ian1964

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hUoWtjIZdk]YouTube - Lu�­s Fabiano[/ame]

Looking forward to the big man returning, I think/hope he is going to be a big player for us this season..........if he can stay clear of injury !!!

Incredible really when you think the English FA dealt with the Adebayor incident in 4 days !!!!

JEROME ROTHEN has revealed that he wants to be even more popular at Ibrox than his former team-mate Dado Prso. The Rangers winger was a colleague of the Croatian's when both men went all the way to the Champions League final with Monaco in 2004. Rothen is well aware of Prso's reputation - Alex McLeish once described him as the best buy he had ever made - as a former Ibrox favourite and is desperate to emulate the feats of his friend. "I hope to be as popular as Dado here - maybe even more popular!" said Rothen. advertisement "I only wish Dado was still playing. He was a guy I always tried to emulate and someone I got on with immediately when I moved to Monaco. "He had a serious injury at the time but was always in a good mood and was never one to complain. "He's a warrior, he didn't even have any ligaments in his knees and yet he still worked so hard for the team, running everywhere on the pitch to help his team-mates. "I'm going to try to make as good an impression at Rangers as he did. "He was happy for me to sign here because he knows I have the same mentality as him." Rothen, meanwhile, is adamant that Rangers can enjoy a successful Champions League campaign this term. The club have got off to a great start having taken a point from their trip to Stuttgart. It was the Ibrox side's involvement in the tournament that persuaded Rothen to make the move to Glasgow and he is determined to make the most of the opportunity. "I had opportunities to go to Germany or England last month and as the phone call came from Rangers asking me to come to Glasgow, PSV were even in negotiations with Schalke 04. "But none of the teams who wanted to sign me were involved in the Champions League and that was important. "I'm 31 now and as the years pass you think to yourself, Will I get the opportunity to play at that level again?' This is a fantastic chance. "There is no doubt we can pass from the group section this season. Our main objective is to finish first or second in the group and when you get down to the knockout stages, home and away, who knows what might happen. "We are definitely good enough for the last 16."

GLENN LOOVENS is desperately counting down the days until the end of this week - hoping that the SFA do not call. The Celtic defender fears he could be ruled out of the first Old Firm game of the season, on October 4 at Ibrox, if his long-awaited appeal against a one-game ban is finally called. Ironically, the offence for which he was handed the ban took place when Celtic last met Rangers, back on May 9. The SFA used video evidence to bring a charge of violent conduct against the Dutch international. They found him guilty of kicking Maurice Edu after the ball had gone. advertisement But Loovens contested the charge, and the disciplinary hearing did not take place until the start of August. He was found guilty, and handed a one-game ban. An appeal was immediately lodged, which meant the suspension was put on hold, and this hearing was expected to be heard within a few weeks. However, two months later, the SFA have yet to find a suitable date in the calendar to allow the appeals committee to sit. A spokesman for the game's ruling body has confirmed the number of games being played in the first part of the season, both at club and international level, had forced them to abandon plans to hold the hearing before now. Now the fear at Parkhead is that, if the SFA can find a suitable date before the Old Firm game a week on Sunday, that would put Loovens' participation at Ibrox in jeopardy. The player would have to be notified by the weekend of any hearing scheduled for next week, which ensures a nervous few days for all concerned. Loovens has always maintained he is innocent of any intent and said: "I'm a hard player, but also fair. "I just went in for the ball and at some point my leg had to come down to land on the ground. "I didn't do it on purpose. It was just an accident. It all happened so quickly." Edu had claimed that Loovens's challenge was deliberate. But the defender hit back when he said: "What Edu said is his opinion, but he simply can't speak for what I am thinking. "When you look at it in slow-motion it's always going to look worse, but it was a split second, "I know what I was thinking and it definitely wasn't on purpose." Loovens added: "I think I've been suspended once in my life, and that says it all. I know what my thoughts are, I can only depend on that." Publication date 22/09/09 http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2530702.0.0.php

What chance have we got when al the managers have agreed not to say anything BAD about the referees performance

