Old Firm to England?

There has been much talk lately about the Old Firm clubs moving to the Premiership or the Championship in England. Martin Bain of Rangers and Peter Lawwell of Celtic have been rolling over like puppy dogs anytime anyone mentions the prospect. One suggestion that should not be allowed to see the light of day is the muted Atlantic League. The idea of Celtic and Rangers playing Copenhagen and Rosenborg fills us at OFF with dread. These teams occasionally make the Champions League. Aalborg and Copenhagen have entered once each (and both beat Celtic) but are generally consigned to early round Uefa Cup football.
We at OFF believe in the SPL. In 1967 and in 1972 Scotland had the highest Uefa coefficient in Europe. (Check out Dutchman Bert Kassies' excellent European football website for confirmation.) Wouldn't it be wonderful if Bain and Lawwell could channel as much energy into trying to improve the Scottish league. Celtic and Rangers made their names in Scottish football. Celtic and Rangers have garnered their worldwide reputations in the Scottish League. Do Celtic and Rangers not feel a responsibility to the league that has been their bread and butter since 1890? We at OFF have some suggestions for the Old Firm.
1. Move over to summer football
Football is more about 'revenue streams' than fans nowadays. A move to summer football would allow the SPL to look for broadcasters who would receive the rights to show Scottish football between May and August. Few leagues outside Scandanavia play their football in summer so the competition for broadcasting rights is limited. In 1995 Rugby League were told by Sky TV to move over to summer rugby. There was some resistance. One common points on phone-ins was: I go my holidays in July/August, so my season book is no use to me then. Also, with warmer weather the kick offs were changes to 6pm.
However, it proved a major success and within a couple of seasons crowds were back, the product was improved (no more mud bath games of winter) and St Helens won the World Club Championship against the top Australian side. The only team capable of that feat up until then had been Wigan. Leeds and Bradford have subsequently been World Champs.
And of course, Sky TV was able to showcase the sport better when the football season was over.
2. Two under-21 players must start the match not just warm the bench. This is not such a tall order. Celtic and Rangers could have comfortably achieved this a few years ago. McGeady and O'Dea for Celtic and Burke and Hutton would have fulfilled the condition.
3. The Old Firm should not be allowed to purchase any players from the SPL for three years. Crazy, radical? Yes, but we need radical measures.

Rangers 2, Celtic 1 (4 Oct 09)

Rangers 2, Celtic 1
Miller 2 McGeady (p)


This was a pulsating match of one half and three penalty claims. Celtic selected Zheng Zhi in midfield for an Old Firm debut and took the match to Rangers. In the second minute Shaun Maloney had a good chance to score but his angled 10 yard shot was cleared by Allan McGregor’s legs. In eight minutes Rangers won the ball in midfield and a pass was placed between the two Celtic centre backs. Kenny Miller ran between Loovens and McManus before scuffing his shot past Boruc. Boruc’s placement in goal seemed odd, as Miller’s shot crossed the line just off centre in the goal.
In the twelfth minute Maloney darted towards the Rangers by-line and was brought down by Davie Weir. It will be scant consolation for the Celtic fans to learn that the referee, Thomson, has acknowledged that he got the decision wrong, as he waved play on when the foul occurred. Rangers’ second goal came courtesy of Miller again and on this occasion McGregor got an assist. He cleared the ball up the centre of the park, Boyd jumped but missed, Loovens backed off but the ever-alert Miller went through on goal. This time he steered a shot to Boruc’s left hand post and the ball went in off Boruc’s arm. The Rangers fans could not believe what was happening. With the inexperienced Andrew Little going off through injury in the 15th minute they probably thought that their side would need to reorganise only to find themselves two goals up.
Just a couple of minutes after taking a 2-0 lead, Celtic were denied a second penalty claim. Once more Weir tripped Maloney but the Celt was booked for diving. The third penalty claim occurred in the 22nd minute when Papac brought down debutant Zhi. This time referee Thomson awarded the kick. Aiden McGeady struck the ball right footed and McGregor diving the correct way got a strong arm to it. Nonetheless, the shot had enough pace to carry the ball over the line.
For the most part, that was the match done. No fewer than three goals and three penalty decisions in half an hour and the rest of the game was tame by comparison. Rangers next chance in the match came in the last few minutes when Novo was sent through by Mendes with just Boruc to beat. He tried to lob the keeper but Boruc’s touch put the ball over the bar. For all they had the great majority of possession, Celtic never really threatened the Rangers goal. A volley by McDonald placed straight into McGregor’s arms and a grass cutter left foot shot from McGeady were all Celtic had to offer in the second half.

