ian1964

If Boyd continues his current form up to the OF match, I can see him playing against the MOPES

I also think because of the lack of stick out contenders for POTY Boyd has to be in the reckoning for his amazing strike rate

Agreed,he needs to do more before I will think he is the the player a lot of fans seem to think he is, Davis falls into that category as well IMO

Everybody is a lot more confident of the team not losing goals when Bougherra plays, everyone is more confident of the team scoring when Boyd plays

There is no reason why the fixtures cannot be arranged now !!!

MARK HATELEY has saluted Kris Boyd for getting within striking distance of a century of Rangers goals - and reckons he could be a massive influence in the chase for the Championship. Boyd is just one goal short of becoming the first Ibrox player to hit 100 goals since Hateley rampaged through Scotland and Europe in the 1990s. Mark HateleyHowever, the big difference is that Kris will reach the milestone in far fewer games than his predecessor. Boyd has bagged 99 in 144 Rangers matches - 34 of which have been as substitute - while Hateley netted 115 career Rangers goals in 222 matches. Hateley said: "It's a fabulous return and I hope Kris goes on to hit the 100 this Sunday at Easter Road. "Scoring 100 goals is a terrific milestone in a career - never mind for one club. "So for Kris to be on the brink of this after only three years or so with Rangers is a great effort. "His influence has been huge in the last three games and long may that continue. "There is no doubt if he can keep scoring in the remaining matches then it will be a massive bonus to Rangers as they chase the title." Hateley has held the mantle of the last Rangers "centurion" since 1995 and it was a record he was proud of. However, he is more than delighted that Boyd is now on the brink of matching him. He said: "Records are there to be broken and I have no qualms about him becoming the first man to score 100 since me. "Fair play to him, especially as he will do it in fewer games than I did." In fairness to Hateley, he still managed 100 goals at a time when Ally McCoist was the leading marksman at Rangers. Boyd's first chance to hit the ton is at Easter Road on Sunday.

BRAVE Scott Cunningham and his trusted dog Travis have raised a fantastic �£20,000 for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association after the latest Travistrek. This year's marathon walk finished at Ibrox at half-time at Saturday's Motherwell game when the Ibrox crowd showed their appreciation to Scott, who lost his sight 16 years ago. Former Ibrox stars including Alex Rae, Terry Hurlock, Arthur Numan, Andy Goram and Mark Hateley all pulled on their walking boots last week to help Rangers' fan Scott Cunningham complete the West Highland Way. And Rangers TV's Michael Douglas was also involved in the charity walk with a view to a special documentary which is coming soon. Check out some picture from Saturday.

Exclusive by Neil Smith MADJID BOUGHERRA is desperately hoping SPL bosses do NOT schedule the final Old Firm game of the season for the first weekend after the split. The towering defender has already been ruled out of two Celtic clashes this season, including the League Cup final at Hampden, because of injury. An unfortunate yellow card at Paisley last week means he will serve a one-match ban on the weekend of May 2/3. And the Algerian star hopes that the Ibrox visit of the Parkhead men will be scheduled after this so he can play. He said: "After the St. Mirren game I did not know how many yellow cards I had but after the match I was concerned. "I do not know why it takes two weeks for a suspension to kick in but when I found out it could be against Celtic I could not believe it. "I went to my house and said to my family that I could miss Celtic and they could not believe it either. "Missing the Co-operative Insurance Cup Final last month was a big blow for me. "I waited for this final for a long time but, unfortunately, being injured is part of football. "I was in the stadium with my family and it was the second time they have come to see me play against Celtic and I haven't played. "When I saw the team after the game I was so disappointed I could not have helped them."

