- No Gio on Sunday
Rangers manager Dick Advocaat has confirmed Giovanni van Bronckhorst will not be considered for Sunday's Old Firm derby at Celtic Park. The Dutchman has not been able to reach match fitness after a December groin operation and Advocaat said he was not prepared to take a gamble. Van Bronckhorst had been pencilled in for a comeback in the reserves earlier this week but that was called off because of bad weather.
- ENIC plan to sell shares
ENIC have taken the first steps towards selling their 20.2% stake in Rangers now that they have taken control of Tottenham. That stake carries a current book price of almost £19million but its real market value is thought to be more than £30million. Rangers chairman David Murray insisted the sports, entertainment and media group, whose managing director Daniel Levy is on the Ibrox board, would not sever their ties completely. But the decision to concentrate on Spurs instead of Rangers has already been taken, with shareholders being asked for permission to start selling the stake in the Scottish champions. ENIC chairman Stephen Davidson said:
"Following completion of the proposed purchase of 26.9% of Tottenham Hotspur and the purchase of an option to acquire a further 13.2%, ENIC will hold interests in two British clubs. And, in view of the fact that ENIC is not the largest shareholder in Rangers, the board of ENIC considers that it is not necessary for the group to maintain its current level of investment in Rangers."
- Negri leaves club
Marco Negri has finally left Rangers after accepting a pay-off from the club, and he has already returned to Italy. Rangers financail director Douglas Odam added:
"Marco has had quite a number of injury problems over the years, the most recent of which happened last November in an under-21 match at Aberdeen where he suffered quite a severe gash on his leg. That has been treated for some months now but unfortunately infection set in and that has set him back considerably. He has been getting treatment here but it has now become apparent that he won't be fit to play this season. He is out of contract at the end of the season so we wanted to let him get back to Italy and we have come to an agreement that allows him to do that now."
|
Thursday 8th February 2001
|
- Advocaat angry at players and ref
Dick Advocaat took his anger out on referee Willie Young although he was careful not to say too much which could also land himself in hot water with the SFA. Young was at the centre of controversy after awarding the Parkhead side a dubious free-kick for their opener. Bert Konterman was harshly penalised for a foul on Sutton in the lead up to the £6M striker's opener. Even more baffling decisions followed when he then gave Celtic a penalty after both Henrik Larsson and Wilson tangled. The under-fire official then sent off Rangers duo Claudio Reyna and Michael Mols and Celtic's Lubo Moravcik in a fiery last minute. Advocaat blasted:
"I'm not happy because in my opinion we lost the physical and we gave two goals away in the first
20 minutes. The goals were quite cheap and then our penalty was quite cheap and their penalty was cheap. I'm angry about some of the decisions and I'll have to leave it with that and keep my mouth shut about it. I have to keep everyone happy in life." Dick Advocaat also turned on Michael Mols and Claudio Reyna after they were sent off late in their League Cup defeat to Celtic - ruling them out of Sunday's vital Premier League clash at Parkhead. Advocaat snapped
"I wasn't satisfied with some of my players and I'm not happy with how they behaved. So now we have two players out for Sunday. Mols and Reyna are now out and at the moment we don't have too many players. So it will be difficult but we showed in many parts of this game that we controlled and there wasn't a lot of chances. The game was killed off at 3-1 and before that part of the game we were the better side, but they play long balls to the strikers and anything can happen."
- Suspensions confirmed
The Scottish Football Association today confirmed Rangers and Celtic's worst fears after Wednesday night's explosive CIS Insurance Cup semi-final. Rangers, who are nine points behind their rivals going into Sunday's Parkhead clash, will be without Claudio Reyna and Michael Mols. The SFA confirmed that Reyna was sent off for his cautionable offence with a lunge at Bobby Petta which rules him out of a League Cup game next season. However, the most disappointing aspect is that his second red card for violent conduct rules him out of Sunday's clash while 12 disciplinary points puts him on the brink of another suspension.
