He said: "Hearts did well but we made it easy for them and we didn't create an awful lot up front. "That was surprising because we've made a lot of opportunities in previous matches but never came up with any of note many here. "Hearts deserve credit. They had their players back in position and played very much in the manner we played in a number of games last season. They did very well. "We spent the last hour of the game almost entirely in Hearts' half of the pitch but never really created any opportunities to score." Smith was annoyed at the manner in which Rangers lost their goals, both of which came from poorly-defended set pieces. And he refused to hide behind the excuse that having key players such as Kenny Miller and Kevin Thomson out was a reason for a second away defeat of the league campaign.Steven Whittaker The manager added: "You're going to miss players of that quality but you're going to go through the season without some people and there are no excuses there. "We're still good enough without them. I felt in the first 20 minutes or so that we struggled in a defensive sense by giving away too many fouls. "That gave Hearts the opportunity to get the ball into our area and we ended up losing two goals from such situations. "With the consistency Celtic have shown, any points that we drop are a blow to us and it certainly means the three Old Firm games left are ones where the pressure is on us. "We deserve that because we didn't deal with set plays well today. Normally we defend well but against Dundee United we gave away two bad goals. "Those little bits of inconsistency have plagued us in games and that has been costly for us."
  20. Review of the Season so far: Main site link: http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=711&Itemid=1
  21. By Danny Stewart Rangers face a fight to hang on to Pedro Mendes.RANGERS FACE a fight to fend off a bid from Spurs for Pedro Mendes. Itââ?¬â?¢s understood Harry Redknapp is poised to swoop with a Ã?£5-million-plus bid as soon as the January transfer window opens. Redknapp sold the Portuguese star to the Light Blues for Ã?£3-million in August while still boss of Portsmouth. At the time, though, the renowned wheeler-dealer insisted he was forced to make the sale in order to balance the books at Fratton Park. Willingness Mendes, he claimed, was worth more than the fee received and had only been the one to go because of his willingness to leave Portsmouth. ââ?¬Å?I am really sorry to lose Pedro,ââ?¬Â he said then. ââ?¬Å?I love him as a fella and a player. ââ?¬Å?He is great pro and a great player but I had to get some money in. It is the rules of the game.ââ?¬Â Three months on, Redknapp finds himself with cash to spend and a need for an experienced midfielder to play alongside young stars Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone. Redknapp actually signed Mendes for Pompey from Spurs in 2006, eighteen months after heââ?¬â?¢d arrived from Porto. Having loved Mendesââ?¬â?¢ attitude in the three years they were together at Portsmouth, Redknapp has decided he is the one he wants. Rangers have the player on a three-year contract and donââ?¬â?¢t want to sell. Returning Mendes, who provided cover for the injured Barry Ferguson at the start of the season, has made a huge impact in Scotland, returning to some of the best form of his career. On top of that, while Ferguson is now back, his fellow Scotland midfielder Kevin Thomson has since been ruled out for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage. The problem Rangers will face is what happens if Mendes himself gets sold on the idea of a quick return to the English Premier League. The Portuguese has taken to life in Scotland and has expressed his admiration for Glasgow as well as the quality of the football played in this country. Without doubt, though, Redknappââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Ë?big projectââ?¬â?¢ at Spurs has captured the imagination of fans and players alike throughout the whole of the UK, and Mendes may be tempted to be part of it. http://www.thesundaypost.co.uk/postindex.htm
  22. http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/311110867?-11344 After another 2 points dropped at Fir Park last night, our team’s dreadful inconsistency has to be examined. Why do we struggle to go on any kind of winning run? Why does our form spike then drop like a Blackpool roller-coaster? Who is and isn’t taking responsibility for our patchy form? Right away, we see the same questions being asked again and again of our club. Let’s try and look at why another title challenge seems to be fading before our eyes. First of all, I’d like to raise the issue of leadership. From the very top of the club right down to the dressing room, there seems to be a complete absence of people capable of standing tall, and leading our club to the SPL title. We have an owner desperate to sell the club as soon as he can while apparently preferring to slag off his own fans instead of looking in the mirror and asking how his contribution is affecting the status quo. Next Sunday will see Sir David Murray’s twentieth anniversary at the club. Twenty years since he bought Rangers FC and started the Murray era. Are we any further forward since then? Should he be judged on his first ten years in charge where he oversaw an ambitious (and largely successful) attempt at dominating Scottish football, or should we concentrate on the second ten years where that dominance and ambition has largely disappeared? No matter our opinion of Murray’s tenure, the fact is we now lack a leader at the top and that immediately affects the whole club’s outlook. Of course the chairman will point to the funds he allocated to the manager during the summer and that brings us neatly to our next problem. Quite simply, as it stands, that money appears to have been gambled on players that have so far had little effect on being able to increase our quality and achieve winning consistency. Madjid