Tag: rangers

Dare to Dream

It wasn’t pretty and there’s been many times they’ve been outplayed but we’re there. Rangers have made it to the Uefa Cup Final! The quad is still on, the team is just about hanging together and the next three weeks will be a roller coaster ride but after tonight I’m on such a high that I can’t wait for the next games. Work plans will need to change as I’m due to be down in Bristol on the 14th. Doh!

I really thought we had no chance tonight but for all Fiorentina’s possession and chances they didn’t really threaten that much. They had a few good chances but we rode our luck and stuck to the game plan that’s seen us progress so well this season. No doubt I’ll get the usual anti-football, negative Walter jibes at work tomorrow but what do you do. Play to your strengths and use a bit of nouse or go for it when you don’t have the players to do so? Rangers away record this season has been amazing in both the Champions league and in the Eufa cup and their final spot is well deserved. Cannot believe the difference in a season. Walter Smith in much the same way he did with Scotland has turned around a failing team. He also created a team whose sum is far greater than it’s individual parts again much like he did with Scotland. Still can’t believe he didn’t get manager of the year. Travesty!

Roll on May 14th. Roll on Scottish League and Cup wins too.

What a Result!

Great result tonight for Rangers. Nobody could say they were lucky over the two legs this time. So many accuse Rangers this season of being the luckiest team out there. I didn’t know playing to your strengths and actually having some tactical nous meant that you were lucky! Certainly they have rode their luck at times as all teams on a good run have to, but I do believe that you make your own luck.

So still competing in three competitions and a packed end of season. What can they achieve? What will they sacrifice if anything? Will the players have the energy to keep competing? I believe they will. Surely it’s nights like this that will spur them on over the coming weeks? Surely they would take the volume of games over sitting out a competition? Can’t wait for the next couple of weeks – big games and not just domestically. Come on!!

Lyon 0 – 3 Rangers

What an amazing result. One of the best from Rangers in a long time, and easily their best result in Europe in recent years. Certainly the most surprising result in the Champions League tonight and also the best performance by a British team. We rode our luck at times but good defence and clinical finishing won the night.

So we’re joint top of the group with Barcelona. Suddenly talk is of qualification and what results we need to go our way. Great times that will hopefully lift their domestic performance. Bring on Barca…gulp!

Funny old game

On the way out?

Barry Ferguson and Kris Boyd. Only joking. Le Guen may have a certain frisson towards them, but he’s not a kamikaze pilot.

That was the Sunday Herald on the 31st Dec 2006. Just days later, Paul Le Geun has left Rangers by mutual consent. He left after stripping Ferguson of captaincy and dropping him. It looked liked Ferguson wouldn’t play again under Le Guen and it was certainly a ballsy move by the manager and showed who was boss. So I thought.

Does this mean that player power is really in control at Ibrox? Does Ferguson carry more weight than Le Guen (no pun intended)? Does Murray wield too much influence in that as long as players he wants to play are playing the manager is safe? Certainly the results weren’t of the quality to be expected at Rangers but it looks like the Ferguson incident has brought things to a head. Le Guen had an excellent track record and his appointment was lauded as a great coup by Murray. If he couldn’t turn things round at Ibrox then who can? Interesting days ahead.

Le Guen

So Rangers have finally confirmed that Paul le Guen is the new manager, only the twelth in their history. No big surprise except for the way it was announced – via their website and not with a big press conference. Hopefully Le Guen will use the war chest he’s been promised wisely – too many managers in the past have spent vast amounts of money for very little return – Flo anyone?

McLeish did a good job on very little money. Tuesday nights exit from the Champions League was typical of Scottish teams in Europe – so near but yet so far. Shame.

To finish on a moan – why does the official Rangers website only show the league up to 2nd place? Shocking that they can’t accept that Celtic are runaway league winners this year. Poor form.

Rangers 2-2 Villarreal

Woo-hoo. A 2-2 draw is a pretty good result. Could we sneak an away win? Well – I can but hope. What was Prso doing though? Hard to criticise arguably our best player but to handle the ball in the box in the manner that he did in the first five minutes of such an important game…Alan Sugar’s quote in tonights Apprentice sums it up.

Anchor to wanker.

It was a joke!

I laughed while watching the weather yesterday – not only was it to be a dry day in Glasgow but the presenter who was Scottish had a fun poke at Rangers by saying “wrap up warm if they are heading for Castle Grayskull”. For those not in the know this has been the slang term for Ibrox stadium for a long time. Pretty funny – nice one Kirsty.

I should have know there would be those who can’t see the funny side. Sunday Mail, page 5, outraged Gers fans. Twats – get a grip. Whats worse is the shoddy Sunday Mail reporting. Firstly it’s Grayskull not Greyskull. Secondly, and something I always thought was a bit odd – Castle Grayskull is where the hero’s are based in the He-Man cartoon, not the baddies. So whats the big deal? I’m more concerned about being 4th in the league than a throwaway comment on a weather report.

Rants

I’ve got quite a few posts to put up but really have to get a few moans out of the way first – think of it as cleansing.

  • Plusnet. Although I’ve moved to Freedom2Surf that doesn’t take place until the 6th of October so I still need to suffer. Not only is the Usenet speed slow during the day as well, but they are wanting users to vote for them in the PC Pro 2005 awards. Cheeky bards. What’s worse is that they can e-mail all their users about voting for them and how they could win prizes yet they can’t e-mail them to say that their pricing is changed or their accounts are totally different from when they signed up. Apparently there is a communications opt out checkbox hidden in the terms and conditions but nobody mentioned that the checkbox had been added and unless you visit the forums you won’t know it’s there or how to opt out.
  • Why does the new Apple Nano in black come with white headphones. Just looks daft. I guess it’s so the adverts still work.
  • In the same vain – why did the black PSP come with white headphones and white adaptor. It looked cheap Mr Sony and was white because of the iPod.
  • The Xbox 360 – 2 different versions of the hardware is impacting on how games are being developed and what features are added. See this article for more info. Fools.
  • Rangers are mince. Watched the game yesterday (for free on Freeview – nice) and they were woeful. Lucky it wasn’t a heavier defeat. Bring on Inter!!
  • It’s a holiday weekend. Off Monday & Tuesday. The weathers crap and I’ve got work from the office to do. Bah.
  • Why does plaster soak up so much paint. Even though I put two coats of sealer on it’s still soaking up the paint. Oh well – time to put on another coat.

And relax…

Magnificent Seven

What a player Larsson is. Great to see him back in Scottish football playing better than ever. In all honesty the better team won – if the game was judged on the first 20 minutes of the second half then Celtic could feel aggrieved but over the 90 minutes they were outclassed. At least there still in the Champions league!

One year on and what a difference a year makes. I’ve said elsewhere that McLeish would be out by November – I now think he’s one dodgy result away from being shown the door. The real poser is this – who could replace him and do any better?

Dismal Rangers

The worst thing about the Man U defeat was the total lack of passion in the game. It’s easy to point out who had the strongest team before the start of the match, but I can hardly think of anyone who showed grit or determination to get the ball. Lovenkrands showed endeavour but had little service. Apart from that only Burke showed enough to suggest he has a rosy future.

As for Capucho & Vanoli – they should be shown the door. I would rather have youngsters playing than those two overpaid diddies. Rangers are now playing for a UEFA Cup place – I just hope they manage that.