An SFA disciplinary spokesman said:
"The first sending-off was for a second cautionable offence. Thereafter he was reported for violent conduct for kicking a Celtic player and after the end of the game he was also reported for dissent to the referee. Effectively the sending off for the second caution means he will miss one match in the CIS Insurance Cup at the beginning of next season. The report for violent conduct means he is required to miss the Old Firm game on Sunday and he got 12 points on his disciplinary record which puts him on 14 and two points away from another suspension. The reported dissent just sits on his record for the time being." With Mols also ruled out of the weekend's crucial match after being involved in a tussle with Lubo Moravcik it was no surprise that manager Dick Advocaat blew his top. The SFA disciplinary spokesman added:
"Lubo Moravcik and Michael Mols were dismissed for violent conduct. Both players have been given 12 points onto their disciplinary records and they both miss Sunday's Old Firm match."
|
|
Wednesday 7th February 2001
|
- League Cup semi team news
Barry Ferguson and winger Neil McCann return from suspension for Rangers and midfielder Jorg Albertz is back in the squad after injury. But Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Craig Moore, Lorenzo Amoruso, Billy Dodds, and Ronald de Boer will all miss the game.
- Ricksen tribunal date set
An independent tribunal is to decide whether a retrospective red card awarded to Rangers defender Fernando Ricksen can be overturned. The Scottish Football Association made history in December when they used video evidence for the first time to make a ruling on an incident that had not been included in a referee's report. Although the referee missed it, the Dutch defender was caught on camera aiming a kung fu-style kick at Aberdeen midfielder Darren Young during Rangers' 2-1 win at Pittodrie on November 12. The SFA's disciplinary committee imposed a retrospective red card, worth a one-match ban, plus 12 penalty points. Those extra points, when added to the ones he had already totted up, took him over another punishment threshold and another one-game ban was imposed. Rangers immediately appealed and as a result Ricksen has so far able to play on. His appeal will be held at Hampden Park on Thursday, February 15 at 2.30pm by a three-man panel consisting of Lord McCluskey, Scottish Professional Footballers' Association representative Fraser Wishart and SFA treasurer George Peat. The panel does not have the power to increase the ban but could quash it completely, half it or uphold it. Ricksen was also brought to book by the SFA over comments he made about the Aberdeen incident on his personal website. However, a date for this hearing has yet to be set.
|
|
Tuesday 6th February 2001
|
|
|
|
Monday 5th February 2001
|
- Dick dismisses Bode link
Dick Advocaat has dismissed earlier press reports that Werder Bremen's Marco Bode would be arriving at Ibrox in the summer under the Bosman ruling. Advocaat said:
"This story is nonsense. I know Bode because when I was manager at PSV Eindhoven we played against Werder Bremen and he was in their team but it's absolute nonsense to suggest he will be coming to Rangers. Yes, I'm still looking for other players but that is what a coach always does. But it's safe to say that Bode is not one of them."
- Pitch to blame for injuries?
Dick Advocaat reckons the shocking state of the Ibrox pitch is to blame for his team's horrendous injury list this season. The Rangers manager fought to contain his anger as he revealed he knew what the root cause of the problem was following Saturday's 2-0 win over Dunfermline when the playing surface cut up badly. Sources at the club insist the Gers boss reckons the
playing surface has hampered the recovery of Ronald de Boer and Michael Mols, who have been troubled by knee problems, and may have been to blame for Giovanni van Bronckhorst's groin complaint and Tony Vidmar's hamstring injury on Saturday. Advocaat did say though:
"The park is not in good condition but that has to do with all the snow we had in December. During that period the undersoil heating was on all the time and that has damaged the pitch. It's not only us, however, as I have seen the English pitches which are also not in the best state. Our pitch is quite poor but the groundsmen are working day and night to make it better. But they can't if the grass does not grow."
|
|
Sunday 4th February 2001
|
- Prodan swipe at Advocaat
- source
Prodan took a swipe at Rangers boss Dick Advocaat for ignoring him during his rehabilitation period. Prodan said:
"My team-mates were good to me but there was no understanding or help from Advocaat, who gave me no opportunity to prove my real value after I'd made a full recovery. He knew I was playing for Rocar for six months and had the chance to check on me, but he never did - and he never intended to. He was only happy to see the back of me."
