Home > Latest News > News Archive > February 2003

Monday, 24 February, 2003

Away in the Cup again Rangers have been drawn against the winner of the Dunfermline Ath/Hibernian 4th round replay in today's Scottish Cup Quarter-final draw. Tie to be played on the weekend of March 22nd.

Tuesday, 18 February, 2003

Numan to quit Gers at season's end Arthur Numan has confirmed he is to leave the club in the summer. The Holland international had been unable to agree a one-year contract extension despite being willing to take a pay cut. He told the club's official website rangers.co.uk:"Everyone knows the financial situation at the club and I was willing to take a pay cut but the gap between what the club offered and what I wanted was too big so I have decided I will leave in the summer." That should open the door for new signing Jerome Bonnissel to clinch a longer deal in the summer but Numan was keen to end his five-year association with the club on a high. He said: "There would be no better way of ending my time in Scotland with a championship medal - and maybe even more." Numan is certain to get offers from Dutch clubs but may retire at the age of 33.

Friday, 14 February, 2003

New Youth chief appointed Rangers have confirmed the appointment of George Adams as the new head of youth development. Adams, who had held similar posts at Celtic and Aberdeen, resigned from the board of Motherwell to succeed Jan Derks in the post. Rangers chairman John McClelland said: "I am delighted with this new appointment. George Adams has a proven track record and will be an extremely valuable asset in our continued policy of developing young Scottish talent through our youth programme at Murray Park and our wider network throughout Scotland and beyond. George is widely considered to be one of the best talent-finders in the country and played a key role in the success Alex Ferguson enjoyed at Aberdeen in the 1980s, bringing through a string of top-class players."

Barry Player of the Month Barry Ferguson has been named Scottish Premier League player of the month for January. The midfielder netted in all three of Rangers' games in January - league victories over Dundee and Hibernian plus a Scottish Cup success at Arbroath. Those strikes took his season tally to a career-best 16 and prompted Scotland manager Berti Vogts to declare he could play for any team in the world.

McCann misses out Alex McLeish will be without Neil McCann for Saturday's league game against Hearts. The winger picked up a slight knee injury during Scotland's friendly against the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday and the Ibrox boss won't risk him this weekend. But both Peter Lovenkrands (back) and Steven Thompson (calf) make their returns to the squad.

Sunday, 02 February, 2003

Golden Cup invite Rangers and Celtic have received invitations to compete in a new European tournament. The plans for a new league — called the Golden Cup — is expected to be discussed at a gathering of the organisers in Madrid on Monday. Rangers director and secretary Campbell Ogilvie said: "They've written to 24 clubs about a stand-alone tournament to be played in midweeks." The idea is for the Golden Cup to be launched in 2004-2005 and for the home and away games to be held on alternative weeks when Champions League and Uefa Cup ties are not being played. The proposed competition would be a league based involving 24 top continental sides in two leagues of 12. The format would be more akin to the domestic league system, rather than the Champions League, in which teams are eliminated at stages throughout the season.

Match Reaction Alex McLeish praised his players for responding to a late Aberdeen equaliser with the goal which took them six points clear of Celtic. The Scottish Premier League champions play on Sunday at Partick and can therefore cut Rangers' lead back to three, but McLeish was convinced his side were showing great resilience at a crucial time of the season. He said: "We showed fantastic spirit in coming right back and that's what you have to do when you are chasing success. You have to show that character and we showed that in abundance. It was a huge test in the second half, but again we showed the spirit that perhaps we might not have shown a year or 18 months ago. We might have dropped points then." Steve Paterson's side had fallen behind to Michael Mols' opener in the first half, but were good value for Steve Tosh's 75th-minute equaliser. But Mols struck again within three minutes to hand his side the points. McLeish said: "Aberdeen gave us a scare in the second half. They sat tight with five in the midfield and four at the back and broke really well against us. They caused us problems and I could see a goal coming. It was a terrific finish from Tosh and it was too uncomfortable for too long in that period up to the goal." Mols had missed a good early chance and Ronald de Boer hit a post before the Dutch striker broke the deadlock in the 37th minute. McLeish said: "We have made a few chances again and it was a relief to see the goal go in after squandering one or two."