Fallow Fallow - Rangers

I'm a Rangers Fan Get Me out of Here

2006-11-11T12:13:00.000Z

Imagine the scene Rangers have just beaten a top European team at home and they come back to SPL business against a Dundee United team how have conceded 16 goals in their last four games. There has to be an easy win in there surely. Well this is Paul Le Guin's Rangers and they do not seem to be up for the SPL.

Some serious questions must now be asked of a manager who does not seemed to have grasped the basics of the SPL. Maybe Rangers should have a manager for the SPL, Billy Davies, and one for Europe, Paul Le Guen.

Only one change from the European sucess, Papac in for the error prone Svensson. No arguements from me here.

Again Rangers started well when Novo ran onto a Barry Ferguson free kick, but his chip was over the bar. That was it for the next half an hour. Again Novo it was through on goal but he could only shoot wide.

To be fair Ranger had all the ball but could not find a way through to goal. Then on 39 minutes United almost were given the lead when Papac's mis-kick of a Colin Samuel cross went just wide.

Ranger did have a chance with Adam's low drive from a Prso pass but no goal and than was the end of a poor first half.

Ranger took the lead in the second half when Adam shot home from a Novo cutback on 49 minutes.

Both teams went close, McCracken clearing off the line from an Adam chip.

United seemed to want to impress their new manager a kept banging away at Rangers. Craig Conway’s had a close effort following a mistake by Jeremy Clement.

Both Novo and Adam had good efforts but still no second goal.

By this time Buffel had been taken off and yes the inevitable happened, United equalised.

A Robson corner was picked up by Garry Kenneth at the back post and he headed home. Poor defending from a team deviod of creativity.

Then on 81 minutes a free-kick from Conway was headed in by Lee Mair.

That was it, no way back, and there was jeers around the ground at full time with le Guen looking lost in thought.

After the game Le Guen said:

“Results suggest the players are not good enough.”

Not so sure mate, wins in Europe do not come cheap and it is time he learned what it takes to win in the SPL.

European Hopes

2006-11-11T11:47:00.000Z

If Rangers played in a European league then they would win it with games to spare. This is proof if it was needed that Paul Le Guen is an excellent manager for Europe and clueless in Scotland. Maybe he is still learning.

An impressive 2-0 win against Maccabi Haifa was the perfect tonic after a less than satisfactory draw in the SPL.

This win leaves Rangers three points clear of the Israelis in the group and with Partizan Belgrade and Livorno drawing 1-1 this was a good night for Scottish football and for Rangers.

Rangers made the perfect start with a goal in four minutes. Alan Hutton played the ball to Boyd who flicked it to Nacho Novo. The Spaniard to outpace Alon Harazi and shot the ball home.

It was almost 2-0 three minutes later when Boyd had a header touched over from a Prso pass.

Maccabi are a good team and Gustavo Boccoli tested McGregor in nineteen minutes after an error by Svensson.

After 30 minutes Adam's shot was just wide but another error by Rangers, this time it was Hutton, gave Boccoli a chance on goal, but his low drive went across the goal.

1-0 at half time, with both sides having chances. Immediately after the restart Rangers had a penalty when Xavier was judged to have fowled Prso. Byod took the spot kick but it was saved by the goalie, Davidovich.

This gave Maccabi some heart and if Novo did not make a last gasp tackle then it woul have been all square when Colautti broke through.

Barry Ferguson had a shot pushed with by Davidovich in 55 minutes.

At last Le Guen brough on Buffel, allong with Sebo, they replaced Prso and Boyd.

Adam then had a header that almost made it 2-0, but he did manage this from the penalty spot after Ferguson was fouled by Xavir.

After the game Paul Le Guen confirmed everyones belief:

"Our style is more suited to Europe."

SPL Nightmare

2006-11-11T11:25:00.000Z

After two good wins it is back to square one again. Can Rangers play in Europe rather than Scotland as the SPL seems to be too hard.

The poor SPL campaign continued with a draw against a fairly mediocre Motherwell team.

Rangers actually took the lead in this game through a header, what else, from Kris Boyd, only to lose it in the second half.

Both teams also had strong penalty claims turned down, incompetant refereeing rather than biased.

Novo started well for Rangers with a good run and shot that went just wide. Then wee Barry Ferguson had a shot blocked by Jamie Paterson andCharlie Adam's free-kick was saved by the Motherwell keeper.

Novo again showed good skill down the wing that lead to the corner that lead to Rangers taking the lead.

My man Buffel played it short to Ferguson before crossing to the back post where Boyd scored from a header, as ever. That was it for the first half, good play and a lead

Then came the second half and it was back the business as usual for this season. Foran had a header that went close before Motherwell equalised.

McDonald ran into the box and his crossed, it was cleared properly and it fell to Kerr on the edge of the box. He smashed a shot at goal that was deflected in.

