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Liverpool to beat Reading Cardiff to beat Colchester Luton to beat Millwall MKDons to beat Accrington Sheep to beat Killie �£10 = �£143

Amoruso Backs Walter For Euro Glory Dec 8 2007 By Colin Duncan THE similarities between Rangers' Champions League run this season and their ill-fated campaign of 2000 are uncanny. However, Lorenzo Amoruso is backing Walter Smith to triumph and avoid the blunders he believes led to Dick Advocaat falling short. The Italian defender was part of the side managed by the Dutchman seven years ago who opened up with back-to-back wins before failing to win another group match. Rangers' exit came when they failed to beat French side Monaco in their final game at Ibrox. Fast forward to this season where Smith's men also began with two impressive wins, at home to Stuttgart and in France against Lyon. But just like in 2000, Rangers haven't claimed full points from any of their last three matches and qualification now rests on Wednesday's crunch return clash with yet another French side. For the superstitious, the omens don't look good but Amoruso feels Smith will not make the same basic errors Advocaat made. The Italian was stripped of the captaincy a few days before the Monaco game in which his mistake gave the French side a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw. Amoruso said: "Monaco was not a great game for me because I had a lot of trouble from the manager beforehand. I was stripped of the armband but the whole dressing room was unhappy at various things. "That was a game we should have won but we didn't because the attitude wasn't right. Everybody was pulling in different directions when we know team spirit and togetherness makes the difference between winning and losing. "I think the current Rangers team under Walter are united but under Advocaat that was not the case. "If everybody is pulling in the same direction on the pitch, you don't have to be best friends off the pitch. Not everybody was against Advocaat but there were a lot of players who lost their respect for him. "He was trying to blame me and a few others for bad results while trying to save his own skin. He was guilty of bad management and it cost us our place in the last 16. I'm not talking about his ability as a coach, I'm talking about his relationships with players. "He didn't know how to get the best out of people or how to talk to them and he allowed divisions to form in the dressing room. "You can't expect everybody in a team to be friends but it's the job of the manager to make sure it doesn't affect what happens on the pitch." After a 5-0 home win against Sturm Graz and a 1-0 triumph in Monaco, the wheels came off Rangers' quest to qualify from Group D. They lost at Galatasaray, drew the return in Glasgow 0-0 and then lost 2-0 in Graz when victory in any of those games would have taken them through. Amoruso admits players must take responsibility when they cross the white line but still feels one person was to blame - the manager. He said: "When we went to Turkey we were top of the group and a win would have clinched it but we played with five defenders. "At home to Galatasaray we subdued Gheorghe Hagi but never looked like scoring and when we went to Sturm Graz a draw would have been a good result but this time Advocaat played only two defenders and three strikers. The tactics didn't make any sense. "There are similarities between the two campaigns but Walter is not the same manager as Advocaat. "It was obvious Rangers played for the win in Stuttgart last time and while they didn't get it they were unlucky." Amoruso says his biggest regret during six eventful years at Ibrox was not reaching the latter stages of the Champions League. But, while that honour eluded him he believes the man who brought him to Glasgow can stamp his mark on European football's top competition. He added: "You would put money on Walter getting it right. Lyon play great football but they always give the opposition chances. Rangers must capitalise on them." GERS IN 2000 GROUP D CAMPAIGN 2000 Rangers 5 Sturm Graz 0 Monaco 0 Rangers 1 Galatasaray 3 Rangers 2 Rangers 0 Galatasaray 0 Sturm Graz 2 Rangers0 Rangers 2 Monaco 2 GERS IN 2007 GROUP E CAMPAIGN 2007 Rangers 2 Stuttgart 0 Lyon 0 Rangers 3 Rangers 0 Barcelona 0 Barcelona 2 Rangers 0 Stuttgart 3 Rangers 2 Rangers ? Lyon ? Click here!!

RANGERS are going for European glory next week against Lyon and if you thought you had missed out there is some fantastic news Following the return of a small number of tickets from UEFA and Lyon , there will be a limited sale to supporters clubs tomorrow, Wednesday December 5, and to season ticket holders on Friday December 7 for the showdown with the French champions on Wednesday, December 12. Supporters clubs will have the opportunity to buy two tickets per club between 10am and 4pm tomorrow - by email to supportersclubstc@rangers.co.uk or by calling customer services on 0871 702 1972, option 4. Please note that tickets - priced at �£40 - will be sold on a first come first served basis and are subject to availability. Any club who normally pays by direct debit will be required to provide alternative payment details. Tickets can be uplifted from Saturday 8 December. Season ticket holders will have the option to buy remaining Lyon tickets on Friday.

Superb !!!!!!!!

Agreed 100% mate,a display is nice but this game is not about being nice

Calling All Fans WITH the help of you the fans Rangers FC is again planning a colourful card display for the forthcoming UEFA Champions League game against Lyon. This time the display will incorporate the words from famous Rangers song Follow Follow and will be a colourful display with a red and blue background with white wording. As with all the other fantastic displays created by the Rangers fans we will be looking for volunteers, it could not happen without the help of our great support. If you haven't been along before, why not come along and help out with what should prove to be another great display of colour from the best in the business the Rangers support. If you wish to help set out the cards report to the Argyle House Reception on Sunday between the hours of 1pm till 5pm, on Monday between the hours 9.30am 5pm and if needed again on Tuesday between 9.30am 5pm. Please keep an eye on http://www.rangers.co.uk to find out if the display has been completed to save any disappointment after travelling.

