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Week Beginning 6 December 1997

13 December 1997

Walter Smith thinks his side had Celtic to thank for their 7-0 victory over Dunfermline earlier this season. He said, "Dunfermline were not at their best at Ibrox having played in the semi earlier in the week. And they found it hard to lift themselves when they came back to Ibrox on the Saturday. But their home record this season is very good so far and we'll have to cope with their enthusiasm and hope we can turn in a similar performance to that one at Ibrox."

Sergio Porrini and Marco Negri have both recovered from injury and should play. Brian Laudrup is still injured but he should be ready to return to action against Hearts next weekend.

David Murray has denied newspaper claims that he has offered the manager's job to former Borussia Dortmund coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. Hitzfeld is reported to have said on German radio that he had been approached about taking over at Ibrox. Murray said, "there is no truth in this. I said I would make an announcement on the new manager at the end of January and that's still what I will do. There is a short leet, but I refute totally that we have made an approach for Ottmar Hitzfeld."

12 December 1997

Walter Smith hopes to have Sebastian Rozental fit for the Old Firm match on 2 January. He said, "Sebastian has almost two more weeks of tough training ahead of him and if he comes through I would hope to arrange a couple of games for him before Christmas. If he was still in good shape after that it would be possible he would be available for the game at Celtic Park. It's not that I'm worried about his knee, but when a player who has had a long lay-off resumes heavy training often he can be afflicted by various aches and strains."

Marco Negri looks as though he has won his battle to be fit in time for tomorrow's visit to Dunfermline. He cam through a full training session yesterday and showed no adverse reaction after undergoing extensive treatment on his ankle.

There is a danger that tomorrow's match with Dunfermline could be off. Manager Bert Paton said, "the pitch is flooded and if the Rangers game had been scheduled for today or tomorrow I don't think we could have played. The pitch is very heavy and flooded. There is no inspection planned and the forecast suggests the bad weather will clear away over the weekend. But I'd be surprised if the pitch will take any more heavy rain, it is in a bad way."

11 December 1997

Sky Television have blocked pictures of the Old Firm game on January 2 from being beamed back to Ibrox. Sky have exclusive right to the match and won't allow it to be screened for 50,000 fans at Ibrox. A spokesman said, "the match is ours and there is no way we are negotiating a deal like this. It's a match of maximum attraction and we would not give it away easily. Who knows, when the contracts are re-negotiated it is something that could be considered but not this time."

Rangers secretary Campbell Ogilvie said, "unfortunately it won't be possible to show the Old Firm clash this time. But we will be covering as many matches as we can between now and the end of the season."

Chelsea are being linked with a bid for Marco Negri. Ruud Gullit is reported to have made the 27-year-old his priority target. Rangers have Negri under contract for another three and a half years and will be keen to keep hold of the striker who has already scored 30 goals this season. Chelsea are willing to pay in excess of £6 million for the player but Rangers re unlikely to let him go before the end of the season in any case.

10 December 1997

Rangers have been given permission by the SFA to show away matches on the screens at Ibrox provided that their ticket allocation has been sold. The first match to be televised will be the crunch clash with Hearts next weekend. Tickets will be £5 for adults and £3 for children. The match broadcast will start at 2pm.

Brian Laudrup hopes to be fit in time for the Hearts match next week. He said, "I don't want a situation where I play again and feel fine for the whole week, then go out and last 25 minutes. When you are training for a longer time you are far better prepared for what lies ahead and for me that looks like the Hearts game. The hamstring was the problem for me, but that stems from my back and that is why I went to Denmark to see a chiropractor. The X-ray showed I had a little problem and they tried to mobilise it and it feels a lot better now. I will probably be returning for the Hearts game as that is such a big one for us."

"People put pressure on Paul and me when they say Rangers don't work without us, it's simply not true. There are players at the club who come in and do the job and still get the three points. We are still up there just behind Hearts so you cannot say Rangers don't do anything when we are not there."

Hearts drew 0-0 with Dundee Utd at Tannidice last night while Celtic beat Aberdeen 2-0 at Pittodrie. Those results leave Rangers in second place two point behind Hearts with Celtic in third place a further three points adrift.

9 December 1997

Sebastian Rozental arrived back in Glasgow yesterday and admitted that he can't wait to team up with Marco Negri. He said, "I have kept in regular contact with what is happening at Ibrox by speaking to Walter and Archie. For the last three months, whenever I phoned about the result I was told Marco had scored more goals. It got to the stage that I expected to hear his name before I even picked up the phone. While I was waiting at the airport on Sunday for my flight I called a friend in Scotland to ask him how Rangers had done against Hibs. When he said we had won 1-0, I didn't even have to ask who had scored the goal."

"I have great respect for all the forwards the team has and it doesn't matter which one I play with. But if it is Marco, that would be perfect. I think he would still score the most goals because I usually play a free role. The recovery has been very slow because my knee was so weak after the two operations. At first I had to walk a bit until it loosened off and then I started driving again. It was only then that the doctor allowed me to do some training again. I did all sorts of training to try and strengthen the knee, before I was finally able to start kicking a ball. Now I am doing normal training because all the recovery work has been completed without any further setbacks."

"It will be eleven months in total on Christmas day since I last played in a game. I don't yet know exactly how long it will be before I am back in the first team again. I have been waiting 11 months to play, so one or two weeks more are nothing."

8 December 1997

Walter Smith was relieved to hear that Marco Negri's injury is not as serious as it first appeared. The Italian was stretchered off in the 80th minute yesterday after injuring his right ankle. Walter Smith said, "it was just a twisted ankle and he could be okay for next week. The ankle is fairly heavily swollen but there is no early indication of anything serious. He took a couple of blows in the first half of the game but it was a twist in the second half."

