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Latest NewsWeek Beginning 16 August 1997
23 August 1997 The Coca Cola Cup draw will leave Walter Smith with selection problems. Joachim Bjorklund, Jonas Thern, Jonatan Johansson, Antti Niemi, Gordan Petric, Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne are all likely to be in action for crucial World Cup qualifiers. Walter Smith says todays opponents Dundee United are the side most likely to oust the Old Firm from the top of the Premier Division. He said, "United put the best run of all together last season. They'll probably be disappointed to have drawn their first two fixtures but I see them as the side, apart from ourselves and Celtic, who can push for the title. While everyone else has been adding new players, their squad has been pretty consistent for the last year or so and they are always dangerous opponents. It will take a good performance to keep our 100 per cent record intact." Paul Gascoigne will play today in a bid to get him fit for Wednesday's match against Gothenburg but there are still doubts about Brain Laudrup's fitness. Walter Smith said, "Paul's suspensions have interrupted his season. He's been training well but this will be just his third first-team game. He needs more games. We'll have to see how Brian is for the Gothenburg match next week but I'd have to say he's extremely doubtful for that."
Finnish manager Richard Moller-Nielsen speaks highly of the 21 year old. He said, "Jonatan has the ability to become one of the greatest. He has sheer natural talent. I am sure with people like Walter Smith to keep an eye on him he will blossom and Rangers could have made one of the steals of the century. His best position is wide on the left and he is very fast, direct and likes to create." Speculation is rising that the decision of the Scottish Football League to stop Rangers' plans to broadcast their away matches on video screens at Ibrox may hasten a break away by the top sides. The League Management Committee met yesterday and refused the club permission to broadcast any of this season's away fixtures, other than the first Old Firm match next month. However, they set the price for that match at £25,000 which Rangers regard as excessive. League secretary Peter Donald said: "Rangers themselves indicated that the conditions being laid down by the committee were not acceptable." Rangers Secretary Campbell Ogilvie said, "we are both surprised and disappointed. Clubs do not appear to have realised that they are throwing away additional revenue and this appears to be short-sighted. We will not be broadcasting the match from Celtic Park due to the excessively unrealistic fee demanded. Some clubs were of the opinion they would lose out on revenue at the turnstiles, but I doubt this could be substantiated. Obviously, we are undertaking the beam backs to make a profit, however, contrary to opinion in some quarters, this would not be a major money making project." Rangers had proposed to pay to the Scottish League 20% of the gate receipts from the Ibrox screenings for them to distribute to member clubs as they saw fit. The committee rejected that idea and the Ibrox club suggested a series of pilot schemes to gauge public interest before a fee could be set but these proposals were also rejected. The decision is sure to anger David Murray who has already made it clear that he wants Rangers to negotiate their own television rights when the current agreement between the league and television companies expires at the end of the season.
Brian Laudrup has denied speculation that he'll leave Rangers if they fail to make the Champions League. After Walter Smith's side lost 3-0 defeat in Gothenburg some reports claimed Laudrup would move to Amsterdam in January. Laudrup said, "the story was rubbish. I don't know where it came from. When I said I would be playing for the remaining year of my contract I meant it." Some newspapers in Holland claimed that Laudrup had agreed to join Ajax in January if Rangers were out of Europe. Laudrup blasted back, "I was not lying. I am the captain of Rangers and I am not about to leave after a couple of weeks and certainly not if we don't make the Champions League. There is no gentleman's agreement between myself and Ajax. I want to stay with Rangers until the end of the season. There is nothing in my contract saying that I can go after a couple of weeks, anyway, and there is nothing in my mind to suggest that I am on the way out." "Contrary to what many people think, we are not out yet. We have to believe in ourselves. Anything is possible in football and an early goal would really get us going in the return match at Ibrox." Walter Smith has backed Jonas Thern after he allegedly made derogatory remarks about his team-mates and manager following last weeks' defeat in Gothenburg. Smith said, "in the short time I've known the lad he's been someone who has been very conscious of the team effort. I received a call on Sunday night from a Swedish journalist explaining to me exactly what Jonas said. Obviously the interpretation from other people has been twisted to suit a particular story, but I knew that already as it's not Jonas' style." Ian Durrant is a transfer target for Australian champions Sydney United whose boss is former Rangers favourite Dave Mitchell. He said, "Durrant would be ideal for us. We have a good support but Ian would bring the Old Firm supporters in. I took over a couple of months ago and we have lost just about a whole team. Ian could come on loan if he wants, but if he likes the place it