Hitthebyline introduces our latest contributor, Rangers fan Chris Mason. In his debut article for the site, Chris explores the optimistic notion that Rangers may well be back on the road to success after suffering a purple patch at the tail end of 2011.
Rangers Talisman – Nikica Jelavic
January is typically a depressing month, and this January is no exception, particularly for Rangers fans. After witnessing what seemed like an unassailable lead at the top of the SPL cut back due to an alarming loss of form, then losing top spot to Celtic in the festive Old Firm clash, there feels little to be cheery about. On top of this, there is the re-opening of the transfer window, where Rangers will be faced with the all too familiar daily speculation about the departure of our best players. Then there is the looming dark cloud that is the clubs ongoing tax battle with HMRC.
First let’s take a look the end of 2011. A poor run of results at the end of the year was difficult to take. So many key players seemed to be playing within themselves, in particular, the usually stellar Davis and Jelavic. Defeats to Kilmarnock and St Mirren were embarrassing, with the lack of fight and creativity difficult to understand. Narrow victories over Dunfermline and Caley Thistle at home did little to build confidence and the team went into the Old Firm game as underdogs. The game itself was stifled by the bad weather and although Rangers lost, the defeat was by virtue of the narrowest of margins, and I take comfort in the fact that there really isn’t too much between the two sides at the moment.
A negative start to this article I know, but let’s try and take a positive outlook for 2012. The club could badly do with a bit of optimism. After coming off a run of terrible results including an Old Firm defeat and losing top spot, there was anxiety at how the team would fare when the best of the rest in Motherwell came to visit Ibrox in the first fixture of the New Year. Things weren’t looking good when early in the match Kyle Lafferty pulled up with an injury and was substituted, leaving David Healy as the only striker on the park. However this turned into a blessing in disguise, as the team abandoned punting aimless long balls up field and actually played some impressive pass and move football, sweeping aside a lackluster Motherwell side 3-0 with an excellent team performance.
It was a confidence boosting result and Ally McCoist showed this was no time for messing about as he put out a strong side against Arbroath and the team eased into a 5th round tie at home against Dundee Utd. It was important to get back to winning ways, regardless of the quality of the opposition as too often Rangers have struggled against lesser teams this season. The winning trend continued of course as the Gers scraped past a formidable St Johnstone side at McDairmid Park, with Nikica Jelavic again proving how invaluable he is by netting a brace and ultimately securing the victory.
If the team can continue playing like this there is no reason why they cannot continue on this run of victories and put the pressure back on Celtic. However, consistency is the key to this.
That said, the nature of recent performances has been encouraging, with Lee Wallace and Sasa Papac developing a dangerous combination on the left wing and Allan McGregor proving again and again why he is easily the best keeper in the country. It’s also nice to see lifelong Gers fan David Healy getting a run in the team, a chance he hasn’t really had since joining the club. However, Sone Aluko deserves to be singled out for praise. He is a real creative spark for the team at the moment with Davis currently stuck in a rut. His enthusiasm to take on a man and beat him is refreshing, and he certainly gets the fan off of their seats. He was badly missed during his suspension and after making such a positive impact it is hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve a new two year contract.
The limitations of this positive aura around Rangers could of course be hampered by the club’s dealings in the transfer window. As usual, our prized assets have all been linked with moves away, but it is almost halfway through the month and so far the only concrete bid has been one for Mo Edu. Rightly or wrongly, many people would like to see this player leave the club, but the Rangers fans are united in support of the club’s plight to retain the services of the talisman Jelavic.
Undoubtedly he has the ability to play at a higher level, and deserves his chance to test his skills in a higher quality league, however it’s difficult to see the team winning the league without him. Hopefully the board realise what a negative message it would send out by selling him. The situation bears stark resemblance to the Kenny Miller fiasco this time last year. In that instance, McCoist’s men managed to do without the striker and go on to win the league, but given the threadbare nature of the attacking options available in reserve this time, it’d be a far more daunting task to repeat the process by allowing Jelavic to leave.
It would make more sense to keep him now, give Ally the best shot possible of winning the league, then let him go to Euro 2012 with Croatia and hopefully impress, adding a few million to his price tag before s then looking to sell him. Sadly though, money talks, and a sizeable bid could see the Croat leave for pastures new before the end of the month, with little realistic hope of seeing any transfer fee received for Jelavic being reinvested into the team.
For the same reason, expect to see few arrivals this January, instead younger players like John Fleck and Kyle Hutton will be expected to step up and impress.