No..............but he can leap

http://en.uclfantasy.uefa.com/M/dreamteam.mc

And should have been booked for his challenge on Wallace for the penalty,that wasn't given, that he forgets to mention

by Darrell King DIRE, dank and dismal. A dreadfully poor advert for our top flight. Oh how it cried out for a hero as a painful first half trundled along; someone to illuminate the darkness and remind everyone that this was supposed to be a form of public entertainment. ONE BY ONE By Alison McConnell McGREGOR Average Didn't have too much to do but was saved by Papac goal-line clearance in the second-half and then by a post. Still doesn't look convincing coming for cross balls, although had a good stop from Sammon late on. WHITTAKER Pass marks Played to his strengths in that he tried to get forward but there were few takers up front. WEIR Poor Short pass to Mendes which left the midfielder with little option but to take down Bryson, a foul which resulted in his second booking. McCULLOCH Decent Not a long-term answer at the centre of defence but read the game well and didn't do too badly. Kept Kevin Kyle quiet for most of the game. PAPAC Decent One goal-line clearance and another who tried to get forward on the flanks, but there were too few ideas shown from the attack. NOVO Disappointing Utterly ineffective. Tim Clancy kept on top of the Spaniard and his input was negligible. FLECK Average Caught in possession a couple of time but tried hard and probably had Rangers' best chance of the game when he forced Mark Brown into a second half save. DAVIS Poor Drifted in and out of the game and isn't exerting the kind of influence he should be in these encounters. MENDES Unlucky Sent off for making two tackles in the game. Will still be feeling hard done by but his dismissal sparked the game into life. NAISMITH Above par Another who gets pass marks for his willingness to work and get forward. Tried his luck in the first-half with a shot that took a deflection before being saved by Brown. BOYD Woeful Did next to nothing and one of his worst performances for the club. Hasn't started the season well and this won't have helped his case for a regular starting place. MILLER Subdued On in the second period. Has looked a bit tired recently and couldn't find the spark that Rangers so desperately needed. THOMSON Ineffective Couldn't change the game in Rangers' favour. ROTHEN Quiet Added to the list of bookings when he came on and went into the book. MANAGER Red-faced Embarrassed at his own reaction to the sending-off and will now sit in the stand for the games against Aberdeen and Celtic. Admitted he was wrong to lose his cool. And, suddenly, just as we were maybe giving up all hope, that man emerged. A man stepped forward into the limelight with his actions, a man who maybe felt that we needed something to talk about after this imitation of a football match. Unfortunately, that man was a referee, not a player from either side, and it certainly has been some time since a match official became the main event in such a spectacular way. For the record, Steve Conroy, for me, has been a referee who has shown consistent improvement since his emergence onto the scene a few years ago. OK, his style with the players isn't popular as there rarely seems to be a quiet word, or even a smidgen of humour offered and his rap sheet of 30 yellow cards and four reds in just four SPL matches maybe tells that story. But, overall, he's been a decent decision maker who was getting more big calls right, than wrong in his games, although he should have given Celtic a late penalty last week against Dundee United and took some flak for that. That said, his performance in the 0-0 draw at Rugby Park on Saturday was textbook 'how to spoil a football game in 90 minutes'. And, given that it was pretty woeful fare before he started taking leave of all sense, that was the last thing we needed. If we are calling on clubs, players et al to try and improve the overall attractiveness of the game we have on our hands as this financial crisis bites, then surely there must also be a level of responsibility on the officials as well, given that they are taking a decent wedge for their work. And, at the fulcrum of that, surely, has to be the old adage that a game is going to have a far greater chance of leaving us enthralled if we have two sets of 11 players on the pitch. That is not a plea for refs to turn a blind eye to cautionable offences, just for the sake of a decent game. If someone deserves to go, then they deserve to go. But if Conroy, in the cold light of day, genuinely feels that he was right to send off both Pedro Mendes and Manuel Pascali at Rugby Park, then he is not in touch - at all - with the game he is supposed to be overseeing. Yes, all four of the fouls they committed were offences. But did they all merit yellow cards? Goodness me, what has the game become if Steve Conroy is happy with his work in this one? Put it this way, if we are to rule all games by his two-fouls-and-you're-off guidelines we would be as well moving the SPL to the Pitz Super League for five-a-sides every week. And, without any doubt, Walter Smith and Jim Jefferies will be interested spectators this weekend to see if Conroy applies the same set of rules to whatever game he gets handed by the beaks, who will no doubt come out this week and defend him to the hilt, such is their way. A crime count of 11 yellow cards and two reds in this game - three if you count Smith as he was put away to the stand for an outburst on the touchline -was something you'd expect to find a bit down the road in Ayrshire when neighbours Auchinleck meet Cumnock in the Juniors! Truth was, there was hardly a bad tackle in the match. The stark opposite of that, however, was that there was little good play in it either. Kilmarnock? They could have nicked it. They fought and scrapped, played to their strengths and had the better of the clear chances that were created. Jefferies' only regret must have been that they didn't ask more questions when they had the numerical advantage for the best part of 35 minutes in the second half. As for Gers, they struggled through their second Saturday lunchtime with a performance that wasn't that far away from the week before at Motherwell. And that had been poor. This alarming lack of spark is something Smith will have to address, as there will be five other weekends like this off the back of Champions League action that is bound to drain legs and minds. At first look, he went for a very attack-minded team with Mendes and Steven Davis in the middle of the park and more or less a front four of Nacho Novo, John Fleck, Steven Naismith and Kris Boyd when they had the ball. But the tempo was all wrong and Mark Brown in the Killie goal was rarely troubled. Gers allowed their opponents to get men behind the ball in numbers, and they were bereft of ideas in the final third. Two successive weekends without a goal, and it has to be said that the opposition keepers were not exactly over-worked. Rangers have had one more red card than goals in their three away matches this season, and that has to be a concern for Smith. After a tricky cup-tie in Dumfries this midweek, they face a pivotal three-game spell against Aberdeen, Sevilla and Celtic which will need a drastic improvement overall. If the level of performance that has been served up at Fir Park and Rugby Park is repeated, they will be in big trouble. But not half as much as the image of our game if referees are going to ruin games the way Steve Conroy did.

