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Walter Smithââ?¬â?¢s second era at the club began with a match against Dundee United so it is perhaps fitting and not entirely unexpected, football often throws up strange and repeated coincidences such as this, that yet again the Arabs will provide the opposition in a monumental encounter that will go a long way to establishing our title credentials. The prospect of 4-in-a-row cannot be contemplated and if we are to prevent that eventuality then we have to stop the trend of our performances against Dundee United. Whilst our overall recent record does not make for terrible reading against Dundee United, indeed since the 5-0 victory in Walterââ?¬â?¢s debut game in charge of his second tenure, we have won 3, lost 1 and drawn 2 of our encounters with the Dundee club. However those two draws have been highly damaging to our league aspirations. Two league points dropped back in April during our hectic run in ultimately contributed to our downfall in attempting to reclaim the league flag. The second draw, our only meeting with United this season back in November allowed Celtic to take a 2 point lead in the SPL over us for the first time this season. It is the worrying trend of our inability to consistently take 3 points on the road against the more capable opponents in the SPL that is giving particular cause for concern prior to heading to Tannadice this weekend. After having returned the points difference to 4 between ourselves and Celtic this weekend past, we cannot afford anything less than a victory on Saturday. However we have not returned from Dundee with the 3 points since a 4-1 victory in April 06 when Prso and a Boyd hat-trick secured the result. In the last 4 seasons, stretching back to 04/05 under Eck, we have travelled to Dundee 6 times, but only once have we made the return trip with and addition to the win column. 1 win, 3 draws and 2 defeats highlights just how difficult a game we have in store. This kind of record is not good enough for a side with title aspirations and it is this sort of form that demonstrated why we have found league titles difficult to come by in recent seasons. Why one team becomes another sideââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Å?bogey teamââ?¬Â is difficult to pinpoint. When a team is regularly thwarting your side season after season, despite numerous changes in playing and coaching personnel for both sides, how do you identify the key factors? Is it luck? Is it a psychological problem? When you have struggled against another team in the past perhaps it is distracting you even before you take the field? It is impossible to quantify or qualify what causes this over a sustained period. What we can do though, is look at the reasons for our recent trouble. Why have so many of these competitive fixtures followed a similar pattern? In Smithââ?¬â?¢s first and highly successful spell at the helm we regularly dominated all opposition in Scotland. We had the players and the managerial set-up to mastermind victories against all opposition and in any scenario. Since his return to the club, many believe the old campaigner has been out-thought by his counter-part at Tannadice whenever the two lock-horns. Whilst Smithââ?¬â?¢s record against Leveinââ?¬â?¢s United makes reasonable reading, 4 wins, 2 draws with just the solitary defeat, it doesnââ?¬â?¢t even begin to tell the whole story In the League Cup Final, a match that was decided on penalties, only the introduction of Boyd saved Smithââ?¬â?¢s blushes as we were out thought and out played for large portions of the game. In the league encounter a month later, 3 times we had to come from behind to secure what at the time looked a decent point in the title run-in, to continue a fairly miserable run of form up Tannadice. We will of course all remember the 3-3 draw earlier this season when the influential Thomson stole a point in a game we should have won handsomely. What has become the stingiest back line in the league this year simply did not turn up that cold autumn night and despite an impressive attacking display, defensive lapses cost us the points. So Smith has an acceptable record against Dundee United overall, however it is one we would all like to see improve. To begin that with a vital victory this weekend would no doubt boost the confidence of our squad during a critical period in the Championship race. If we are to gain the required result, Smith, his coaching staff and the squad must look back at previous fixtures to understand why we struggled and to ensure we are better prepared. The major issue surrounding what is often a fraught fixture for us Rangers fans is in controlling the game. Win the midfield battle and that can set the platform to win the match. We cannot surrender quality possession and territory to Dundee United time and again, and hope to sneak a result thanks to individual quality on our part and individual error on Unitedââ?¬â?