can become more permanent." Ally McCoist has admitted that he is delighted to be Rangers all-time top scorer but there is still one more record he would love to break. He said, "there are still some records I am out to claim for myself, and the one I really want is Jimmy McGrory's Old Firm landmark. Scoring 27 goals in those games was a wonderful achievement and a lot of Celtic fans tell me there's no chance I'll break it. That remains a massive target and it will provide an extra incentive for me in this season's games against Celtic." Jimmy Smith, the man whose record McCoist beat on Wednesday said, "I met Ally at Ibrox recently. He's a friendly lad and good fun. People will say his record is more of an achievement because I scored a lot in wartime, but remember we played with a much heavier ball and usually on heavier grounds. Ally might have struggled to score as many then but you have got to give him credit for what he has achieved. He's had a brillian career." A meeting of the League Management Committee will today discuss proposals for Rangers to screen their away matches at Ibrox. A number of different proposals will be tabled by Campbell Ogilvie in the hope that one will be acceptable to the other Scottish clubs.
Walter Smith said, "I was pleased with the victory but Falkirk made it difficult for us. I thought it would be hard and that proved to be the case. Their first goal was a setback and it took a good strike from Ally McCoist to get us level. Stensaas scored a few goals for Rosenborg during his time there and I hope he can do the same for us. That was certainly a tremendous one tonight. After the third goal we were comfortable." Falkirk defender Jamie McGowan blamed the referee for handing Rangers a place in the Coca Cola Cup quarter finals last night. He said, "our boys aren't happy. The timing of the equaliser was crucial because we thought we were going in at half-time in front. Rangers might have thought they were going to get a doing until they grabbed that goal. I slid in and won the ball but the ref said it hit my arm. If that was the case then where was the intent? We definitely deserved more from the game." Manager Alex Totten added, "some of the referees decisions left a lot to be desired. According to the players it was never a free-kick for the first goal. They also got a penalty at the end which should have been a free-kick to us. There was a degree of anger in the dressing room at half-time and at full-time over these decisions." Alex Cleland was taken off at half-time last night with an ankle injury. He is now rated as highly doubtful for Saturday's match against Dundee United. Walter Smith has launched a bid to sign young Australian midfielder Mark Robertson. The 20 year old has arrived at Ibrox for a trial from his club Marconi. Robertson is said to be desperate to come to Scotland to further his career, there will be no trouble with a work permit as he has a British passport through his dad Alex who played for Aberdeen 25 years ago. Rangers are also giving a second trial to young Australian goalkeeper Jason Petrovic who spent a week at Ibrox last month. Petrovic is tipped to become Australia's No1 in the near future but he has no senior caps yet. That makes it unlikely that he would be given a work permit but Walter Smith is exploring ways of getting round the problem.
The final score of 4-1 disguises what was a fairly poor performance from Rangers. Once again the team were content to play the ball around in midfield before looking for the killer pass to the front men. All too often though poor passing gifted Falkirk the chance on the counter attack. In the first half Rangers played with a 5-3-2 formation and struggled to break Falkirk down. In the second half Walter Smith switched tactics to 4-3-3, perhaps only because he was forced to withdraw Cleland at half-time with an injury, and this caused Falkirk many more problems. Falkirk took the lead in the 37th minute. A corner broke to Kevin James who was at least 35 yards out and he unleashed a curling shot into the top corner. Just before half-time the scores were level. Referee Willie Young handed Rangers a disputed free-kick after a handball by Jamie McGowan. Staale Stensaas played the ball short to Ian Ferguson who teed it up for Ally McCoist to shot under the wall and into the net. In the 70th minute Stensaas collected the ball midway inside his own half and ran a full 60 yards up the left, beating a handful of players, before lashing an unstoppable effort into the net from a tight angle. McCoist finished Falkirk off with only 10 minutes to go. Andy Seaton seemed set to clear his lines but Peter Van Vossen nicked in to dispossess the Falkirk defender. The Dutchman took the ball round the Falkirk 'keeper and cut the ball back across the goal, where it rebounded off Seaton and left the veteran striker with the easiest of tasks from only a yard out. The game was all wrapped up in injury time. Van Vossen crossed the ball to Marco Negri in the box and the Italian took the ball on his chest before trying an overhead kick which was blocked by James. The ball found its way back to Negri and James appeared to take the legs away from him as he went to shoot. McCoist stepped up and placed the ball low inside Mathers' right hand post. If Walter Smith can take anything from the match then it must be that the side looked much more solid in the 4-3-3 formation. The Rangers manager will have to put an attacking side out against Gothenburg next week and he could do worse than emulating his second half tactics against Falkirk.