These obstacles alone would be trying enough for most modern day football clubs, but when you throw in the current HMRC tax case, the situation becomes all the more perilous.
It’s difficult to discuss this in any real detail, with cowboy blogger’s, continual whispers of administration and innuendo in the media the only real information to go on in the place of cold hard facts. To put it plain and simple, no one really knows what’s happening, how much the club could owe, and what outcome is likely to happen. It is an ongoing case, neither party will discuss the facts and so fans unfortunately are left to feed on scraps and half truths. It’s infuriating for supporters, given how serious a matter it is. I feel that all we can really do is sit back and wait for the judgement in the coming months. This is far from ideal, but there is nothing left to do but stay positive and focus on the team’s performance on the pitch, as has been standard for the past three or four years. This isn’t the “burying your head in the sand” attitude that plenty of Rangers fans have been accused of over this issue, I accept how serious the situation is, but with little real facts to go on what else can fans do other than get behind the team?
So, what to make of all this then? It’s hard to ignore the off field issues, transfer talk and general negativity surrounding the club, but we’ve been here before year after year and every time we have defied expectations and won the league. I’m trying to be as optimistic as possible for the year ahead for Rangers. If we can keep our best players at the club and maintain our recent league form then it will be a close title race. As for the bigger issues, all we can do is continue to support the team and deal with any further issues that may come our way.
Introducing the newest opinion columnist here on Hit The Byline: Ewan McQueen. Have a read below at Ewan’s first piece, as he asks if St Mirren could be a leading light for the SPL.
It cannot be denied that Scottish football is facing a crisis and has been for some time. Fans are drifting away, the quality of players on show and the standard of play in general has considerably decreased in the last few years. Needless to say, once again our national team won’t be at a major finals this summer either.
However, amidst the darkness shines one beaming light. St Mirren football club.
No, you’re not dreaming, you have just read that. This season for me, the usually unfashionable Paisley side have led the way in trying to kick and drag Scottish football into a new way of playing and thinking.
Despite sitting 8th in the Scottish Premier League, I have been thoroughly impressed with how Danny Lennon’s side have gone about their business this season. Come May, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Saints sitting in the top six of the SPL.
And how will they achieve this? Simple, by sticking to the easy on the eye football that’s been a joy to watch for football fans across the board. The attacking style has clearly found favour with the St Mirren faithful, but has also won plaudits from fans from all corners of Scottish football.
When Danny Lennon was appointed St Mirren manager before the start of last season, many eyebrows were raised as he had only ever managed Cowdenbeath in the lower leagues and many questioned whether he could make the step up to Scotland’s elite division.
That said, he had led the Blue Brazil to successive promotions, and with St Mirren having stagnated somewhat under Gus Macpherson, some saw it as a fresh and bold appointment.
But in his first season (2010/11), Lennon struggled and just as under Macpherson, the Saints once again found themselves in the relegation mire, with only Hamilton saving them from a return to the First Division.
Last season, Lennon won just 8 games. This season in only 22 he has already won 6 and that number is unlucky not to be significantly higher. So what has changed?
To put it simply, last season Lennon didn’t have the quality of players to allow him to play slick, attractive football. Now, having made some shrewd summer signings, Lennon’s original vision of where he wanted to take the Paisley club is starting to become a reality.
Although there have been inevitable disappointments along the way, Lennon has started to dramatically reform St Mirren during 2011/12, and all of Scottish football could learn something from his team.
In every game this season, no matter who they have played or what the conditions have been, thanks to their manager, St Mirren have attempted to play a passing game. Of course, there have been some high-profile errors by doing this. (Such as Craig Samson, the goalkeeper, even trying to play football and letting Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths nick in for a goal)
However, it is has been very pleasing to watch. Along with Kilmarnock and to a certain extent Motherwell, it’s good that teams in Scottish football’s top league attempt to play ‘The Beautiful Game’ the way it was intended to be played.
But for me there are other aspects of St Mirren that make them the so-called leaders of this small ‘revolution’. As I pointed out before, in the summer Lennon made some excellent signings that took me and many other Scottish football observers by surprise.
Lennon blended the mix of youth and experience perfectly. He signed experienced former Scottish internationalists Steven Thompson and Gary Teale, whilst picking up promising youngsters Paul McGowan and Nigel Hasselbaink in other pieces of good business.
