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Week Beginning 8 November 1997

15 November 1997

Walter Smith is worried about Rangers visit to Pittodrie today despite Aberdeen's abysmal start to the season. He said, "Aberdeen is always a really difficult place to go and we always have to work that bit harder to get a result against them.We are entering a very difficult phase and we would like to take as many points as possible from the games to end the period in a good position."

Gordon Durie and Jorg Albertz will fight it out for the midfield spot at Pittodrie vacated by Paul Gascoigne who is on international duty with England. Sergio Porrini is doubtdul with an ankle injury and will have a late fitness test.

Rangers youngster Paul McShane is a terget for both Crewe Alexandra and Reading. The 19 year old is desperate for first team football after spending the last three years at Ibrox. He is currently on trial at Crewe and could sign for them within the next week.

14 November 1997

Paul Gascoigne has admitted that he might leave Ibrox next summer. He said, "there is a chance I might quit Rangers at the end of the season. If I do it will not be to sign for another British club. If I leave it will certainly not be to return to England. Whatever happens Rangers will be my last club in Britain. I will make a decision on my future after the World Cup. David Murray has been fantastic to me. He said that if I was not happy to let him know because he would help me. He said I had been fantastic for the club for two years and was grateful. I told him I had signed for three years and just wanted to give 110 per cent for Rangers and England."

"If I do decide after the World Cup that I feel I want to move to Japan or America, then I don't think the chairman would stand in my way. I'd lose a lot of money but if I was fed up and felt I wanted to enjoy the last couple of years of my career abroad, then I'd do that. I like America. Once you are famous there you are famous for the rest of your life. I will make the decision next summer after taking advice from Walter Smith, Glenn Hoddle and Terry Venables. If I feel I want to relax a little then I will go. If I believe I can do even better, feel I can still do a job for Rangers ans England then I will consider staying. I feel more confident now and have nothing to prove to anyone."

Marco Negri has pladged his future to Rangers despite being a target for Borussia Dortmund earlier this week. He said, "I have heard these stories about me wanting to leave Rangers, but they are not true. I know nothing about them. I am very happy with Rangers and my dream is to play many games for them and, if possible, score a lot of goals. The lifestyle in Scotland is a bit different to Italy, but I knew it would be a new experience when I signed and I am enjoying it. I want to stay with Rangers and hopefully I can help them to win the league and then the Scottish Cup this season. That would make me even happier.

"I have heard that the Italian manager Cesare Maldini has said he is looking at me, but I must just concentrate on scoring goals for Rangers. Playing in the World Cup is another dream for me but the first is to win many games with Rangers. I did not score against Celtic and that was bad for me but it was not so disappointing because we won. My team-mates had told me it would be a very different game. The atmosphere was great and it was a very, very nice show. I'm just happy that I only have 10 days to wait until I see another nice show at Parkhead."

Jonas Thern says he knew Marco Negri was a good player in Italy last season but he has still been amazed by the number of goals he has scored in Scotland. He said, "I knew of Marco when I was at Roma and he was at Perugia. They were not one of the best teams in Italy, but he still scored many goals there, too. I did not know much about Scottish football when I came here, so it was difficult to judge how many goals he would score. I knew Rangers had many good players and it would be easier for him to score goals for them, but I am surprised he has scored so many so quickly. There is no doubt that Marco is a great goalscorer and if he continues like he has started he'll break all sorts of records. Whatever happens I hope he will stay, as he is important to the team."

Aberdeen striker Mike Newell is confident that his side can beat Rangers this weekend. He said, "we drew 3-3 at Ibrox already this season so there is no reason that we cannot go one better. The Ibrox game was one of our best per formances of the season and we need the same performance again, with a better result."

10 November 1997

Paul Gascoigne gave a rare interview after pulling all the strings in Rangers' 1-0 vicory over Celtic on Saturday. He said, "we just kept quiet in the build-up to this match and let them do all the talking. That's the way we do it here. They were saying what they would do to us but we just concentrated on what we had to do. Then we went out and I think the first half was the best I've seen Rangers play for a long time. It was one of the best I've ever been involved in, especially considering the performances of the new boys who were playing in their first Glasgow derby. There's a special atmosphere in these games. You see it is special to people. It's a shame we've only 11 days to celebrat e it! But we'll keep quiet again before the next one and let the others do the talking. Hopefully we'll go out and win again. That would be nice."

"At the start of the season, things weren't going well for me. I wasn't playing well and I wasn't running at players with the ball. But Walter gave me a kick up the backside and since then everything has come back since I started holding on to the ball. It's all about timing your runs and getting players around you involved. The gaffer says I have to run at players and near the end I wish I had scored but I think my legs went. Like I do for England I do a job for the team now. Before i used to look after myself first and then the team, now it's the other way around. I really enjoyed myself today. Walter has given me a job to do for the team. That comes first. Then I can do my own thing a little and if I score, I score."

"I thought Brian was outstanding, different class, especially in the first half. And the old man, Goughie, won just about everything. Even when he did miss a couple in the air Andy Goram came to the rescue. It's good to see him back in our defence but I'm gutted he scored with his right foot when I've always told him he doesn't have any feet. The England Cameroon game is coming at a bad time for me. It's not a great situation but it is out of my hands. The fans were outstanding today. People sometimes ask why I wanted to stay at Ibrox, you just had to look at the support today to know why."

Walter Smith said, "Gascoigne has played really well for us in his last seven or eight games He had a slow start to the season but recently he's played really well, he's been playing for the team. It can be difficult for players like Gascoigne and Laudrup. They don't get much of a summer break because of international commitments. But he and Brian are starting to play their own sort of games again."

