der Berliner

Well, I am pretty sure that Hagi and Lammers are off before long.

Once the title party is set up, all drinks of @CammyF, @Whosthedado, and @BEARGER are on me, to wash down the relegation pain ...

Just back from Leipzig* ... First, big thanks to @Rousseau for setting this up and keeping it running. Could have been anyone in the top 4, yet, brain beat the heart (well, mainly because of some England sort-of-mad friends), as the Spanish, if they wanted to play (which they did in the 2nd half) were better in every department bar the goalie perhaps ... when playing as a team. Their pacey one-touch stuff through packed defences was dangerous throughout the tournament, while England far too much relied on individual class and set pieces to get on the scoresheet. I was pretty stunned to be up there at the top of the table after the first round of games ... and actually started to think more than I should about choosing the scores (which is usually my undoing) from then on. Still, most were gut feelings rather than brain and I would have been totally content with the "God-King of Guessing Correct Scores" title ... but hey, for once Fortune* smiled. *There was the VAR bunker of UEFA and I needed to apply only little pressure on the guys there to rule the late Spanish winner on-side and "correct" the video accordingly. ( @WorthingBear91 money via Paypal to the usual address)

I would assume that Cifuentes, Lammers, Goldson, Tavernier, Davies, and Hagi are all off before the window closes. The money we'll receive for them is probably what Clement remarked upon when speaking of selling players first. People not needed or wanted take up places which need to be cleared first. There have to be buyers, though.

Comes with the success. Back in the day, we were still waiting for football this time of the year (80s and 90s). Or, during the dark years, had to fight it out with the dross of the lower leagues for a place to meet the Premiership "elite". We've picked some quality opposition for pre-season and yesterday wasn't too bad, given that the gaffer said that the team was put through heavy training before. More general ... Dunno the bother people have with Dessers and Cantwell. The former is the one striker who puts the ball in the net, and probably would have hit 30+ had he taken all of Tav's penalties. Lawrence played some shadow striker role yesterday, though I wish we would play with two strikers more often. Danilo and Cortes will hopefully contribute as much as Sima did last season, they are effectively two new signings. No-one knows what Igamane will be like, or what will happen to Lammers, so for the time being, Dessers remains our only reliable/proven striker. Despite being played against packed defences with not that much support. Cantwell remains the only player that brings a spark, the unexpected bit of creativity. Lowry (who I didn't notice at first because of his new "hairstyle") has that in him too, but we shall see how the Hearts trip changed him. Cantwell is the mercurial character that is disliked by quite a few. But really, I'd rather have three of him in the squad than all those these new 90 kg well-muscled footballer-imposters who fall at the ground at minimum contact (really a plague) to grab a free kick or get a fellow player send off. Or slow-motion thinkers who try well worked channels all game with little or no progress, Yesterday, especially some of the younger players, tried decent enough one-touch fast thinking football. Gives us hope, and one wonders whether Clement will blood a few of them in the lesser league or cup games.

All in all, a good work-out. Good shift by all players, even though some did better than others. The last 5 mins apart, Ajax never really threatened Kelly, when called upon, showed his class. Excellent saves. Wright a bit unlucky with his shots. Someone needs to water Barron, he's smaller than Ridvan!

... you should get over last season at some stage. Today, most have done okay for a game against Ajax.

Well, compared to what we had before, Davies did not do too badly at the end of last season. Wonder whether we will see Balogun and Souttar now. Jefte was doing well enough too, IMHO, Dessers also.

Looks like the local fire brigade is watering the pitch ...

Well, anyone with a guess what system we play? Our right-winger is playing left-wing, Lawrence more like a second striker, no-one on the right, though Sterling has been doing a few good runs and crosses there. I doubt Dowell touched the ball once ... Bad goals to give away, one over the top with the CHs asleep, second one a howler by Butland ... I would assume he got caught thinking too long whether to fist the ball away or grab it. All in all, not too bad a run-out, given the amount of non-attackers we have on display.

Nice play-acting to get the free-kick, bad mistake by Butland. Now Raskin wrecked ... again. Barron on, hope he's tougher.

Who knows how much he earned/-s at Sevilla ...

I bought myself four bottles (instead of the usual one for a Rangers game of late) of Double Bock for the final, as I expect some dire tactical battle geared for success, not football. The Spanish defence is rather good, whereas England relies on the odd spark from one of their forwards far too much. It is easier to read tea leaves (or coffee ground, as we say over here) than predict this one. Spain 2 England 1 Thinking on this brought back memories of James Alexander Gordon's reading of the football scores on a Saturday afternoon, not least when games were postponed, but results had to be determined for the bookies. The droning voice of an e.g. "no score draw" will probably live with me forever ...

Some clips from the sidelines via twitter ... FT 0-0

Some needs to kick the Rangers homepage fellows a little, since there is no page for the academy players. Curtis e.g. is not listed with the B team, so you have to dig somewhat to even notice that he is a midfielder. That 2nd-half line-up looks super-make-shift. Three centre halfs, three DMs, one more left back and a midfielder supporting Wright in attack.