What Lennon also did, was get rid of players that clearly weren’t going to fit into his new vision for the club such as club captain John Potter and strikers Craig Dargo and Michael Higdon. Ruthless and brave, yes, but he has been proved right in doing so.
As well as this, Lennon brought through one of the hottest young talents in Scottish football, Kenny McLean. Along with Paul McGowan, McLean has terrorised defences with marvelous trickery and creativity. Both are now said to be on Craig Levein’s Scotland shortlist and in my mind that is well deserved.
Let’s not forget that McLean and McGowan are what you term in Scotland “wee men”. They could be seen as the Xavi and Iniesta of the Buddies, by some at least.
Now before you say the men in white coats should be coming for me, I’m not saying they are as good as the Spanish duo; merely more managers should be giving young players with the ability to out-fox defences rather than just lumping it to a 6ft 4 targetman all the time. Only then in my view, can Scotland start to have a bright future.
Let’s not forget Danny Lennon is a young manager, at the age of just 41. Experience can be so vital in the game, I won’t deny that (Lennon himself made a very good move by appointing 61 year old Tommy Craig as his number 2). But the SPL was beginning to stagnate under the constant revolving door of management opportunities for outdated and exhausted managers like Gus McPherson, Craig Brown and Jim Jefferies to name but a few.
That raw energy of young managers can also help players who take that out onto the pitch. That has happened this season with Lennon, who always promotes a positive message and through the aforementioned McGowan and McLean plus other such as Aaron Mooy and Jim Goodwin (also both his signings), St Mirren are a real threat to any defence in the SPL, as the current Scottish champions have found out the hard way.
It would be criminal not to mention the Saints superb team goal at Ibrox, where despite being 1-0 behind in the last minute, they stuck to their passing principles right from the goalkeeper Samson to the striker Thompson – where the rewards were justly reaped.
Samson started the move and after a couple more passes it was moved out to David Van Zanten on the right wing who crossed for Steven Thompson who swept home against his former club. It’s well worth a watch if you haven’t done so already.
So I say, let’s hear it for St Mirren and their new found philosophy. Long may it continue and I hope it spreads throughout Scotland. In a time of constant re-invention of the Scottish game, the teams in the top flight could do a lot worse than take a leaf out of the Buddies’ book.
Got an opinion on the article above? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
You’d think that there’d be no better judge of striking ability for Celtic to call upon than the Swedish sensation, Henrik Larsson. Larsson’s name will forever echo throughout European football as a great of the game, but did Celtic’s ‘magnificent’ no.7 get it wrong when it comes to the signing of Mohammed Bangura?
On the 30th of August last year, Neil Lennon’s side splashed the cash to the value of £2.2million on AIK’s highly regarded Sierra Leone international, Mohammed Bangura. The Parkhead faithful salivated at the thought of another forward with the guile of Larsson, but 4 months in Bangura has yet to find the back of the net.
Ironically, at the time of his signing, AIK also had another ‘Bangura’ on their books. Teteh Bangura (no relation) plays the same position, is the same age, and the same nationality as Mohammed. However, the similarities end when it comes to on the field matters.
Both Banguras played together at Kallon, and remarkably, Mo was the more prolific of the two, netting a remarkable 39 times in 58 appearances. Mo, after a semi-successful spell at AIK, made the move to Celtic, while Teteh proved to be the Bangura who was ‘banging’ in the goals.
Teteh scored a superb 15 goals in 17 appearances for AIK this season, before making the switch to Turkish top-flight club Bursaspor. Since his switch to the Super Lig, Teteh has managed 3 goals in 9 appearances. This clearly is a dip in conversion, but given that Bursaspor are fighting against relegation, his haul for the season still remains decent.
Mohammed however, looks as though he’s finding it a little tougher to find his form. He’s turned out on 12 fruitless occasions for Celtic (granted that only 1 of these has been a start). Altogether, he’s played 5.5 hours of football for the Glasgow giants, and it would seem as though he’ll not have long left to convince Neil Lennon or the Celtic fans that he’s the man for the job.
