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I've not seen this mentioned anywhere but we played Dynamo Kiev in a friendly in 1990. Europe was going through seismic change, the Berlin Wall had fallen the previous year, Poland and Hungary had broken free from Communist dictators and the entire map of Europe was about to change as the Soviet Union was beginning to dissolve, events we're still feeling the consequences of today. For many of us at that time Dynamo Kiev were a 'Russian' side. Many people used the term Russia and Soviet Union interchangeably. Despite some of the great Soviet sides not actually being Russian, (Dynamo Kiev, Dynamo Tbilisi and Dynamo Minsk) there was a lazy shorthand in the West that Russia and the Soviet Union were the same thing. I grew up knowing a few Scottish Communists, I knew a guy who used to go to Moscow every year for the May Day parade and sent postcards home to everyone he knew. But he never explained the geography or ethnic breakdown to me, they were all comrades in his eyes. It's funny looking back. We'd played Dynamo Kiev in a memorable European Cup match in 1987, for many who were there it was one of Rangers greatest evenings. Dynamo Kiev were one of the best club sides in the world. European Cup winners in 86, semi finalists the following season they were rightly strong favourites. If you listen to Archie MacPherson's commentary of that match he describes Kiev as 'Russian', something most of us thought at the time. Anyway, that match has been written about a lot and is well documented. So I guess we'd made a connection with the club and somehow this led to a friendly being arranged that summer. Again this was unusual as Soviet teams rarely took part in friendlies in 'the West'. But then Europe was changing and Dynamo Kiev, having had successful runs in European competition were better placed than most to benefit from them. Anyway, the reason I thought of this match was it was the first time I remember reading about Ukraine being a separate nation from Russia. I had heard the name Ukraine from school history classes, but I'd never thought of it as a country in its own right. Dynamo Kiev had an iconic strip, that wonderful stylised capital D on white shirts and navy shorts, however on that day Rangers presented Dynamo with a new strip, it was a yellow top with blue shorts, the symbolism of which was largely lost on me then but is quite important today. Ukraine hadn't yet become a separate nation, but was clearly taking steps towards it and as arguably their most visible symbol Dynamo Kiev were nailing their colours to the mast. For all intents and purposes Dynamo Kiev were the Ukraine national side, they were certainly the best side in the country and many of their players were already Soviet internationals. I wonder if it was Rangers idea to give them the strips, or if someone from Dynamo Kiev initiated it. Dynamo wore them for a couple of seasons as Ukraine established itself as a nation, then they reverted back to their traditional colours. Dynamo Kiev have a fascinating history, truly remarkable. Dutch writer, Simon Kuper, wrote an extraordinary chapter on them in his book 'Football Against the Enemy' (a book with a chapter on Rangers too) and Andy Dougan, who wrote for the Evening Times for many years, wrote about Dynamo Kiev during WW2, again an astonishing story. As for Miko, he split our support. I remember someone telling me that John Grieg was announcing the sides to a corporate box at Ibrox one day and when he came to Mikhailichenko's name in the starting 11 he muttered "it canny be raining then', I don't think he was Grieg's type of player! Whatever lack of fight he might have demonstrated on the pitch he's clearly got no shortage of courage when it really matters. Good luck Alexei.

Miko and Kuznetzov both played a huge part in my first and favourite derby at the Piggery (4-2 on NYD '94). An unforgettable day.

I don't like to be overly negative about emerging talent but it wouldn't be Amad Dallio who frequently looks like someone seeing a football for the first time. Lowry looks a far more accomplished footballer.

Thought Sands was the pick of the bunch today. Looked very composed

Oh and why have we reverted to our 1980/1990's songbook in last few away games?

The more I see of James Sands the more I think we're seeing someone who could be a linchpin of our midfield for years to come. Probably the most important signing the last transfer window

Lowry came on and made more telling passes in 10 minutes than hes made all season. As for 1 of our best signings... I'll answer that when I stop laughing!

Arguably one of our best signings! yer talking pish! IMO

Bit harsh given what he's done for us in the past, and I didn't think he was that bad v Red Star either.

I expect a MOTM performance from him in every match from now until the end of the season!!!! 😁

yes sands was excellent.

Job done, some decent performances and into semi-final.

Just one comment I would like to make. I am disappointed to see Diallo getting game time ahead of our own youngsters. He brings little to the team. Aside form that, delighted to progress in the cup and well done to young Sands who had a fine game.

