ian1964 10,831 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 IF ever a game summed up this season for Sporting Lisbon ââ?¬â?? Rangersââ?¬â?¢ Europa League opponents on Thursday ââ?¬â?? this amazing night in the Algarve was it. And the news can only be good for the Ibrox men. It would be hard for them to find an opponent in more turmoil on and off the pitch and, from the evidence of their match against Olhanense, Sporting ââ?¬â?? who are already out of the Portuguese title race, having fallen over 20 points behind Porto ââ?¬â?? will soon be out of Europe, too. They endured an evening of misery in Olhao, a small fishing town in the south of the country, against a team who only returned to the top flight last season after a 34-year absence and whose home games attract an average attendance of 2000. A crowd of around double that was there on Saturday to see Sporting throw away a two-goal lead. Their troubles started even before kick-off when Leandro Grimi, their Argentinian defender, was injured in the warm-up and had to be replaced by Evaldo, a Brazilian centre-back. They were hampered further when Jaime Valdes, the midfielder, limped off in the first half, with both men rated very doubtful for the visit to Ibrox. Nevertheless, Sporting seemed to be on their way to victory after Helder Postiga ââ?¬â?? the former Tottenham striker who is clearly the sideââ?¬â?¢s main threat and looks a class above his team-mates ââ?¬â?? scored in each half. They never looked comfortable, but to lose two goals in a catastrophic three-minute spell was taking farce to new levels, especially when one of them was the result of Daniel Carrico, the Sporting captain, putting the ball in his own net. It was all too much for Paulo Sergio, the under-pressure manager, and he raced on to the park to remonstrate with Olegario Benquerenca, the referee, who had little option but to send the enraged coach to the tiny stand. Sporting sacked Costinha, the former Portuguese internationalist, as director of football in midweek after he criticised the club in an interview. They also sold Liedson, their star striker, last week and havenââ?¬â?¢t replaced him. However, Pedro Mendes, the clubââ?¬â?¢s former Rangers mid-fielder, was looking forward to his return to Glasgow. ââ?¬Å?Iââ?¬â?¢m very confident ahead of Thursday,ââ?¬Â he said. ââ?¬Å?Iââ?¬â?¢m looking forward to it because it is a different competition instead of the Portuguese league. Itââ?¬â?¢s exactly what the team needs at the moment, to play in a different competition, so we are all very keen to go to Glasgow and play. ââ?¬Å?I thought we played really well [against Olhanense]. We were in complete control, then we seemed to lose concentration and lost a couple of goals in two minutes or something. To be fair, one of them was offside and the other was an own goal. But I repeat: we are very confident about Thursday. What happened there hasnââ?¬â?¢t changed that. ââ?¬Å?I saw the Rangers score on Saturday, but there is always a score like that in a season in the Scottish league. Every season there is always a game that finishes 5-0, 6-0 or 7-0 to Rangers so I am not worried about that. ââ?¬Å?On a personal level, I am looking forward to going back to Glasgow and of course to Ibrox. Itââ?¬â?¢s a very special place for me and it will be an absolute pleasure to play in front of that crowd again.ââ?¬Â Sergio ââ?¬â?? there have been suggestions he may not even be in charge by Thursday ââ?¬â?? said: ââ?¬Å?We showed moments of great immaturity with the mistakes we made. This is the second week in a row we have given stupid goals away. It was our own mistakes, but the referee had a huge influence on the outcome. We have to pick ourselves up, forget what has happened here and concentrate on our next match in Glasgow. Itââ?¬â?¢s a good chance to recover.ââ?¬Â http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/mendes-relishes-return-despite-team-s-troubles-1.1084954 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hopefully Pedro gets a good cheer on Thursday night. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 0 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hopefully Pedro gets a good cheer on Thursday night. Never liked him. Decent enough guy but was really poor for us. One of our most over rated players of recent seasons. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2go 0 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I will always treasure his great goal against celic. The player Valdes who went off injured against Olhanense could be a loss to them if he is not fit. I hope we don't play to contain them or give them to much respect on Thursday. They are there for the beating 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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