der Berliner

Truth be told, while we could beat the odd standard team in the CL, there is every chance that we get a similar group like last season and get pumped. While the group stage money is essentially a budget gold mine for the next 3 years, as soon as we get humped, people will cry for blood. The EL will see us paired against more equal teams in the long run. Essentially, it is all a bonus and a win-win situation for us. First and foremost, though, in the here and now, I want us to put the Scum down in the place where they belong.

Well, Killie will come out steaming on their home turf, so we might do well to cover our defense at the start for that. I thought playing Lundstram in that CB role against the Germans was quite hazardous, but it worked and with him have someone there who can play a pass out of defence. These are games where a back-3 might be the order of the day, I'd prefer Sterling - Souttar - Balogun right now. One "cleaner" ahead of them, Jack, while the wingers get the order of tracking back as well, even though Cantwell does that anyway, Sakala and Matondo too. I'd go for Ridvan on the left flank still, as he is more a wingback than a fullback. IMHO, we have the people now to press and bury teams from the off, given the 5-subs rule, we can adopt "standard" line-ups later on. Butland Sterling - Souttar - Balogun Cantwell - Raskin - Jack - Ridvan Danilo - Lammers - Sakala What we will get will most likely look more like the standard fare: Butland Tavernier - Souttar - Balogun/Davies - Ridvan/Barisic Jack - Raskin Sima - Lammers - Cantwell Dessers/Danilo

Genk's captain was quoted saying that "they already look past Rangers" even before playing Servette. Karma and all that. These Swiss teams remain dark horses though. You never really know how they will perform on the day.

Yep, his stats point clearly at his position, and the "CB" thing may actually mean right-CB in a back-3. I would be averse to try that every now and then.

Sakala remains very much an asset to us, and he is not really worse than quite a few strikers w had in the past (pre-admin). We are in no hurry to sell him, 3 of our 5 current strikers have yet to show that they can do the job in Scotland, Roofe is Roofe and Sakala has hardly let us down that much. For some reason, though, when it comes to certain players, people seem to remember the misses more than the goals and vice versa. Since there's a heavy load of important games coming up, I would sure keep him.

Since Hoffenheim broadcasted it live on their club channel on youtube, the game is obviously still there. If geo-blocked for Britain, use VPN.

New coach, new players, and we beat them in the Glasgow Cup Final with Bluenose Kirsty Howatt converting a match-winning penalty in injury time: RANGERS ANNOUNCE JO POTTER AS WOMEN'S FIRST-TEAM HEAD COACH SQUAD UPDATE: RANGERS WOMEN RANGERS SIGN MICHELLE COLSON FROM ANDERLECHT RANGERS WOMEN SEASON 2023/24 FIXTURES ANNOUNCED BERRY AND MCAULAY SIGN PROFESSIONAL CONTRACTS RANGERS ANNOUNCE JAY BRADFORD AS ASSISTANT COACH RANGERS ANNOUNCE SIGNING OF RIO HARDY NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL VICTORIA ESSON SIGNS NEW CONTRACT RANGERS SIGN RACHEL ROWE FROM READING RANGERS WOMEN PRE-SEASON TRAINING CAMP CHELSEA CORNET SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION KIRSTY HOWAT SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION MEGAN BELL SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION EILIDH AUSTIN SIGNS PROFESSIONAL CONTRACT REPORT: RANGERS 11-0 QUEEN'S PARK RANGERS ANNOUNCE SIGNING OF SARAH EWENS Glasgow Cup Final - REPORT: RANGERS 2-1 CELTIC WOMEN VIDEO: GLASGOW CUP WINNERS REACTION GALLERY: RANGERS LIFT THE CITY OF GLASGOW WOMEN'S CUP KIRSTY HOWAT DELIGHTED AT PRODUCING THE WINNING MOMENT LISA MARTINEZ SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION Upcoming Fixtures Squad list in German (there is none in English)

Apart from Wright, it looks like those who didn't travel are just kept home like Sterling and Roofe were in midweek? With so many strikers out and ready, there was no point bringing Sakala to Germany, Sterling probably took the slot of Davies.

44 mins late due to the earlier KO, but once I got on, we got going! IMHO, we look ready. Ready for Killie. Not much more. But we are getting there and all players got minutes. Bit surprised to see Lundstram being tested as a CH vs a good team, but he did okay. Hopefully Sterling is soon ready, as we need some fresh brains in that back-line.

