Dunfermline v Rangers Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds SPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Rangers look to close the gap in the title race as they travel to face Dunfermline in the Scottish Premier League. The match will take place at East End Park in Dunfermline, Scotland on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

I have more goodies coming over the next week, but let's just settle a couple of things for now. Folks seem to over-deciphered a comment by Rangers boss Ally McCoist when he said he was open to sending Alejandro Bedoya out on loan. I can assure you he will not be doing so, that there are no such discussions occurring and that the manager is happy with the player's progress at Ibrox.

Did your Cup overfloweth last week?
Not so much. Or if it did is was with lukewarm, overly milky tea rather than with an expensive Asti Spumante.
Back to the slog of the SPL today though. What joys await...
St Johnstone v Rangers
Poor timing.
That was Ally McCoist's verdict on his bid for St Johnstone's Francisco Sandaza on the eve of today's game.

photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

If at first you don't succeed, try again.

That is the approach Sochaux is taking in terms of Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu.

Having had a previous bid worth an estimated $774,400 turned down, Sochaux has launched a second bid for the U.

It will apparently take a lot more than what FC Sochaux was offering to pry Maurice Edu away from Rangers.

The Scottish club emphatically turned down Sochaux's bid for the U.S. national team midfielder a day after a reported offer of £500,000 was put on the table.

"What I would say is the bid that they put in was so far away that I would be very surprised if they came back in," Rangers manager Ally McCoist told the BBC.

Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic has been linked with a move to England for weeks now, but despite the ongoing speculation, 'Gers manager Ally McCoist claims that no bids have come in from any Premier League club. .confirms: No bids yet for Croatian striker...In a Press conference yesterday, McCoist was asked whether any bids had come in for Jelavic.

Ally McCoist says Rangers have not received bids for Nikica Jelavic

Rangers manager Ally McCoist claims no offers have been made for Nikica Jelavic. The striker has been tipped for a January exit and has been linked with Liverpool and QPR.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-30 12:16:36 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

So Lee McCulloch is free to play for Rangers tonight.
How can that be? Wasn't he red carded against St Mirren on Saturday?
That he was. For flinging an elbow. I've seen more heinous crimes on a football pitch. But I'd also say that the red card was justified.
Opinions, of course, are like certain anatomical features.

The SPL works off the turkey and mince pies with a full Wednesday evening fixture. The eyes of the world upon us once more. Or at least the eyes of those Sky viewers not tempted by the tungsten superheroes at the Ally Pally.
Celtic v Rangers
Apparently recent form has left some Celtic supporters confident about this one.

Ally McCoist has urged striker Nikica Jelavic to reject the chance of a move away from Rangers, with Liverpool one of the reported suitors.
Speculation over the last fortnight has placed the Reds in the mix for the striker, who moved to Ibrox Stadium for £4 million last August.
His form in the SPL has alerted a number of clubs south of the border, with The Daily Mail claiming today that Reds boss Kenny Dalglish is one the interested parties in the 26-year-old.

Nikica Jelavic urged to snub Liverpool, QPR, Sunderland and West Brom

Ally McCoist hopes Nikica Jelavic would favour the opportunity to win further silverware at Rangers over financial incentives from the Barclays Premier League.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-23 09:32:45 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

McCoist Jelavic crucial

Rangers manager Ally McCoist has concurred with ex-boss Walter Smith's assessment Nikica Jelavic is crucial to their title ambitions.

View the full story here: Sky Sports

A news article on 2011-12-22 20:23:01 from: Sky Sports

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Day ten of the SPL Advent. Rangers. Dreaming of a Whyte Christmas.
Rangers offer another chance for one of these half season reviews to become more a work of financial reporting. I'll try to resist.
We know the taxman cometh, we know Craig Whyte himself rarely seems short of a battle to fight and we know that other companies and individuals have raised concerns over Rangers' financial position.

Liverpool in fight with Rangers for Dundee United midfielder Scott Allen

Ally McCoist faces an even tougher task to lure Scott Allan to Rangers after Liverpool last night entered the race to sign the Dundee United starlet.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-16 22:42:30 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Their Words I think Maurice's form in the last three or four games has been really, really encouraging and he has certainly been one of the better players in the team.... We've been very pleased with him. The one thing Maurice does do is work extremely hard - he's a real grafter and a workaholic. That's a massive part of his game.

Nikica Jelavic insists he's happy at Rangers despite being flattered by reported interest from Liverpool.
The striker has bagged 28 league goals in just 40 appearances since joining from Rapid Vienna in 2010.
The Croatian international was the subject of a big-money bid from Leicester City in the summer and Gers boss Ally McCoist is braced for further interest in the January transfer window.

Maurice Edu has done well for himself ever since joining Rangers from Toronto FC in 2008, and the club hopes to keep him for the long haul.

Rangers manager Ally McCoist said that the club has begun to have contract extension talks with Edu and his representatives. The U.

