Novo Bags A Brace

[UCF2008 0]

I've got a lot of time for Nacho. I'd have loved to have seen the Boyd, Novo partnership given more time to develop in front of a quality midfield. Now it seems as though he's no more than backup for Miller up front, but even still I think he's been the most effective player by a mile in left mid for us this season when given the chance. He should have started on Saturday instead of being a last throw of the dice. Let's hope we hold on to him.

[ascender 352]

Deportivo are now being linked with him.

[ian1964 10,441]

Dec 30 2008 By Keith Jackson

 

DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA last night confirmed their interest in Rangers striker Nacho Novo and revealed they could table an offer next week.

 

Record Sport revealed yesterday how the La Liga big guns were considering a January move for the 29-year-old after watching him gun down Iran in an international friendly in La Coruna on Saturday night.

 

Novo jetted into northern Spain immediately after coming off the bench in the Old Firm derby to play in his second game in one day.

 

He lasted an hour, won the man of the match award and scored twice as a Galician select claimed a 3-2 win.

 

And yesterday Deportivo's president, Augusto Cesar Lendoiro - who attended the match against the Iranians at the Riazor - admitted the little striker is now high on the club's list of possible transfer targets.

 

Lendoiro will have talks with boss Miguel Angel Lotina and sporting director Ricardo Moar Rios next week to finalise plans for the January transfer window. But last night he said: "Nacho Novo is a player who is attractive to Deportivo because of his Galician background and also because of his contractual situation in Glasgow.

 

"We know he is out of contract at the end of this season so we would not be talking about a big fee.

 

"But nothing is decided yet. These are the kind of things we have to discuss internally as we make our plans for January.

 

"But there will be official talks in the next few days and Nacho Novo is a name that will come up."

 

Lendoiro is believed to have been hugely impressed by Novo's performance against Iran and is understood to have joked to the player after the match that it was time for his return.

 

Novo has just five months left on his current Rangers contract and had hoped to convince manager Walter Smith to offer him a new deal.

 

He would find it an emotional wrench to end his Ibrox love affair-even despite his recent chronic lack of first-team starts.

 

But it has seemed lately as if the striker is fighting a losing battle to win a place in Walter Smith's first XI, mainly appearing from the bench.

 

And, having never played in the Spanish top flight, Novo would be faced with a difficult decision if Deportivo follow up their interest with a firm offer of a contract.

[Gribz 743]

Been saying for 12 months that Novo would probably be the first name on the team sheet for me. An impact player doesnt just have to sit on the bench!! Not only is he an impact player but he has a bit of quality and always gives his all and has a bit of pace again. He is being wasted on the bench. He has proven it in big games.

 

It wouldnt surprise me at all if WS purposely didnt bring him on sooner due to this Spanish game!

[ian1964 10,441]

Been saying for 12 months that Novo would probably be the first name on the team sheet for me. An impact player doesnt just have to sit on the bench!! Not only is he an impact player but he has a bit of quality and always gives his all and has a bit of pace again. He is being wasted on the bench. He has proven it in big games.

 

It wouldnt surprise me at all if WS purposely didnt bring him on sooner due to this Spanish game!

 

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

[UCF2008 0]

Novo has just five months left on his current Rangers contract and had hoped to convince manager Walter Smith to offer him a new deal.

 

I thought he still had another year.

[ian1964 10,441]

I thought he still had another year.

 

2010 I believe ?

[ian1964 10,441]

After months of intense speculation Novo finally joined the Light Blues for the start of pre-season training in 2004, a few days after rejecting Celtic's advances.

 

Nacho Novo celebrationAnd although Nacho is a small in stature - McLeish joked he could 'walk under a bed wearing a top hat' at the press-conference - the former Raith Rovers livewire has become a big hit with supporters.

 

The pacey forward was Alex McLeish's sixth summer capture - hot on the heels of Dado Prso, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Alex Rae, Dragan Mladenovic and Marvin Andrews - and has grabbed his Ibrox chance with both hands.

 

The Ferrol-born hitman, put pen to paper on a four-year contract with the club, and enjoyed a superb debut campaign - netting 25 goals in 49 appearances.

 

Adapting to life at Ibrox wasn't be a problem for the Spaniard as he has a good understanding of the Scottish game.

 

In 2001 the striker was given his chance to impress when Raith Rovers brought him over from SD Huesca and Novo didn't disappoint, scoring 19 goals in 36 games.

 

In fact his form was so impressive that after only one season at Stark's Park Dundee snapped him up for a nominal fee.

Nacho Novo celebrates his goal against Motherwell

 

There he obviously made his mark bagging 6 goals in his first campaign in the SPL and then 26 the following term.

 

Novo admits he still has a lot to learn but has enhanced Alex McLeish's squad and even scored the goal at Hibs in May 2005 that helped secure the club's 51st league championship.

 

Nacho's partnership with Dado Prso was one of the highlights of the 2004/05 double winning campaign and although his goals dried up at the back end of the season, he still contributed with a number of key assists playing on the right wing.

 

The 2005/06 season was a frustrating one for the Spaniard as he struggled to secure a place in the starting eleven and it looked at one point as if his Rangers career would be coming to an end when Coventry City tabled a bid for him in August 2006.

 

Instead, Novo chose to stay at Ibrox and flourished under Paul Le Guen, scoring vital goals against Livorno, St Mirren, Maccabi Haifa and Hearts. He was less prolific in the second half of the season although was often used wide on the right flank.

 

He enters 2007/08 in the last year of his contract and no doubt determined to earn an extension.