|
|
Friday 2nd February 2001
|
- Fergie tips Gough for manager
Sir Alex Ferguson insists former Rangers captain Richard Gough has the potential to be a great Ibrox manager. The big defender - who skippered Rangers to their 'nine-in-a-row' glory - still plays under former Gers boss Walter Smith with Premiership side Everton. But at 38 Gough has entered the twilight of his playing career and could soon turn his thoughts to management. And the Manchester United manager believes the Glasgow club would be Gough's ideal choice. He told Rangers Monthly:
"Richard Gough will be a great manager. I am sure we will see him making the step up and, being a Rangers fan, he may well end up at Ibrox. He is very decisive and tactically great. Anyone who goes into management has to be good at making decisions. If you can't make your mind up you will be no use. The job involves too many decisions." There is no doubt that Ferguson is one of the greatest managers of all time and has been a driving force behind the Old Trafford side's success, both domestically and in Europe. But while Rangers struggle to make an impact out of their native Scotland, Ferguson insists he could have made a big difference at Ibrox. He was offered the manager's job in 1984 but admits he was reluctant to accept after finding out former boss Willie Waddell knew nothing about the offer. Waddell had by that time moved upstairs at Ibrox and Ferguson was not keen to go behind his back. He said:
"Of course I was tempted. I thought about going and had a family meeting. But there was one strange thing - Willie Waddell hadn't asked me. Willie could be difficult at times, but he was a good manager and person. I really like him and he did a lot for me. I asked former Rangers manager Scot Symon and he said it was funny Waddell hadn't spoken to me. Scot said that would have worried him. I didn't want to take the job with Willie not knowing anything about it." But Ferguson revealed there was another reason why he did not take over the reigns at Ibrox and that was because his ambitions for the future of the club did not match those of director John Paton. He added:
"When Paton was talking to me I asked him how big he wanted Rangers to become. It was a question I had to ask. The fans always demanded more than just winning the league. John asked me what I meant and I said: 'Do you want to win the league with the Scottish players or do you want more than that?' I had a vision way beyond the Scottish League for Rangers. I asked him why the club didn't have the best players from England. It wasn't difficult, it was just a matter of finding who you wanted and then buying them. My chairman at Aberdeen never gave me a lot of money. He would never go in the red but I knew Rangers had cash. If I had gone to Ibrox I would definitely have done well. I would have started a good youth development scheme and the club would be reaping the benefits now."
- Derby fail in Dodds loan bid
Derby have had a bid to take striker Billy Dodds on loan turned down by Rangers. The Premiership strugglers wanted to borrow the Scotland international, who has not been an Ibrox regular since September, for three months. But Rangers boss Dick Advocaat vetoed the move because he wants the former Aberdeen and Dundee United man, who turns 32 on Monday, to be available during a hectic period of the SPL season. Chairman David Murray said:
"He isn't going anywhere because he can still be an important player for us."
- Rangers set to join the G14
Rangers' have been invited to join European football`s most elite group - the G-14, along with Parma, Roma, Lazio and Hertha Berlin. In a meeting held in Madrid, the 14 clubs who are currently make up the elite group - Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale, Juventus, AC Milan, Liverpool, Manchester United, Marseille, Paris Saint Germain, Porto, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven - officially announced the five new applicants.
The moves to expand the G14, which was the group who came close to masterminding a breakaway from UEFA to set up their own Champions League a few years ago, could indicate where the next phase of European development will turn. Sources abroad suggest that the top clubs in Europe are pushing for a two-division Champions League which would erase a lot of the discontent felt in the Euroleague countries where they are marginalised by the leading five television audience-pulling nations.
|
|
Thursday 1st February 2001
|
- Tugay's dons fury
Rangers midfielder Tugay has claimed that the latest episode in the bitter feud between his side and Aberdeen had been fuelled by an obscene jibe towards his dead mother. The Turk, who had earlier scored what turned out to be the winning goal, was involved in an incident that soon led to two players being sent off. And although his English is less than fluent, he made it clear afterwards he had felt sickened by an on-pitch comment made by an opponent he did not recognise. Although it is difficult to gauge the full extent of the former Galatasaray player's understanding of industrial language in Scottish football, there was no mistaking the mayhem that followed a challenge on the Turk. Derek Whyte was the man who made it in the centre circle and Tugay was seen to react angrily, tussling with Philip McGuire who had arrived quickly on the scene. McGuire and Tugay were booked and seconds later McGuire was sent off for a touchline flare-up involving Neil McCann, who was also booked.
- Prodan leaves
Daniel Prodan has joined his home town side of Rochar Bucharest on a free transfer, with David Murray claiming Rangers will get some cash. He refused to go into detail, other than all three parties are happy with the deal, adding if Dick Advocaat had wanted him back, then he could have signed him again, but it was his decision not to welcome the player back at Ibrox. The whole situation seems increasingly bizarre, as Rangers stopped paying Atletico Madrid the full £2.2 million fee, claiming they were aware of his injury when they sold the player.
|
|
