JFK-1

It's a thank you to all key workers in the frontline of the battle against covid-19.

Something has to change but it's difficult to see how. Can only hope for one of those games where a team under the cosh first half comes out and turns it around. Which Gerrard has iconic experience of.

That was a real escape. Thought he was certain to score.

I'm looking to the Shakhtar v Wolfsburg result last night for inspiration. Shakhtar beat them 3-0 despite having an estimated market value only around 64% that of Wolfsburg. Get an early goal to unsettle them and see what happens from there. It is what it is. We all know that on paper it's a mountain to climb. But stranger things have happened in football. The German sides haven't played any competitive football in a month. That can only help.

Don't even want to take part in this one. Might jinx a historic comeback.

5 Things to Know About the Exciting Swiss Striker 1. He Had a Standout Season With St. Gallen Itten just had his best season for St. Gallen, and in fact the best of his career so far. He scored 20 goals in 36 appearances across all competitions, helping Die Espen finish second behind BSC Young Boys - their best league finish since 2001, and their best ever Super League season. Itten scored 19 times and got seven assists in the Super League, a truly prolific campaign up front. He finished as the league’s second top scorer behind Jean-Pierre Nsame, with the best goal tally for a Swiss player since Alexander Frei, Switzerland's all-time leading goalscorer, in 2012. The numbers do not lie for Itten, whose contributions have made up a third of all of St. Gallen’s goals this season. He will be a huge loss at the kybunpark after a dazzling season in Switzerland, but St. Gallen’s loss is undoubtedly Rangers' win. 2. He Scored Six Minutes Into His Switzerland Debut Itten earned his first call-up to the Switzerland national team last November, picked for the Schweizer Nati’s Euro 2020 qualifiers. Vladimir Petković's side needed two wins from two to qualify, in their final games against Georgia in St. Gallen and away to Gibraltar. He was a substitute against Georgia, but as the game stood goalless with 20 minutes to go, Itten replaced Albian Ajeti. Six minutes after his introduction to the game, he headed home brilliantly from Denis Zakaria's cross, securing a vital 1-0 win. Itten deservedly started the next game against Gibraltar, scoring a brace as the Nati ran out 6-1 winners and qualified for the now-delayed tournament. His return of three goals in two games was the perfect start to life with the national team, as he hopes to make the final squad for the tournament next summer. 3. He's Excellent in the Air If you have to choose one of Itten’s traits as his best, it is his heading. Every great striker is a marksman with their head, and the Basel-born man is no exception. Two of his three Switzerland goals were with his head, and he scored five headers this season alone for St. Gallen. Standing tall at 6'2, it is no surprise that Itten is clinical in the air. He rarely wastes chances crossed into him, and is exactly the type of player you would want on the end of a tantalising cross. Signing for a team who play with a lot of crossing is the perfect style for him, and it will certainly suit him well when he steps onto the pitch for the first time. 4. He Is a Product of FC Basel's Famed Academy While Itten joins Rangers from St. Gallen, it all started at Swiss giants FC Basel. A Basel boy himself, Itten arrived at the club's academy in 2007 aged 10, with the RotBlau's youth setup renowned and admired across Switzerland. During his time at St. Jakob-Park, Itten played alongside a number of current Swiss internationals. To name a few, he played with the likes of Borussia Dortmund's Manuel Akanji, Borussia Mönchengladbach's Breel Embolo and West Ham's Albian Ajeti. Although Itten only managed four goals in 26 games for FC Basel, he has since flourished after loan spells at FC Luzern and St. Gallen. His record of 0.57 goals per game for the latter is a promising figure, one which earned him the move away to Scotland. 5. Itten Is The Perfect Target Man Itten is the classic striker: always in the right place at the right time. His aerial prowess means he is effectively deployed as a target man, alongside his strength as a poacher. Whether he is playing as the lone striker or with a partner - such as Ermedin Demirović at St. Gallen - he can be relied on to find the net. His positioning and awareness in the box is a crucial trait, always working his way into the box and in between the defenders. Itten’s simple yet intelligent runs cause many problems, as defences lose track of him and allow him in to bare in on goal. Any team needs their striker to be expertly positioned, and that is something Itten has done since his early days at FC Basel. As long as he is getting quality service in the final third, he will have no trouble finishing off team moves and scoring goals. https://www.90min.com/posts/cedric-itten-5-things-to-know-about-rangers-exciting-swiss-striker

Helps that he can speak English. Now he just has to learn Scouse and Scots.

