EPL Talk » Rangers

Premier League Say No Again To The Old Firm

Paul Bestall — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:37:02 +0000

Like leaves fall from the trees in Autumn, it seems every year some chairman in the Premier League wants to try and get the Old Firm into it. This time Phil Gartside, the Bolton Chairman once again tried to get the League to agree to invite Rangers and Celtic in to the fold. Thankfully, the request has been voted down. It was described as “not desirable or viable”.

To say this constant speculation regarding the potential involvement of the Old Firm is becoming as tedious as the often mooted European Super League. Gartside, for all his bluster about strengthening the league and increasing the international presence of it, is simply thinking about cash. Adding the Old Firm would add nothing to the league at all and irrevocably damage the Scottish game. Coupled with a request to add a second Premier League simply smacks of self preservation on the Bolton chairman’s behalf and nothing more.

Most English Premier league fans don’t want them, but we get used to our feelings and opinions being completely over ridden when the influence of cash comes in to the equation. Coupled when you see how poorly the Old Firm cope with European football, you have to question what the point would be of adding two poor sides to the mix.

Of course, Rangers and Celtic are desperate for the cash, but Scottish football is its own worst enemy. It has always astounded me how a league with 42 clubs has 4 divisions and they play each other a minimum of 3 times a season. They then split in to play offs with the top half and bottom half playing each other. What a dull and uninteresting format.

Why they don’t have two leagues and play home and away like virtually every other league in the world astounds me. Yet, the answer is obvious when you look into it. Whilst the other Scottish Premier League sides shout down how much power Rangers and Celtic have, they enjoy the additional revenue that potentially two home games against them brings them in. So the league stays unfairly balanced, they all complain about it but continue to keep the status quo.

People like Phil Gartside are so far removed from what fans really want, that they keep bringing these daft ideas to the table. I also read that he wanted an Irish franchise adding as well, which reminded me of the time Wimbledon were thinking of moving to Dublin and ended up moving to Milton Keynes instead, a shameful decision by the authorities to this day.It took MK Dons 7 years to stop using Wimbledons history and correctly allow AFC Wimbledon to have the rights to their real history. I can’t wish anything but the worst of luck to MK Dons for as long as they exist, but that’s another story.

Whilst the idea of franchise sport is nothing new to American fans, to the British it is unthinkable. Quite how they would cope if their team moved such as the Raiders and the Rams moving cities twice would be interesting to see but unthinkable in British sport.It’s certainly not unusual for NFL teams to move, I must admit after a ten year hiatus from NFL, I was stunned to see how many new sides were in the league when I started watching it again in 2003. Unfortunately, The Redskins still can’t beat anyone, so somethings never change.

Also, the recent incidents with trouble involving Rangers fans in Manchester has certainly poisoned most English fans to the idea of welcoming the Ibrox faithful on a regular basis.It would be like a red rag to a bull for some of the more unsavory supporters of Premierships sides. The issues of sectarian chanting, and the potential for major trouble is a real concern. Of course not all the fans partake in such behavior, but it is still there and that is an additional concern.

Rangers and Celtic need to stop courting the Premier League and concentrate on fixing the problems they face in their own back yard. With no Scottish teams at any level in the English football pyramid, the last one, Gretna, showed just how strong Scottish football was, leaving the 7th tier of English football and romping all the way to Scottish Premier League in 3 seasons. Now if that doesn’t concern the Scottish Football Association, nothing will. Scrap the 4 league system, scrap the top/bottom play offs. Have two leagues, 3 up and 3 down and see how quickly the money spreads through the game more.

Gazzas Good

Ross Gallacher — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:31:59 +0000

This Sunday, Paul Gascoigne appeared on Match of the Day 2 as a pundit/guest. This was part of a triumvirate of televisual appearances. One in which perhaps we have seen a refreshing look a man we have all been seriously worried about, a man all who love football deeply care about and one we are worried that could be another George Best happening in front of our eyes.