Exclusive by Thomas Jordan SPL plans over the date for the final Old Firm game of the season have been thrown into disarray. Rangers were expected to entertain rivals Celtic at Ibrox in the first match after the split - but police chiefs are blocking those proposals because the fixture would land on the May bank holiday weekend. Troubled flared around the city the last time that was the case, so that has ruled out the game taking place on either May 2 or 3. That now means the match will have to go ahead in the second round of fixtures, and that card will also bring its own problems. advertisement On Sunday, May 10, the Glasgow Women's 10k will take place with the finishing line in Bellahouston Park - just a few hundred yards from Ibrox stadium. With 12,000 runners taking part in the event - which forces the closure of roads and takes up a vast amount of police resources - it means it is impossible for the match to take place on that Sunday. So that leaves SPL chiefs with only Saturday, May 9, to stage the game. As things stand, there is still the danger that could be a possible title decider - something the SPL and police chiefs have vowed would never be allowed to happen again. If Rangers were to lose to Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday, and also their first fixture after the split, it would mean Celtic could secure the title with a win at Ibrox if they also manage to win their previous two league fixtures. SPL chiefs are currently involved in discussions with police but are running out of options, with the post-split fixtures set to be announced a week today. An SPL insider revealed: "It has turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as to when to stage the final Old Firm game of the season. "The police have blocked the game taking place on the May bank holiday weekend to avoid trouble. "So that has effectively ruled out the game taking place the first game after the split, which would have been our preferred option." If the match does take place the second game after the split, it would mean Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra would be available to play in the Ibrox showdown. The stopper will serve a one-match ban which rules him out of the first game after the split. Rangers manager Walter Smith feared he would be without one of his best players for their most important game of the season. But unfortunately for Celtic, Scott Brown seems likely to miss the Old Firm game regardless because he has a two-match suspension which rules him out of the first and second round of fixtures after the split.

Take a seat. Have some herbal tea and get a defibrillator close to hand. What you are about to read may cause dizziness, disorientation and even nausea. Are you ready? Let's begin. Kris Boyd should be player of the year. Yes, you did just read that. For the purposes of clarity, let's repeat. Kris Boyd should be player of the year. It has been one of the mysteries of Scottish football that the greatest poacher of his time has never made the shortlist for the award, be it from his peers at PFA Scotland, or his torturers and cheerleaders in the Scottish Football Writers' Association. There is more chance of Gary Lineker winning the Golf Writers' Oratory Award for his Masters coverage than there is of Boyd standing on a lectern getting all Gwyneth Paltrow on us. There is more chance of the Scottish FA winning the Nobel Peace Prize for international diplomacy than there is of Boyd posing with a silver salver on one hand and flicking a fly vicky at the cameras with the other. There is more chance of Csaba Laszlo cutting down his acceptance speech to twice the length of Andy Cameron's after-dinner turn than there is of poor, persecuted Boydy opening his heart to The Sun on why being named player of the year vindicated his decision to say no to Burley and sulk and gurn at Walter. Well, maybe that's stretching it a bit. advertisement The point is this: in a season hardly oversubscribed with stand-out performers, or even above average ones, it is a travesty that Mon Mome had shorter odds to win the Grand National than Rangers' habitual larcenist has of scooting off with a slab of personal distinction. Boyd has a greater case than those currently in the reckoning. Gary Caldwell is the favourite but was given the runaround by Bruno Aguiar at Tynecastle on Saturday afternoon in midfield and, for all his smart passing and versatility, has been partly responsible for Celtic's inability to defend cross balls. Scott Brown? The award surely cannot go to a midfielder who has yet to perfect the art of the forward pass. If it does, it will be for sheer energy and hyperactivity alone. Timmy Mallet will fancy his chances next season. Pedro Mendes? The myths surrounding the Portuguese have been exposed in recent weeks. Elegant and occasionally brilliant, the reason he found himself at Portsmouth was his average of one influential game every three or four. Steven Davis? A wide player is expected to get to the byeline and deliver a series of inviting crosses. It is not his natural position but the remit remains the same. He would have had a stronger case if he played centrally, but can the player of the year be awarded to a guy not regarded as good enough for his preferred position? Which brings us to the case for the attack. Boyd has scored 28 goals for Rangers, with six league games and one, possibly two, Homecoming Scottish Cup games still to play. He will finish the season with more than 30 but it is the background story that makes his claim so compelling. Richard Gough once claimed that Andy Goram regularly saved Rangers 15 points a season; Boyd has gathered 18 of the title challengers' 70 points. His goals have been the difference between Rangers winning or losing, such as his brace in a 2-1 win against Kilmarnock in September, and winners against Hibernian and Falkirk; winning or drawing, such as his two in a 3-1 win away to Hamilton or his recent exploits against St Mirren and Motherwell; and drawing or losing, his goal against Dundee United at Tannadice, for example. Boyd, to put it charitably, is not one of life's natural athletes. His limitations have been highlighted often enough in this column, to his occasional dissatisfaction, but at times his deficiencies detract from his exceptional, unteachable knack of scoring goals. His first against Motherwell on Saturday was a moment of sheer instinctive beauty, lashing the ball contemptuously beyond Graeme Smith. There have been other such instances, not least the Van Bastenesque volley (with his left foot) against Partick Thistle in the Co-operative Insurance Cup. Those who have questioned his professionalism, myself among them, should at least give credit to Boyd for the 10 goals scored since the turn of the year. That is the ultimate act of professionalism for a player whom Rangers were eager to sell to Birmingham City for �£3m in the January window. He rejected the chance, partly because of the personal terms on offer - roughly a third more than he earns at Ibrox - but largely because he is a home-bird who waited long enough to win a move to Rangers. He could have downed tools after Sir David Murray did everything to facilitate the deal short of writing a cheque as he did for Alan Hutton. Instead, he resumed normal business. Had he been at his peak in the 1990s, there would be no mention of his lack of athleticism or his inability to hold the ball, just awe at the relentlessness of his output. Life is not about to get any easier for him at Rangers in the summer, which is why we all could be witnessing the last acts of Boyd in Scotland. He should be celebrated and acknowledged as one of the best goalscorers to have emerged of any era. Odds are he won't. http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2501505.0.Darryl_Broadfoot_on_Monday.php