¢s. As many other SPL managers appear to be becoming aware of, if they flood their midfield with players and restrict our quality midfielders the time and space they need to operate they can effectively stop us playing. The team then resorts to long ball tactics, up to players whose strengths are not playing as target men. When this starts happening we continually give possession back to the opposition and put ourselves under pressure. This tactic is more rewarding for Dundee United than many other sides because of the quality of player they can deploy in midfield. Willo Flood, on loan from Cardiff City, always appears a step above anything else we might expect from opposition in the SPL out with Celtic. Flood is ably supported by a previously unavailable wealth of midfield talent in Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben (excellent finds for Craig Levein who combine good technical ability with natural athleticism) and formerly Mark Kerr (now Aberdeen). Scott Robertson brought in to replace the departing Kerr, from city rivals Dundee, has become a key player making a significant impact at Ibrox as he scored their third of 3 goals. Flood, Gomis and Robertson appear to be the players in favour for a strong United midfield, with Conway and Swanson enjoying regular games too. Levein has often deployed a 4-4-2 formation this season, but it will be interesting to see if he reverts to a five-man midfield again this weekend to give his side the numerical advantage in the centre of the park. Even prior to losing Thomson to long term injury this season, Dundee United have already proven they have enough in their ranks to give us a hard game. Although in a change from recent encounters, our troubles were not caused by Dundee Unitedââ?¬â?¢s strength in the middle of the park but by our own defensive frailties and an impressive game by Sandaza. With Unitedââ?¬â?¢s ability to nullify and dominate our midfield identified, the loss of Thomson is even more concerning for this game than any other. Our current first choice midfield of Ferguson, Mendes, Davis and possibly Beasley is lacking the fighting qualities and the screening of the defence that Thomson brings. With Levein likely to pack his midfield and the hardworking and technically gifted talents of Flood, Gomis, Robertson and co. we are going to have to battle hard for the points this weekend. It may require Walter to consider bringing in a more defensively minded player, in the Thomson mould, to combat the effective United midfield unit and allow the flair players to hurt the opposition. That would mean bringing in Edu either for Ferguson or Mendes, or sacrificing a forward player to field a 5 man midfield and match United in the central areas. However the prospect of breaking up what is a burgeoning and exciting forward pair of Boyd and Miller would be counter-productive and will not be considered by Smith. Neither will sacrificing the attacking qualities of Ferguson and Mendes. Instead I think he may ask for a disciplined display by one of the midfield pair, most likely Ferguson, to sit in and fill the defensive role performed by Thomson. Whether this will be effective is yet to be seen, but I am not convinced. If, as we have seen before, United manage to dominate this midfield battle, we begin to see why United have enjoyed such impressive displays against the more celebrated opposition from Glasgow. With a lack of control of the midfield, the defenders and deep lying midfield continually look to hit the long ball to Boyd and his partner, in this case likely to be Miller. Neither player can play as a dominant target man and with the towering figures of Wilkie and Dods at the back, will prove even more ineffectual in the role. Dundee United have enjoyed a stranglehold on possession and territory thanks to these tactics and more of the same will be uncomfortable viewing for the light blues this weekend. If Dundee United control the centre of the field and Wilkie and Dods continue their success at the back, then Craig Levein has unearthed the man to hurt us. In a devastating 2 goal display at Ibrox, Sandaza along with a solo strike by Robertson almost secured an impressive victory for the Arabs. Plucked from Valenciaââ?¬â?¢s reserve team, Sandaza made a decent start to life in Scotland in Unitedââ?¬â?¢s pre-season games. However he struggled once the competitive matches got underway until the boost of an accomplished display in Glasgow. In a game where unlike recent showing, United struggled to contain Rangers, Sandaza took full advantage of a night off at the back. Having regained third place in the league and with the best home defensive record in the league, if Flood and the Dundee United midfield continue to outshine their Rangers counterparts, they will be confident of the backline defending the inevitable long ball football and also of taking advantage of the lionââ?¬â?¢s share of possession with Sandaza and most probably Jon Daly to seize upon any opportunities created.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is standing by under-fire goalkeeper Artur Boruc. More...