However, this whistle stop tour of television Gazza has recently been on was largely positive, which gives the football world hope that the lost boy of English football has finally been found. Furthermore Newcastle fans finally have something to be happy about through these dark times.

Paul Gascoigne, the former England, Newcastle, Spurs, Lazio, Rangers, Everton and Middlesbrough legend was in trouble. This time last year he was on a self destruct mission, indulging in addictions to drugs, drink and prescription medications. This great of the game was blighted by severe depression which ultimately manifested itself in psychotic episodes of paranoia, removal from reality and OCD.

This culminated in multiple apparent suicide attempts and twice being sectioned under the mental health act. The front pages of British tabloids were covered by pictures of Gazza being led out of hotels in Gateshead by police and paramedics. Some of the more bizarre stories about Gazza’s tormented lifestyle consisted of talking to robotic parrots, an addiction to the Nintendo Wii and repeatedly phoning his dad asking for help in chess matches v American presidents.

This all reached a climax in the hardest documentary ever to watch, Surviving Gazza broadcast in January on the UK’s channel 4. The documentary focused on Gazza’s relationship with his ex wife Cheryl and his step children Bianca and Mason also his son Regan. On the impact he had on their lives in the final scenes; under the advice of an apparent “expert” they were told to ditch Gazza out of their lives completely. One of the hardest scenes in it was Paul’s young son Regan saying he wished his dad was dead for the hurt he had brought to his family.

From that to his appearance on Sunday night, the difference is clear as day, sure Gazza looks skeletal at times and maybe is not all there occasionally but he appears to be in his best state for years. He is more cogent than ever and alleges he has been clean for fifteen months and sober for four. No longer is the former BBC sports personality of the year 1990 going on crazy drunken binges with Iron Maiden which were surely killing the England great.

In his appearance on Soccer AM, Gazza was on absolute top form which was brilliant to see. They bigged up his ego which sure might have seemed mad but was very heart warming. They included his goal, possibly the greatest ever scored against my nation in their flagship showboat sequence (highlights of the best bits of footballing skill that week).

The Birmingham fans in the studio repeatedly chanted the Geordie footballers name. In asking Gazza about his former team mates, they brought out the best in the man. He was very intelligent, clever and witty in his talk and produced the greatest responses to that regular line of Soccer AM questioning. This was apparently all thanks to the sporting chance clinic of Tony Adams which appears to have done a great job here.

It was brilliant to see this great of the game getting some sort of public rehabilitation. As he even said himself on his Match of the Day appearance it was to build up confidence. Confidence is vital for anyone in the public spotlight as much as himself and can arguably have just as great an effect on an individual as advice from doctors.

It’s also brilliant that the man is on his way to getting grounded, in his own words his schedule consists of training every morning then eating rice and pasta at his “mams”. Maybe living with his mother was what the man needed, the only person who can maybe fully forgive him for indiscretions and heal this tortured soul.

In being back home he is away from such tomfoolery of the past, possibly harder to associate with idiot drinking buddies like Chris Evans and Danny Baker. The man is never going to live a normal life certainly, but he is on his way to something stable and healthy. Let’s hope the Gascoigne line will get redemption, as there is new hope for that and the revival of Newcastle.

That hope comes in the form of one Cameron Gascoigne, aged seven, nephew of Paul who recently signed a contract with Newcastle United after scoring an incredible magpie (the new term for 22 goals in a single match) in just 30 minutes in a junior game. Redemption for the Gascoigne name, and who knows Geordie’s maybe in a few years this young lad could be your third messiah.