Match
Time on the field
Date
Details
1
23 mins
10/9/11
4-0 win over Motherwell
2
9 mins
18/9/11
4-2 loss against Rangers
3
14 mins
21/9/11
2-0 win over Ross County
4
39 mins
24/9/11
2-0 win over ICT
5
90 mins
29/9/11
1-1 draw against Udinese
6
59 mins
2/10/11
2-0 loss against Hearts
7
45 mins
15/10/11
3-3 draw against Killie
8
3 mins
20/10/11
1-1 draw against Rennes
9
27 mins
26/11/11
5-0 win against St Mirren
10
1 minute
10/12/11
1-0 win over Hearts
11
9 mins
15/12/11
1-1 draw against Udinese
12
11 mins
18/12/11
2-0 win over St Johnstone
Total : 330 minutes (5.5 hours)
Points can be made for and against Mo Bangura’s performances. He’s young, and has a history of goalscoring. Perhaps Celtic’s style of play isn’t utilising his ability in the best way? Take the recent form of Giorgios Samaras for example. Six months ago, the Celtic support were almost unanimous in the opinion that the player wasn’t a valuable asset to the club. Now, after a stint as more of a floating left-sided forward, he’s scoring goals and causing problems to top clubs in the Europa League. I also seem to remember John Hartson taking around 8 or so appearances before he got that Parkhead goalscoring monkey off his back.
On the negative side, even the most run of the mill Celtic strikers throughout the ages have managed a decent goal scoring record. Andy Paton, Darren Jackson, Tony Cascarino, Marc-Antoine Fortune, and even the much ridiculed Harald Brattbakk notched up a decent tally – so why is this £2.2million acquisition seemingly incapable of doing the same?
The clock is ticking for Bangura. As a Celtic striker, the pressure is on, by hook or by crook to score goals. Not all strikers get to make a dream start, in such a way that the likes of Jorge Cadete did in his debut against Aberdeen. The approval of such a legend as Henrik Larsson doesn’t come lightly, but with the SPL title looking to go down to the wire, and with Lennon in the market for another striker, Bangura’s time to find his form is of the essence.
As the ever controversial Vladimir Romanov era erupts again with stories of unpaid wages and players going on strike, the Jambos fans could be forgiven for reminiscing over happier times. The club’s last major coo was securing the 2006 Scottish Cup. Hitthebyline takes a look back at that successful Hearts team, and reveals where they are now.
Goalkeeper – Craig Gordon
The biggest success in this Hearts team; and the most expensive Jambo in history, Craig Gordon’s career continued to flourish after the success of 2006.Gordon played 139 times for Hearts, and is the youngest player ever to be named in the club’s Hall of Fame (aged just 24 at the time). The year after the Scottish Cup triumph, Sunderland broke the UK transfer record for a goalkeeper by signing Gordon for £9million. He’s been capped for Scotland 40 times, and played 87 times for Sunderland, despite falling out of favor on occasion. Serious injuries have hampered his career progress (in particular an 8-month layoff as a result of knee surgery) and the player has found himself surplus to requirements with the Black Cats. The arrival of Martin O’Neill at the club may positively impact his fortunes, but as it stands, the player’s contract is due to expire in the summer. Celtic and Arsenal are known to be interested in the player, and at just 28-years of age, Gordon’s best years are clearly still in front of him.
Defender – Robbie Neilson
After 13 years and 200 appearances for the Gorgie club, Neilson set off in search of a new challenge in 2009, ending up at Championship club Leicester City. Neilson was at the mainstay of Sven Goran Eriksson’s promotion challenging side in his first year at the club, making 19 starts that season. However, things too turned sour for Neilson as his first team opportunities were restricted to just a handful in the coming years.In February of this year, he was loaned out to League One club Brentford, where he made 15 appearances, the highlight of which was the Football League Trophy final (where the London club narrowly lost to Carlisle). Neilson was released by Leicester in May, and trained briefly with Falkirk and Burton Albion before making a welcome return to the SPL, joining Peter Houston’s Dundee United. The experienced defender has failed to capture the form at Hearts that endeared him to the fans and saw him capped for Scotland, but at 31-years old the player does have a few years left in him at the top level. Away from the field, Neilson has recently been banned from driving after being clocked at 106mph.
Defender – Steven Pressley (c)
The Scottish Cup victory proved to be the swan song of Pressley, as the infamous spat with Vladimir Romanov came to a head in the months that followed the final.After a phenomenal 271 appearances for Hearts, Pressley made the surprise switch to Celtic, having rejected offers from Championship sides Derby County and Charlton.Pressley was a formidable presence in the Celtic back-four, and went on to captain the side on several occasions.The highlight of his time in Glasgow’s East End was a Scottish Cup win in 2008. This etched Pressley into the history books as the first player to win the Scottish Cup with three different clubs. When his contract expired at Celtic, Pressley trained with several clubs to keep up his level of fitness, before signing a short-term deal with Falkirk. Upon his retirement as a player, he was handed the assistant manager’s job at Brockville, and eventually became the manager. ‘Elvis’ has had his ups and downs as a manager, but now seems to have turned the corner. In his first season he saw Falkirk relegated to the Scottish First Division, but he now has assembled a young team playing attractive football and challenging for promotion. Pressley is now regarded as one of the up and coming Scottish management talents, with many a close eye watching his progress.