Rangers did attempt a comeback when Novo's shot from a Boyd flick was saved by Meldrum.

Then both Sebofor Rangers and Motherwell's McDonald where both denied penalties.

Mr Perfect Thomas Buffel brought out a brilliant save from the Motherwell goal. But even he could to keep Rangers in the title hunt.

SPL Dreaming

2006-11-11T10:44:00.000Z

Well at least the three points keeps Rangers in the title hunt, even if they are ten points behind Celtic.

It took a late goal from Novo to give secure a victory over St. Mirren. Even thought They had looked down and out at half-time, they fought back well.

Rangers started well with lots of good movement and passing, but nothing to show for it. Then in their first atteck the Saints scored. Simon Lappin sent in a cross cross that reached John Sutton who headed past Lionel Letizi.

Charlie Adm was still on fire and his thunderous shot from a free-kick went in past Tony Bullock.

Rangers took the lead when Thomas Buffel slipped the ball past Bullock after slicing through the St Mirren defence. I love this guy, class in a glass.

Rangers where well on top and the Saint's goalie Bullock made a stop from Boyd. All the good Rangers work was from Thomase Buffel, Barry Ferguson and Brahim Hemdani.

On the hour, Bullock again saved from Boyd, who then had a penalty claim waved away getting in a tangle with David van Zanten.

Saints started to gain some confidence and Sutton had a header then tested Letizi. But then the referee awarded St Mirren a penalty when Rodriguez was adjudged to have pushed Mark Corcoran. Sutton took the penalty and score down low

Rangers came back and Ferguson had a header straight at Bullock. Then Novo netted the winner with five minutes to go. He smacked the ball into the net after Bullock had blocked an Adam shot.

European Dreams

2006-11-11T10:22:00.000Z

As poor as Rangers are is Scotland they seem to be as good in Europe. This was the first ever Scottish club side to win in Italy and it was all wrapped up in the first half.

Paul Le Guen's as yet unseen tactical genius came to the fore and goals from Charlie Adam, Kris Boyd and Nacho Novo had Rangers weel on their way to victoryl.

It didn't start very well and in the heavy rain Lionel Letizi did not look the part in goal.

But my favourite guy, Buffel, worked the ball well to reach Boyd who headed wide. Then Adam's shot was blocked.

The goal came after 27 minutes when Boyd's headed to Adam from a Steven Smith cross. Adam smacked it past Amelia, 1-0. But before you could say 'Up to your knees' it was 2-0 from the penalty spot. Novo was pulled down in the box and Boyd made no mistake.

The referee must have felt sorry for the Italians when three minutes later he awared a very soft penalty against Rodriguez on Cristiano Lucarelli. Lucarelli took the resulting penalty and put the ball past Letizi.

Amazingly Rangers scored again moments later. Boyd played another brilliant header to Novo who shot in from the edge of the area.

Rangers' confidence was still high in the second half and Adam had a left-foot shot just over.

Letizi was on the ball to get his hand to a header from Tomas Danilevicius keeping Rangers two-goals up.

The every brilliant Buffel was unlucky not to score in 64 minutes with a ten-yard shot that Amelia managed to block.

Livorno brought on substitute Stefano Morrone who tested Letizi again with a good shot that was pushed away for a corner.

The Italian side go desperate and threw everyone forward as the came came to an end. It worked when Lucarelli pulled a goal back with a shot in the last minute.

Rangers' substitute Sebo hit the crossbar in injury-time as the Gers looked for another goal.

The Game Is a Bogie

2006-10-15T10:22:00.000+01:00

All joking aside now let's stop this nonesense, the game is a bogie, the manager is cheating. How can this guy justify replacing Ranger's best player with his own man, only to see him throw the game?

Rangers are now ten points behind Champions Celtic and it is hard to see any way back. Second place is looking like it might be a bridge too far. The team was dreadful and the manager, well the jury is back in and he is guilty. If this was the Wild West a posse would be hunting him down and when he was found he would be hung from the nearest tree. Le Guin must be happy he lives in more sophisticated times.

Well want had changed since Aberdeen? Not a lot really when you consider the opposition, Letizi and Sebo in for McGregor and Sionko. Shouldn't have mattered but it did. McGregor was the only reason Rangers are still in Europe and, before today, in touch at the top.

The game was a dead bore until Letizi saved from Dargo after thirty minues. Yup thirty minues and Rangers had created nothing. Maybe that woke the Rangers up because five minutes later the Manchester United player, Bardsley, had a shot at Caley's goal. Yawn!!!!!!

The usually reliable Buffel had another shot saved after 42 minutes and that was it for the first half. What a bore, what a joke.

The second half continued in the same vain and it wasn't until 58 minutes when again it was Buffel with the shot that produced a fine save from the Caley goalkeeper. Buffel again was unlucky when his brilliant volley flew just over.

Buffel, again, was in the thick of it, his flick to Adam looked like it had gievn Rangers a penalty, but the referee was having none of it.

