ian1964 10,418 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 NACHO NOVO is playing in the league which sees him take on Jose Mourinho on Saturday night. But for the ex-Rangers striker, the SPL will always be the special one. Novo, 32, has been away from Ibrox for 18 months now, since joining La Liga outfit Sporting Gijon. As a born and bred Spaniard he's living the dream facing the likes of Real Madrid, and he's up against Mourinho's men this weekend. But Novo still finds himself thinking back to his time in Scottish football. He told SunSport: "I don't know anyone who wouldn't want to be involved in this kind of game. It's massive. "Real are a really great team and a lot better and stronger than they were last year. "It's going to be hard, but we have done very well when we have played the top teams at home. Hopefully we can get a good result. "I'm looking forward to it. There will be around 35,000 inside our stadium and the atmosphere should be great. "But it won't be like a Rangers and Celtic match. For me that's still the best there is. Nothing I can experience in Spain will come close to it. "That's one of the things I miss about Scotland, the supporters. "It's not just for the Old Firm games. Every week they travel all over the country to watch their team. The weather isn't great and it can be expensive, but still the fans are there. They sing for their team and as a player that is amazing. "We have some great teams in Spain and it's great football. But there are sometimes games where the atmosphere isn't anything like Scotland. The culture is totally different. "What you have in Scotland, you just can't beat it. I miss it. "Scotland for me is my home. It's where I have lots of friends who helped me turn from a boy to a man. "I was always happy there and some day in the future I think I would like to go back. I really love it. "Scotland gave me everything I have now. It made me as a player and made me as a man. "From Raith Rovers to Dundee and then Rangers, I grew up there and cannot forget that. "People forget I was so young when I moved there. It's the place I think of as my home. "That may sound strange because I am from Spain and that's where I live now. But whenever we have time off I fly back to Glasgow to spend a few days with friends. "The problem is we train so much here, mornings and then in the afternoons. "The next time I'll be off is at Christmas time." Even in Spain Novo is glued to his TV watching Ally McCoist's side in action. Rangers' shock 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock hit him hard last weekend. But his problem now is that his telly is on the blink. Novo added: "I got Sky TV for my house, but it's not been working properly. I'll need to change to another satellite company â?? or move! "I need to watch Rangers whenever I can. They are my team and they always will be. I have feelings for Raith Rovers and Dundee too, but Rangers are the team I support now. "I always check the results and I was disappointed to see they lost to Kilmarnock. "But Coisty and the lads are still at the top of the table and four points ahead of Celtic. That's the important thing." Novo has been in and out of the Sporting Gijon side because of injury this season, making just five appearances. But he scored a last-minute winner against Getafe last week for his first goal of the season. Now he's dreaming of a strike against Madrid this weekend. He said: "We created history for this club last season by beating them. It was fantastic. "All week in training we've been looking forward to this game. It's not a normal week because Madrid is special." Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3970718/Id-rather-face-Celts-than-Jose.html#ixzz1fEkESJGh 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 We should never have let the wee man leave when we did. Nacho Novo... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,418 Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 We should never have let the wee man leave when we did. Nacho Novo... You have to ask,would we have been better keeping Nacho rather than sign Healey,Beattie? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 You have to ask,would we have been better keeping Nacho rather than sign Healey,Beattie? Beattie was a complete waste of money unfortunately, so keeping Novo would definitely have been a better option than him. It's easy to see it in retrospect though, but Walter & Ally must have thought the team needed something different. Unfortunately, in going for Beattie, they made another expensive mistake. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dutchy Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 And he still seems to have the talent for scoring last minute goals, something that may have come in handy on more than one occasion this season. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ergatrude 0 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 The thing I loved most about this guy is that you could always see his emotions when we played. If we lost he was devastated, if we won he was euphoric. He truly was a Rangers man. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexscottislegend 2,070 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Wish he could play for Scotland - he's much more of a Scotsman than Steven Fletcher. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ergatrude 0 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Wish he could play for Scotland - he's much more of a Scotsman than Steven Fletcher. He is eligible now isn't he? But our gentlemans agreement with the rest of the home nations doesn't allow it. Or am I making this up? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dutchy Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 He is eligible now isn't he? But our gentlemans agreement with the rest of the home nations doesn't allow it. Or am I making this up? That was the case,but things are changing, slowly. I think you can play for Scotland, if you have 5 years schooling here, so that would rule him out as well. I'm not sure if that 5 years includes further education, so a player could go to college as well. I'm sure Holland has only 5 years residency in order to play for them, but as you say, they're not part of the home nations, but that competion no longer exsits, so the 'agreement may not have the same force??? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I like Nacho a lot but don't see the point in supporting my country with non-countrymen in my team. Just what would I actually be supporting? I support my club and my country for different reasons - start playing foreigners for Scotland and the very reason I support my country would be severely diluted. I just don't see the point. For me, whether he's eligible or not is moot. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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