Hibs striker Colin Nish insists Sunday's win over Celtic will mean nothing if victory over Hamilton does not follow. More...

NON-LEAGUE Spartans have demanded their Scottish Cup clash with Elgin should be replayed because they insist the Highlanders fielded an ineligible player. Keeper Joe Malin was named man of the match for Elgin in Saturday's 2-1 victory, just 24 hours after the club signed him from Ross County. Spartans believe his arrival at the Third Division side came too late for him to be eligible to play in the tie and have asked the SFA to replay the game. Edinburgh-based Spartans yesterday asked Hampden officials to investigate as former Celtic youth player Malin had not signed prior to the postponement of the initial match the previous Saturday. After Spartans chairman Craig Graham was alerted to the fact Malin appeared for Elgin, he contacted the SFA about the possibility the player had made an illegal appearance. Graham said: "The rules state that a player needs to be signed before the initial Saturday and we have asked the SFA to clarify the ruling. "Rule 27 also states that if you have an issue you have to raise it to the match official within half an hour of the game finishing but we were unable to do that because we had no idea who Joe Malin was. "I think the SFA have three options; they can fine Elgin and let them continue in the competition, they can replay the match or throw them out." But Elgin secretary Ian Allan is confident his club would be saved. He said: "The rules state that Spartans should have made their complaint no later than 15 minutes before kick-off. "The SFA only told me about Spartans' claim this afternoon." The SFA have already begun a probe after Spartans raised the issue yesterday. A spokesperson said: "That matter has been brought to our attention and all I can say is that we are investigating it." Spartans were also the opposition when St Mirren failed to play two outfield players under the age of 21 in their Scottish Cup tie in 2006, leading to the Buddies being hit with a �£12,500 fine after the initial �£25,000 sanction was halved on appeal. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/2008/12/09/spartans-demand-scottish-cup-rematch-with-elgin-city-86908-20957363/

Hibernian's John Rankin can understand Artur Boruc's error as Celtic boss Gordon Strachan remains diplomatic after his side's defeat. More...

So says Walter, but we may go back to last seasons tactics. (He has demanded a positive reaction from his players after last week’s defeat at Hearts allowed Celtic to extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points. Smith said: “We have a good record at home and we have actually been playing quite well in the home games so we hope to do that this weekend. “We get Hamilton at a time when they have started to show a bit of resilience and have had a couple of good results against Dundee United and Kilmarnock so it will be a tough one for us.” Smith admits he may have to rethink his decision to adopt a more attractive style of football this season if Rangers continue to ship points. He said: “Last season, a lot of the time we set our stall out not to lose games and we have gone about it in a slightly different way this season. “We have played a more attractive style of football. Whether it will be as successful or not remains to be seen.” Asked whether he would persist with this season’s tactics, he said: “Not if we’re going to continue to lose games I won’t.'')

Hibernian's John Rankin can understand Artur Boruc's error as Celtic boss Gordon Strachan remains diplomatic after his side's defeat. More...

Right now the SPL title does not make happy viewing for us. After an impressive start to the domestic season, including the 4-2 win at Parkhead in the opening Old Firm game of this season, we still find ourselves trailing Celtic by 4 points thanks to a series of disappointing dropped points. A substandard performance at Love Street lead to 3 points dropped. This was closely followed by one of the games of the season in a 3-3 draw with Dundee United in which an uncharacteristically generous display by the back line led to further 2 more dropped points, with the same outcome at Fir Park the following midweek. With a less hectic fixture schedule to navigate this season, Smith must ensure that we avoid any more of these slip ups if we are to regain our league title. With Smith's record against our greatest rivals being almost as good as it was during his first reign, if we are to take advantage of the next Old Firm game being at Ibrox and cut the deficit by 3 points (as we have every right to expect) then we need to ensure no more lapses in form and concentration in the 4 fixtures between now and that December the 27th clash. It is by no means an easy run of games. First up is Hearts at Tynecastle this week and as ascender's preview shows, a win there is by no means a foregone conclusion. We ran out 2-0 winners in the reverse fixture this season, but the points were only secured by an injury time Kris Boyd penalty. On top of our game we should leave Gorgie to take the 3 points back across the M8, but our players will need to produce a disciplined and clinical display. Next up are Hamilton and the squad should be confident of emerging victorious after back to back wins over the Lanarkshire club in October. A tricky away trip to Tannadice will be next up and seeing as Dundee United were the first club to leave Ibrox with anything other than a defeat since October of last year it is clear we will need to produce our best form to secure the points and maintain our push for the title. Our midfield has struggled to dominate games against the Arabs over the last year and a half and Ferguson and Mendes will have to produce a more cohesive display at Tannadice if we are to defeat what is becoming a routinely difficult encounter for Smith's squad. In the penultimate game before the key Old Firm clash, the final fixture of 2008, Hibs are the visitors to Ibrox. Hibs recent form has been up and down, but after thumping last year's third placed side Motherwell 4-1 away from home, it is obvious they have the players to trouble any side on their day. No disrespect to bottom club Hamilton, but aside from the home fixture against Billy Reid's side, you would not consider any of the other matches as a banker victory. If we are to ensure we are in position to take advantage of the Old Firm encounter we will have to earn every victory between now and the festive fixture. Celtic's corresponding fixtures over the same period appear a little less treacherous to negotiate. Allied to their 11 game winning streak, their last dropped points being inflicted in the 4-2 Old Firm humiliation and the importance of the next 4 fixtures becomes clear. It is hard to see anything other than a home victory this weekend as ICT make the long journey south. Though the Highland club have taken maximum points from the last 2 away fixtures, Celtic at Parkhead are a different proposition, especially when you cannot account for impartiality from the officials. Celtic begin December with a visit from Hibs, and as I have stated Hibs can trouble anyone on their day. They will fancy their chances more at their own place against Celtic than when they have to make the trip to Glasgow to face Rangers at Ibrox. Celtic have the minor inconvenience of a dead rubber against Villarreal to try and restore some pride from their catastrophic Champions League adventure before Hearts travel to Parkhead. In a reverse to the Hibs fixtures over the next month or so, whilst Celtic get to entertain Hearts at home whilst we make the journey to Edinburgh and I would argue that an going to Tynecastle is a tougher fixture than travelling to Easter Road, as supported by the club's league positions. Celtic round off their pre-Christmas fixtures with a trip to Falkirk and will be confident of returning to Glasgow with the spoils. Whilst both sides have tricky trips to the capital to deal with the added menace of an away clash against Dundee Utd suggests we have the more perilous fixtures. Considering Celtic's ominous form in the league and relatively easier fixtures, Smith cannot contemplate any more dropped points between now and the crunch clash on the 27th. Four victories and a 2nd Old Firm victory of the season and we may just find out how this Celtic team copes with the pressure of a Rangers juggernaut intent on winning a 52nd title.