Boyd came on for Prso who had given a poor show today. Boyd was not must better missing from a Sebo rebound.

Then it happened, Caley scored when Letizi failed to hold onto Dargo's shot, Baynes stuck the rebound home. 1-0 to Caley Thistle.

The fans seemed upset and booed and jeered Letizi. But the guy was only doing his job, it was the manager who made the decision to play him and it is he who should be booed.

Novo came on as a sub and was close after 78 minutes and also crossed to Boyd who missed again. It was Novo again in the last minute with a close effort, but the game finished and Rangers had been beaten by Caley Thistle for the first time at Ibrox.

Le Guen thinks he is going to have a hard job turning things around a Ibrox this season. Insightful? Non? It's his team and he built it, trained it and picked it. Rubbish. He is a very luck man, last year McLiesh got hounded out of his job, and even Strachan at Celtic got a harder time than this guy.

It is time for the Chairman to live up to his billing and make some difficult decisions.

To paraphase the Ibrox Faithful, Boo!!!!

Vive la Revolution

2006-10-08T10:13:00.000+01:00

Well with no SPL football it is time to reflect upon Le Guen's performance. No one expected Rangers to get such a high profile figure from world football, but they did. The question now is, was it worth it.

So far you have to say that his school report card would read 'could do better'. Many people are now wondering if he can build a team from scratch or is the sort of manager who can only build upon other peoples success. He led Lyon to three titles in a row, but the team he took over had already proven itself and as not of his own design. The man who took over from him has continued with that success, so he hasn't been missed. That has to be food for thought.

Already this season Rangers are seven points behind Celtic and four behind Hearts, after only nine games. Maybe this season will revolve around the UEFA cup, but the draw was not exactly favourable.

Rangers had felt that the previous manager was not going to lead them into a new ea of European success and chose to take a man how had spent the last year as a TV pundit and running marathons in the desert.

The announcment of Le Guen was met with universal media praise and fans euphoria. This was the man to take Rangers forward. Now the fans waited to see a production line of French talent coming through, ala Arsenal. Well the season has started and there are no French startlets and the team seems no better off than last year.

Le Guen signed twelve players during the summer, but only one of them was deemed good enough to play against Celtic in the 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park. This is hardly showing Le Guen as a good judge of up and coming talent. In fact the best players in the team are those he inherited from the previous manager.

Having said this his start at Lyon was equally poor, only three wins in nine matches. But does he have the backing of the board to pull Rangers out of their current hole? Only time will tell.

Wins in the SPL against Aberdeen and UEFA aginst Molde have given him some breathing space, but for how long? Rangers fans will need more than this to satify their desire for success. They want to win the SPL title back from Celtic, but Le Guen does not seem to want to discuss this. After the Abredeen game he said, 'I don't want to speak about that. I want to speak about the victory and the way we played.'

Maybe the extra training sessions and the more disciplined apporach will eventually pay dividends at Ibrox, but will Le Guen be given enough time? If not then the fans will reject the revolution for something a bit more immediate.

Maybe Rangers should look at the national team for inspiration. Scotland chose a European manager to take them to the next level with a new brand of football. After years of indifferent results they hanged to a traditional Scottish manager and the success followed.

Buffy does it again

2006-10-07T17:53:00.000+01:00

Only one change from Thursday's game with Sasa Papac replacing Kris Boyd which meant the 'Buffy' Buffel started again.

With Rangers in full control of the game the 'Dandy Don' Smith gets a handful of the brilliant Buffel and what happens nothing. I don't know what the ref is looking at when Buffel is on the ball but it's not the game, more likely his muscular physique.

The Dandies had free kick and from it a header that hit the bar, so the Gers had to be on their toes. No lying back and letting the Dons big boys make hay with the ball.

Buffel's brilliant skill, movement and running was amazing. I could watch him dance to dip all day. He had a cross that let Sionko and Ferguson both have a shot at goal.

Aberdeen had some of the ball but it was still all Rangers and it was that man again Buffel. He broke through and then with a twist and a turn he chipped for goal, only to see the keeper block the certain goal.

More attacking for Rangers and a penalty denied in the run up to half-time but still the deadlock could not be broken.

Again the man of the moment Buffel was at the heart of everything.

His corner found Sionko who fired over. Then his lay-off found Adam who shot wide. The man is amazing and you can see that the other Rangers players are wide-eyed with awe when he is on the park.

Rangers nearly got the breakthough that Buffel so richly deserved when Richard Foster sliced a clearance just over his own crossbar with that man Buffel giving him a hard time.

The game settled down with both teams have chances but neither team could score.

But the goal came and it was from a Buffel shot that broke to Sebo who shot into the net.

Once again Buffel was the daddy. You can see in the eyes of his team mates that when Buffel is probing away they are kept on their toes.