Defender – Ibrahim Tall
This big Senegalese defender’s move to Tynecastle was fraught with controversy, as then manager George Burley had the player added to his squad against his wishes by owner Vladimir Romanov. Despite earning a huge £8,000 per week at the time, Tall spent much of his time on the bench or in the stand, appearing just 35 times in 3 years. In the 2005-2006 season he formed a strong central defensive partnership with Steven Pressley. Despite the relative success, the player was released in 2008 and signed for newly promoted Ligue 1 side FC Nantes. Tall was a regular in this side before making the move to Greece in 2010 to play for Larissa (not long after another SPL export, Maciej Zurawski, had parted ways with the Greek outfit.) Tall remains with Larissa to this day and is a regular starter under manager Chris Coleman .
Defender – Takis Fyssas
The capture of Fyssas’ signature was indeed a signal of intent as a resurgent Hearts then aimed to break the stranglehold of the Old Firm in Scottish football. The big Greek defender made a surprise move to Hearts from Benfica in 2005, at a time when clubs in the Bundesliga and English Championship were interested in the player. Fyssas was an integral part of the remarkable Greek triumph at Euro 2004, making his signing all the more impressive. He arguably peaked during his time at Tynecastle, both in terms of the standard of football he was playing at club level, and also that the player earned the majority of his 60 caps for Greece around that period of time. In 2007 he left the Edinburgh club in favour of a move to Greek giants Panathinaikos. After only a handful of games, Fyssas decided to retire and take on a coaching role with the Greek national side. He is currently the technical director of the Greek Football Federation (Hellenic Football Federation) based in Athens.
Midfielder – Deividas Česnauskis
A popular trait of the Romanov early years was to import several players from FBK Kaunas, one of which was Česnauskis. The Lithuanian’s contribution to the successful Scottish Cup campaign was notable, in that he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win over Partick Thistle in the quarter final. Česnauskis appeared 68 times for Hearts in 4 years, but fell out of favour towards the end of his time in the capital.Due to injuries and poor form, the player found himself not featuring for over a year at Hearts, andeventually chose to leave in 2009, signing a two-year deal with Greek minnows Ergotelis. After a year there, he switched to Aris FC (also of Greece). The move again didn’t work out for the player, who’s since made an unusual move to the Azerbaijan Premier league outfit FC Baku. Česnauskis’ Scottish Cup winners medal has proved to be just the second honour of the player’s career, after winning the Russian Premier League with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2004.
Midfielder – Bruno Aguiar
Another Kaunas import, Bruno Aguiar, made his move to Hearts after finding himself bereft of opportunities at Benfica, and failing to secure a permanent move after a couple of loan deals in Portugal. Aguiar played an important part in the 2005/2006 SPL campaign run-in, having only joined the club in January 2006, he strung together several impressive performances, assisting Hearts to narrowly secure 2nd spot in the SPL, displacing Rangers by a single point. At the start of the following season, things soon went wrong for Aguiar. The midfielder was sent off in the Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens, and only weeks later he suffered a horrendous ankle injury that kept him out the game for 18 months. Aguiar was told he may never play again, but still managed to return and champion the Edinburgh club’s cause. The Portugese playmaker returned to action in October of 2008, managed to win the SPL player of the month award for December, and ended up as Hearts’ top scorer for the season with 7 goals. In 2009 his contract expired and he joined Cypriot side AC Omonia, where he’s become a fantastic success to this day. Aguiar has continued to endure injury problems, but played a huge part in helping Omonia to win the Cypriot League and Cup double last season.