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Ive never liked the guy! His voice drives me insane. Right now he just said the Hearts fans are in full voice but they wont be enjoying this as much as the Celtic fans! What a wank!

SINGING just two lines of the notorious "Famine Song" amounts to racism, a court has ruled in a landmark case. At Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Wednesday, a 20-year-old Rangers fan was found guilty of committing a breach of the peace during Rangers 4-0 victory over Killie on November 9. And procurator fiscal Les Brown successfully argued that by singing the lines "The famineââ?¬â?¢s over, why donââ?¬â?¢t you go home?" William Walls, of Glasgow, had associated himself with other, more offensive elements of the song. Walls, who had denied the offence, was remanded in custody until December 16 for social enquiry and community service reports. During the trial, Sheriff Iona McDonald heard that Walls was seen singing the chorus of the song and other offensive remarks during the game by stewards employed by Rangers FC. Nicola Tait, 24, said that one of her tasks was to monitor the Rangers support for sectarian behaviour, including the singing of the "Famine Song". "The ââ?¬Ë?Famine Songââ?¬â?¢ is one song that is not tolerated by Rangers," she told the court. Miss Tait ââ?¬â?? a club steward for the last three years ââ?¬â?? said that her instructions were to take the seat numbers of those guilty of sectarian behaviour and report them to Rangers for further action. Walls, she said, was seen on a number of occasions in the first and second halves standing up and singing. He did this particularly when other fans had stopped singing the song, in an effort to get them to continue. "He was up and down out his seat every two minutes," said Miss Tait. "He had been asked to sit down a few times by another steward." She had reported his seat number at half-time and later saw him being escorted up the stairs by another steward and two police officers. Fellow Rangers stead Michael Rennie, 38, also identified Walls as singing the two best-known lines of the "Famine Song". He was also "constantly in the aisle", singing the song. Two friends of Walls, who were at the game denied that their pal had sung the "Famine Song" or made any other sectarian comments. Both claimed that the "Famine Song" had been sung by only a "small minority" of Rangers fans ââ?¬â?? in contrast to the evidence of stewards that as many as 90 per cent of the Rangers support in Rugby Parkââ?¬â?¢s Moffat stand had taken part. Under cross-examination by Mr Brown, one defence witness ââ?¬â?? David Hopkins, 25, of Glasgow ââ?¬â?? admitted that he had previously been banned from Ibrox, Hampden and Celtic Park. Addressing Sheriff McDonald, Mr Brown argued that while it was accepted that, at most, Walls had sung only two lines of the "Famine Song", it would be clear to the majority of those there that it was "telling people from Ireland to go home". "That, in itself, is a racist sentiment," he said. BY contrast, Bob McDowall, defending, argued that that would require a "quantum leap" by the court. "Evidence is led that one or two lines are used and it is implied that the rest of the song is meant," he said. "Says who?" Mr McDowall described the case as "novel" and "a very serious matter". "Ireland and the Irish are not mentioned in that stanza," he pointed out. Earlier Sheriff McDonald rejected a defence submission that there was no case on answer on the ground that the description of Wallsââ?¬â?¢s conduct given in evidence could not amount to a breach of the peace. Finding Walls guilty, Sheriff McDonald told him that "given the whole context" his conduct was "likely to be generally alarming and very disturbing to others". After the verdict, Mr Brown revealed that the accusedââ?¬â?¢s record included previous convictions for a breach of the peace with a football aggravation and for an offence with racial aggravations. http://www.kilmarnockstandard.co.uk/ayrshire-news/news-east-ayrshire/kilmarnock-news/2008/11/26/rangers-fan-fined-over-singing-famine-song-at-rugby-park-81430-22348515/