Teams
Rangers (4-4-2): McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, Little (Novo 15), Naismith, Mendes, Davies, Smith, Boyd (Lafferty 42), Miller

Celtic (4-4-1-1): Boruc, Wilson, Loovens, McManus, Naylor (Caddis 76), McGeady, Brown, N’Guemo (Samaras 62), Maloney, Zhi (McCourt 70), McDonald

Referee: Craig Thomson

Booked: Mendes, Novo (Rangers), Wilson, Loovens, Brown, Maloney (Celtic)

Celtic take four point lead

Celtic will go in to next week's Old Firm match knowing that they will remain top of the SPL no matter the result at Ibrox. A Paddy McCourt wonder goal and a late strike by Shaun Maloney lit up a drab encounter at St Mirren's new park. Celtic took a five point lead as the match ended at 2.20pm. Rangers, of course, were kicking off against Aberdeen at 3.00pm but could do no more than draw 0-0. There's was a game of few chances though Nacho Novo struck the base of the post with just 20 minutes remaining. Rangers suffered largely because they had to make do in the midfield without Pedro Mendes, who was sent off against Kilmarnock last week, and Steve Davis who was injured. These two players have been Rangers' most influential this season. Mendes's sending off was Rangers third in three consecutive away matches. Thomson had been dismissed against Hearts and Bougherra against Motherwell. The Motherwell match was the first of three consecutive 0-0 draws that Rangers have had in the league.
Bore all draws
This is Rangers worst goalscoring performance (three 0-0 draws) in the league since the beginning of the 1978/79 season. On that occasion they started as champions with a home 1-0 defeat to Alex Ferguson's St Mirren followed by two 0-0 draws against Hibernian away and Partick Thistle at home.
But it has not been all bad news for Rangers in recent weeks. Their 1-1 draw in Stuttgart was a magnificent result and sets them up nicely for the rest of the group games. Celtic, on the other hand, let slip a lead in Tel Aviv to go down 2-1 to Hapoel.
Rapidly needing a win
With the grudge match against Rapid Vienna (or is that Vapid Vienna?) taking place next Thursday evening, Celtic could be in deep trouble after two matches. This is a must win for Celtic. If Hamburg beat Hapoel on Thursday as expected, and Celtic drop points to the Austrians, their Europa League campaign will effectively be over. Remember, at this level Celtic rely on their home form to ensure progression.
STV
At least the Celtic - Rapid match is on television, Channel Five 8.05 KO. How obsecne was it last week to have to endure Liverpool playing Debreceni instead of watching Rangers play in Germany? STV should be ashamed of themselves for not securing the games of the Scottish representative in the Champions League. Same nonsense happens this week as Manchester United versus Wolfsburg takes precedence over the Scottish Champions.
League Cup
In the 1960s and 1970s it took a team the best part of 10 matches to win the League Cup. Now Celtic and Rangers can pick the trophy up having played just four games. On Wednesday Celtic played Falkirk at the Falkirk Stadium and trounced the Bairns 4-0. Paddy McCourt scored his first ever competitive goal for Celtic. Rangers beat Queen of the South 2-1 with goals from Steven Naismith and Nacho Novo before Robert Harris scored to make things a little edgy in injury time. This third rate tournament really ought to be sidelined completely. Celtic and Rangers should give their young players every chance to cut their teeth in this competition. To their credit Celtic made eight changes including Lukas Zaluszka in goal for the first time but still their squad was full of fairly experienced players. Rangers' selection at Palmerston showed the paucity of their squad as they continued with the usual first team players.
The draw for the next round:
Celtic v Hearts
Dundee v Rangers
St Johnstone v Dundee United
St Mirren v Motherwell
To be played w/b 26 October

Larsson's European Record

Former Celt Henrik Larsson is now officially the highest ever goalscorer in the Uefa Cup. Now that the competition has been suspended and replaced by the Europa League, Larsson's Uefa Cup record of 37 goals will never be beaten. His first goal came for Feyenoord against Zalgiris Vilnius in 1994/95.