Aberdeen Game Preview

2006-10-01T12:30:00.000+01:00

Well Buffel took us through on Thursday against crack Norwegian team Molde. We are still in the UEFA Cup and it is all thanks to the Buffel man.

So what can we expect from the Dandy Dons on Sunday? More of the same if you ask me. With Buffel on from the start the game is in the bag. He keeps banging away from the front and from behind and you can see that the other Rangers players want it that way. I am so excited about this match as it should cement Buffels place in the team.

Away from the game Rangers fans will continue to be watched to see if they still sings those songs that nobody wants to hear. I can't believe that people sing those odious songs anymore. I certainly don't so why would other Rangers fans sing them. The press need to get another bee under their bonnet.

Back to the match I see it as 1-0 to the Rangers with Buffel on target again with some great stroke play.

Buffel Buffel Buffel

2006-10-01T11:49:00.000+01:00

At long last the manager started a game with Buffel on the pitch. This game was too important and Buffel was bent on getting behind the Rangers team. This victory means that Rangers get into the group stages of the UEFA Cup.

The man of the match was officially Allan McGregor but my man of the match was Mr Buffel. Fair enough the keeper had to make four point-blank saves but Buffel was brilliant, just brilliant. In fact he was the boy to give Rangers joy with some great ball play and he stroked home an early goal to release some Rangers player's pressure.

Rangers central defenders are still getting to know each other, with Julien Rodriguez and Brahim Hemdani looking like they need someone to take them in hand, maybe Mr Buffel.

The Buffel goal came from some goal ball play between Dado Prso 's and Steven Smith. They got the ball to Buffel whose brilliant touch slipped the ball in at the near post.

Molde then toook control and hd some great chances, somehow an unmarked Baldvinsson managed to head wide from six yards and McGregor had a finger-tip save from a Magne Hoseth header.

But not to worry as Mr Buffel was on his game. Libor Sionko controlled a pass from young Smith and he passed to Kris Boyd who backheeled the ball to Ferguson, who shot into the net.

Molde still kept coming but when Hoseth outpaced Hemdani McGregor came to Rangers' rescue. He then had another great save from Baldvinsson as Buffel was controlling the game in the middle of the park.

At the final whistle you could see the relief on the faces of the Rangers players. Glad to see Buffel still on the park and off they trotted with a smile on their face for a well deserved bath together.

Just like the old days

2006-10-01T11:24:00.000+01:00

LeGuin once again left the brilliant Buffel out of the side against a Celtic team who could open up a seven-point lead over Rangers with a victory and that is exactly what they did. If the manager continues to lave out the best players then the gap will be too large for Rangers.

What about the game then? Thomas Gravesen put Celtic ahead and it unbelievably a former Rangers player, Kenny Miller, scored his first goal as he added the second, against the run of play, that basically killed then game.

The games was all Rangers at the start, but Celtic looked more of a goal threat. Their new boy Lee Naylor sent a in long ball that found Miller. Miller can run faster that anyone else and he ran faster than Sasa Papac but Allan McGregor put him off and his lob was just off target. Then the Japanese player Shunsuke Nakamura had a right hard shot that must have stung McGregor's hands.

Then Rangers took a quick free-kick, it was from Charlie Adam, and Artur Boruc was nearly caught out, brilliant stuff from Rangers. Again Ranger handle anything that Celtic throw at them and McGregor made a brilliant save to stop Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's shot from going in.

Alan Hutton was the best player on the park but he gave away possession and eventually it fell to Neil Lennon who had time to get a cross in.

Celtic were still not doing much and Aiden McGeady should have scored with an easy header but the brilliant McGregor saved it from point-blank range. The trouble was that Tommy Gravesen was there to head into a empty net. That was the only way they were going to score.

The very lucky McGeady hit the top of the bar with a miss hit shot and then Celtic came close again at the start of the second half with a Nakamura shot.

Rangers really started to control the game now and Dado Prso's played a brilliant pass to find Barry Ferguson but he couldn't get to the ball before Boruc ran to clear it. Then Adam had a brilliant ball to the back post that had Boruc all over the place as Rangers piled on the pressure. Celtic could only hit back on the break and McGeady's lucky pass released Miller scuffed a shot passed McGregor.

But Rangers continued the better team with Prso's header cleared off the line by Naylor and Kris Boyd's shot crashed against the bar.

Even at 2-0 down the manager still did not think to bring on the best Rangers player, the brilliant Buffel. I blame this for the defeat, the players tried their best but they need Buffel's special touch to bring them to life.

Beaten and well strirred

2006-09-23T12:23:00.000+01:00

Our wee legionaire has turned into a tinkerman, like that guy who was manager at Chelsea. He tried to swap the team around and blew it, big time. It was only his first defeat so he is still a great manager but Hibs humped Rangers.