SCOTTISH eyes will be drawn to Greece and Switzerland this season, with Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and Basel all threatening to help their countries overtake Scotland in Uefa's co- efficient tables. Scotland is currently in 12th place, with Greece just behind, and the Swiss breathing down their necks. IN NUMBERS 13 games played by Scottish teams in Europe this season; 10 lost and three draws. 18 failed attempts by Celtic to win away from home in Champions League group game. 32 Scotland's provisional ranking in co-efficient table. At the minute, the SPL title winners enjoy direct entry into the lucrative group stage of the Champions League, but should Scotland slip further down the table - even by one position - they would be in danger of losing that place. As such, the SPL clubs will be watching with interest what goes on elsewhere in Europe this season and hoping that none of the above teams enjoy a sustained run in either the Champions League or the Uefa Cup. And while Celtic's final group game against Villarreal is meaningless in terms of qualification, a win would actually stave off the threat of the immediate Champions League place being lost, something of enormous significance to the Old Firm. Last night Scotland were sitting in 32nd place in the provisional co- efficient rankings, an embarrassing position which is made all the more galling when compared to last season. A year ago Scotland amassed the fifth highest co-efficient with only England, Spain, Germany and Russia better off. It is just as well that the rankings are worked out on the basis of the past five years' performances, otherwise Scotland would be in a dreadful position. The blame lies not only at Celtic's door. Rangers, Motherwell and Queen of the South have contributed to the truly dire stat that there is no Scottish club this season who have registered a European win. Hibs also lost both Inter-Toto ties, but they do not count in the co-efficient stakes. As such, Celtic's game against Villarreal next month has a significance to it that might not be immediately obvious. It isn't just about restoring a sliver of pride to a dreadful group campaign, it is about ensuring Scotland get the crucial co-efficient points that would ensure the Champions League does not start to drift further out of reach. After all, with both halves of the Old Firm having come a cropper in the qualifying stages in recent years, no-one will need to be reminded of the dangers that lurk in the summer months when qualification is not assured. That this season has seen such a dreadful return from Scottish clubs has been underlined by the fact that little consolation can be drawn from the calibre of opposition that was faced. Few would expect Aalborg to go any further in the Uefa Cup than the next round, while Kaunas, who denied Rangers a passage into the competition, were thumped by Aalborg in the next qualifying round. As Kaunas dropped into the Uefa Cup, Sampdoria walloped them 7-1 on aggregate. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2470897.0.0.php