There's no doubting the odds are against us. Possibly be the greatest Euro comeback in the clubs history if they can pull it off. I'm hopeful, looking to score first and early. Take it from there.

We all know it's a very tall order indeed but I haven't given up all hope. I have a feeling we can score first and if that happens early then it's a different game. Put some doubt into Leverkusen heads.

He has an excellent mix of goals from headers and right plus left foot shots. Get the ball to him in range he's going to direct it goal wards with something. Three goals in two starts for Switzerland.

Only time will tell but I think Roofe may do a job. He hit 6 goals in 13 league games for Anderlecht who finished 8th in the Belgium league. That has to be a good return playing in a team that far down the ladder. Contrast it with our sheep 'rivals' superstar Cosgrove who hit 13 in 25 league games. Roofe is now going to be playing in a side who will in general and unlike Anderlecht be far superior to and swarming all over the opposition. I will be expecting him to get up around 20 league goals. And expect him to be inspired to prove himself in Europe which will be a new experience for him. Cedric Itten hit 19 goals in 34 league games for Gallen so we can expect him to be chipping in with his fair share too. He has been highly rated by many Swiss commentators as one to watch and one of the major reasons Gallen, who have a Swiss mid table market value, finished second in the league behind Young Boys.

My view of it is that while there has been no domestic silverware during the Gerrard era it's wildly inaccurate to say that it's been a total failure. The club earned around £18 million from Europe this year alone. And given one of our biggest and arguably the biggest problem post journey has been finance what's more help to the club in re-establishing itself at the top? An £18 million run in Europe or a Scottish cup?

Only thing I have heard about Hamilton is that they voted for reconstruction.

I don't know if they do since I rarely watch any of their games. I certainly suspect the sheep might but think that may be down to their imaginary rivalry with us.

That's very true but one problem with that is it leaves you open to a last minute sucker punch to drop 2 points. Just like the sheep yesterday the opposition will dig in like their lives depend on it even when 1-0 down then throw all caution to the wind in the last 5 minutes or so.

I'm unimpressed. Hamilton have the smallest budget in the league the sheep third largest. And is everyone forgetting we hammered the sheep 5-0 at Ibrox last season? It's the opening shots and we will have high scoring games at Ibrox against relegation candidate opposition.

I was impressed and he can only get better as he settles.

Liked that little scuffle in the corner when Alfie ran in. Looked like hey, fight in the corner? Gimme a piece of that action.

Don't see that happening, don't think they know how to do anything but what they're doing. What we all knew they would do.

Probably is somewhat similar, has a 10 team top league to our 12. Their 10 team league valued at around £40 million more than our 12 team league. We need someone who can provide the bread and butter league goals and his domestic tally beats Alfie. But he doesn't seem so potent in Europe as Alfie is.

It's 30 league goals in 30 league games with 3 assists. Picked up 5 yellow cards and 1 straight red in those 30 games. Swiss cup 3 games producing 4 goals and 1 assist. CL qualifying 2 games 0 goals with 1 assist and 1 yellow card. Europa league 6 games producing 2 goals 0 assists, 1 yellow card. That's a total of 41 games with 36 goals and 5 assists. Played a total of 3,349 minutes averaging a goal every 93 minutes.

Sheep 0 - Rangers 3 FGS Aribo

No doubt the fans are massively disappointed. Were thinking that at last we can have this poison excised from our club. We know the feeling.

We simply don't know for sure till we see some competitive action. The sheep on Saturday will be typical fare. They will sit in and carry on non stop fouling to prevent any football breaking out. If we give them a good drubbing then the signs are positive.

Well I think it's obviously unrealistic for anybody at all to leave Rangers for Livi and declare it the dream move they always hoped for. Not even Livi fans would believe that. On the other hand say Morelos were to leave and we signed a replacement from some English club. Or even a loan. Would anybody think badly of him if he were to say I played a friendly here a couple of seasons ago and thought wow this would be a dream club to play for? I doubt it. There can be no disputing that Kamberi took a crafty swipe at hubz in an attempt to make it impossible to return there and to get a foot in the door at Rangers. But I can't find it in myself to slate him for that. And I doubt that would be a factor for Stevie G in any decision to sign or not sign him.