OLD FIRM EXCLUSIVE: Date chaos over Ibrox crunch ... more to follow Could this be the MOPES trying to organise the run in again ? http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/#

This was the story of a rekindled love affair, hidden away inside a football match. It unfolded in front of 50,000 engrossed spectators and featured Steven Smith as the protagonist of the piece. An appreciation of the back story is vital. Smith had risen through the ranks at Rangers to become a first-team regular under Alex McLeish by the time he was 20. Despite his youth, he was spoken of as a future Scotland cap and had many anticipating that he and Alan Hutton would become established as Rangers' first-choice full-backs for a decade or more. Alas for Smith, injuries would curtail that progress. Pelvic and groin problems that had troubled him in his youth returned. He turned out for Paul Le Guen in an Old Firm match in December 2006 and was barely seen or heard of again. advertisement The injuries subsided and he was able to play in two Scottish Cup ties last season before disappearing into the background again. This season, fit again after recovering from an ankle knock, he has been simply unable to get into the team. Reluctantly, he agreed to move on from Rangers. A loan deal to St Mirren was agreed in January only for red tape to block the move. Smith, now 23, resigned himself to his fate, training every day knowing there was little chance of him featuring come the weekend. He gave up on ever playing for Rangers again. A mounting injury crisis, though, was to hand him an unexpected reprieve. Saturday marked his first league start for 28 months, in left midfield no less, and he responded with the sort of energetic, wholehearted performance that had helped forge his reputation all those years ago. Little surprise, then, that he seemed a little dazed but delighted as he mulled over a tumultuous few days. "It has been a long time, and difficult as well with injuries and then coming back but not playing," he said. "I never thought I would get the chance to play for Rangers again, to be honest with you, but a lot of the boys are injured and that was what it was going to take for me to get my chance. Hopefully I did well enough to get another one." Smith, an amiable if somewhat private man, did not even notify close family or friends that he would be playing for fear of creating too much of a distraction. "I wasn't really nervous," he added. "I never thought about it too much. If I had it might have hindered my performance. I just put my boots on and went out to play football. That's what I wanted to do. I never even told my family I was playing. I just wanted to go out there and let everybody know that I was back." Even when fit, there had seemed no way back for Smith. He stopped travelling to the matches, preferring to sit at home and watch the results come in from all across the country. Only the joy of looking after Ashton, his seven month-old son, preserved his sanity. He said: "It's hard training Monday to Friday and not getting a game at the end of the week. Playing with the reserves on a Tuesday, you don't prepare mentally the same. You try, but it's not the same as running out there in front of 50,000 every week. It's strange - you get used to not playing and not being involved. It's even harder when there's a squad of 26 going to games and you aren't there. "I didn't come to the games. I sat and watched Soccer Saturday on Sky, watched the scores coming in, and checked my coupon. I've got a wee baby now and when I got home after training on the Friday and I wasn't going to be involved at the weekend, I would go up and see him and it would take my mind off football. Maybe that was a good thing for me, getting away from football and getting my desire back." Smith was certain that he would be moving on in the summer. He recently played in a charity match for Cardiff City, alongside former Rangers team-mates Gavin Rae and Chris Burke, and a permanent transfer to the Championship side had been mooted. Should the door now be ajar for him to reignite his Rangers career, however, the player will be more than happy to stay put. "If I keep playing here then Cardiff doesn't come into the question, because this is the only place where I want to play," he said. "But if I'm not playing football then I'd need to move. I've got another year left on my contract. I still want to be a Rangers player and I've always wanted to play here. Hopefully, I'm back in the manager's thoughts and I've proved to him I can play at this level again. http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2501515.0.Heartrending_Smith_saga_features_a_twist_in_the_tail.php

