Uilleam

Raskin, who played well, and got what I think was a vital opening goal.

From The Guardian: Vaclav Cerny says Rangers feel at home in Europe after qualifying for the last 16 of the Europa League with a 2-1 win over Union Saint-Gilloise last night. Rangers, whose erratic domestic form this season has all-but handed the title to their Old Firm rivals Celtic, held on for the win that took them to eighth place – avoiding the playoffs. Philippe Clement’s side were joined in the last 16 by earlier opponents Lyon, Olympiacos, Manchester United and Tottenham and, asked if European football suited Rangers, Cerny, on loan from Wolfsburg, said:

I can't vouch for this, but it came winging, comet-like, to me, through the ether, so it must have have some authenticity. Surely? Maybe? Just under £9m so far in prize money alone. Not accounting for tv money and ticket sales. Not sure what we clear per home game after overheads, £1.5-2m something like that maybe, anyone have a more accurate number? Europa League prize money Winner : £10.95m Runner-up : £5.9m Semi-finalists : £3.54m Quarter-finalists : £2.11m Round of 16 : £1.47m Reaching knockout round play-off : £250k League-phase wins : £379k League-phase draws : £126k League-phase defeats : £0 How much have Rangers banked so far? Taking the above numbers into account, Rangers have already boosted their transfer kitty courtesy of this year's revamped competition. Gers got £3.64m just from qualifying and topped up their prize money with performance-related bonuses. Wins over Malmo, FCSB, Nice and USG swelled the coffers by around £1.5m, with draws against Olympiacos and Tottenham adding another £252k to the pot - which totalled £1.768m. Malmo 0-2 Rangers (£379k) Rangers 1-4 Lyon (£0) Rangers 4-0 FCSB (£379k) Olympiacos 1-1 Rangers (£126k) Nice 1-4 Rangers (£379k) Rangers 1-1 Tottenham (£126k) Manchester United 2-1 Rangers (£0) Rangers 2-1 USG (£379k) Total: £1.768m How much has Rangers league position earned them? Rangers will also be due another chunky sum from UEFA for their final finishing position of eighth. Each position in the table is worth £63.4k, meaning the club that finishes 36th will earn that figure with an additional £63.4k added for every position higher - and the high-flying Gers have therefore netted a tasty £1.775m For making it automatically into the last 16 Rangers know that they will earn at least an additional £1.47m as well as £252,800 add-on for being in the top, meaning that the league stage campaign in total has earned the Ibrox club more than £5m in bonus money. On top of the £3.64m earned just for making it into the main competition. All of that adds up to a grand total of £8.905m - without including ticket sales from four home matches, and for what promises to be a sell-out crowd for the last 16 match regardless of who the opponents are.

For those of an analogue disposition The Europa League draw in full Ferencvaros v Viktoria Plzen Porto v Roma Winners to play Lazio or Athletic Bilbao in round of 16 Twente v Bodø/Glimt Fenerbahce v Anderlecht Winners to play Olympiacos or Rangers in round of 16 Union SG v Ajax PAOK v FCSB Winners to play Lyon or Eintracht Frankfurt in round of 16 AZ Alkmaar v Galatasaray Midtjylland v Real Sociedad Winners to play Manchester United and Tottenham in round of 16 The seeded team, named first, will play at home in the second leg. First legs will be played on 13 February, with the second legs a week later.

We need to buck up, tout de suite Dr

And I thought you were an East Coaster.....

Whose side are you on, boy? Whose side are you on?

Dessers was onside.

Two offsides, thankfully, but we are sloppy, and look like we are getting sloppier

Some legacy, the more cynical might conclude. Provided that Mr Pooley is instructed to apply his science to Soccerball, and not to Okkerball, then we can hope.

Aaaah, Tottenham......whose sick bay is as big as -might even be bigger than- that of Rangers. Bodes well.

Hannover? If there is a football club in Hamelin, we must establish contact immediately, and arrange for a loan of The Pied Piper. Clearly only he could charm our recalcitrant 'stars' to follow him down the M8, and onto a private jet, destination Whodafuckcares. Mmmmm.....What's Gazza up to these days?

Stats, schmats, Dessers fails the eyesight test. Here's an observation from Matthew Benham, owner of Brentford: "When I look at a centre forward, the first question I ask is not how many goals he's scored, but to what degree he improves the team". (Matthew Alexander Benham is a British businessman who is the owner of English Premier League club Brentford. He is also the founder and owner of Smartodds, a statistical research company for professional gamblers, and owner of Matchbook betting exchange. A graduate of Oxford University in physics who worked in finance in the City of London, he is widely known for his unorthodox data analytics-driven approach to decision-making in football. This guy is no mug, and worth a listen.) Now, the Norwegian striker, Erling Haaland, is often criticised for his general play, and work around the paddock, but excused because 'he scores goals'. Here is a stat: In the five seasons before he joined, the team scored an average of 97 goals/ season. In two full seasons with Haaland, they average 95 goals. Make of that what you will.

So there is a 'bidding war' hotting up, now? Good, oh!

Aston Villa are only the fourth side in Champions League history to score twice in the opening five minutes of a game, after Valencia v Lazio in April 2000, Standard Liège v Arsenal in September 2009, and Borussia Dortmund v Zenit St Petersburg in February 2014.

was not happy being likened to a preserved lemon. Allegedly.

Might be unavoidable.....

I wonder if noted Villa fan, HRH The Prince of Wales, will attend. It could get interesting, if he pitches up.

Mind you

Might be a tad tricky for you, if you are in the 'fanzone', down Digbeth:-

I note with interest, and some amusement, that The Man Who Invented Attacking Football is under pressure at New White Hart Lane, and that Okkerball no longer seems to be flavour of anybody's month, not even of those who take an homeopathic view, and aver that dilution of quality is the way forward. The gravy boat has not sunk yet, although the players, allegedly, are bitching and complaining behind his back. Frankly, he has never impressed me: up here he had -by far- the largest budget, scared, compliant, officials and his record in European competition was nothing to write home about (and that for a mob which tells us that it is out to show the world what it can do). To be scrupulously fair, his captain advised us, displaying not even the merest hint of a speck of a scintilla of irony, that rasellik is refereed to a different standard by continental officials, by way of explanation of recurring failure. For the avoidance of doubt, this standard, of course, means the application of the Laws of the Game, objectively, without, ahem, fear or favour. I concede that I am inclined, naturally, to take a disapproving view of any anybody who has any involvement with that outfit, viewing them as complicit in decades of child abuse, its denial, and its concealment. Laying my distaste aside, however, as far as football goes, I have a sneaking suspicion that he is being found out.

Diomande, obvs. Lad needs to learn how to punch, mind.

They may have to rescind, without the formal appeal process.