ian1964

http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2011/03/double-standards-from-ref-murray.html

Dylan McGeough. What's the script with this guy?,I thought he had signed for the BHEASTS?.

By Glenn Gibbons This column owns up to a long-standing struggle to understand the difference between a supporters' "trust" and an old-fashioned supporters' "club". Apart, that is, from the former's curious and misguided belief that the fortunes of the football club of their favour would increase dramatically were they allowed to take a hand in its affairs. The notion of planting a "fan" on the board has always seemed something of an insult to the sitting directors, with its implication that they are not themselves fans. This point is usually countered with the claim that they are referring to an "ordinary" supporter. It is a view that appears to ignore the fact that, in the event of an appointment to the board of one of their number, he or she would no longer be an "ordinary" fan, but a director. As such, he or she would probably also be shocked to discover that board members are obliged to work under certain restrictive imperatives - largely financial and/or legal - with which loudly critical supporters are unfamiliar. The new director would spend most of his time explaining to those who campaigned for his co-option why he cannot instigate the measures they have in mind. In addition, champions of the cause of having the "trust" represented on the board insist that they should be taken seriously, because they comprise mainly respected professionals, such as lawyers and business people. This appears rather to contradict their fundamental principle of putting an "ordinary" fan on the board. Even armed with the impression of this inflated sense of themselves, however, it was something of a shock to discover that the Rangers Supporters Trust seemed to consider that no debate on the misbehaviour that marked the latest Celtic-Rangers match could be completed - or even regarded as official - without their contribution. Their entry took the form of an email sent to the country's major media outlets. Referring to themselves as RST - presumably on the assumption that anyone who is anyone would recognise it as instantly as they would such other Old Firm-related abbreviations as DOB and FTP - the trust revealed its "unequivocal" backing of the Rangers chief executive, Martin Bain, and its call to the Scottish FA to investigate the behaviour of the Celtic manager, Neil Lennon. As an exercise in self-importance, this revived a once-famous image of the preposterously pompous Italian warmonger, Benito Mussolini, as he stood on a platform, arms crossed over a puffed-out chest, head nodding his agreement with the crowd below as they acclaimed him as Il Duce. It was as close as anyone made of flesh and bone could possibly come to playing a cartoon character. Thankfully, many sports editors - though, regrettably, not all - demonstrated their disdain for the uninvited intrusion by sending the email straight to trash. http://sport.scotsman.com/football/Glenn-Gibbons-Matter-of-trust.6732801.jp

http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2011/03/dutch-delight-for-rangersso-far.html

You mean he his hiding Jim

Ah!,ok,cheers MF

I really should have inserted a smiley,I was joking:thup:

McGregor should be on the list,shocking. Kenny Miller would only get it,if he was still here,if he kept playing the way he had until he left,no guarantee though. I also think SDOW has been our most consistent defender/player since he arrived at Ibrox,and still is so he would get my vote from the players on that list.

I canny get into my private messages,or send any. It just comes up as data base error

After another good away result in Europe a win on Sundays is as important,if not more so and I can see a comfortable home win. The Champions 4 - Jelavic 2,Whittaker,Bartley Killie 0 :spl:

Anybody know how much we have earned this season from Europe?,so far.

I thought he was excellent tonight again,it's ok saying he was being helped out with the other defenders,but he was helping them out as well. I do agree we should be looking to replace him next season thought