Henrik Larsson 37
'Waldo' da Silva (Valencia) 31*
Jupp Heynckes 29
Dieter Muller 29

* includes goals in the Fairs Cup (precurser to Uefa Cup)

Larsson's full record is at this link http://www.rsssf.com/players/larsson-in-ec.html

Euro Campaigns Begin (by Mick Statto)

The Champions League returns tomorrow night with Rangers representing Scotland in Group G. As discussed in a previous article, Rangers have been placed in a very winnable group. Second place, at the very least, should be a given say most fans. But not so, say we at OFF. Rangers' record in the group stages is very poor, as the table below shows:

Uefa CL Group Stages
Rangers P 48 W 11 D 16 L 21 Pts 49

The most wins Rangers have ever recorded in the CL groups is two. However, if the group is very tight and most games end in a draw, Rangers could still qualify for the last sixteen. This occurred in 2005/06 season when Rangers won only one match (Porto 3-2) yet with four other draws progressed to the next phase with just seven points.
One thing in Rangers favour is that they have won four matches away from home. The four games were against CSKA Moscow (92/93 played in Bochum), PSV Eindhoven (99/00), AS Monaco (00/01) and, their best ever away victory, against Lyon (07/08). The reason this is worth mentioning is because tomorrow night's match is against a fairly weak VfB Stuttgart in Germany. After five Bundesliga games they are lying 12th in the table having won only match against Freiburg 4-2. They drew two others and lost 2-0 to last year's Champions Wolfsburg and 3-1 to this year's tabletoppers Hamburg.

Celtic, of course, will be competing in the inaugural Europa League and their campaign kicks off in Israel on Thursday against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Just for comparison Celtic's Champions League record is as follows:

Uefa CL Group Stages
Celtic P 36 W 13 D 5 L 18 Pts 44

Celtic's strength lies in their home record where they have lost only once in the group stages, to Barcelona. However, unlike Rangers, Celtic have never won away from home in the group stages, though they have won a number of away ties in qualification, most notably against Ajax in 2001 and Dinamo Moscow this season.

Wylde debut

Greg Wylde made his competitive debut for Rangers on Saturday versus Hamilton. Eighteen year old Wylde's big moment was in the 81st minute as a substitute for Kenny Miller

Let's talk about money (Johnny Steen)

Much has been said about the gulf in class between Celtic and Arsenal in the Champions League qualifier last month. That Celtic were second best is undoubtedly true. However, we need to put the whole thing into perspective. The main difference between the top of the English Premier League and the SPL is evident in their clubs spending and debt. Arsenal are £460m in debt. This astronomical sum is not the worst in England: Chelsea are £701m and Manchester United £699m in debt. Celtic run their club prudently, to borrow a phrase from the Prime Minister, who was Chancellor for 10 years. Peter Lawwell, the director responsible for the club’s wealth, has managed to reduce Celtic’s debt to an almost laughable £1.5m and he insists that this is the way forward at the club. Never again will Celtic spend £42,000 per week on the likes of Thomas Gravesen. Bobo Balde was the last Celtic player to earn the enormous sums of the early part of the decade and he was secured in 2005 for £28,000 per week.
Had Celtic begged Dermot Desmond to spend £100m on new players in time for the Arsenal matches, then there is a chance that Celtic might just have emerged as winners. But at what cost? It would be financially ruinous for Celtic. To service that kind of debt, Celtic would probably pay between £8m and £10m per season. Rangers stand to collect around £15m from participating in the Champions League. Had Celtic joined them in Europe’s premier competition, they along with Rangers would have seen that figure go down to £12.5m. (Celtic have actually done quite well out of being involved in the qualifiers. The revenue for the Dinamo Moscow game was £1.3m and the Arsenal tie brought in £1.7m before costs such as stewarding, catering and the police.) In other words, getting into debt would only have eaten away at any financial reward gained by playing in the CL.
And so both Glasgow giants enter the European arena with only loan deals. Celtic have secured Zheng Zie who is a versatile midfielder or forward and in January he will be joined by Ki Sung-Yung from South Korea. Ki’s team are in the later stages of the Asian equivalent of the Champions League and they wanted him to remain at home until their involvement ended. Rangers have signed Frenchman Jerome Rothen from Paris St Germain on loan. The 31-year-old, who has 13 caps for France, said that he preferred to come to Scotland for one year rather than Schalke in the Bundesliga or Blackburn Rovers in the EPL. This is a significant comment and one we have heard from players in the past. If Celtic and Rangers were free to join the EPL, more and more quality players would come north to Scotland. Old Firm players in the past have grown to love it here. Hateley and Butcher have gone on to make careers in Scotland. Larsson did not want to leave because of the quality of life that his family had. Moreover, Rothen feels that the SPL and at least six matches in the CL will help him get in to the France squad for South Africa next year.