Bougherra, Pedro Mendes and Steven Davis have all done reasonably well so far but the latter two especially don’t appear to be the type of player who can lead from the front when the going gets tough. The rest of the money was then spent on Kyle Lafferty and Maurice Edu – two young players with little experience of top quality football and the pressures therein. As such, the manager doesn’t appear to trust them to justify their fee by playing them ahead of injured or off-form players. Indeed, if we look at Smith’s other signings – Lee McCulloch and Kenny Miller to name but two, there has been a lot of money spent on players that one doubts can really change our fortunes. When the going gets tough we simply don’t appear the have the inspiration to change games effectively. That goes for the manager and his selections as well as the players who shirk responsibility when it’s most required. Nonetheless, our form hasn’t been that bad. I’d contend the football is better than it was last year and that we’ve deserved to win most games out with the dreadful losses to Kaunas and St Mirren. A combination of bad luck, good goalkeeping, defensive errors and awful officiating means we shouldn’t be too downbeat about the season so far. Surely the slightly better football will soon be accompanied by more goals, stronger defending and linesmen doing their job? Unfortunately, I don’t think it is as simple as that – and that’s where the article title applies. Too often over the last couple of years there have been false dawns. Several excellent wins – home and away – versus Celtic and passionate defensive displays to deliver a UEFA Cup final contest would have most people thinking our players would be oozing confidence and brushing their SPL opponents aside. But no, as soon as we get a good result, the merest hint of things going against us has shoulders stooping and heads dropping before more points are lost. We also seem to lack motivation at times and the urgency and pride to win games is often missing until it’s too late. Or even worse, it doesn’t appear at all. Who’s to blame for that and who can change it? Well, we all can of course. The fans – as usual – will be unmatched as they follow follow their team all over the country. It’s time the players, manager and chairman acknowledged and matched that commitment in the way they approach their contribution. Let’s make it very clear. Second best is not good enough. Not against Lithuanian teams. Not against provincial Scottish teams. Not against Celtic. And definitely not losing the SPL title four times in a row. I shouldn’t need to quote Bill Struth but it is time a few people at the club were reminded of his words and asked themselves if they are really welcoming the chase or are they hiding from it.
  23. Carrying on from Frankie’s brilliantly written and though provoking article, Rangers FC, A House Of Cards - http://www.gersnetonline.net/vb/showthread.php?t=8803 I thought that I would add to the dreachness of the morning by trying to establish why or club appear to be determined to hand the SPL title to Celtc. As I said in my rants early in the week, we are consistently inconsistent and I can’t remember a time where I have been as frustrated at our form as I am at this moment. Sure there have been times when we have been worse than this, there is no doubting this, but the frustration comes about having witnessed this squad dismantle Celtc at Parkhead, Hibs at Easter Road whilst playing a brand of football synonymous with Rangers Football Club. Then we have had to endure the dross served up at Love Street, Falkirk Stadium and last night at Fir Park. Once again last night we started with little urgency thus allowing our opponents to settle into the game and dictate the pace and flow of the game. Motherwell are a physical team and were quite happy with the ball being leathered from one corner of Fir Park to another. That is their strength, and it is also our weakness. We are outnumbered, out-muscled and more worryingly, out-played on the midfield area for the entire 90 minutes last night. We played to Motherwell’s strengths and had no-one either in the dug-out or on the pitch who had the capacity to change our tactics and play to our strengths. There has been a trend recently where when we are struggling to impose ourselves in games that we revert to the high ball / long ball game. This plays right into the hands of the opposition. 2 towering centre halves (the prerequisite for SPL teams these days), backed up with physical full-backs and tough tackling midfield players, lap this up. What they don’t like is football being played round about them. So instead of dominating games, establishing our pace, footballing ability, we get dragging into a war of attrition and inevitably drop points. So how is to blame for this trend? The players have to take their share of the responsibilities, but the management team appear to lack the leadership required to ensure that we can start a game with the necessary urgency to stamp our authority on proceedings. I understand that we have no divine right to win any game, we have to earn the right to win games and titles. However, I believe as we have been weakened on the pitch, teams in the SPL are no longer intimidated whilst playing Rangers. In our prime, we carried an aura with us – we weren’t invincible, but teams knew when they played Rangers, we are capable of destroying them playing football, but had the players who could and would stand up to a physical battle. Ian Ferguson, Stuart McCall, Nigel Spackman, Graham Roberts, Richard Gough, Terry Butcher, John Brown, Mark Hateley – all fantastic football players, but also players who wouldn’t be frightened to go toe-to-toe with anyone of the nature of the game demanded it. Those type of players won their battles and allowed players like Gazza, Laudrup, Walters, Wilkins, McCoist, et al to then play the football that would win us the games. Quite simply, we don’t have that