Jorg Albertz flew back to Germany after Saturday's game and hopes to clinch a move back to the Bundesliga. Stuttgart are favourites to sign Albertz but his old club Hamburg are also keen to get him back if Rangers agree to a cut price move or a loan until the end of the season. Borussia Moenchengladbach have also spoken to his agents.

9 November 1997

Richard Gough revealed he was motivated for yesterday's match by the fear that every Old Firm match might be his last. He said, "I scored in my first Old Firm debut in 1987. A decade later things have come full circle. I told Ally McCoist before the game that I was going to treasure every minute of this because I know I don't have that many left in me. We were being told that this was a strong Celtic team and they would burst our bubble at last. But the truth is we don't want that bubble burst. This is a proud club and the win was so important for our new players."

"I felt a terrible strain last season, especially in Old Firm games. They were too tense to enjoy then but this was different. I now have a duty to inform our new guys of how things go in this game. We play them at Parkhead on November 19 and I remember winning 5-1 in 1988 only to lose the next 3-1 and it could have been 10-1. For now we will enjoy this and it was nice to start the manager's last run of Old Firm games with a win. I knew we were facing a different sort of game, they are cagey rather than cavalier. You can see that from their goals against column and they are the only team to stop Negri scoring in the league. As for my goal, the worrying thing when the cross came in was that it came to my foot instead of my head."

Walter Smith said, "I was very pleased with the way in which we played. We controlled the game for an hour until they started throwing players forward because they were a goal down. But I was very pleased with the manner in which we did it. We dominated in a way we haven't done for a while. It has tended to be we've won games against them recently without playing particularly wellbut I don't think that was the case today. I certainly don't think anyone could have argued with the final result. Andy Goram made two good saves from Henrik Larson before we scored but I don't think if they had gone in that it would have been reflective of the game. I know this is my last season as manager but honestly, this game wasn't any more or less important to me than any that have gone before."

Win Jansen said, "we were not really in the game in the first half and we gave away the ball too often even when we did have it. We were better towards the end but it wasn't good enough. We intended to play as normal but they were far more agressive than us and pushed us back. The Old Firm game is such a great game but in great games you need 11 players to be at their very best and we didn't have that today. There were chances at both ends but we didn't really take ours and we weren't really good enough. I felt Mahe was unlucky to go off but in the end we simply gave the ball away too much."

Celtic 'keeper Jonathan Gould said, "the manager let us know in no uncertain terms at half-time that things were going badly wrong. He told us that if we continued playing the same way we would lose heavily. We sorted things out in the second half but it still wasn't good enough. It's so disappointing because we didn't do ourselves justice and I just can't explain that. Andy Goram showed why he is an international 'keeper, I understand now whay Tommy Burns once said they'll put 'Goram broke my heart' on his tombstone. Those were brilliant saves and the second was absolutely outstanding. It meant a lot to them because they went straight up the park and scored."

Ally McCoist seems set to keep his World Cup hopes alive by moving to Major League Soccer in the United States. The 35 year old is struggling to get a place in the Rangers side at the moment and Walter Smith said recently, "if Ally's in this situation in January and we can help him achieve his aims we will let him go on loan."

Tony Vidmar and Craig Moore will miss four games following next Saturday's match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. They have both been called up for Terry Venables' Australian squad for their World Cup play-off and for a Saudi Arabian friendly tournament.

Alan Shearer has backed Paul Gascoigne's decision to stay at Ibrox. He said, "I think it is insulting to Paul and insulting to Scottish football to say he ignored Aston Villa, Spurs and Palace because the Premier League is a soft option. He would shine on any stage in any country in the world because he is a star. I was as surprised as anyone when Paul signed for Rangers. But what he has achieved since then has totally justified the move. He enjoys Ibrox so why move?"

8 November 1997

Rangers silenced their critics today with their best Old Firm performance for several seasons. Recently the Ibrox side have been content to soak up all the pressure from Celtic and hit them on the break. Today Celtic came to Ibrox with a less cavalier style but Rangers simply denied them the ball for long periods of the game.

After just seven minutes a Gascoigne corner was headed against the headed against the post by Gough and moments later Rangers were denied what seemed a stonewall penalty after a clumsy clumsy challenge on Negri by Boyd left the Italian lying on the ground.

Throughout the first half Rangers had almost complete possession. For all that Celtic has the fist two clear cut chances in the game. In 27 minutes Henrik Larson met a Simon Donnelly corner but his header from six yards out was brilliantly saved by Andy Goram. Stuart McCall cleared the ball straight back to Donnelly who crossed again for a carbon copy header from Larson which Goram again did well to save.

A minute later Rangers took a much deserved lead. McCall won the ball in midfield and sent it down the line towards Brian Laudrup. Celtic defender Stephane Mahe tried to intercept but he was brilliantly turned by the Dane. He sent a low ball into the box and as most of the Celtic defence tried to cover Negri, Gough nicked in to sidefoot home.

The second half was more even but Rangers still continued to dominate. Alex Cleland saw an excellent curling shot fly narrowly wide and Sergio Porrini should have done better with a free header from four yards in the final minute. Mahe was sent of for Celtic with ten minutes remaining for a second bookable offence.

Rangers continued the domination of their closest rivals with a good performance against a side full of confidence. Celtic came into the game with a 14 match unbeaten run and were undoubtedly the form side going into the match. The Ibrox side, however, managed to put some disappointing recent results behind them and played Celtic off the park for long spells. It should make for an interesting match at Parkhead in 11 days time.

Rangers
 
Goram       8                  
McCall      8                   
Cleland     8
Gough       8                  
Bjorklund   6
Porrini     7
Thern       6
Gattuso     6
Gascoigne   9
Negri       7
Laudrup     8
Durie       2   (Sub)
Albertz     2   (Sub)
 
 

Man of the Match: Paul Gascoigne

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