Transfer News

Martin Bain at Rangers says that the club may be the only competitor in this season's Champions League that has not made a single signing. The last time a member of the Old Firm did not sign a player, it worked out well. After their defeat in Seville in 2003, Celtic signed no permanent players (Michael Gray was brought from Sunderland on loan) and promptly qualified for the Champions League, dropped down to the Uefa Cup and only lost at the quarter-final to Villarreal. Celtic won the league and the cup in what was Larsson's last season. Can Rangers do likewise?
Massimo Donati has played his last match for Celtic after joining Bari in Serie A.

Europa League Draw (by Johnny Steen)

Celtic were drawn in group C of this the inaugural Uefa Europa League (UEL) alongside Hamburger SV, Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Rapid Wien. Hamburg will be keener than any other side to progress as the UEL final is in their stadium next May. Though at first glance the draw looks a difficult one for Celtic, the fixtures have come out well for them. Celtic begin in Israel against Hapoel and have two home games to follow against Rapid Vienna and Hamburg. Tony Mowbray will probably know by that time just how strong the group is.
Celtic have played all three teams once before. In 1984 Celtic met Rapid Vienna in the second round of the ECWC. A goal by Brian McClair in Austria gave Celtic a priceless away goal in the 3-1 defeat. Celtic beat Rapid 3-0 in Glasgow but the Austrians protested that one of their players, Weinhofer, had been struck by a bottle in the second half. Although a bottle had been thrown from the Jungle, it had not landed near any players. Uefa upheld the complaint and fined Celtic. However, the Austrians were not finished: they appealed and demanded that the match be replayed. Astonishingly, Uefa doubled the fine dished out to Rapid but instructed a play-off. The conditions of the play-off included that the match should take place at least 100 miles from Celtic Park. Celtic should have withdrawn from the tournament at this point but instead the whole affair was turned in to a grudge match. Celtic played the game at Old Trafford, Manchester and lost 1-0 to a goal scored by Rapid's current manager, Peter Pacult. At the end of that match a Celtic supporter was seen kicking one of the Rapid players as they ran up the tunnel. When Uefa were finished, Celtic were instructed to play their next European tie at Celtic Park behind closed doors. (That match was a 1-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in September 1985.) The Celtic manager at the time, Davie Hay, has described the episode as 'the biggest act of deception I ever witnessed in football'.
In 1996/97 season Celtic played Hamburg in the Uefa Cup and promptly lost both matches 2-0 for a 4-0 aggregate defeat. In 1999 Celtic beat Hapoel 2-0 at Celtic Park and 1-0 in Israel. Henrik Larsson scored all three goals.

Champions League Draw (by Mick Statto)

Rangers were handed a favourable draw in this season's Champions League. From the top seeds Rangers were given Sevilla, from Pot 3 VfB Stuttgart and finally Champions League newcomers, Unirea Urzeceni from Romania. Sevilla was the best possible team to come from the top seeds which included the English clubs, AC Milan and current holders Barcelona. Sevilla have amassed just over 100 Uefa coefficient points and this placed them in the top seeding. However, Sevilla are really a Uefa Cup team, not a Champions League team. They got 56 of those points winning the Uefa Cup in 2006 (versus Middlesbrough by 4-0) and 2007 (versus Espanyol 2-2* pens). Last year they came fourth in their Uefa Group, though it should be said they beat VfB Stuttgart 2-0 in one of their home matches. In their only previous Champions League campaign in 2007-08 they qualified for the last sixteen before losing to Fenerbahce. Rangers played Sevilla in the first round of the European Cup-Winners Cup in 1962 winning 4-0 at Ibrox and losing 0-2 in Sevilla.

The Romanian side have never even ventured into Europe before. They were promoted to the top league in 2006-07 and came 10th. In 2007-08 they climbed to 5th position and finally last year they won the league. They are certainly a team that is progressing under their manager and former Chelsea man, Dan Petrescu, but how far have they come? Not far enough to make an impact on this group.

Rangers are familiar with VfB Stuttgart whom they meet in their first fixture. They have played them twice in the past decade (2003 and 2007) winning both Ibrox matches by 2-1. Rangers lost both matches in Stuttgart 0-1 and 2-3.

Rangers versus Spanish Clubs in Europe

P 16 W 4 D 3 L 9 (all wins at Ibrox)

Rangers versus German Clubs in Europe

P 43* W 16 D 13 L 14 (one win in Germany versus Vorwarts Berlin (DDR) in 1961)

*includes ECWC Final 1967 versus Bayern Munich

Rangers have met Steaua Bucharest from Romania three times winning in 1969/70 and losing in 87/86 and 95/96.