Some snaps from the Hoffenheim website (machine translated): Albertz: "Glasgow was the best time of my career" Between 1996 and 2001, Jörg 'Ali' Albertz played for Glasgow Rangers and achieved cult status in Scotland. Ahead of TSG Hoffenheim's friendly against Rangers (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.), the 52-year-old talks about his time in Glasgow, the special atmosphere among the Scottish fans and his role as ambassador for Global United FC. Jörg, you played in Glasgow for five years. How do you think back to the time? “That was my best phase as a professional soccer player. We've had great success, winning titles and playing in the Champions League. The team was sensational. The cohesion was unique and one of the reasons for our success. I only have positive memories.” What is your favorite experience with the Rangers? "I can't break that down to one thing. The whole five years were a single highlight. Of course, a lot of people initially think of the championships, but I found it incredibly impressive as a young player to meet stars like Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne. The mood in the dressing room was always positive.” How often are you still on the island? “Probably five or six times a year. Glasgow Rangers organize evenings for former players with fans and sponsors several times a season. There you eat together and have a good time. As a result, I never lost contact with my former team-mates, and I'm in the stadium from time to time to follow the current team." Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow has cult status for many football fans. What makes the mood at Rangers so special? “The fans live for the club. In Glasgow you are born a Celtic or a Rangers fan. That depends on the family. There is hardly anything else. I get goosebumps when I enter Ibrox Stadium. The spectators identify with the club and give their all in the stands. But the spark has to get across. When the fans realize that the players aren't giving their all, they quickly let you know that." Some Rangers fans will come to Sinsheim. What can we look forward to? “Scottish fans love to travel with their club. It doesn't matter whether it's a test match or a game in the European Cup. They will also celebrate properly and create a great atmosphere in the PreZero Arena. I'm sure it will be a celebration for everyone involved." https://www.tsg-hoffenheim.de/aktuelles/news/2023/07/albertz-glasgow-war-die-schoenste-zeit-meiner-karriere/ Glasgow Rangers: Back in the duel A turbulent decade lies behind Rangers Football Club from Glasgow. After being forced into relegation to the fourth Scottish league, the traditional club fought back and even celebrated the championship again in 2021. Now the club is preparing to be on an equal footing with arch-rivals Celtic again in the long term. The duel with TSG Hoffenheim (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.) is the final endurance test for Rangers before turbulent weeks of competitive games. Exactly ten years ago, Rangers had something to celebrate. But it wasn't a championship that the club has now won 55 times. The Rangers celebrated promotion – from the fourth division. Following bankruptcy, the club was forced to start over under a new operating company in the depths of the Scottish league system. The club rose three times in four years and returned to the Scottish Premiership, where the club have finished five times since then and were crowned champions unbeaten in 2021. In 2022, the club reached the final of the Europa League, where the Scots lost to Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties. Rangers Football Club - the name of the city does not appear in the club's official name - are back at the top, although arch-rivals Celtic have kept them at a distance in the table for the past two years. But the Scottish league is again essentially just a duel: 26 points separated Rangers in second place and Aberdeen in third place in last season's final table. The Scots are traveling to the game on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) in Kraichgau with three players who have Bundesliga experience. Rabbi Matondo made 30 appearances for FC Schalke, Sam Lammers has 15 Bundesliga appearances for Frankfurt. Leon Balogun, who collected Bundesliga minutes for Mainz, Düsseldorf, Hanover and Bremen, played 75 times in the German elite class. After the season opener, TSG will play against Rangers at FC Fulham on the following weekend (5 August). For the Scots, everyday life in the league will then begin in Kilmarnock, only a few days later they will face Servette Geneva in qualifying for the Champions League or the KRC Genk further. The club was still a long way from European nights ten years ago - now they have long since become everyday life again in the legendary Ibrox Stadium. https://www.tsg-hoffenheim.de/aktuelles/news/2023/07/glasgow-rangers-zurueck-im-zweikampf/ (Well, they got most of it correct, but sure didn't read the German Wikipedia entry that I wrote re our admin event.)

Dunno, but RTV showed the incident about 5 times, from behind the goal, it clearly looked that the goalie caught Cantwell's right leg & foot. As Kevin Thomson said a wee while back (much to my annoyance, I might add): "if he feels contact, he's every right to go down". It was not a knee-in-the-body style foul that Hagi* received late on, but not a dive either. *My gut feeling says that we might miss Hagi and Cantwell through suspension next season, as both tend to be somewhat hot-headed at times.