Image Flag 12/04/2009 BOOZEGATE reveller Scott Brown MISSED the same swim session that landed Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor in hot water, we can reveal. The wrecked Rangers pair ended up in Scotland boss George Burley's bad books when they were too drunk to join their team-mates in the Cameron House pool after their marathon booze-up. But today we can reveal that Brown ALSO didn't take part in the Sunday afternoon "regeneration swimming and stretching" session - meant to tone the squad up for the vital World Cup qualifier with Iceland the following Wednesday. After reporting for the workout, the Celtic midfielder was sent AWAY by Scotland coach Steven Pressley, who ruled he wasn't fit to get in the pool either. One source said: "It certainly looked like he had been up all night. He was very tired." We told last week how Scotland insiders claimed Brown had stayed up all night drinking with Ferguson and McGregor - and only went to bed 20 minutes before the shamed Gers were nabbed. We also understand SFA officials interviewed hotel staff about the various incidents but did not quiz ANY of the players. No Scotland stars were directly asked about their involvement - or what time they'd gone to bed. Our insider said: "The SFA felt they would rather interview people who had been sober at the time." Last night an SFA spokesman refused to say if Burley asked Brown about when he went to bed. An official said: "We're satisfied our information about the players is correct, based on interviews with hotel staff." And Celtic officials also refused to answer questions about Brown's involvement in Boozegate, instead passing the buck back to the SFA - who this week claimed the ace went to bed at around 8.30am. We asked the Parkhead club's spokesman why OUR Scotland source told us that Brown DID stay up till around noon drinking with the Rangers captain and goalkeeper. We also quizzed him on our information that Brown was turned away from the pool session - and asked if the midfielder was relieved he hadn't been punished. Celtic's spokesman said: "The SFA have closed their investigation and said there was no blame on any other player. I haven't spoken to him (Brown) so I don't know if he's relieved. "I can't answer these questions because these are really Scotland issues for the SFA. It's not something the club would comment on." Brown also refused to answer our questions after Celtic's 1-1 draw with Hearts yesterday. Dressed in jeans and a club T-shirt, he stopped to chat to fans and to sign autographs outside Edinburgh's Tynecastle stadium after the match. But when approached by our reporter, the ex-Hibs ace said: "No comment" before boarding the Hoops team bus. http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/scottish_news/261456/Celtic-ace-missed-Scotland-pool-session-Scott-Brown.html