Loan deals to Swindon Town

Ben Hutchinson and Simon Ferry have joined English League 1 side Swindon Town on loan.

Champions League Draw

Rangers were given a fairly straightforward draw in Champions League Group G. The number one team in the section is Sevilla, but they are not as good as the Uefa Cup winning side of 2006 and 2007 that amassed their coefficient points. From pot 3 Rangers were paired with VfB Stuttgart. Given Rangers' excellent record against German sides, they should at least win the head-to-head against them. Finally from pot 4 Rangers were given CL newcomers Unirea from Romania. Full draw and dates of matches opposite under Uefa competitions.
CL Group G: Sevilla, Rangers, VfB Stuttgart and Unirea.
A review of the group will follow soon.

Rangers in Pot 2 for Champions League Draw

Fiorentina scored a late equaliser in Firenze against Sporting to ensure their place in this season's Champions League. But more importantly, their away goals win (3-3) moved Rangers into pot 2 of the Champions League draw. This means Rangers will avoid teams such as Real Madrid, Juventus, Lyon and Internazionale. At OFF, we have been speculating on the best and worst possible draws.
Best possible: Sevilla, Rangers, Bordeaux, Debrecen (Hungary) or Nicosia (Cyprus). Debrecen have the lowest Uefa coefficient ever of a CL entrant.
Worst possible: Barcelona/Arsenal, Rangers, Atletico Madrid and Wolfsburg.
Mick Statto thought there should be a third category, the boring: Manchester United, Rangers, VfB Stuttgart and FC Zurich. Rangers have played these teams too often.
Incidentally, VfB stands for Verein fur Bewegungspiele which means 'club for the community'.
The draw takes place at 5pm (GMT) tomorrow.

Celtic out of Champions League

Arsenal 3, Celtic 1 (5-1)

Arsenal removed Celtic from Europe's premier competition by winning handsomely at the Emirates. However, there was a good deal of controversy about their opening goal. A neat move on the edge of the box saw Eduardo (the Brazilian-cum-Croatian) over hit the ball towards Artur Boruc. Boruc went down to collect the ball whereupon Eduardo dived. The Spanish referee, Gonzalez, who made a glaring error in the Scotland-Italy match in 2007, awarded a penalty kick. Television proved conclusively that the 'Croat did a Borat' to con the ref. Eduardo outfoxed Boruc with the kick. Celtic had the ball in the net a few minutes later but the flag for offside was raised correctly.

The 3000 or so Celtic fans in the 59,960 crowd were in good voice throughout but saw Arsenal finally score a 'proper' goal when neat footwork from Bendtner helped set up Eboue who scored from 12 yards. Arshavin came on after that and scored a third to wrap the whole tie up. In the very last move of the match, Loovens lofted in a crossfield ball which Donati dispatched with aplomb. Celtic now enter the inaugural Europa League. The draw is at 12 noon (GMT) on Friday.

Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Loovens, Caldwell (O'Dea 46), Fox, McGeady (Flood 60), Brown, Donati, Maloney (Naylor 60), McDonald, Fortune

Sir David Murray steps down as Chairman

Sir David Murray has announced today that he will be stepping down as Chairman of Rangers FC. He said that he had intimated to the Rangers board last October that this would be his final year. Murray purchased the club from Laurence Marlborough for £6m in November 1988 taking control of the boardroom from David Holmes. (Murray briefly handed over the helm to John McLelland in 2002.)
Most of the talk on the phone-ins this evening was centred around attempting to define his legacy. David Edgar of the Rangers Supporters Trust said that whilst Murray's spending power had ensured the nine-in-a-row era, he had also presided over a financial crisis this decade. In 21 seasons as Chairman, Murray saw Rangers win 14 championships to Celtic's seven. However, Celtic have dominated the SPL in the past ten years. Rangers can no longer afford the big money signings of the Advocaat era. When Celtic started spending larger sums under Martin O'Neill, Rangers found it harder to keep pace. In the past 12 months Rangers have been pruning their squad to a lean 20 players. Now that there is no reserve league in Scotland (what an astonishingly bad decision) Rangers are hoping to bring youngsters through.
What do you think? Was Murray's tenure 'simply the best'? Or was nine-in-a-row largely down to Celtic's biscuit tin mentality?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/8223058.stm