Hibs' New Zealand striker scored two goals and there where nine bookings and two red cards. Luckily the ref missed Rodriguez attacking Killen out it could have been worse. In fact it was Killen that got sent off for a foul on Rodriguez. Hopefully we can get that referee every week.

Having said that he set off Phil Bardsley for talking back to the referee. Maybe the Manchester United boy is getting big for his boots. He will be missing against Celtic though.

Rangers didn't have a shot at goal for the whole of the first half and could have been 5 upat half time. But Filip Sebo equalised in the second half and it looked like a lucky draw. But Killen got a goal nine minutes from time to give Hibs the win.

Luckly Rangers have Allan McGregor because he saved well to deny Ivan Sproule in the first half.

Killen then was just inches away from scoring at the far post from a Michael Stewart free-kick. Although he did score after eight minutes when he got to another Stewart free-kick and headed over McGregor.

The first half was all Hibs and McGregor did well to stop another Killen header and Karl Svensson blocked the Rob Jones' follow-up shot. Rangers did not seem to be able to deal with Hibs' pace, especially Sproule who ran the show.

Hibs had a stonewall penalty claim turned down by referee Underhill after Rodriguez attacked Killen in the box.

The second hlaf started the same as the first finished with Hibs on top. But Rangers eventually had a decent effort with a 30-yard free-kick which whistled a couple of yards wide.

Then finally Rangers got something from open play after David Murphy gave the ball away . Chris Burke got it and crossed to Sebo who head the undeserved equaliser.

Hibs got all three points when Killen headed the winner from in a great cross from Steven Whittaker with just nine minutes to go.

Then the referee sent off two players. What a muppet.

LeGuin? Starting to lose faith in this guy. What a muppet.

Hibs preview

2006-09-16T18:29:00.000+01:00

The next Rangers match is away to Hibs at Easter Road, never an easy place to go and get a win and with the current form this will no different.

All three points are needed from this game or Celtic will be off and running and we have to play them away as well. In fact Rangers have three away matches in a row and haven't won away in ages.

For this game we need a stable team, with Buffel at the heart of everything. Plus those guys from Manchester United are brilliant and we need them to bring some class to the team.

Winning this match will give us the confidence to go into the next few weeks and if we beat Celtic we will be the best team in Scotland.

Euro Dreams

2006-09-14T21:48:00.000+01:00

This is no excuse but even though Molde are struggling in the Norwegian league they proved to be a great team because the gave Rangers a really hard game. They will be hard to beat at Ibrox but LeGuin is the greatest manager in the world so we should be much better by then.

Rangers where lucky to get in at half time without losing a goal.

One of the Norwegians, Stian Ohr, nearly score within the first 5 minutes of the gamewhen he nearly reached Daniel Berg Hestad's cross. Ten minutes later Magne Hoseth had a headed that went over the bar. Rangers hadn't had a shot at goal yet.

Boyd had Ranger's best moved when he fell over trying to cross the ball. That was really unlucky. The Lee Martin shot wide of the mark, but it was fairly close.

There was a bit of a goalmouth scramble but the Norwegians manager to clear the ball away. And then it was half time.

The second half wasn't much easier and the Norwegians should have have a penalty but the referee missed the Rodriguez foul.

McGregor made a great save from a Hestad shot that looked a certain goal.

All things considered Rangers will be glad they didn't play a better Norwegian team and hope they can keep a clean sheet a Ibrox. Hopefully LeGuin will show some of his managerial genuis in the next macth.

More Buffel Please

2006-09-14T21:37:00.000+01:00

This was a easy match against a rubbish team and once again Buffel has been left out by LeGuin, but more about that later.

Boyd was fouled by Kenny Milne and the Manchester United player Phillip Bardsley scored his first goal for Rangers from a free-kick then Dado Prso scored. It should have been another penalty but Prso scored so that's all right.

Boyd scored from a penalty after Bazza Ferguson, on as a second-half substitute, passed to Boyd in the box and was brought down.

Eventually Buffel came on as a substitute and showed why he should have been on from the start when he scored with a brilliant shot. He was class when he controlled a pass from Smith before a brilliant shot into the net.

Message to Leguin let the best palyers play. Get Buffel on at the start.

Too Late LeGuin

2006-09-02T16:17:00.000+01:00

What else can be said about this match, not much you might think.
Well I have something to say. Why was Buffel kept out the game
for so long?

LeGuin brought in Allan McGregor, Alan Hutton and Libor Sionko
but no place in the starting line up for our best player, Beffel, against
a Killie team with two ex-Gers Allan Johnston and Peter Leven.

Let's hope the Ex-Rangers player don't kick lumps out of out players
like they did in the last game.

Things looked bad when Kris Boyd missed an easy chance to score
in fourteen minutes from a Brahim Hemdani pass. Buffel would at
least have hit the target, if not scored.

Two minutes later another miss from another Rangers player.

Killie where so bad that they could not get the ball. Rangers where
so bad that they could get a goal. This time it was Martin who missed.
Almost immediately Boyd failed to score.