Midfielder – Paul Hartley
Industrious midfielder Paul Hartley became a household name during his time at Hearts (2003-2007) after moving from St Johnstone on a free transfer. His tenacious, rugged style of play attracted plaudits from the Old Firm, major clubs in England, and kick-started his international career. The player went on to play 25 times for Scotland, and appeared 118 times for Hearts, scoring 31 times in the process. Although usually a reliable player, Hartley found himself on the receiving end of a red card in the 2006 Scottish Cup final. Possibly his most memorable match for the Jam Tarts was the Scottish Cup semi-final against arch-rivals Hibernian, as the Scotsman scored his first hat-trick as a professional footballer in a 4-0 mauling at Hampden. Another impressive year was spent at Hearts before Celtic took the plunge and purchased the player for £1.1million. Then Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was a huge fan of Hartley, usually deploying the player in a defensive ball-winning midfield role. His highlight in Glasgow was helping to guide the club to the SPL championship in the 2007-2008 season, where the Bhoys had to (and subsequently did) win all of their remaining 8 league fixtures, two of which were against Rangers, to clinch the title. In 2009, new Celtic manager Tony Mowbray released Hartley, and the player joined Bristol City for a single season. Hartley scored in his debut and held his own for the Championship club, but cited a desire to return to Scotland as the catalyst to join Aberdeen the following season. At 34-years old, time was against Hartley, but he was nonetheless appointed club captain, and scored a hat-trick of penalty kicks in his debut for the Dons against Hamilton in a 4-0 win. He turned out 24 times for Aberdeen during the 2010-2011 season, but decided to retire from playing after suffering a medial knee ligament injury. Hartley is currently the manager of Scottish 3rd Division side Alloa Athletic. He’s guided the team to the top of the league after 17 games, having lost just twice, and has registered himself as a player (despite as yet never picking himself, and previously saying he’d retired), so the fans of the Wasps met yet see Hartley pull on the boots in their fight for promotion into the 2nd Division.
Attacking Midfielder –Rudi Skacel
Cultured Czech international Rudi Skacel is the only player of the 2006 starting XI who currently still plays his football at Tynecastle. The Scottish Cup final win was to be Skacel’s last game for Hearts before joining up with former Hearts manager George Burley at Southampton, after his stellar form attracted a £1.6million bid from the Championship club. Skacel found himself being deployed mostly as a left-back to fill the void filled by the departure of Gareth Bale to Spurs. He appeared 81 times in 3 seasons for Southampton before three somewhat fruitless transfers to the continent. The first of which was a loan deal, taking him to Hertha Berlin. Here the talented attacker played 16 times but didn’t convince the Germans to splash the cash and bring him in on a permanent basis. Southampton found themselves relegated, and to save cash, Skacel was one of many players who was released. Next up was a move to his former club Slavia Prague, but Skacel made just 5 appearances before being released, and picked up by Greek side Larissa. This deal too didn’t work out for the Czech as his chances were limited to just 7 appearances before Hearts made the bold move to resign the player for an undisclosed fee in 2010. A return debut made in heaven was to ensue, as he scored against Rangers. Since then, he’s been a regular in the Hearts team and recaptured the form that attracted a wide range of attention in the first place. The long term future of Skacel looks extremely unclear, as Hearts financial problems continue to mount up, and the player’s contract is due to expire in the coming weeks – it may well be the case that Rudi Skacel’s time at Hearts is about to come to an end.
Striker – Roman Bednar
The tall figure of Roman Bednar was a revelation during his time at Tynecastle,finding a knack of scoring in big games regularly. Bednar netted on his debut against Kilmarnock, scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Rangers, and netted a brace against Celtic at Tynecastle in a 2-1 for the Gorgie club (to name but a few scalps of his). The Czech international played another season at Hearts after the Scottish Cup win, before being snapped up initially on loan, then on a permanent basis by Championship promotion hopefuls West Bromwich Albion. The striker spent 3 seasons at West Brom, one of which in the Premiership, making over 100 appearances, and finding the back of the net 34 times. Bednar fell out of favour at the Hawthorns last season, and made a short-term loan move to fellow Championship side Leicester City. Following this, a £1.2 million offer from Bristol City was accepted for the tall forward, but he failed to agree personal terms and joined Turkish side Ankaragucu for the remainder of the season. Surprisingly, despite not being a regular starter, he’s agreed a contract extension at West Brom until the end of the current season. At just 28, there’s much hope yet for Bednar to make as big an impact on the game in England as he did in Scotland.