Smith was pleased with the win. He said, "it was an important win. Of the teams at the top, we are hardest hit injury wise. If we can stay up there at this stage, it could have a huge benefit. We've a few players on the way back who could play a significant part for us in the second half of the season."

Staale Stensaas apoligised to Hibs player Jean Marc Boco after his challenge late in yesterday's match left the Frenchman unconscious. He said, "I went for the ball and he came in too. Maybe I didn't go to apologise at the time but I was so angry at the referee who said it was dangerous play and gave me a yellow card. I didn't realise how serious it was. I talked to a Hibs player to tell him to say sorry for me because I didn't say it on the pitch."

"I saw Marco walking out of the stadium and everything seems to be okay with him. That is good news for the team because you know how important he is. It was a very important win for us today because we were not at our best. The victory should lift us though. We were not as good as we can be, but at least we have extended the gap over Celtic. Having said that, Hearts are definitely genuine title contenders too. Everyone talks about their squad not having so many players, but anything can happen and they are top of the table at the moment. There are some very important games coming up over the next few weeks."

7 December 1997

Rangers
 
Goram       6                  
Cleland     6                   
Stensaas    5
Gough       5
McCall      5
Bjorklund   6
Thern       6
Albertz     8
Negri       7
Gattuso     8 
Durie       6
B Ferguson  4   (Sub)
Durrant     1   (Sub)
 
 

Man of the Match: Jorg Albertz

Falkirk Follower

7 December 1997

Walter Smith asked his players to step out of the shadows of Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup for today's clash with Hibs. Rangers have been without the duo for two games already this season and were unable to record a victory on either occasion. Smith said, "any manager would miss two players of the quality of Gascoigne and Laudrup when they're both out at the same time. We've done it a few times before, one that springs to mind is our home defeat to Dundee United in the Coca Cola Cup."

"But we must adjust. I think sometimes contributions of good players like Jorg Albertz or Jonas Thern get overshadowed by them. This is the time for them to show their quality. We've given away more points than ever before from winning positions this term. We cannot continue to let that happen. I think Hearts challenge will be good for the Scottish game. In recent seasons it's been us and Celtic, Motherwell or Aberdeen who have broken away. This time it's more of a three horse race and if the gap remains it should create much more interest."

Jorg Albertz wants to continue his scoring run against Hibs today. So far Albertz has scored every time in his five games against the Edinburgh side to date. He said, "it's nothing personal, I just like scoring against Hibs. I used to think it was down to Jim Leighton. I remember scoring a free-kick against him that Sky Sports logged as the hardest shot in Britain, which I enjoyed. Although he's at Aberdeen now I still managed to hit the target against him."

Albertz last goal against Hibs was the equaliser in a 4-3 victory at Easter Road on 4 October. He said, "that was an incredible comeback for a side under so much pressure. I've only been here for 17 months but it amazed me that so successful a manager should be criticised. So I was delighted to score a goal that meant so much to him. On a personal note I haven't been playing that well but my performance against St Johnstone lifted my confidence a bit. I knew even before the likes of Thern came here that I may face time on the bench. But I also knew that if I was playing to my peak there is no-one better in my position."

"There has been speculation recently linking me with a move back to the Bundesliga but I am committed to fulfilling my four year contract which runs out in the year 2000. I have no chance of making the German squad for France no matter where I am playing. I want to play for Rangers and that's it. I honestly don't know why the National coach doesn't want me and I don't care any longer."

Lorenzo Amoruso will be back in Scotland next week to complete his battle back to fitness. Walter Smith said, "he's been doing a bit of running but we'll step things up next week and look to get him a couple of games before the end of the month. And with Seb Rozental also back in full training next week we could have the equivalent of two new players for the New Year. Gordan Petric has also started training again but Antti Niemi will be out for at least another two weeks after undergoing a second operation on his injured finger last week."

Midfielder Derek McInnes has flown to London for a second operation on his right ankle and will be out for another six weeks. The player was a target for several Premier sides earlier this year but he has yet to play a match this season because of injury. He said, "I am out of contract in the summer and I really want to secure a new deal. That makes this frustrating, I must get it sorted out for once and for all."

Norwegian boss Egil Olsen has admitted that he would be interested in the managers job at Ibrox after next summer's World Cup. He said, "of course I know about Rangers and they are exactly the kind of club I would want to coach. I want to move to a club which has a good reputation in a bigger European league and Rangers certainly come into that category. If they were interested in me I would obviously speak to them." Olsen has been linked with the managers job at Wimbledon recently and has met with the Marseille president in the past month about taking over there.

Stephen Wright could be heading to England after being told that he can leave Ibrox. The defender is available for £600,000 and several English sides are reported to be interested in the 26 year old. Wright joined Rangers from Aberdeen three years ago but sustained a cruciate ligament injury against Juventus three months later. He has failed to figure in Walter Smith's plans and is ready to move to England or the continent to kick start his career. Wright's contract is up at the end of the season and Rangers are keen to cash in now rather than lose the player on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.

Rangers and Celtic are joining forces to take on UEFA over the timing of next season's European matches. Fergus McCann and Campbell Ogilvie fly to Athens next month to protest over UEFA plans to play the opening European ties just three weeks after the World Cup final. Ogilvie said, "both clubs have players of many nationalities who'll be involved in the World Cup Finals. We can't have the club tournaments beginning in July as well."

Ogilvie stressed that Rangers would not be pushing for a European League at the meeting. He revealed, "we would like to see the Champions' League allow competing clubs to play an under-18 match on the day before the full sides meet. What would raise the standards quicker than games between Rangers and Manchester United at youth level?"

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