Eventually Killie got a chance, luckily Rodriguez was there to make
the last gasp tackle. I really like that guy, right place, right time.

The luck must have been running with Rangers as we took the lead
just before half time through Boyd.

1-0 at half time.

Kilmarnock brought on a couple of subs and strarted to play the better
football. With a decent shot from Johnston.

Rangers missed a few more chance with the Killie goalie saving everything.

It had to happen and true enough it did, Kilmarnock got an equaliser.
1-1 on the hour with a header from Frazer Wright. Rangers just kept
missing everything, Prso this time.

Killie had another chance, this time to go in front. At last LeGuin
worked out what was wrong, he brought on Buffel to bring some class
to the midfield.

Prso missed again after great work from Buffel, but at least we had
our best player on now. He was causing all sorts of problems and that
allowed Boyd to score and put Rangers in the lead.

Hard as it is to believe Buffel made space and his shot was goal bound
until the Killie goalkeeper Smith made a world class save.

But just as before Buffel cannot play in every position. The defense
gave away a penalty that Naismith scored to make it 2-2.

Another two points had been thrown away.

LeGuin made no appology for not playing Buffel from the start.
He seemed a bit confused. Not good for the manager to be confused.

Murray Park Minnows

2006-08-26T08:07:00.001+01:00

This friendly against Zenit St. Petersburg was a chance for the second team players to show what they are worth. Not much if this is anything to go by. There were two of the players from the Hearts game in the staring lineup but it meant that Buffel go a game this time. Also we had Hemdani in central defence and Charlie Adam at left-back.

Zenit are coach by the greatest Dutch manager ever, Dick Advocaat, the little General. Fernando Ricksen has been loaned to them so it was a chance to see what the lad can still do.

Buffel showed his class straight away pasing the ball to Sebo, but the shot was saved by the goal keeper. Sebo had another shot almost straight away but it missed the target.

I was really glad to see Buffel get a game, but it was a shame so many of the other players were not first team players. You could see that these players are not good enough because we went down 1-0 when Lee Ho scored from a corner corner, Svensson was minging again. Why did we buy this guy? Maybe he'll get better once LeGuin works his magic on him.

We got back into it but still could not score with Buffel not palying well with these second stringers. At least our goal was playing well making a couple of decent saves.

Only 30,000 where in the ground and glad to see half time come, hoping that LeGuin could organise the team better in the second half.

2-0 to the visitors though, not exactly inspiring, but we got a goal back fairly quickly with Gavin Rae getting a goal.

Just as we where looking like we would get back into the game Buffel was taken off!!!! What was LeGuin thinking about?

Then I couldn't believe it Ricksen hacked down Burke, what an animal. He got taken off and everybody booed the muppet. He is still a Rangers player and he kicks lumps out of one of his own, dirty, dirty, dirty.

St. Petersburg scored another two goals and that was 4-1. Getting beat like this at home shows that there is no strength in depth in the team. Lets hope nobody gets injuryed. Ideally we wont have to play against Ricksen again, what a animal.

LeGuin said that he learned a lot from the game. That's for sure, don't draw Zenit in the UEFA cup and don't play against ex-Rangers hackers. No hang on he is still a Rangers player.

Murray Park Minnows

2006-08-26T08:07:00.000+01:00

Top of the world

2006-08-20T15:47:00.000+01:00

I couldn't believe it but no Buffel in the starting lineup and we still won the match.

The two guys from Manchaster Untied where playing from the start and so Buffel had to make way for these guys.

Rangers had an early chance but it was mostly Hearts at the start that looked good with our goalie playing well.

But Rangers took over and were in charge with Hearts kicking everything that moved. The first Hearts booking was after about 25 minutes although the player should have been sent off but the referee was not up for it.

Rangers had lots of the ball but could not break Hearts down in the first half. To be honest if Buffel had been on I think we would have been well up.

To be honest I thought LeGuin would have made the necessary change at half time but the same team came out for the second half as we didn't look like scoring.

In fact it took a penalty to get Rangers ahead with Prso being fouled and Boyd scoring.

Hearts were reeling and Rangers scored again, 2-0.

Ranger took over much like the first half, lots of possesion but no more goals.

Hearts continued to kick lumps out of Rangers and had a player sent off for took bookable offences. One of them was for pushing a ball-boy.

Buffel came on near the end but didn't have enough time to make a difference.

Big Game Ahead

2006-08-19T14:59:00.000+01:00

It hasn't been the best start of the Gers. Without my favourite player Buffel I dread to think where we would be. At least today Buffel will get another chance to shine against a good team, Hearts.

Forget the poor displays by the team, if they all show the same commitment as Buffel then we will be brilliant. It will be a nightmare if Hearts beat us since we are much better than them and deserve to be top of the league, not them. Look how bad they did in the Champions League.

