Leaderboard

Brilliant to see signings unveiled without the mhedia having a clue and our own media 4lads etc getting first dibs at interviews. Long may it continue

dh 1963 a very knowledgeable poster on FollowFollow writes this about Johnny Little. ”Johnny Little was born Robert John Little in Calgary, Alberta in the summer of 1930, but moved with his family to Scotland at an early age, to Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae where his parents opened a fruit and vegetable shop.Educated at Queen’s Park Secondary Schoolon the south side of Glasgow, his aptitude to sport in general and football in particular was recognised when he became a Scotland schoolboy internationalist, having earlier played rugby union at school.Signing for Queen’s Park in the summer of 1948, he quickly made his debut on August 25 of that year in a supplementary cup-tie at Hampden against Kilmarnock, lost 1-2 and a league debut quickly followed three days later at the same venue against Stirling Albion in a B Division fixture again lost by the odd goal in five.Capable of playing in either full-back position, John Little quickly established himself in the Mount Florida side and would go on to make 77 appearances for the amateur club, including 55 league whilst adding three Scottish amateur international appearances to his earlier schoolboy honours.Whilst at Hampden he could count amongst his team-mates Ronnie Simpson and Derek Grierson, who would be a future colleague at Ibrox as well as long-standing Queen’s Park servants David Letham and Bert Cromar.The full-back followed the well-worn path from Hampden to Ibrox when he turned professional in July 1951, his debut for Rangers coming in a one-off tournament, the St Mungo Cup, staged as part of the 1951 Festival of Britain. That cup-tie against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on July 14 attracted 35,000 spectators who would witness a 2-1 win for the Dons – but that score-line was reversed one month later at Ibrox in Little’s home debut before a 60,000 crowd.Johnny Little gradually established himself in the Light Blue defence, succeeding the legendary club servant and captain Jock ‘Tiger’ Shaw.A sturdily-built defender, pacy and stylish but also strong in the tackle, Little played in an era when backs were backs and defenders were defenders. His speed, energy and exuberance were a key component of the Ibrox successes during much of the 1950s, and in addition to gaining further representative honours with two appearances for the Scottish league he made his solitary full international appearance for Scotland against Sweden at Hampden in a friendly that attracted a remarkable 83,800 spectators with the Swedes emerging victorious 2-1.Excellent in the art of the sliding tackle, one game at Ibrox played in heavy snow and slush in the days before undersoil heating saw the full-back successfully execute one such manoeuvre that was described by one onlooker as similar to The Queen Elizabeth “ploughing through a stormy sea”.Johnny Little was a consistent and respected performer for Rangers for 11 years, a good club servant who played a total of 327 games in Light Blue, scoring just the one goal on March 6th 1954 in a 1-1 draw with Hamilton Accies at Douglas Park. He won two League Championship and two Scottish Cup Winners’ Medals in 1953 and 1960 against Aberdeen and Kilmarnock respectively. The 1953 final went to a replay following a 1-1 draw meaning that the full-back played in three finals in total – all watched by six-figure attendances.An ever-present in all nine games of Rangers’ run to the semi finals of the 1959-60 European Champions’ Cup, that season Little played in no fewer than 50 competitive games in all competitions but his time at Ibrox was drawing to a close with the full-back partnership of Bobby Shearer and Eric Caldow more favoured by manager Scot Symon – his final appearance in light blue being a league cup-tie at Cathkin Park on 17th August 1960 against the much-lamented Third Lanark, lost 1-2.He finally left Rangers in the summer of 1962, signing for Morton for whom he would play 14 league games before retiring.Away from the world of football John Little was a much respected PE teacher at Crookston Castle Secondary on the south-side of Glasgow, at St Columba’s in Greenock and at the Sacred Heart Secondary in Paisley.In later years he lived with his wife Anne in Largs and spent many holidays in their caravan at Ballantrae, Ayrshire, in the heart of Burns country.He was inducted into the Rangers Football Club Hall of Fame in 2014 and passed away aged 86 in January 2017” The Stuart Munro of his time? To the extent of being a tireless stalwart, yes but really a bit better just not at the Caldow level. Few were or are.

Why is that a problem? Surely bringing in promising youngsters as back up is sensible from a footballing and an economic point of view.

Halliday has been released.

Good to see someone who is bi-lingual!?

Just as Stevie (fourlads) said it would be, and just the way it should be.

Following on from something Der Berliner said in the transfers thread, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s any point in having an academy. We keep hearing about the exciting youngsters we have coming through such as Atakyi,Patterson, Mebude etc but none of them ever seem to bridge that final gap. Off the top of my head Barry Ferguson is the last one to properly make the transition, McCrorie still might but in all honesty I doubt he’ll play for the 1st team again and with the pressure of trying to stop 10 (9/34) I don’t see many opportunities for any of them this season either.

Dodoo was on a permanent contract with us

We have already given full time contracts to at least nine development squad players so are heading in right direction that way.

Half of Europe has second teams competing in the league structure and all of those countries have a far higher standard of football than we do. That'doesnt mean second teams guarantee a better league system but it does mean it won't do any harm. I think it would be better for Rangers, better for Rangers players and better for Rangers fans. What's not to like?

A shame. Bluenose who gave his all.

Correct. On the other hand there was a time when shilpit wee Scottish nyaffs used to run rings round blond Saxon giants. Not any more sadly. There you are, dB. Some useful new words for your already excellent English vocabulary.

Maybe its just me, but nigh every time I see these "English" u21 and u23 players they look far more athletic and physcially sound than the Scottish chaps. On a wee sidenote, we sign a 20-year old that is meant to be playing first team football, probably as a back-up for any CH and leftback. He's but "or" already 20, pending on the point of view, i.e. only 20 and considered first team material "or" already considered first team material at 20. Why would I say that? Because most of our development players are also 20ish ... https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/glasgow-rangers-reserves/kadernaechstesaison/verein/12573 Just noted that as of now, Josh McPake seemingly hasn't had his contract extended. Was under the impression that he was one of our more talented guys.

Rangers are correct in making proposals. If SPFL are asking clubs to do their work for them, then our voice should be heard. Shouldn't impact on any future moves on correcting the governance of Scottish Football.

Neat bolt right out of the blue ...

Seem to me to be LB cover for BB

It is amazing that he has managed to negotiate a circa 20% drop in per game value when live football remains a premium product and crucial to broadcasters platforms.

There will always be the question ,'Why did the EPL conclude, and not the SPL ?". And that's just one of the reasons why there will always be an asterisk attached to this seasons title.