mix at the moment, and clearly, we don’t have that quality at our disposal either. Currently, we are deploying 4 centre-halves in our back four. Our midfield consists of 3 centre midfield players and a front man pitched in for good measure. Our front two try hard and have differing qualities, but to be honest, neither of them score the crucial goals that win you games like last night on a consistent enough basis. We have played the majority of this season with absolutely no width in the team. Opposition managers know this and use it to there advantage, There were times last night where you could have thrown a blanked over our 11 players, they were so narrow and so close together. Walter Smith has another frustrating trait – his use of substitutions. Firstly, some are mind-boggling in the extreme and almost all of them are never a simple ‘straight swap’. Take last night as an example – Novo for Lafferty – looked like the correct move at the time (maybe 5 or 10 minutes later than expected, but the correct move none-the-less). Anyway, on comes Novo to play wide left? No, Novo moves into the centre, Miller moved out left? In saying that, the above deficiencies, whilst being glaring, are not unfixable. Compare them to the gross incompetence of the officials and they pail into insignificance (however, they are the only deficiencies that we have complete control over). The standards of refereeing and assistant refereeing in the SPL this season have been disgraceful bordering on the corrupt. It is safe to say that we have fallen foul to at least one controversial / crucial decision in almost everyone of our SPL games this season (another perfectly good goal wrongly chopped of last night) and at the same time, Celtc have been the beneficiaries of at least one controversial and crucial in almost everyone of their SPL games. I don’t think that the above statement sounds paranoid, as there are facts, pictures, video footage et al to back these claims up. So what can be done about these? Well, our club could be doing a better job in highlighting these decisions. We hear / see every other SPL manager (and in Celtc’s case, Chairman et al) banging on about all the decisions that go against them, so why not us? Well, I’ll tell you why not us, our Chairman doesn’t care. Ask him for a quote about the big, bad Rangers fans singing songs, or posting on websites and its ‘pens and Dictaphones at the ready’, I’ll give you enough to fill a 100 papers. Ask him to defend us, or challenge officials who are bordering on the corrupt? Silence is golden in Murray Towers. So, in conclusion, have we thrown away the league title this early in the season? Well, on current form, it’s impossible to believe that we can go to places like Tannidice, Tynecastle (both loaming large on the horizon), Pittodrie et al and gaining 3 points. It’s hard to see where Celtc are going to drop points. We are looking at an OF game at Xmas that could see us a trailing them by 4 points (at least) and stacks enormous pressure on us to deliver a performance and a result. Lose that game and it could be all over bar the shouting. Where does that leave Walter and his staff? Well, losing a 4th consecutive league title would be catastrophic, and I’d like to believe that it would mean (yet another) change in manager. Tough times ahead folks and we must no witness leadership from the top – are we going to get it? As is the case with Mr Murray’s last decade in charge at Ibrox, we are left with more questions than answers. Cammy F
  24. MARK HATELEY has backed Rangers to get over the loss of Kevin Thomson through Barry Ferguson's return to the team. It's agony for ThomsonMidfielder Thomson faces several months on the sidelines after a scan confirmed he has severely damaged cruciate ligaments in his left knee. The 24-year-old's season is over and he will travel to London to see a top knee specialist on Wednesday as he starts out on the long road to recovery. While the former Hibs player will be sorely missed, it is likely club captain Barry Ferguson will replace him in the side after recovering from ankle surgery. Former Gers striker Hateley said: "Losing Kevin is a huge blow. We've seen how much he has improved since he came to the club and he was missed when he was out before. "He has been inspirational this season and his link-up play with Pedro Mendes has been great. They've been very solid and play well off each other.Barry Ferguson, Rangers "At the same time, Rangers have a quality player coming back into the team again in Barry and that is fortunate. "It is often the case that when a player becomes available again, the manager has a headache about who to pick and then one of them gets injured. "That has been the case here and now it becomes a simpler task to bring the skipper in once more. "The team could certainly have done without losing Kevin and it is never nice to see someone suffer that kind of injury. "It sent a shudder down a few peoples' spines when they saw the incident but at least there is someone to come into the side in his place. "Barry is a top-class player and has been for many years. When he's out of the side, the team is weakened but Rangers should get stronger when he comes back in." Lee McCullochWhile Ferguson is the obvious choice to replace Thomson, Hateley knows other players will be eager to come back into the team too. The likes of Lee McCulloch, Brahim Hemdani and Charlie Adam are likely to see this as an opportunity to challenge for a place. Hateley added: "When you look at the Rangers squad just now, most people are fit again and ready to play. "Lee McCulloch's available, Steven Naismith isn't far away from being fit again and Chris Burke is there too. "Steven Whittaker's another one pushing for a spot. He came on for a few minutes on Sunday and scored a great goal in that time. "It is great to have so many alternative options. The team has been short of them in the last couple of seasons but has an abundance of them now."