Glad to see Ramsey get 80 mins under his belt today. He played reasonably well all things considered. Watching the game today, I was reflecting on the poor state of "Premier" football in Scotland. In our last 3 domestic away matches, the state of the playing surfaces has been nothing short of disgraceful. Has anyone else noticed the number of times we have to resort to head tennis or "keepie uppie" to retain possession as the ball baubles all over the shop on the uneven surface? I really wonder what players like Ramsey who are used to playing on perfect English and Italian surfaces make of it? Add to that the sheer dilapidation of the stadium. That Stand opposite the cameras looks ready to be condemned. And for a cup QF, only 1100 of the home support could be ars*d to buy a ticket FFS! The only positive I can muster is at least they never tried to hide the ball (unlike their neighbours across the road) when it was out of play. Unfortunately, we will have to return their pig sty next Sunday for more of the same! Back to the match, some good performances from Ramsey, Goldson, Bassey and Sands. The latter, in particular, really begins to impress the more he plays. Nice to see McCann and Lowry feature as well. Final question. If you watched the final 15 mins of the game never having seen them play before, who would think was the £35m footballer Dallio or Lowry? 😄

Were a better team without him. I'll have jack and lundstram every time and from what I've seen of sands I would start him ahead of kamara as well. So keep YOUR drivel to your self.

Won the game early, perfect game management ahead on next Thursday. Into the semi final. Tav was great again today and good to see Ramsey get almost 80mins, thought he did everything well. Happy with that.

Pleased to win but are we entitled to expect more than we got? Up against a poor Dundee side who look certs to be relegated, we surely should have got the third long before we did. Too much carelessness in our play at times & giving the ball away needlessly However that’s us through and job done

Fixed that for you

Helander struggling again at corners.

Why would he, his contract lasts till 2024?

Jim Denny.

More Ukranian memories... My first experience of Dynamo Kiev was when the played the Tims in 85/86? Their performance at Darkhead was something I had never witnessed before. The Kiev players(Belanov, Blochin, Baltacha eta all) were amazing with their free flowing brand of quick passing football was a joy to behold. Think it ended 1-1 but it the Ukranians should have destroyed them tbh. My 2nd memory is when we played a year or so later. For the away game it kicked off in the afternoon (UK time) so we skipped school early to watch the live beam back at Ibrox. Archie was doing the commentary and my abiding memory was the amount of soldiers in the stadium of 90,000 and the huge floodlights providing light on a gloomy Kiev evening. And of course the return leg is the stuff of legends. Amazing.

Great post as ever John. With regards to the 1990 friendly, did big Oleg Kutsnetsov not score a beauty in the opening stages and we subsequently signed him shortly after? (Only to be injured in one of his first games)

A bit early for this

Maybe we wait till the season comes to an end? As for Kent ... he`d be awesome if he was used as a winger and not a left-sided attacker meant to be contributing goals. Jack ... has hardly played all season, Tavernier nowadays starting to get to a level we all know he can play (at the back as well as the top), but which he does not reproduce on a regular basis over the course of the season. At the end of the day, it will probably down to Morelos and Tavernier, with the dark horse being Bassey.

Referee – Steven McLean Assistants – Alan Mulvanny (he is rather suspect and a Yahoo) and Andy Milne Fourth Offical - Alan Muir Missing - Ianis Hagi (knee, summer), Nnamdi Ofoborh (heart, unknown), Steven Davis (thigh), Scott Arfield (knock) Doubtful - John Lundstram (ankle), Joe Aribo Live on RTV & Premier Sports 1