Man City down 1-0 to Keiv half an hour played

Liverpool will have to come back from a goal down to progress in the Europa League after they were beaten by Braga in the first leg of their last 16 tie. The Reds went behind when Sotirios Kyrgiakos fouled Mossoro and Alan stepped up to power in a penalty. Braga's Silvio struck the crossbar with a 30-yard piledriver as the visitors struggled to provide any danger. Andy Carroll had a shot deflected wide and Dirk Kuyt had a strike tipped over in Liverpool's best chances. Carroll had come on as a late substitute in Sunday's win over Manchester United as he made his Liverpool debut with a cameo appearance having been out with a thigh injury since his �£35m move from Newcastle in January. Reds boss Kenny Dalglish resisted the temptation of starting him against Braga but when the 6'3" striker did arrive on the scene after 58 minutes, despite lacking match fitness, he immediately helped shift the impetus in Liverpool's favour. The home side's defender Kaka escaped a red card for what appeared a deliberate elbow on Carroll as the two went up for a header in injury-time before the Portuguese side again proved they had the beating of British opposition at the Estadio Municipal. Liverpool striker Andy Carroll (right) goes to ground after being caught by the elbow of Braga defender Kaka Carroll goes down after being caught by Kaka's elbow Braga are sixth in their domestic top flight and 31 points behind leaders Porto but have shown the capacity to raise their game when the mood takes them. On home territory, they beat Celtic 3-0 in a Champions League qualifier and defeated Arsenal in the group stages of the competition before dropping into the Europa League. Their latest conquest at their stadium in northern Portugal ended the national record 18-match winning streak of Benfica with a 2-1 victory on Sunday. The emphasis was on Braga to make the most of their home advantage as Liverpool started with a cagey and and conservative approach. The visitors' strategy worked for only 17 minutes until Reds centre-back Kyrgiakos found Mossoro's pace and skill too much to deal with and brought down the Braga midfielder to concede a spot-kick. Alan, one of seven Brazilians in the Braga side, expertly powered in from 12 yards, despite Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina diving the right way. The Reds were struggling to find any rhythm or resonance to their passing and were only saved from going further behind when the woodwork came to their rescue. An unmarked Mossoro should have done better than to slice a shot when a free-kick was squared to him 12 yards out but the ball was cleared to Braga left-back Silvio, whose spectacular 30-yard strike crashed back off the crossbar. Liverpool's frustration only grew as lone striker Kuyt found the offside trap of the home side difficult to beat as he failed to hold up the ball and bring his team-mates into the game. A lot was made of Arsenal failing to get a shot on target in their demise against Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday and Liverpool were not faring much better at the less illustrious Braga as they had a tame header to show for their first-half efforts. Kuyt needed support and it came just before the hour mark in the form of Carroll and he did not take long to make an impact. The towering striker quickly nodded a header across goal which was just out of the reach of Kuyt before having a left-foot shot deflected wide as Carroll's arrival changed the complexion of the game. With support, Kuyt was a different proposition and he chested down a Raul Meireles cross before a half-volley was tipped over by Braga keeper Artur. That proved to be as close as Liverpool were to get to a prized away goal and, although Braga might have been reduced to 10 men after Kaka appeared to elbow Carroll, the Reds suffered a first defeat in 14 European games.

First time I've used this stream,so far it's an excellent one,well worth the �£1.99

Bump bump......................................

Agreed Zappa

Investigate this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpr8trzHuPM&feature=related

Is that not a racist/sectarian bigoted song???

http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2011/03/get-me-dowdells.html

I'm still trying to work out if this is good for us or bad?????

http://video.uefa.com/Video/Live/Competitions/UefaCup/Country=GB/MatchList.html

It's been said on here many times,why do we not use our ex-players to at least do a bit of scouting??,especially the foreign ones.