Striker – Edgaras Jankauskas
This well travelled striker didn’t stay in the one place for too often at all. His time at Hearts was a two-season long loan from FBK Kaunas, but this doesn’t begin to tell the story of his wealth of experience. Jankauskas turned out for no less than 16 different clubs in his professional career, including CSKA Moscow, Porto, Benfica, Nice and Real Sociedad. His experience and guile helped to no end during the 2005-2006 season, as the player, alongside the powerful Bednar, steamrollered through defenses regularly. His time in Scotland proved to be the last, significant length of time the player seemed settled at any club. At 6ft 4, his stature made him an ideal target man, but he only managed 9 goals in two years at the Gorgie club. The Scottish Cup winners medal belonging to Jankauskas will be dwarfed in terms of importance next to the Champions League winners medal he obtained during his time at Porto in 2004, and the Uefa Cup winners medal he won in 2003. His success with Porto to this day makes Jankuskas the only Lithuanian ever to have won the Champions League. His international career too was remarkable, representing his country regularly over a career spanning 17 years. After departing Hearts in 2007, he played half a season for Greek side AEK Larnaca. This was followed by more short term moves to Belenenses of Portugal, Skonto Riga of Latvia, Vilnius of his native Lithuania, New England Revolution of the USA, and finally FC Fakel Voronezh of Russia before retiring. It could be said that Hearts parted company at the correct time, as the striker managed on average less than 10 appearances per club, and less than 3 goals per club after leaving the SPL. Jankauskas now holds the rather unusual role of Assistant Manager/Translator for Lokomotiv Moscow, who finished 6th last year in the Russian Premier League.
As Rangers new signing Sone Aluko looks to kick-start his Rangers career after a despicable diving incident, the Nigerian international appears to have shot himself in the foot again. The forward was banned for three matches following a clear dive to win Rangers a penalty (and ultimately the match) against Dunfermline; and was handed an opportunity to the media today to come clean and condemn his deception of the game’s officials.
Instead of doing so, Aluko has brushed off the incident, and likened diving to other foul play or stoppages of play in the game (namely, offside decisions, handball incidents).
He said: “Everyone has had an opinion. There were seven-page spreads and every ex-pro had this and that to say.
“It was three weeks ago, let’s get on with it. It’s football, it happens.”
The correct thing to do would have been for Aluko to stop here. He’s committed a footballing felony, he’s served his punishment, and should now be free to press on with making a name for himself at the Ibrox club.
However, Aluko continued on, defiantly absolving himself from any wrong-doing.
Aluko said: “People have handballs, people are accused of diving. Those are football incidents and people like to talk, that’s what’s beautiful about the game.”
“Every player would be a cheat. If you get caught offside, that’s cheating, it’s not in the laws of the game. If you handball it that’s cheating. Who’s not a cheat in football?”
“I’m just going to carry on playing the way I do and everyone else will talk.”
“I’ll keep playing in the same way. I’m not going to change because there is a new panel or whatever.”
Perhaps the increased media spotlight that comes with the move from Aberdeen to Rangers, coupled with the player’s inexperience could be to blame for these ludicrous comments, but either way, the club must issue a statement to counter Aluko’s opinions.
Diving is in no way like being caught offside or touching the ball with your hand. If a player dives, they are trying to deceive the match officials to gain an advantage in the match. The case of the Rangers player is worse yet, as the simulation in question was the deciding factor in an SPL victory for the Glasgow club, providing three valuable points in a title race that is expected to go to the wire. Does the average Old Firm fan or SPL neutral want to see the championship be decided in such a way? – Clearly not. In a time of proposed reform for the Scottish game, when every aspect of it is under the microscope for scrutiny, this kind of attitude to diving is not acceptable. On a global level, diving (or ‘simulation’ to give it it’s euphemistic FIFA title) is regarded as one of the biggest problems in the modern game.
Rangers, as with Celtic in the SPL, are huge clubs who’re leveled with the expectation to win with style, not by virtue of diving. Scottish football fans don’t want to pay to go and watch over-paid players diving to earn success in an unwholesome manner.
The baton of responsibility is now passed to the Rangers officials, and the manager Ally McCoist to quash this moment of madness from Aluko. The time is now for the club, and the SPL as a unit to take a firm and unequivocal stance on diving in the game.
Are there greater powers at work in Scottish football? The recent news that Scotland’s talisman and model professional Darren Fletcher has been struck down with a serious stomach bug, forcing him to take some time out of the game, has come at a time when Scotland has already been brought to its knees and is now lying spread-eagle face down on the ground, wondering where it all went wrong.
It would seem that the powers that be in that great boardroom in the sky have it in for this founding nation of the “beautiful game”. From fines to unpaid tax bills and wages and bullets to corrupt disciplinary procedures, the visible signs of a downward trend are obvious. Ex-politicians have been brought in to advise, wicket keepers appointed to keep the peace, all to no avail. Now it seems even our captain is the target of some misfortune from on high.