Scotland Squad for September

George Burley has announced a 25 man squad for the forthcoming final matches of Scotland's Group 9 campaign. The matches, against Macedonia and Holland, are both at Hampden. There are nine Old Firm players in the squad and the main surprise is the return of David Weir in defence. Burley has stated that Weir (and goalkeeper Gordon) will play.
The nine players are:
Alexander N, Rangers (G) 2 caps
Brown S, Celtic (M) 15
Caldwell G, Celtic (D) 32 (2 goals)
Maloney S, Celtic (F) 14 (1)
McManus S, Celtic (D) 17 (1)
Miller K, Rangers (F) 41 (11)
Naismith S, Rangers (F) 1
Weir D, Rangers (D) 63 (1) First cap 1997 v Wales at Rugby Park, 0-1
Whittaker, S Rangers (D) 0

Match Day 2

Celtic 5, St Johnstone 2 (by Johnny Steen)
Celtic managed a comfortable 5-2 victory over St Johnstone and scored some finely worked goals into the bargain. This effectively was Tony Mowbray’s first win at Celtic Park after losing to Dinamo Moscow and Arsenal. Aiden McGeady’s performance was so impressive that Saints boss, Derek McInnes, said afterwards that he ‘wished [McGeady] were Scottish’. In fact, Celtic only have three Scots in the side; Caldwell, Brown and Maloney. It was Maloney who was the real tormentor of Saints carving open their defence down the left hand side before crossing for Fortuné to score from 12 yards. Then an excellent move down the right involving Hinkel and McGeady culminated in a fine cross for Maloney to head home from close range. Just as things looked straightforward for Celtic, Gary Caldwell misjudged a headed backpass to Boruc. Collin Samuel latched on to the ball, bore in on goal and then stroked a great right foot drive low past Boruc. Caldwell has been exposed quite a few times in recent weeks (Norway in Oslo and Arsenal last week) and this third error met with groans from the Celtic crowd. Nonetheless, Samuel still had a lot to do to score and on many other occasions any centre half in the country might just have got away with the error.
Celtic had the match won early in the second half with two goals in a minute. First, Maloney with a neat run and shot and then Fortuné finished a McGeady move. The fifth goal was largely as a result of poor awareness by Saints. Danny Fox was allowed to collect a corner on the edge of the box and was given all the time in the world to cross over for McDonald to score. There was still time for one more sublime piece of football and it came from St Johnstone’s ex-Chelsea player Jody Morris. He danced through a couple of Celtic defenders in the box before stretching a leg out to toe poke past Boruc.

Hearts 1, Rangers 2 (by Mick Statto)
We like our numbers here at OFF and must thank Kevin Thomson for providing an interesting statistic. Last week he entered the fray with 13 minutes of the match against Falkirk to go. This week, he left the match with 13 minutes gone! A lunging tackle by Thomson on Hearts’ Ian Black was met with a straight red card from referee Craig Thomson. The game was played at a hectic pace as Hearts tried to set aside their European disappointment against the ten men of Rangers. It was Hearts who took the lead in the first half with what was an uncharacteristic blunder by Rangers’ goalkeeper, McGregor. The Austrian, Witteveen, shot low and hard from about 12 yards. McGregor had the shot covered and got both hands to it but did not secure the ball which squirmed over the line as he tried in vain to scramble back.
Walter Smith took Fleck off at half time and replaced him with Steven Smith. Smith provides great crosses from set pieces and it was one of his free kicks that brought Rangers level. The free kick was whipped in to the penalty spot area of the goalmouth at tremendous pace and Lee McCulloch glanced the ball past Blanogh in the Hearts goal. Rangers sensed that they could win the game and Smith made yet another timely substitution. On 88 minutes and 41 seconds Kris Boyd entered the field. On 89 minutes and 41 seconds Kris Boyd had blasted a penalty into the right hand corner of the net to secure the three points. It was also Boyd's first goal at Tynecastle as a Rangers' player. It is not as simple as that though. The penalty award was dubious in that many thought Bouzid’s infringement of Naismith was just outside the box. However, television on this occasion was inconclusive. This was a fine victory for Rangers and one many of their fans may not have foreseen at half time. SPL table

Weekend Preview (Match Day 2)

St Johnstone visit Celtic Park for the first time since January 2002 when they lost 2-1. Celtic have won their previous six matches against the Saints but the Perth side picked up the odd point at Celtic Park. In May 2000 St Johnstone drew 0-0 with a Celtic team managed by Kenny Dalglish. In September 1998 St Johnstone gained their last league victory at Parkhead. Canadian Nick Dasovic scored the only goal of the match. In fact, it was his only league goal in 120 starts for the club.
There is some experience coursing through the Saints side. Their goalkeeper, Alan Main is just four matches short of 200games for the club. The itinerant striker Kenny Deuchar has scored 104 goals in 174 games for all his previous clubs and Collin Samuel scored in a 2-2 draw on his last visit to Celtic Park with Dundee United (Boxing Day 2006). Also Portuguese midfielder Filipe Morais played in the SPL with Hibs and Inverness CT last season.
Saints' manager Derek McInnes, a Scottish Cup winner with Rangers against Celtic in 1999, has an excellent record since taking over from Owen Coyle in November 2007. In 75 matches in charge, he has won 33 and drawn 28.