IT'S more than 11 years since he was the Hammer in Holland. But the Rangers badge has been nailed on for life. Tonight Jorg Albertz will again pull on the Light Blue top. Only this time he'll be wearing it in front of his TV at home in Moenchengladbach to cheer on Walter Smith's side. And he'll sit there praying someone can repeat his heroics of 1999 and bullet home a Gers winner in the Philips Stadion. The Ibrox side's star-studded attacking names of the past might be replaced by a team ethic based on defence. But Albertz is convinced they can still shock Fred Rutten's side and go all the way to the Europa League Final. Smith himself yesterday called for someone else to step into the Hammer's shoes tonight. Told of the comment, Albertz said: "I think I'm too old for it now! "I'd LOVE to be out on the pitch playing for the team but he's got a good squad and they'll work hard for each other. "Why can't the boys go there and get a draw or a win? "Walter's playing a little bit more defensively now and will hope they can sneak a goal there. "In the situation they're in that's not the worst thing to do. "I don't think they're in a position with the players they have to go out and attack and concede maybe two or three goals. "Hopefully they go out and get a goal and get a draw or a win. "Walter has proved so often in the past that he gets success. In Lisbon they scored two goals so why can't they do it again? "You don't have a Brain Laudrup or Paul Gascoigne who can decide a game on their own with a flash of genius. "You've got a good team that needs to work really hard together as a unit. "Do that and they can beat any team. You see it so often, an underdog beating the favourites. "It's why I think Rangers can go all the way to the final. Why not? "Do that and it would be one of the biggest successes for Walter himself. "This is not disrespectful to the team but he just doesn't have the big name star players any more. "Hopefully they can go all the way. Why not this year? "I'll watch the game here in the house. I'll just wear my blue shirt sitting in front of the TV - and hopefully I'm cheering." That was the case back in 1999 when Dick Advocaat's side travelled to Holland for a Champions League clash. Albertz's excited family had driven two hours from their home across the border in Germany to see him in action. But he was left simmering on the bench after being axed from the starting line-up. Disappointment soon turned to joy though when he replaced the crocked Claudio Reyna after 24 minutes. Then he proved a point to his gaffer by crashing home the dramatic 84th-minute goal to cue that famous crest-kissing and hands-on head celebration. Advertisement Albertz said: "Of course I was disappointed not being in the team. My family were in Eindhoven that night to watch the game but I knew the team before the game so they came knowing I wasn't in it. "They made their decision to go not just because I was playing but because they'd been Rangers supporters since I'd joined the club. "They wanted to be there for the team - but of course it's nicer when your son is playing as well. "I remember sitting on the bench in Eindhoven, desperate to get on to prove I should have been out there. "But the gaffer can only pick 11 to start the game. "I don't think he was doing things on purpose, although in my case it might have been a little bit different. I don't know. "I still had to stay focused so if the moment came when I was needed I was ready to perform. "When Reyna got injured it was my chance and I got into the game, scored the winner and of course it was a nice memory. "It was a very important goal because we won the game. "But it wasn't enough because that was the year we played the last game in Munich. We lost 1-0 and didn't get through. "So the goal in the end didn't help too much as things worked out. "But it was still a very nice memory for me and winning away from home showed we weren't too bad in Europe "That's in the past and now we're all looking forward to Rangers hopefully getting a good result." Albertz is still a frequent visitor to Glasgow and was back on the weekend for a dinner along with former Gers team-mate Lorenzo Amoruso. He didn't get to see the game against St Mirren on Sunday. But he did manage a quick word with Gers' manager-in- waiting Ally McCoist when he jetted in to see the first leg round-of-32 clash with Sporting Lisbon last month. He reckons the appointment of McCoist for the start of next season was the easy one financially - but will prove the right one in the end. Albertz, in the middle of some gardening back home in Germany yesterday, is also willing to dig deep to help his pal in any way he can. He added: "Not being disrespectful to Ally, he's a big name but not as a manager at the moment. "He still has to prove himself as far as that goes. "But it's very hard to get somebody in. "Everyone would love to work for Glasgow Rangers but they know the financial situation isn't the best and they can't buy any players they want. But I also think it's the best decision because Ally knows the club inside out. "He knows the players he's got around him so why not give him a try? "He's got a great teacher in Walter and I'm sure Coisty will have success with the club. "I spoke to him after the home Lisbon game. He's still a great character - the same as ever. "He's put a little bit of weight on, I know that, but he's a great guy and I love him. "If he needs anyone to watch a player, an assistant, phone me, I'll be there. I'll drop everything and be in Glasgow." Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3457055/Cmon-Gers-pummel-PSV-and-feel-like-THIS.html#ixzz1G9XJco8D