But who can blame the footballing gods for striking us down? If football was a religion and not just a direct substitution for one, as some would have us believe, there would be an inquisition and not just another investigation or review. A group of Europeans from Zürich would have landed on our shores, dressed in black robes with the FIFA logos emblazoned on their galeros, marching on all the shrines of football. Promptly they would round up the key instigators within the established rungs of Scottish football and subject them to all manner of interrogation before replacing them with their own cronies. After successive torture methods and years of imprisonment, the inquisitors would gather the followers of football together and proclaim “you are all guilty”. The criminals responsible for perpetrating all of the vile acts against Scottish football in recent times are the collective institution itself.
It is clear to see from the issues, controversy and debacle after debacle that all of Scottish football’s problems are self-inflicted. All stakeholders in the Scottish game have a joint responsibly to a greater or lesser degree. The alleged corruption within refereeing was a product of a flawed disciplinary procedure and complacent practices from an old guard of referees and an association unwilling to update its practices. The Rangers vs. Inland Revenue bout stemmed from mismanagement and a belief that Rangers Football Club was an untouchable icon of Scottish society. The actions of a mindless few, who tarnished the game throughout the 2010/11 season, were also a product of the society in which we live, operating at the extreme end of a sliding scale from 90-minute bigotry to serious offences that go far beyond rivalry and banter.
In more general terms, the falling attendances and revenues have long been an indicator of an overpriced and unsound product. Countless people speak about how the Old Firm can “charge whatever they like” for a derby ticket. However, surely the converse is true? Supply and demand? Scottish football is currently damaged goods and requires some significant price restructuring to encourage interest. Perhaps there should be a sign outside all stadiums: “broken, in need of repair –entrance half price”.
The SFA seem to be powerless to deal with issues in the game and have been overlooked by UEFA in imposing fines on both sides of the Old Firm. These teams play in a league governed by the SFA and should be disciplined for breaches in its code of conduct by the SFA. Instead, the SFA ignore it and UEFA have to intervene, undermining the strength and independence of Scottish football and its governing association.
Within the national team there have been several key events. Former captain Barry Ferguson and current favoured goalkeeper Alan McGregor both disgraced themselves with an all-night drinking session at the Cameron House Hotel and subsequently did themselves no favours by reacting and gesturing to the media and, by proxy, the fans. Aiden McGeady was also snatched from beneath the nose of the Scotland youth system.
Almost all up and coming Scotland players seem to be destined to veer off of the straight and narrow at some point in their careers. McFadden, O’Conner, Riordan and now Bannan – at what point will young players realise that the reason they are no longer reaching the height of previous Scots is that there are players out there who will outstrip them on every level both personally and professionally. They will train harder, get up earlier, study more, sacrifice more, drink less, cause less trouble and keep constraints on their ego. The players currently waiting in the wings have to realise that this is the “modern game” and success is rewarded only after large amounts of sacrifice.
As an all-round product, a day out at the football should inspire us and coax us out of our comfortable living rooms into a passionate theatre of entertainment. The Scottish game has much to offer, but is sadly marred in so many areas that no single change or revamp would yield any significant outcome.
The ‘unlucky’ footballing nation of European and indeed International football tag is an unenviable one to bequeath Scotland. From numerous national teams throughout the years being glorious failures in qualifying and at major finals, to Celtic’s hard-fought but ultimately worthless point away to Udinese last night, a common theme is apparent. Perhaps it could be suggested that the rectification of the aforementioned root-cause problems of Scottish football could potentially alleviate the ‘unlucky’ tag in years to come.
The only way forward is for the individuals who have watched over Scottish football as it staggered towards its current lowly state to take account of their actions, stand up and move aside for transition to a more modern and fresh thinking approach.
The loss of Darren Fletcher does not affect the Scottish the domestic game; it is just another injury to add to insult on the downturn of Scottish football. It is not only a loss for a match squad; it is a loss for the game. Darren Fletcher is a model professional and a teetotaller for a start. He’s a player who young footballers should be inspired by and someone who, if all else fails, Scotland can look to for confidence that one day we will become a strong footballing nation again.
We can but hope, on a personal and sporting level, that Darren makes a speedy recovery to regain his position as a leading light in Scottish football at a time of such unmitigated darkness.
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