Dado Lionheart

Due to the lack of matches recently, thanks to Rangers’ absence from all domestic cup competitions, Ibrox has been a little quieter than normal. However, a few stories have nonetheless emerged which are worth scrutinising.

Arguably the biggest involves the talismanic Prso and two separate lines of inquiry surrounding him. First of all the fans were led to believe that the Croatian was consulting a knee specialist regarding his own knee problems. There is no question the former international has struggled in the last season, and beyond, with knees reaching the end of their tolerance for professional football. They have caused him no end of bother, and indeed there was even a problem prior to his international retirement when he was requested to join his country for a friendly. Being in flight caused his knees to flare up with problems, so he proposed he would only participate in meaningful games due to the borrowed time he was on. Full retirement followed soon after, and subsequent appearances in the SPL have been considerably less frequent as his body as a whole has continued to barely withstand the rigour of football. When he pulled up with a hamstring injury during Smith’s first match in charge of his second regime in Govan, signs were that time was truly running out for him. The story which then made its way to the press was that he would see a knee specialist to establish how much playing time his career had left. Indeed, it was a rather hyped affair, with the Ibrox legions hanging onto every word on the subject, before it was apparently reported that the meeting had produced a positive result and the go-ahead for playing on. This was accompanied by speculation that a Qatar club had become interested in signing him, which was then followed by the revelation from Prso himself that no meeting with any specialist had ever occurred. Frankly, cue confusion.

No one now knows what the situation regarding Dado is, and the club have publicly confirmed they are in no hurry to tie him down to a contract extension. Quite frankly, given the total lack of clarity regarding the whole thing, the fans would be forgiven for desiring a resolution to this situation one way or the other. There is the idea he can simply play on, but many are dubious about this. He may have the heart, but his body lacks a lot of endurance nowadays. Secondly is the widely-supported notion of retaining him in a management capacity. He is highly respected and would be a marvellous addition to the team –a terrific example for the younger players to look up to. And then there is the idea of him, as speculated, leaving entirely. Quite what direction he pursues is exclusively up to him, and no matter what he does, he will have the full backing of the majority of the fans.
In considerably less notable news, William Stanger has left the club just like Letizi did; mutual consent. He reportedly insulted the club and complained about the direction they were taking, when he was out on trial in Sweden. He returned, having achieved little with the trial, and found his services not required by the new management. So, has now departed.

Getting back to normality though, and a match in Kilmarnock awaits on Sunday. Svensson has been publicly dropped by Smith, who seems to be using tact to imply the Swede has no future at Ibrox, by dressing it up as a ‘learning curve’. So, it looks like Ehiogu and Weir are the central defence for the foreseeable future. However, an even more interesting story surrounds this upcoming fixture; McGregor is currently suffering an injury, and it is unknown if he will be able to play. This may leave the door ajar for Klos to return, and feature in his first match for practically a year. There are not too many fans who would begrudge him this opportunity.

Closing the Window

After all the hype of the transfer window, and the anticipation of a rugged overhaul of the playing personnel, the outcome of January’s dealings really ended up as rather a disappointment.

The first sign that the expected influx of quality players was not going to transpire were the events of the afternoon of January 31st, when Celtic hijacked the Hartley deal and proceeded to sign the lifelong Celtic fan. The Parkhead club weighed in with an instant £1.1M+ bid, which was accepted and personal terms soon followed, leaving only a medical between Hartley and joining the green half of the Old Firm. Rangers retaliated by matching the bid, but it was too little, too late, and the midfielder had made up his mind to become a Bhoy. A thoroughly disappointing loss, and a player who could have substantially enhanced the Rangers midfield. Regrettably, the player himself never received any contact from Rangers, so it does suggest a lack of full-blooded courting.

Another player strongly linked to Rangers was Thomson’s former Hibs team-mate Scott Brown. This was a long-lasting saga, much like the Hartley affair. In Brown’s case, however, he remains at his present club with Rangers having made no bid for him. Rumours persist that he is a definite for the summer, but the price-tag has apparently been installed at £3M.

The last piece of concrete business was the signing of Falkirk forward Gow on a pre-contract. He will join his new team-mates this coming summer on a 3 year deal.
In other matters, a stark reminder of the club’s current plight was brutally hammered home this week when two cup competitions reached their own respective latest phases. The CIS Cup and the Scottish Cup enjoyed their moment in the spotlight, with one notable absentee from both tournaments. Rangers, having been dispatched by Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup, and ‘infamously’ by St Johnstone in the CIS, were on the outside looking in as these opportunities for silverware were being pursued by the remaining clubs. How truly desperate it was for a club of Rangers’ size to have been eliminated from both competitions at such early stages by two relative minnows of the Scottish game. The St Johnstone result went down in history as one of the all-time upsets, and prompted protestations at the era of the time, the Le Guen period. None of this matters now, but it remains critically depressing to Rangers fans to be deprived of these chances to win something. Even claiming the CIS cup would still give the supporters the pleasure of a trip to Hampden for a big-time occasion. Regrettably, such privileges will have to wait till next season.

The last piece of news to arise recently was an outrageous public slur on Thomson. The BBC have always been a highly respected broadcaster, but it has been long-held that their website, once a fine example of a public information resource, has been sliding badly recently, with such examples of sloppy journalism being headlines failing to reflect the content of the article. This, so often the reserve of gutter red top ‘newspapers’ whose content is designed to appeal to the gullible masses, is evidence of the increasing degradation of the BBC’s website. However, the four-letter slur on Thompson, revealed when exploring the properties of an image of the player as featured in an article on him, is surely the worst and most disgusting thing to feature on their sports section in quite some time. A public apology was issued when one of aforementioned red-tops seized the story.

That all said, there are indeed more important things for Rangers fans to worry about these days. It does not help when the media appears to be insulting players though!