By Tom English in Eindhoven IF MARTIN Bain, the Rangers chief executive, managed to suppress any cynicism he may have had at the Holyrood summit on Tuesday then the club captain, David Weir, wasn't nearly as cagey when Rangers arrived in Eindhoven for today's Europa League tie against PSV. Weir described the furore that has built up around the Old Firm in the wake of the so-called "Shame Game" against Celtic as nonsense and dismissed the idea that the fixture would ever get played behind closed doors, as some in the police have intimated. "It will never happen," said Weir. "It is the pride fixture of Scottish football. It has kept Scottish football going for years and you would be as well just closing down the league if that (closed doors Old Firm games] was the case." The captain, quite obviously unimpressed with some of the interventions from Holyrood and Strathclyde Police, didn't stop there either. "You play in a lot of games that have an edge," he said. "Throughout the course of your career you get involved in games like this. That is what football is all about. People love that. Everybody says it is Scotland's shame, but I know by going down south that everybody is talking about it. Everybody is saying Scottish football is on its knees but there has been more interest in the last week than there has been in weeks. "I think we have to be a bit more realistic and put things into perspective and move on a wee bit. That game is gone. As players you are ultimately disappointed to lose the game. That's the bottom line. The other sort of nonsense that goes with it is irrelevant." Weir is not blind to the connection between on-field aggravation and off-field trouble in these games, far from it. But he disputes the level of blame that can be attached to the Old Firm for, say, domestic abuse against women in the hours after Rangers and Celtic play each other. He also questions the rationale for police wanting to address players before Old Firm games to remind them of the repercussions of their actions on the street. "If you do that for this game," he said, talking about the upcoming Co-operative Insurance Cup final, "then you are going to need to do it for every game. I don't see how you can only single out one game and watch what you have to do in one match and not the others. I don't see why that should happen. It should be the case in every game. You have to be responsible for your actions on and off the field, whether you are a footballer or Joe Public. That is the way it should be. It should be at the back of your mind regardless of what you are doing, so I don't see why we should be reinforcing it before the cup final." The captain rejected the notion that last Wednesday's game at Parkhead was especially ugly - "There were no major incidents and nothing that merits politicians getting involved," he claimed - and defended the rights of players to be fiery at Hampden on 20 March. "If you sanitise it and take that out of football then we are in danger of becoming a society where we won't be able to do anything. We would end up constantly on the back foot worrying what are doing." Walter Smith - who, in a rare moment of football chat, revealed that Kyle Lafferty is fit to play this evening but that Vladimir Weiss is probably not - also revisited the summit. It is long been the manager's view that blaming the Old Firm for society's ills is a cop-out, that the nation's problems with drink and violence and bigotry go way beyond a mere football match, albeit a football match that is undoubtedly the catalyst for public disorder. Like his captain before him, Smith played down the somewhat emotional talk of last Wednesday's 'game that shamed a nation'. "You see things happening in England which are worse," he said. "Tackle-wise and otherwise. We see clashes between managers and other things happening on the pitch. That just goes as part and parcel of the game. Percentage-wise we don't do too badly in terms of handling a situation which is a fairly volatile one. I must stress, as a whole, in all the years I've been involved that it's not been too bad (the on-field discipline]. When the police flagged up a few weeks ago that there is a problem then we've all got to listen to that. The Wednesday game then made it worse. But would the social problem outwith Wednesday's game be any worse after that match than after previous games? "It's not actually what happens in the game which causes the problem (of domestic and general violence]. It's the game itself - the Rangers and Celtic Old Firm game at any time. It's a broader issue than just looking at what happens on the pitch. So, anything they try and do, yes, we'll agree to do it and it'll be helpful and we hope it can bring a certain calmness. Everyone has to play their part in that." Of course, he's got the small matter of a last 16-tie in the Europa League to contend with first. http://sport.scotsman.com/celticfc/Old-Firm-games-behind-closed.6731468.jp?articlepage=2