You are not alone there. Perhaps we just throw in something like "bad day at the office" to make us feel a little better ...

At Hoffenheim, our last public pre-season game, you would like to see a starting line-up and tactic for the next few weeks. Once the CL qualifiers happen by, we need a settled team.

Maybe we give Matondo some respite. He will most likely be Wright's replacement in the squad, and possibly leave in not too many months because of his lack of game time. On the other hand, he looks like a winger-version of Sakala, always trying, but with even less end product. That said, we have given better players much more time to settle and given the tactics (if any) and squad rotation (if any) of recent months, there is no wonder that some people can't find their feet. Who knows whether a couple of goals in weeks to come will make him outshine Dessers and Co.. In that respect, my glass on him remains is half-full.

Maybe Beale's approach will be, that we simply outscore the opposition! 😱

Unless they prove us otherwise in weeks and months to come, IMHO, Roofe is still our most clinical striker. Lammers looks to me more like the Laudrup type of attacker, Dessers a straight centre forward who feeds off others, and Sima a decent enough left sided attacker / striker. Who knows where Danilo fits in, but if we pay serious money for Dessers and Danilo, it is most likely them being meant to be first choice. Sakala fits in all across the front line, always a pest, always a danger - even if his end product is lacking somewhat (but is - without doubt - still there). MB has a task on his hands to check out who is working best against what type of opposition. As of now, if everyone is fit, our attack force it heavily loaded with people, of whom we essentially know only Sakala, Cantwell, Roofe and Lawrence, the last two in patches only. The front and second row union needs to be made to click and while it may take a month or two, we won't run out of attackers like the last few seasons. That should give us some hope. My main concern remains the defensive, as we simply concede too many cheap goals. Get these chap fit and make it a back-3. We need to get this particular house in order.

If I had to pick a team for Hoffenheim and the games thereafter, to get some continuity in the line ups, it would be Butland Tavernier* - Balogun - Souttar - Ridvan Jack - Raskin Cantwell - Lammers - Sakala Roofe * Unless Sterling gets fit. Hagi, Sima, Matondo (yes), Dessers next in line, the others either don't look fit or up for it yet. There is so far no real cohesion up top, with people at times all over the place and vast spaces elsewhere. Against better teams, we need someone who can spot danger and works on it, usually Lundstram, but he was mentally still in the cabin when he came on, truly shocking and getting nowhere near the standard he is capable of. Truth be told, Jack didn't look at 100 % either, but he at least is focussed. We missed a decent DM at all three of their goals, who, as much as they were down to poor defending, were also quite lucky. On the other end nothing fell for us (bar Cantwell), with Lammers and Matondo unlucky. MB needs to get his starting XI sorted for the weekend, the training stuff should end tonight.

You have to give it to MB that he has selected high-caliber opposition to get his squad into shape. Good early pressure from us and what a strike from Raskin. After that Olympiakos came into the game and it was more or less even. IMHO, Dowell and Davies, along with Borna haven't really impressed me thus far tonight. Balance up top and AM doesn't look right, we'll see what MB will do.

Leaving Rousseau's addled line ups aside ... ... one of my first dictionaries of English was published in 1957 (fair city of Leipzig, deep in "commie land"), which is actually a picture dictionary. It has a neat draw of many a sports game and the football page gives you the goalkeeper, the right back and left back (either side of the penalty area), with centre half in the middle. Ahead of him the right and left half, ahead of those the centre forward, flanked by the inside right and inside left, with the outside right / right winger and outside left / left winger on the touch lines. Those were the days, right?! On paper a clear 3-2-5 or perhaps 3-4-3, if you count the outside left and right guys a "midfielders". That's how we should approach most games in Scotland, anyway.

At this moment, I would like to point at the OP 😎

... some might argue, that we (again) threw it away.

Quite a few ...

... and on another day, we might have horsed them 7-1, given the chances we missed. It's July still and if it was mid-September and we continue like Saturday (or, indeed, much of last season), I'd be worried.

Last I read was that if we fail in either qualification round, we will enter the EL group phase afterwards. Both side are beatable, but we, much like them, are not playing at full throttle yet, hence IMHO these early quali rounds are utter rubbish, and have been for years.

Ach well, he's only 26. By the time he gets to the age at which McCoist quit, he might have scored 200 more goals for us 🙂