Rangers travel on Sunday for the televised clash against Hearts at Tynecastle. The Jambos have yet to score a goal in competitive games this season after losing their opening day league match to Dundee United (2-0) on Monday and then losing 4-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia on Thursday night. It's possible that their Europa League qualifier will have taken a great deal out of them but as always they will be fired up to play Rangers. Rangers' record at Tynecastle is not the greatest in recent seasons. Last year only one match was played there (three between the teams were played at Ibrox) and Hearts won 2-1. Rangers' last victory at Tynecastle was a 4-0 (Darcheville 2, Novo 2) drubbing at the tail end of the 2007/08 season but earlier in the season Hearts had won 4-2. Oddly enough, Tynecastle is one ground that Kris Boyd has not scored at as a Rangers player. He has scored 5 goals (includes 2 pens.) in 11 matches against Hearts but all at Ibrox.
Last six matches at Tynecastle for Rangers: P6 W2 D1 L3

Celtic to play Cliftonville

The oldest football club in Ireland has invited Celtic to mark the occasion of their 130th anniversary. The match will be arranged once Celtic know their European schedule.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/8213205.stm

Velicka returns to Scotland

Andrius Velicka's loan move to Bristol City is off after the striker sustained a horrific knee injury in his debut against QPR. The striker collapsed after just 5 minutes in the match at Ashton Gate and is likely to be out for 6 months.

Boyd to Turkey?

Kris Boyd has been the subject of transfer speculation this week with a possible move to Turkish Super Liga side Kayserispor. Boyd has one year left on his contract at Rangers but, with no extension talks mentioned, could be allowed to leave Ibrox. Kayserispor, who have drawn their opening two league matches 0-0 and 1-1, see Boyd as the goalscorer they require. The striker has scored 142 goals in the SPL and the £50,000 per week wage may tempt him away from Scotland.

Manager Merrygoround

Ex-Celt Paul Lambert and ex-Rangers manager Dick Advocaat have been on the move. Lambert has left Colchester United to become manager of Norwich City. This means that he leaves the team at the top of the English Second Division (9 points after three matches) to join the team who are third bottom (0ne point after 3 matches). Bryan Gunn was sacked after Norwich City were beaten 7-1 by Lambert's Colchester on day one of the season.
Dick Advocaat has been sacked by Zenit St Petersburg in Russia. Advocaat had agreed to take the post as manager of Belgium but see out the rest of the season in Russia. However, since his decision to leave Zenit, their results have been poor including a 2-0 loss to Tom Tomsk at the weekend. Consequently, he has left the club sooner than first intended. Advocaat managed Zenit to their Uefa Cup Final victory against Rangers in Manchester in 2008 . link to BBC report

Kevin Thomson to return

Kevin Thomson could make a start in Rangers' match at Tynecastle on Sunday. Thomson played just 13 minutes as a substitute on Saturday against Falkirk. The midfielder has been out of the side since sustaining a cruciate ligament injury six months ago.

Celtic 0, Arsenal 2 (Gallas 43, Caldwell og 71)