Aye,but we've got to go into the game believing we can win,as in we the fans, otherwise Ibrox is going to be a very nervous place. Of course Lyon have a chance of winning,that's football,but how many other teams have came to Ibrox and failed,we've got a better chance of getting the result than Lyon IMO,we are at Ibrox man :cheers:

My God..................I hope the players have more self belief :uzi:

Rangers 2 Stuttgart 1 Rangers 0 Barca 0 I fancy 2-1 for the mighty GERS

We created more chances against Stuttgart over there than we did at Ibrox,we could easily have won that game,but didn't

The way you're talking is that we have done nothing so far in this competion !!,remember we are at fortress Ibrox mate :cheers:

Anybody watch that game last night ?,wisnae a bad game, I think however Anderlecht are going to get hammered by UEFA for the barrage of missiles that were launched at the Spurs players.

Have a bit of faith my man.............we will be :cheers:

Graham Spiers When you have held three of the great offices of State in Britain, people tend to listen carefully to your thoughts. So when John Reid, the former Home Secretary and recently-installed chairman of Celtic, claimed last night that Gordon Strachan had the potential to stand alongside Jock Stein in the clubââ?¬â?¢s history, his words had an arresting effect. Reid, who was in Italy on Tuesday to watch Celticââ?¬â?¢s advance to the last 16 of the Champions League despite their 1-0 defeat to AC Milan, chose yesterday as the moment to lavish praise on the Celtic manager. ââ?¬Å?Gordon Strachan has the opportunity to make himself a true legend at Celtic Park because, when you create records and potential records as he is currently doing, thatââ?¬â?¢s the best answer to all the critics,ââ?¬Â Reid said. ââ?¬Å?With all the constraints that we know are placed on teams playing in the Scottish league ââ?¬â?? such as not having the resources that others do ââ?¬â?? then for a manager to have qualified among the cream of Europe in the Champions League two years running is tremendous. At the same time, to have won the league twice and now be in the running for a third [successive] title ââ?¬â?? weââ?¬â?¢ve only done that twice in our history before, once under Jock Stein and once at the turn of the century. So it speaks volumes for the contribution Gordon has made.ââ?¬Â Strachan continues to have his critics but Reid forcibly argued that Celticââ?¬â?¢s qualification from group D was a minor triumph for the club. ââ?¬Å?To come above teams with a reputation like Benfica, or someone of the expenditure of Shakhtar [Donetsk], and just behind the team that are the European champions and within a couple of weeks might be the world champions [Milan], is no mean feat,ââ?¬Â the Celtic chairman said. Related Links * Celtic know they must cure away day blues * Strachan can emulate Hiddink at PSV ââ?¬Å?There has been a lot of talk of luck, but the fact is, you make your own luck in this game. Weââ?¬â?¢ve got nine points because Gordon and the boys most probably have the best home record in Europe. So Iââ?¬â?¢m delighted for Gordon, for the squad, but most especially for the fans. We are now among the cream of Europe, and thatââ?¬â?¢s basi-cally the cream of world soccer.ââ?¬Â Asked how much money the Celtic board might release for Strachan to bolster his squad in January, Reid offered optimism rather than stiff promises. ââ?¬Å?Everyone will now start asking about January,ââ?¬Â he said. ââ?¬Å?All Iââ?¬â?¢ll say is weââ?¬â?¢ve tried, within the limitations placed upon us, to help the manager in the past. Weââ?¬â?¢ll try to do that in the future but just now itââ?¬â?¢s sufficient to take a degree of satisfaction that weââ?¬â?¢ve reached another stage. And we have to be realistic about the future. ââ?¬Å?It obviously helps us reaching this stage, especially when youââ?¬â?¢re making about Ã?£2 million if you do well in the SPL, rather than the Ã?£35 million for being bottom in the English Premier League. All I can say is that weââ?¬â?¢ll try to do what we can financially.ââ?¬Â Celtic can relax for now, knowing they could face Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter Milan or Barcelona in the knockout draw on December 21.

IMO Broadfoot needs to be given a decent run in the team,as all young players do,and then he can be judged.He is still a young guy,looked ok when he played in the first team and has been performing well in the reserves by all accounts,let's not judge him untill we see more of him.

But if you look at the average age of our team just now,it can hardly be described as an ageing team

Welcome mate. I think everybody is in agreement that the SPL title is and always will be the main priority. But as Frankie said,why can't we compete in europe as well ?

If he would come up here I doubt we could afford him,plus wasn't Chelsea sniffing about him,or some other EPL side

OOPS!!!!, sorry :uzi:

He inherited a team when he took over at Lyon

No way is he coming up to Sotland

Well,one thing's for sure,we are going to replace him fairly soon,and i'm sure WS will know that and as you said probably lining up a replacement

Frankie,who is criticising Weir ?. Firstly i'd have to agree with you about Weirs form and has proved to be the best signing we've made in a long time.Regarding his pace well......he never did have much pace. As for the German CH,I know nothing about him or that Rangers were interested in him so I can't comment on that

The back tracking was nothing to do with the fact it was a C****c fan,just the fact that some person lost thier foot and some people are a bit touchy with sick jokes,not me though

Police report said he lost his balance..........................PISSED!!!!!