Has he taken over from Clodwell ??

ANDREAS HINKEL today claimed new league leaders Celtic already have a vital advantage over Rangers - after surviving what he sees as a tougher start to the new season. Hinkel celebrated with his Hoops team-mates after a thrilling 2-1 win over Hearts at Parkhead yesterday afternoon sent them two points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Tony Mowbray's side, looking jaded after their energy-sapping Europa League game with Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel on Thursday, needed a Glenn Loovens goal in the third minute of injury-time to secure a nail-biting triumph. advertisement However, German right-back Hinkel believes they have an edge over the reigning Scottish champions after playing four of the teams which finished in the top six last season in their five games so far. Celtic have faced Aberdeen and Hibernian away and Dundee United and Hearts at home as well as First Division champions St Johnstone. Walter Smith's team, meanwhile, have squared up to only one of the sides which finished in the top half of the Premier League last season so far this term. The Gers have played Falkirk and Hamilton at Ibrox and Hearts, Motherwell and Kilmarnock away and are already adrift of their Old Firm rivals. Hinkel said: "We have had a tough start. Of the five teams we have played, four of them were in the top six last season. "To draw just one of those games and to be top of the league is quite a good start against such difficult opponents. "Going to the top of the league will give us confidence as well. It is always good for a player to look at the league table and see you are at the top. It definitely gives you a good lift. We will fight hard to keep this position." Despite sneaking a victory in stoppage time yesterday, Hinkel is adamant Celtic deserved to beat Hearts and leapfrog their city rivals, who slumped to a 0-0 draw with Killie on Saturday, into pole position. And the international defender maintains the fighting spirit and will to win which his side showed against the Jambos will prove invaluable during the campaign. He explained: "It was good that everyone fought for each other to the end. Yes, we needed an injury-time goal, but I thought we deserved to win. We hit the woodwork several times with shots and should maybe have had a penalty. "We made life difficult for ourselves because we lost a goal early on and had to come back. Our opponents just sat back and defended their lead but, at the end of the day, we got the result." Publication date 21/09/09

Hearts denied a stone waller penalty, McGinn {sp} blatant dive in the box, IMO.