Celtic lost this first leg qualifier in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Before mentioning Arsenal's goals it should be said that they were the better team and closed Celtic down at every opportunity. However, with the match heading to a 0-0 half-time score, Fabregas was fouled by Gary Caldwell some 25 yards from goal. The ball was rolled to Fabregas who struck a neat shot. Artur Boruc had the shot covered but William Gallas, who was running across the line of the goal in order to unsight Boruc, deflected the ball off his back. In actual fact, Gallas was attempting to avoid the ball but it spun off him in to the far corner of the net. The goal on 43 minutes was a harsh blow for Celtic who had competed well up to that point.
Rather surprisingly, Celtic seemed to allow the goal to affect them just as much in the early part of the second half. Donati and NGuemo were off the pace and the latter twice lost possession sloppily. On both occasions Arsenal created chances, first for van Persie and secondly for Bendtner but neither was converted.
The surprise before the match was manager Tony Mowbray's decision to replace forwards McDonald and Fortune with Samaras and Brown. Celtic shaped up in a 4-5-1 formation that was designed to match Arsenal in midfield. For much of the first half, it worked well with van Persie and Arshavin not seeing too much of the ball. In the second half Mowbray removed Samaras and Donati in favour of McDonald and Fortune. Fortune created one chance crossing from the right but his cross was cleared for a corner by Gallas. NGuemo was booked for yet another foul on Fabregas and he will miss next week's return match. With that in mind, Mowbray replaced NGuemo with Paddy McCourt on 65 minutes. Arsene Wenger made a change of his own and brought Abou Diaby on in the 70th minute. His first contribution was to make a darting run into the heart of the Celtic defence and he passed to the left for Clichy. Clichy crossed the ball across the six yard box whereupon Gary Caldwell turned the ball past Boruc in goal.
For Celtic fans, the Arsenal goals were reminiscent of the defeat in Aalborg last year when Caca's shot on 73 minutes was deflected over Boruc and Aalborg's second goal was yet another own goal by Gary Caldwell. After that match Aalborg players were saying how they had enjoyed several years' luck all in one night. On this occasion, however, Arsenal did not need the luck. They were slicker in the passing than Celtic and better at keeping possession. Nonetheless, if only Celtic had enjoyed their slice of luck, they may have been awarded a penalty early in the second half when the ball struck Bendtner's arm from a Maloney free kick.

Yellow cards: Fox, NGuemo, Loovens

Transfer News

• Andreus Velicka has left Rangers to join Bristol City on loan for the entire season. Bristol City, who play in the Championship, acquired Paul Hartley from Celtic in June.

Old Firm versus Arsenal

Celtic and Rangers have played Arsenal on many occasions but predominantly in friendlies. However, Celtic did play Arsenal in one official match in the Coronation Cup of 1953. This was a one-off tournament to celebrate The Queen's accession to the throne. The competition was by invitation and was to be played out by the top 4 teams in England and Scotland. The teams representing Scotland were Aberdeen, Celtic, Hibernian and Rangers. From England came Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Celtic were paired with Arsenal in the quarter-final and the game was played at Hampden Park on Monday 11 May 1953 in front of around 60,000 spectators. Arsenal were the English Champions and were expected to win with ease.

Celtic: Bonnar, Haughney, Rollo, Evans, Stein, McPhail, Collins, Walsh, Mochan, Peacock, Tully

Arsenal: Swindin, Wade, Chentall, Forbes, Dodgin, Mercer, Roper, Goring, Holton, Lishman, Marden.

Bobby Collins scored directly from a free kick in 24 minutes to give Celtic a 1-0 win.

Rangers v Arsenal
On 20 April 1892 Rangers played Woolwich Arsenal in London and won 3-2. Kerr, Barker and McBain scored for Rangers. A 'return' fixture did not occur until April 1912 when the sides played out a 0-0 draw.

British Championship 1933
In 1933 both Rangers and Arsenal were champions of their respective countries. A British Championship play off was suggested and the two matches were played in September.
Rangers won both fixtures, 2-0 at Ibrox and 3-1 at Highbury.

SPL Goalscorers

McGeady (Celtic) 2

Miller (Rangers) 2

Kyle (Kilmarnock) 2

Opening Day Wins for Old Firm

Rangers and Celtic got their Scottish Premier League campaigns off to winning starts. Celtic kicked off at 12.45pm at Aberdeen, while Rangers unfurled the flag at Ibrox a couple of hours later. The Aberdeen-Celtic match launched the SPL for 2009/10 in earnest and was covered by Sky TV.


Aiden McGeady (below) scored twice for Celtic as they stormed in to a 3-0 half time lead. The third goal was scored by Aussie, Scott McDonald. Both Celtic's wide players, McGeady and Shaun Maloney, were the main driving force behind Celtic's early attacks. McGeady's second was a sublime bit of play which saw him turn just outside the 'D' and curl a left foot shot into the goalie's rigth hand corner. Aberdeen scored a wonderful goal in the second half: a volley by Sone Aluko, which looped over Artur Boruc.

Technically, Aiden McGeady scored the first goal of the season due to the early kick off at Pittodrie. However, had all matches kicked off simultaneously, the accolade of first goalscorer would have gone to Rangers' Lee McCulloch who scored on 14 minutes in his side's 4-1 victory over Falkirk. It was an excellent right foot shot into the top corner from almost 30 yards. Former Celt Kenny Miller (right) had a hand in the other three Rangers' goals with two good finishes of his own before setting up Steven Naismith to score the fourth with a fine though pass.