...Why do we keep dropping daft points when on paper we have a better side than celtic and they were in europe(which is supposed to have you dropping some points in your own domestic league due to tiredness), yet we have over a week to plan games tactically and get fit for them and we are dropping more points than celtic? This is driving me mad this season. Darcheville even said that we should win the league this year because Celtics euro run will make them take their eye off the league. So, i ask you JCD if thats your mentality then why are we now 7 points behind them the week they bow out of europe? I think most people thought that we would have been able to plan a relaxed raid on the league this year because we had a limited number of games to play compared to celtic, but it's not worked this way and i wonder if the players and management of Rangers are to blame for expecting celtic to drop points and as a result going into games complacently. If thats the case then we need to axe the whole (so-called second coming) of Walter Smith's coaching staff(him included). This comes from a Big Walter fan who has up till now always backed him against any kind of criticism. But recently it has been totally unforgivable to drop league points against the pish of StMirren and Hearts. Dundee Utd are our bogey side, so that was maybe excusable, but none others were. So, whats fundamentaly wrong with our set up this time? We have had four seasons to plan the downfall of Celtic, and bar a few wins in the league against them, we havent even come that close to be honest. Last season was the closest but we used europe as an excuse to make ourselves feel better when all we had to do was defend for another 2 minutes in the first of the two league games at parkhead at the end of last season. Sounds easy now but we all know now we werent up to it as celtic always showed more spirit and need for the title. To finish on what will probably seem a daft point too. It just seems to me that everytime we play an away side they seem to be so up for it. Yet when Celtic play them they seem as though they lie back. Dont want to sound paranoid but it's so frustrating to watch Hearts and StMirren play like men possessed against Rangers and then play like pussies against Celtic. I'd love to hear your theories on why we are pish when we shouldnt be. signed frustrated bear

Niall McGinn would relish a move to Celtic but the Derry City midfielder is aware of how hard it would be to break into Gordon Strachan's first team. More...

Shaun Maloney fires the only goal of the game as a nervy Celtic open up a seven-point lead at the top of the SPL table. More...

By Andrew Dickson WALTER SMITH insists Hearts beat Rangers at their own game as they won 2-1 against the Light Blues at Tynecastle. Strikes by Marius Zaliukas and Laryea Kingston in quick succession gave the Jambos a commanding lead midway through the first half. Charlie AdamAnd although a Christos Karipidis own goal gave Gers a lifeline, the hosts packed their back line and held on to the three points despite having Lee Wallace sent off. A defensive approach helped Smith's men so often last season and he was frustrated at seeing his side stopped by the same tactic. He said: "Hearts did well but we made it easy for them and we didn't create an awful lot up front. "That was surprising because we've made a lot of opportunities in previous matches but never came up with any of note many here. "Hearts deserve credit. They had their players back in position and played very much in the manner we played in a number of games last season. They did very well. "We spent the last hour of the game almost entirely in Hearts' half of the pitch but never really created any opportunities to score." Smith was annoyed at the manner in which Rangers lost their goals, both of which came from poorly-defended set pieces. And he refused to hide behind the excuse that having key players such as Kenny Miller and Kevin Thomson out was a reason for a second away defeat of the league campaign.Steven Whittaker The manager added: "You're going to miss players of that quality but you're going to go through the season without some people and there are no excuses there. "We're still good enough without them. I felt in the first 20 minutes or so that we struggled in a defensive sense by giving away too many fouls. "That gave Hearts the opportunity to get the ball into our area and we ended up losing two goals from such situations. "With the consistency Celtic have shown, any points that we drop are a blow to us and it certainly means the three Old Firm games left are ones where the pressure is on us. "We deserve that because we didn't deal with set plays well today. Normally we defend well but against Dundee United we gave away two bad goals. "Those little bits of inconsistency have plagued us in games and that has been costly for us."

In the last few weeks we have drew with Motherwell, Dundee Utd and Lost to Hearts! That is hardly form that will win us the league that is a MUST this season. WS selections and tactics are being found out that he isnt capable over a season anymore. Celtic are going to the places like Tynecastle and Fir Park and winning yet we are getting it so wrong. Also we can see a gulf in class between our team when we play the poorer sides in the SPL like St Mirren / Hamilton etc compared to when we play the likes of Hearts away. Ive been on the anti Boyd bandwagon for a long time yet since not getting a game for Scotland and going on a sulk his game changes against Kilmarnock and Hamilton x 2. And im now at the final conclusion of - Wow - Thats his level after all. WS takes most of the blame. But I continually say that having the likes of Burke, Boyd, Adam, Broadfoot, Whittaker in the Rangers FC team means we wont be top of the ladder. I honestly cant beleive a proven failure like Burke gets a nod ahead of Novo and the promising Aaron in the game today! Never mind even why the classy Hemdani continues to play more football in his garden than for Rangers.

Gordon Strachan says his Celtic side deserve credit this season despite their disappointing midweek European exit. More...