Having said that they did beat Celtic and that was brilliant, hope we can beat them to. In fact if we beat Hearts then we should beat Celtic no sweat.

Hopefully the ground will be full and they will sing the right sort of songs, not the bigotted songs that got banned. Maybe some people have seen my song on hear and will try to start singing it, that would be brilliant.

We need to play more of the game through Buffel. He can punt it up to Prso and Boyd to head in the back of the net. Better than all that passing the ball round trying to look clever. Get the ball to Buffel and watch the fireworks.

Not sure what to make of the new guys from Manchester United. Not good enough for the bench in England so they should only be on the bench for Rangers. I doubt LeGuin will play them straight away as they are only wee boys, we can't be that desperate.

Hearts are another team with ex-Rangers players and I expected Big Elvis to take it easy. Never understood why he was sold as he is better than anyone we have had since.

Got to be a win today or we might as well start building for next season, around Buffel of course.

New Songs Needed

2006-08-18T16:59:00.000+01:00

There have been reports in the Evening Times that HMV and Virgin have banned a CD of Rangers songs called ‘The Ultimate Supporters Album – Rangers Anthems'

Apparently somebody complained that the CD had lots of bigoted and sectarian songs on it. I haven't heard the CD so I can't comment but I guess if the shops got rid of it there must have been something on it.

I still think that they should sings songs like the one I suggested the other day. Use the same tunes but with better words.

I don't think this CD was a real Rangers CD, but one done by some fans because there is a quote from one of the shops saying, “Rangers contacted us to say that the album wasn't endorsed by them. We contacted our stores and told them to take it off the shelves immediately. We have deleted it from our system so that it can't be ordered either.” and another saying “Our legal team advised us to withdraw the CD after instructions from Rangers Football Club. It's no longer available to order from us.”

If Rangers can find the fans that made the CD then maybe they could teach them some new songs and get them to make a new CD. I would be happy to teach them my new words for songs.

More help needed

2006-08-16T12:05:00.000+01:00

Once again all the good work done by the brilliant Buffel is undone by a poor display by Rangers. LeGuin must really start looking to see if he can get more players in like Buffel, maybe he has a brother.

This was the same team as last week and Dunfermline had not got a single point all season.
We should have been able to beat them no sweat. Especially as Scott Wilson was playing for Dunfermline as he used to play for Rangers so he should not be trying very hard.

The boy signed from Manchester United was on the bench but I don't know anything about him so that's about all I can say.

Dunfermline fans are rubbish. None of them turned up for the game. Maybe they expected Rangers to beat them easy so didn't bother. If Rangers won today we would be top of the league. Well if we won by two goals, but that should have been easy.

Things looked good at the start with that man Buffel in his usual brilliant form. Hutton played the ball over and Buffel sneaked in but the ball went wide, but only just.

Almost straight away Buffel was at it again with a brilliant volley that the keeper was very luck to catch. Then Buffel had another shot that Dado Prso got in the way of. It looked like a dead cert but the big Croat got in the way. When will LeGuin sort out these guys, spoiling everything that Buffel does.

I think that must be got under Buffel's skin because he didn't do much for the rest of the half. It must be really difficult working hard and your own team mates spoiling everything. LeGuin must have noticed this becuase he took Prso off.

That spurred Buffel because he scored a brilliant goal almost straight away. A great twist and crash, the ball was in the back of the net, brilliant.

Again the rest of the team let Buffel down. They let Dunfermline score. This must be really getting him down. I hope he doesn't leave.

Buffel played a brilliant pass to Boyd but he shoot weakly at the keeper. This was the end for Buffel and he did nothing else for the rest of the game.

My only comment to the manager, get some help in for Buffel.

Two Fish Suppers

2006-08-11T08:15:00.000+01:00

Loads of people have been slagging the Rangers supporters off for singing the wrong kind of songs. They say that they are bigotted or something. Well I have had a brilliant idea, why don't we sing the same songs but with different words. Brilliant.

That way we can sing the songs without being hassled by all these other people.

Well here's the first one. I didn't make this one up I heard some guys on a bus singing it. They must have been going on a bus holiday somewhere or something.

This one is sung to the tune of they Rangers song "No Surrender"

All together now.
The cry was two fish suppers, a haggis and a pie.
A bag of chips, two dry rolls and a bottle of Irn Bru.

I am not sure what the original song is all about but this one is much better. I really like Irn Bru and chips are brilliant.

I hope everyone sings it at the next match because that would be brilliant.

Now I had better think about the other songs and see if I can write new words for them.

Maybe I can be the offical Rangers song writer. That would be brilliant.

More curries needed

2006-08-05T20:01:00.000+01:00

LeGuin's first game at Ibrox was against a rubbish Dundee United team that have only one once it seventeen games.

I cannot believe it but we did not win. I am not sure if it was the manager's fault, the players but I think it is more likely to be the lack of curries. A lot of players like curries and they must be missing them.