Bolton Wanderers Push For Two Tier Premiership

Paul Bestall — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:20:38 +0000

Well interesting news has appeared this morning as Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside’s has put forward a proposal to increase the Premiership to two leagues of 18 teams with 14 clubs from the Championship and Rangers and Celtic. The proposal is to be put before the Premier League at their meeting this Thursday and it raises some interesting points. Gartside cites a wider audience with the addition of Scottish clubs, fresher players as 4 games a season would be cut from the league campaign and the old chestnut of benefiting the England national side. You know, the reason that the Premiership was set up for in the first place. The amount of International trophies that England have won since 1992 is simply staggering isn’t it?

Firstly, the addition of Rangers and Celtic to the Premier League has long been mooted as a situation of when rather than how but to get there they need the permission of the Scottish FA, The Football League, The Premier League and the biggest obstacle, UEFA. Now UEFA, when they’re not attacking the Premier League in thinly veiled xenophobic attacks, claim that no club should be able to play in a league outside their own country. That would be fine if the precedent wasn’t already in place.

With Platini being a Frenchmen, you’d think he’d know that his arguement is flawed, or can he not remember where Monaco is? What about Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay, Newport County and Methyr Tydfil, all members of the English pyramid system but all Welsh clubs. Technically, Barcelona, Espanyol and Valencia play in the Spanish League but are based in Catalonia and Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao represent the Basque region. UEFA may push the point but they’re argument is already flawed by the teams mentioned above.

To get the motion passed, 14 clubs need to vote in agreement on the proposal, which is where I think the issue may fall down. Can we honestly see The Premierships big four, plus Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City voting for less money? Whilst the games would reduce, so would the money, but then again, for teams that drop out of the Premiership or face the real possibility of relegation, would you rather get £30 million a year than the current two year parachute payments of £11.5 million that clubs currently get.

The other worrying issue is how would the remaining 14 places be decided? Would it be a straight situation of the top 14 sides out of the Championship? What if some of the larger sides miss out due to league position when the cut off is made. If it happened tomorrow there would be some famous names missing out again, but then again what about Leicester City and Leeds United?

When the Premier League began, way back in the 1992-1993 season, Notts County and Luton Town, both missed out due to relegation but had resigned their memberships from the Football League in 1991 when the plan was concluded. Ironically, neither has ever returned to the top tier since, Luton Town in fact have just been relegated out of the Football League, due to a draconian points deduction that didn’t penalise the perpetrators, just the club.

What would happen if clubs resigned their membership from the Football League, only to finish outside the 14 team cut off. Or worryingly, would the Premier League court the 14 biggest clubs not in the Premiership to make up the new league? What would happen to the Football League and the Football Conference? Why only have Rangers and Celtic, when you could argue Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen could therotically add more to the mix than Burnley?

That would be a worrying event, which could lead to a dangerous precedent. Why not simply block clubs from promotion if they weren’t “big” enough? If they didn’t sell enough merchandise or their viewing figures deemed not large enough. Would the Premier League finally become the monster that some people always feared it would and simply banish relegation from it and have caveats for promotion. When I first read about the proposal this morning, I was sure it would fail. Now, I’m not so sure, in football, nothing surprises me when money is involved.

Spot The Difference: New Rangers Away Shirt vs 1980-83 England Home Shirt

The Gaffer — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:05:59 +0000

Many Glasgow Rangers fans may not be too pleased with the new design of the club’s away shirt. Manufactured by Umbro, the shirt looks very similar to the classic England shirt that the national team wore in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

It makes you wonder if some Rangers fans will refuse to buy the shirt because of its similarity to England’s shirt.

Rangers wore the shirt for the first time today in their 1-0 away win against Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League.

The England shirt in question was designed by Admiral. In the 1982 World Cup, England progressed to the second round but ultimately got knocked out of the tournament when they drew Spain 0-0.

England wore the Admiral shirt 45 times between 1980 to 1983 before the FA changed to Umbro in 1984.

Do you think there’s a resemblance in the shirt designs? And if so, are you bothered by it at all? Share your feedback by clicking the comments link below.