Rangers Goram 5 Cleland 3 Stensaas 6 Porrini 7 Moore 6 Vidmar 5 Durie 5 Ferguson 6 McCoist 7 Negri 5 Miller 4 Van Vossen 4 (Sub) Gattuso 2 (Sub)Man of the Match: Ally McCoist Falkirk Follower
Jonas Thern has apologised to his Rangers team-mates after remarks attributed to him by a Swedish newspaper following last Wednesday's match in Gothenburg. He said, "what shall my team-mates believe? I never said that the defeat was their fault. I am both angry and sad. I would never talk like dirt about my team-mates. The only thing I said about the match is that we didn't work as a team. Joachim Bjorklund went back to Glasgow after the match so I contacted him and asked if he could talk to my team-mates and they said they understood the situation." Jonas Thern, Joachim Bjorklund and Antti Niemi will all miss tonight's match with Falkirk because they are on international duty. Paul Gascoigne will miss the match through suspension, Brian Laudrup onlyn returned to light training yesterday, Erik Bo Andersen had his ankle put into plaster after a reserve game at the weekend and Jorg Albertz is suffering from a knock he got last Wednesday. Sebastian Rozental, Lorenzo Amoruso and Stuart McCall should return to first team action within a fortnight. Walter Smith looked forward to the next four games against Falkirk tonight, Dundee Utd on Saturday, Gothenburg next Wednesday then Celtic the following Monday. He said, "it is the first time this season we are going into a match without interruption so we are looking forward to the four in a row and we hope to be in a reasonable position after them." He also warned his players not to be complacent against Falkirk with the big games looming, "we know we are facing a team capable of beating a team from the top division."
Graeme Souness seems to have won his battle to take Richard Gough to Torino as his assistant coach. Gough has finally been given permission to speak to representatives of the Italian club. Kansas City Wizards General Manager Tim Latter said, "we have given Richard permission to hear what they have to say, but not until October when the season ends here. Richard has been the buy of the season and he is probably the main reason why we are top of the league. However, we have got to be fair to Richard and let him discuss their offer."
"I felt sorry for Jonas Thern because he is a quality player, but this game didn't suit him. He can work hard but the fact he got cramp tells its own story. I've never seen him do that before and it shows how hard he was finding the game. Some of the players around him didn't work as hard as he did. Gascoigne comes into that category. He's a good player but he didn't have a good day. When we went 2-0 up it seemed as though Gascoigne didn't have the energy to lift himself again. I thought the game would be a lot tighter, I didn't expect to win by three goals. But I still believe we will have to work hard in the second leg. We can't go to Scotland and be complacent." Goal hero and former Ajax captain Stefan Petterson added, "I believe it is on the Rangers players minds that they have not been a big success in Europe. That is preying on them because they know the Champions' League is where they must be judged now." Andreas Andersson will definitely play in the second leg at Ibrox. IFK director Thomas Wernerson said, "the deal doesn't become official until after the Rangers game and we want him for the match." Peter Van Vossen's proposed move to Vitesse Arnhem has fallen through. The clubs agreed a fee of £950,000 but Van Vossen failed to agree personal terms with the dutch side. Finnish star Jonatan Johanson has finally made his move to Rangers from Estonian side FC Flora for £500,000.
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