Former captain Gary McAllister has been asked to join Scotland manager George Burley's coaching set-up. Capped 57 times for his country, the 44-year-old would replace Steven Pressley in Burley's backroom team. Pressley stood down to concentrate on his assistant's role at Falkirk and Burley wants McAllister in place before next month's friendly trip to Japan. McAllister has management experience from brief spells in charge at Coventry and Leeds. McAllister skippered Scotland at the 1996 European Championship, famously missing a penalty against England at Wembley. His international career ended on a sour note, with fans booing him during the defeat by the Czech Republic at Parkhead in March 1999. He has some experience of coaching Scotland, having helped out manager Walter Smith in 2006. McAllister had been the early favourite to take the Scotland manager's job when Burley's predecessor Alex McLeish left but ruled himself out of the running in favour of a return to club football. However, his time at Leeds was not a success and he lost his job in December 2008, just 11 months after his appointment. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8266665.stm

Yip..............in other words, who gives a fuck what you think Dallas

Agreed, what I don't understand is what benefit to football does that bring, if a player has a nightmare he is fair game, if a ref has a nightmare don't slate him Football = pay your money, sit down and shut up

You don't really expect a referee to be criticised ?????, even the managers have agreed not to criticise them !!!!!

HUGH DALLAS has told Pedro Mendes he has no one to blame but Rangers and himself for his red card at Kilmarnock. The Scottish referees' chief launched a stout defence of whistler Steve Conroy after he booked 11 and sent off Mendes and Killie midfielder Manuel Pascali at Rugby Park. Conroy has booked 33 players and sent off four in four SPL games this season. Amazingly, that is just one yellow short of his total for the entire campaign last year when he took charge of 15 top-flight matches. Dallas is bristling at criticism of the man in the middle and claimed players must behave better. He ordered clubs such as Rangers and Killie to ensure their stars are better briefed to avoid falling foul of officials. Control Dallas said: "I've not spoken to Steve about the game because there was no reason. I didn't see him fouling anyone on the pitch or pulling anyone's shirt. "Referees are arbiters who are there to control a match and sometimes need help from players. It's a bit unfair to point an accusing finger at the official and occasionally games such as the one at the weekend come along. "Conroy is one of our top referees and will continue to be one of our top referees. "It's up to players to take on board the message from a referee. A yellow card is a caution and the word 'caution' means don't do it again or you'll be off the field. "If players continue to commit risky challenges or pull shirts after having picked up a yellow they are boxing the referee into a corner. "It's okay for people to say, 'Use more common sense.' But the first guy criticised by the opposition team if that player goes on to score the winning goal is the referee. "I've heard all the talk about how we'll soon be playing in slippers but the interpretation of the laws of the game are different now. "We had managers and coaches from every SPL club in at Hampden two days before the start of the season to show them exactly what players will not get away with in the new campaign. "Our examples included many of the offences committed at Rugby Park so we've got to ask, is the word getting back to the players? "It was a good meeting with a lot of great questions but the message must get back to the players." Conroy took charge of six SPL games in 2007-2008 and booked 18 players without once reaching for his red. But Dallas denied putting his whistlers under pressure to flash more cards this term. He said: "One radio station said the referee must be under instruction to issue more cards and I've never heard so much rubbish. "Referees are under no pressure to caution players or push the crime count up. "There also seems to be a perception referees should not reach for the card to punish the first bad tackle. "But if a referee ignores a tackle in the second minute and cautions a player for a similar offence after 15 he's accused of inconsistency."

Fucking typical of the MOPE inbreads that they get a late winner........from a player that is still waiting for the SFA/SFL,or whoever the fuck it is,to deal with his suspension for a tackle,that happened what seems like a year ago now,on our player who is still out injured,although it wasn't his tackle that put him out, still I wonder when he will be dealt with ???

Correct Fraser, let's not get too down this early in the season,however as NC said we certainly need to up our game :spl:

Terrible link I have 2 seconds play,2minutes stop!!!!

One thing's for sure,at least the Jambos will TRY and get a result

Some goal by the wee rat Bellamy

We can only hope the Jambos do us a favour here, a draw or a Jambos win would send the MOPES off their heads, fingers crossed

4 goals in 5 games