UEFA Cup Semi-Finals Set

Lonnie — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:10:11 +0000

From ChampionsLeagueTalk.com

Luca Toni continued to justify his massive transfer fee as his brace in extra-time rescued FC Bayern München’s UEFA Cup campaign from being derailed by Spanish club Getafe on Thursday. His 120th minute header allowed Bayern to steal the tie on away goals after an action packed 3-3 second leg draw.

Getafe have to feel hard done by, having gone down to 10 men from the sixth minute when Rubén De la Red normally a midfielder but deployed at centre-back because of injuries, was sent off for a foul on Miroslav Klose just outside the Getafe penalty area. Not willing to capitulate, Getafe took a 1-0 lead just before halftime on a solo effort from midfielder Cosmin Contra. Visiting Bayern fans reacted violently to the goal by tearing up seats at one end of the stadium before they were quelled by the police.

Getafe clung to that lead and should have extended it midway through the second half when substitute Braulio sprinted clear and rounded Oliver Kahn only to slip over on the wet turf as he lined up his shot. The roller-coaster ride began two minutes from the end of normal time when Bayern equalised on a strike from midfielder Franck Ribery. Heading into extra time, one would have thought that Bayern should be the stronger side but they quickly found themselves down 3-1 as Getafe potted two quick goals goals from midfielder Francisco Casquero and Braulio within three minutes of the start of extra time.

It was then time for Luca Toni to take centre stage. His first goal was created when Getafe keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri dropped a Mark van Bommel cross at his feet and the Italian striker does not often make mistakes when presented such opportunities. Still trailing 3-2 and with time running out Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn piled forward into the opposition area, disrupted the Getafe defence as he got a touch on the ball and Toni headed home to take the score to 4-4 on aggregate, sealing the German club’s place in the semi-finals.

You can’t help but feel bad for Getafe and Contra who put his disappointment aside to say that “nights like that make football special” after his team’s elimination from their first season in European competition. Getafe still have a Copa del Rey final on April 16th against Valencia CF to look forward to and I will be cheering them on in that one.

Bayern will now face FC Zenit St. Petersburg on 24 April and 1 May after Zenit hung on to dispatch Bayer Leverkusen despite losing the second leg at home 1-0. They had built up a 4-1 lead in the first leg in Germany so had little to do in order to advance on Thursday but still turned in a good showing and were a bit unlucky to lose. After weathering an initial storm by Leverkusen, the Russian side finished the match stronger than their German-based opponents and had Anatoliy Tymoschuk not missed his penalty kick, the match would have ended in a draw. Ironically, it was a Russian-born striker, Dmitri Bulykin, that scored the only goal of the game for the German side.

Perhaps the most impressive display of the day came from Fiorentina, who scored a 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on the strength of two goals from Romanian striker Adrian Mutu. Mutu, who also scored in the first leg, had a strong match and linked well with strike partner Giampaolo Pazzini. PSV had a few chances to get back in the match but when Sébastien Frey saved Timmy Simons’ penalty on 80 minutes, the writing was on the wall for the Dutch side.

Fiorentina will face Glasgow-based Rangers FC after they dispatched Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon with a 2-0 away. Rangers played a conservative game and twice hit Sporting on quick counter-attacks. Their first goal was a well-worked counter that led to Jean-Claude Darcheville cooly slotting home while Steven Whittaker’s brilliant solo effort in the 90th minute sealed the victory. Their 4-5-1 system, though unpopular with some of their fans, has seen them concede only two goals in their last six UEFA Cup games.

Rangers will be hungry to make the finals as they have not tasted continental success since a European Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1972. Fiorentina have to go even further back, winning the same Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1961. It is amazing that Fiorentina are even in the UEFA Cup considering they had to overcome a 15-point penalty last season (due to their part in the Italian match-fixing scandal). Fiorentina also lost their top goal-scorer Luca Toni to Bayern Munich this past summer but they have charged forward and are currently in 4th spot in Serie A which would see them attempt to qualify for next season’s Champions League.