The same team played that won at Motherwell so we should have won again, especially at Ibrox.

Before the game there was a big display of cards that looked like Scottish and French flags. LeGuin must have thought it was brilliant. Maybe he will change his mind and let the players have curries.

There was lots of singing in the ground. It was so loud I wasn't sure what people where singing so I can't say if there was any sectarian signing, but I doubt it as Rangers fans are the best in the world. Celtic fans might have got awards but we are the people.

Some shots from both sides missed but Buffel was not involved. Then he got involved with a brilliant cross but Adam missed it, twice.

Buffel didn't do very much for the a while until about half way through the first half when he sent in a brilliant cross, but again the shot was a miss.

Rangers had lots of the ball in the rest of this half but Buffel didn't get the ball much so we didn't score.

I think Buffel is brilliant and he should get the ball all the time.

The second half started the same as the first ended, with Buffel not being given the ball. I think a lot of the players are jealous of him. Maybe he is sneaking off for a curry and the other players want one.

Oh I forgot Dundee United had scored in the first half, nothing to do with Buffel.
Well they scored again in the second half and again Buffel was not involved.
Then Rangers scored but Buffel didn't get a touch because it was Chris Burke, who had just come on. Buffel probably hadn't notice he was on the park yet, that's why he wasn't involved in the goal. But it was a brilliant move by the manager, sneak on Chris Burke while Dundee United are busy marking Buffel and that let him score. So I guess Buffel was involved, he's brilliant.

Rangers should have had a penalty, Boyd had a shot on goal but a Dundee United player got in the way so the ball went wide. A stonewall penalty if you ask me, for getting in the way.

Then Dundee United scored a goal for Rangers which was deserved because we didn't get a penalty earlier and so it was the right thing to happen.

Buffel eventually got the ball near the end and almost scored a brilliant goal, but he didn't, but he nearly did.

I have to ask why did Buffel not get the ball more often? Do the other players not like him?
I think the manager needs to let all the players get curries if they want them, so players like Buffel don't have to sneak out to get them at night.

The best manager ever

2006-08-05T19:32:00.000+01:00

The last Rangers manager to win their first League game was Walter Smith. LeGuin did the same so I think that makes them as good as each other. Maybe one day LeGuin will be the Scotland manager. That would be brilliant.

Just to prove it the last manager, McLeish, played his first game against Motherwell and only got a draw. LeGuin got a win so that means he is better then McLeish. Brilliant.

Four new players played in the game, Lionel Letizi, Karl Svensson, Libor Sionko and Jeremy Clement. I don't know anything about them but they will be brilliant because LeGuin signed them and he is brilliant. At least these guys wont want curry, they are not allowed it, as they aren't Scottish. The good news was that Motherwell has two old Rangers players, Graeme Smith and Ross McCormack, so we can hope they wont score against us.

Rangers started brilliant, Buffel shot wide right at the start. I think Buffel will score loads this season, he's brilliant. He had another chance again and missed it, twice, but he looked brilliant.

Then one of the new guys scored, Sionko, I knew he would be brilliant because he doesn't eat curries and LeGuin signed him.

Buffel crossed a brilliant ball to Adam but the header went over. Buffel's cross was brilliant. He had a long shot that the goalie saved. I really like him. I think if I was a girl I'd really fancy him.

Buffel was all over the place with the ball and had a good run with the ball but his brilliant shot was just over.

I could believe it at half time because Buffel had not scored and Rangers only had one goal.

Buffel started the second half with a brilliant pass to Adam, but the shot hit the bar. If only there was another Buffel to get a hold of his brilliant balls.

Then an ex-Celtic player scored and it was McCormack that gave him the ball. I could not believe it, the guy passed the ball to a Celtic player. The Motherwell manager must have been
angry because he took McCormack off.

Rangers scored a goal, but Buffel was not involved. I wish he had been, he's brilliant.

I think LeGuin must have got the wrong number because Makhtar NÂDiaye replaced Buffel. He could not have meant that because Buffel should stay on the park the whole day, he's brilliant.

LeGuin talked about the match after the game but he didn't mention Buffel much.

Oor Wee Legionaire

2006-08-01T12:18:00.000+01:00

When I look at Pierre LeGuin I always think he looks like a French Foreign Legionaire. You know those guys that get some bird up the duff and head off to the desert to get off from marrying her or fancy some bird that thinks they are minging and sign up to forget.

Which do you think it is with Oor Wee Legionaire? Maybe he has got someone up the duff or has he has come to Glasgow to forget.

I hope that once the real training starts he will huckle the team off to the sand dunes somewhere and have them running up and doon them to get fit. Bring back the old days of 'man and ball' that's what I say.

LeGuin looks a bit of a hard man. I bet if he wanted to he could eat a really strong curry, like a vindaloo. But he wont cause he does not like curries and neither do the rest of the team anymore.