Wishing on a Red Star. As we have already discussed on this thread, BBC Scotland largely ignored Rangers knocking out Europa League favourites, Borussia Dortmund from the tournament. I do not mind PQ decided our Ladies and Mens Olympic Curlers journeys to winning Gold and Silver medals respectively was deemed more worthy of coverage. I do not mind they decided the Celtic - Bodo Glimp tie in the Europa Conference League was more worthy of live commentary and, I don't mind the machinations at Aberdeen are considered more worthy for the bulk of discussion over the period. All PQ had to do was pay BT Sport the required amount to show the game's goals . They did not. At the start of the season, RAB Cosgrove provided first evidence of BBC Scotland's take on matters Rangers, "ah don't get it, Rangers fans are standing on the side lines, beelin". RAB repeated this line a few times and if you think about it, BBC Scotland were deliberately putting us on the side lines and their reaction was to ignore us and our aspirations. Even Michael Stewart gave up on his weekly 'Trial by Sportscene'; demanding numerous retrospective red cards for Morelos. It could be argued PQ is just reflecting Scots wider society's take on the Club, not one of the SNP's 108 MPs and MSPs support Rangers. Those credentials were flashed again last week when none of the SNP MSPs at Holyrood signed the early day motion offering congratulations to Rangers on their 150th anniversary, including First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon whose constituency includes Ibrox. However, BBC Scotland is contracted by the License Fee to provide a service, even to Rangers supporters. I detect a slight change this week in the wake of the Red Star game. On Thursday night after Midnight, BBC Scotland's last news bulletin carried the Ranger result and having paid BT Sport the necessary fee, showed Rangers three goals with a Kheredine Idessane voiceover. Today, Cosgrove and Cowan mentioned the result at the top of the show, then talked endlessly about last night's Ayrshire Derby. Mention it early, then consign it to the sidelines is the current Immediate Action - coping mechanism. Jum Spence wears his black heart on his Twitter sleeve, he Tweeted 17 times when Dundee United defeated Rangers earlier this season; on Thursday evening he issued one Tweet, "penalty to Rangers". Later, he reinforced this broadcast by claiming, "it succinctly captures events at Ibrox". PQ's journey with the Rangers - Red Star Belgrade tie began with a wishing on a Red Star moment(apologies to Rose Royce). Four days before the game, the headline on the Website was, 'When Red Star beat Rangers on the way to Euro' Glory'. A dozen paragraphs lionising the Red Star team that won the European Cup, particularly since, "they drew and brushed aside Rangers". As the article went on it sharpened, "the Belgrade side routed Rangers on the way to their greatest triumph". The relevance of events 32 years ago were tied into current times with, "BBC Scotland can reveal Red Star are privately pleased to be paired with Rangers". It was the last paragraph before PQ threw in a bit of balance, "nonetheless GVB's men will aim to channel the spirit of 1964 and 2007, two years when Rangers got the better of Red Star". BBC Scotland's various contributors to the numerous shows on Scottish football constantly opine, even bitterly moan about folks missing opportunities to talk up Scottish football. The above preview fails but the real piss on your chips moment arrived during the two and half hour live coverage of the game itself. BIG Dick hosted Richard Foster, Charlie Adam and, Leeanne Chricton. Now, Charlie was enthusiastic but his emotion did not influence Big Dick. After 25 minutes, I tuned in whilst seated in Bar'72. I wanted to find out the reason for the award of our penalty. Rangers are winning two zip and Big Dick is NOT talking up the Scottish game, "we have had twenty five minutes and the ball has been in play for barely sixteen or seventeen minutes, this is not what VAR is for". I was deliriously happy with VAR, everyone around me was in agreement. The fact that PQ cannot be arsed to walk half a mile to the Stadium and participate in the atmosphere of a Scots team achieving a victory that again improves the National co-efficient, is a big part of the problem. Any given Sellik Euro game, we have Big Dick with the Blarney Twins constantly eulogising the green'n'grey hooped heroes, straining to heard over the Stade de Gadd PA banging out the Irish music. VAR had failed Big Dick, lamenting Red Star's offsides constantly but, relief arrived at one minute to ten(four minutes after the game ended) when BBC Scotland's football coverage finished. At half time I tuned in once again and Big Dick did not discuss the first forty-five happenings - two goals, three VAR decisions, a converted penalty, a saved penalty, five minutes added time, ............. etc; the weekend's Scottish Cup fixtures and the Dundee - St Johnstone relegation fight were deemed more important. Could you imagine BBC Scotland doing similar during half time at a Sellik Euro game? On Friday morning, GB's Para-Olympians were front and centre, by Noon the Ayrshire Derby was being previewed but, none of it runs interference on Big Dick's summary before the second half began, "busy first half, Allan McGregor was lucky to get away with a fumble, Ryan Kent's penalty was certainly a controversial one, Red Star also missed a penalty as well as having the ball in the Rangers net twice but not counting, however Rangers are two nil in front and, errrh well errrm that is good for Scottish football" That last line, I am sure as Big Dick uttered it he had his fingers crossed, whilst wishing on his Red Star?