It was a penalty, Mendes played for it, but he was tripped

Smith had a two good saves in the second half, one from another Boyd volley, and the one from Whittaker that he somehow managed to deflect onto the bar

The Motherwell goalie made a good save from a Boyd volley in the first half

KRIS BOYD is looking to hit his 100th goal for Rangers sooner rather than later having bagged his 97th and 98th in this afternoon's crucial 3-1 win over Motherwell. Kris Boyd celebrates his goal against MotherwellThe club's prolific striker scored his side's second with a stunning 25 yard strike and showed great composure from the penalty spot for number three. He would love nothing more than to reach his personal milestone against Hibs at Easter Road next weekend but admits getting three points is more important. He said: "There is no doubt I want to reach the hundred goals mark and I have managed to get closer to it in the last seven days. "It would be nice to do it next week against Hibs but the most important thing is that we keep winning and we did that against Motherwell today. "We started well from the first whistle but once again lost a stupid goal although I have to say it was also a great goal. "But we managed to dig out the result which is all that matters." Kris Boyd scores against Motherwell Like his boss Walter Smith, Boyd was quick to give praise to his teammates Andrius Velicka and Steven Smith from coming in from the cold and playing their part in a crucial victory against the Steelmen. Kris added: "You've got to take your hat off to them. "They have sat on the sidelines for so long, Steven a year and Andrius since the summer. "It has not been easy for them but they have kept their heads down and worked hard. "They got their chance today and the manager now has a selection problem because they have done really well and will be looking to stay in the team."

I never realised it was Steven Smith playing until he was subbed !!!!, I thought it was Naismith...................NEED TO STAY OF THE CIDER PREMATCH

Agree with everything you say here Cammy, a good all round performance today,all the Rangers players deserve credit for todays performance, a good display and good result

Gordon's Strachan's team will be first out of the blocks on the weekend beginning July 24 Seven days later, on August 1, Rangers will take on Arsenal, Inter Milan or Paris St Germain who are managed by Le Guen.

And yet Steven Smith and Hemdani keep being overlooked, not saying they will '' save our season '', but two players who are experienced first team players should be used if we are struggling for players

Apr 11 2009 Andy McDonald The Old Firm are set to take London by storm at the start of next season. Celtic will be the first Scottish team to play at the new Wembley and Rangers will take on their old boss Paul Le Guen at the Emirates Stadium.. Gordon's Strachan's team will be first out of the blocks on the weekend beginning July 24 at the home of English football. In the Wembley Cup, they will face either Barcelona, Tottenham or African champions Al-Ahly during the two-day tournament. Seven days later, on August 1, Rangers will take on Arsenal, Inter Milan or Paris St Germain who are managed by Le Guen. If Barry Ferguson is still with the Ibrox side it will be the first time he has come face to face with the boss who first stripped him of the captaincy. For Rangers in particular, the Emirates Cup is a huge vote of confidence from south of the border following the riots in Manchester at last year's UEFA Cup Final. The Ibrox Club are expected to get more than 10,000 tickets for the glamour friendlies and it could net the club �£750,000. A club source said: "I'm sure our fans will relish the chance to show what a great club Rangers are . They will create a brilliant atmosphere at one of the world's finest stadiums." Celtic are understood to be thrilled at the prospect of playing at the new Wembley. The last Scottish team to play on the famous Wembley turf was our national side on November 18, 1999 when Don Hutchison scored the only goal of the game in a Euro 2000 play-off. Scotland missed out on qualifying 2-1 on aggregate. It's still unclear how many tickets the Parkead side will get but their massive travelling support will ensure a large percentage of the 90,000 seats.

For me it was a certain Dutchman..................Johan Cruyff , quailty footballer [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU-k-Ots3iY]YouTube - Johan Cruyff Dribbling Compilation[/ame]

http://fanchants.com/football-songs/glasgow_rangers-chants/everywhere-we-go-8/

You can bet on the first player to be booked, or at least from what team a player will be booked