  25. http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=693&Itemid=2 As our forum regulars will know, I had this article planned last week anyway due to the recent comments from a range of people about the effect of unofficial websites based around football. Fortunately, BBC Radio Scotland also had a debate on this last night, so the topic gains even more relevance. Essentially, of late we’ve had people from Sir David Murray, to Walter Smith, to the likes of Richard Gordon and even that fearless objective crusader at ‘The Times’, Graham Spiers highlighting the role of unofficial sites in the current climate of the obsession with ‘bile’, sectarianism and discrimination in Scottish football. All these people suggest these sites (which I can only assume include this one as they don’t have the courage to name names) are cauldrons of hate – cooking up an intensity of spite and intolerance via misinformation and unchallenged anonymity. Now, I think it is important to acknowledge that some sites do have an element of that. Some forum posters or blog writers may not share the eloquence of the ‘genuine’ Fourth Estate and it’s easy to find non-constructive contributions on most sites. However, I think it’s important to retain objectivity when viewing the overall picture. Firstly, I completely reject any accusation towards Gersnet of sectarianism, bile or anonymity. We write here honestly, openly and always from a (reasonably) balanced view point. We certainly do not allow social intolerance or lies about individuals and we can be contacted easily and effectively via the site. Indeed, Rangers FC are fully aware of who runs this small fansite. To move immediately on, it’s important to discuss why the people/organisations above are now intent on reducing the credibility of such places - even if I don’t think this site is the target of any criticism. 1. Money Quite simply, as the stats from independent news-wire sites such as NewsNow will show, unofficial websites cost clubs and the media money. Why would supporters visit their bland ‘official’ websites or buy their offline products when they can access the same information for free? This site often out-performs the orthodox media/news sites and as such we are taking their customers away. We provide genuine competition and they don’t like this. 2. Access to Debate Football fans of every club have for years complained that their club doesn’t gain the attention it deserves in the media or that that attention is flawed: e.g.; non-Old Firm supporters complain of West Coast bias, Old Firm supporters complain about imbalance. As such, it’s obvious to anyone that when we can set up our own sites of debate, people will gravitate to these. Perhaps if the clubs and the media groups offered similar official forums (online and offline) for discussion, the need for unofficial ones wouldn’t be so great? 3. Quality of Debate Spelling mistakes and grammar errors notwithstanding, unofficial sites also compete in debate quality terms. It’s extremely arrogant and unfair of our critics to suggest that isn’t the case. Football phone-ins and most media platforms are hardly the epitome of accuracy and neither do they attempt to reduce hyperbole of any given subject – particularly sectarianism. In fact they add to it and the contributors do not take responsibility for their actions either. As such it’s rather hypocritical of them to complain about our contribution. 4. Hypocrisy It’s interesting to hear these figures complain of such sites so also imperative to note their double-standards. For example, they criticise us publicly but in the background they contact us to publish their latest RSS widget, offer competitions/adverts or even send staff to post on our forums. Most importantly, they suffer from the same alleged problems they accuse us of – inaccuracy, lack of balance, poor quality writing and ill-informed sensationalism. They just don’t like us pointing this out. In conclusion, it’s obvious the competition aspect is what the media (in particular) fear from places like this site. They know our contribution is as good (if not better) than anything they have to offer and they feel the pressure from that. This pressure manifests itself in their flawed attempts at discrediting us where in actual fact, they should accept our competition, and use their unrivalled resources to outflank us. Thus, instead of complaining about such places; rise to the challenge and improve your own services. Revamp club websites. Provide genuine supporters representation. Take our complaints seriously. Report accurately on subjects. Be balanced in your coverage. Offer supporters access to proper informed media debate. Provide value for money. Work with the supporters – not against them. Maybe, just maybe, if you stopped passing the buck, Scottish football supporting wouldn’t be as bad an aspect of the game you paint it out to be. Unfortunately, as it stands, the complainers above are not offering solutions but simply pointing the finger of blame. This always seems to be the case so it any wonder division arises? Perhaps if you take responsibility for your own actions then supporters may just stop questioning your own credibility - which is why ‘unofficial’ websites exist in the first place.
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