It seems like ages since I tickled the malnourished belly of the SPL with a wildly inaccurate prediction post.
I think the last time I Nostradamus-ed the weekend action Rangers had won the title and Motherwell were about to take the Champion's League by storm.
What a difference an eight point swing makes.

Sone Aluko got banned for diving.
Garry O'Connor got away with diving.
Ergo the new disciplinary procedures in place at the SFA are ridiculous and hellbent on making a mockery of the Scottish game. At best.
At worst the new procedures have been all but designed to penalise one team above others.

Midnight. Halfway through. Normal people might be thinking about bed. Or working up to cutting some moves. Or getting enough drink in them to make a mistimed, ill-judged and futile pass at someone they've spotted across the bar.
And I'm gearing up for a night of football chat. If you've been out, got back and have some change kicking about in your pockets it would be very, very gratefully received.

Football clubs and the media covering them live together as slightly estranged bedfellows, desirous of one another's company but at times cold or distant when the other's been bad in the sack. Quite often it is the club in some capacity turning away, demanding the media pick up the blanket off the end of the bed and to go sleep on the couch for the night.

Rangers profit on and off the pitch against lacklustre Liverpool

• Lee McCulloch scores only goal of a drab friendly match • Rangers benefit financially as 4,000 fans follow Liverpool For Rangers, there proved a football benefit to a friendly encounter which almost certainly had finance as a motivating factor.

An odd thing happened to the prediction that Celtic would break the GI Joe kung-fu grip Rangers have had on the Scottish Premier League trophy the past three years. Quite simply, it appears to have been rather hastily determined based on deceptive appearances alone, or perhaps a notable disappearance from Ibrox.

After an enthralling climax to last year's Scottish Premier League, which saw elder statesmen Walter Smith's Rangers side take the title over newcomer Neil Lennon's Celtic by just a solitary point, hopes were high that this year would also be a season to remember for the Old Firm.

Lennon is in his first full seasonsecond season as the manager at Parkhead, and long-time assistant Ally McCoist has finally taken over for Smith at the Govan club.

For those that are statistically inclined, there's been a new focus on completed passes in Major League Soccer this season. Part of that is the influence of FC Barcelona, felt from the top clubs in Europe, to national teams, to rec sides that like what they see from Pep Guardiola's Barca style.
J Hutcherson writes of the continued influence of Barcelona - both on the world, and specifically on Major League Soccer.

Three's a crowd In an unexpected display of Old Firm hospitality, Rangers decided to provide Celtic with a few obvious gags by offering manager Ally McCoist this seat in the directors' box. After Sky Sports had cut to McCoist a couple of times, someone must have wisely whispered in the woman's ear that she might [.

When your club is the league champion, it seems everyone wants to take you down. Titles often come with that rather annoying Bulls Eye that the manager can never remove from his club's back until they are no longer champions or he is no longer the manager. For Rangers, of course, it matters not who the manager is nor how long it has been since a title had last been won.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

The final playoff round of the UEFA Europa League is set to get underway on Thursday, and up to a dozen Americans could be in action as a result.

Carlos Bocanegra is one of the players who may see playing time as Rangers is hoping to field him in the first leg of its series against NK Maribor.

The return of European football. Scotland expects.
The worst, usually.
Dundee United have already shuffled off, cramming a qualifying defeat into the SPL's blink-and-you'll-miss-it summer holiday.
Three survive. Rangers reward for not winning their Champions League qualifier is a shot at the Europa League if they can negotiate past Slovenia's NK Maribor in the play off round.

Ally is not havin' it

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that we are actually making bids on real, live players who might consider playing for Bolton. The bad news is that we're getting rejected. Ally McCoist, manager of Glasgow Rangers has confirmed that Bolton made a £400k bid for 20 year old Gregg Wylde.

Ally is not havin' it

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that we are actually making bids on real, live players who might consider playing for Bolton. The bad news is that we're getting rejected. Ally McCoist, manager of Glasgow Rangers has confirmed that Bolton made a £400k bid for 20 year old Gregg Wylde.

Rangers are expected to step up their efforts to take their former player Danny Wilson back on loan from Liverpool, to strengthen the defence of the Ibrox side.
Manager Ally McCoist has been keen to secure the return of another former Ibrox hero, Carlos Cuellar, but the club has admitted that there will be no move for the injured Aston Villa player in this transfer window.

Even as you enter the theatre, Singing 'I'm No A Billy, He's A Tim' begins to knock one prejudice on the head. The idea that "Edinburgh in August isnae for normal folk" takes a hell of beating in this tale of Old Firm supporters.
It's been estimated that 75 percent of audiences seeing Des Dillon's play have never been to the theatre before.

Gers give up on Juhasz

Ally McCoist is not expecting Roland Juhasz to join Rangers, although a Danny Wilson return could be on the cards.

View the full story here: Sky Sports

A news article on 2011-08-12 14:51:43 from: Sky Sports

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Alejandro Bedoya is a big step closer to teaming with Maurice Edu at Rangers.

Bedoya was granted his work permit on Friday, giving the clearance for him to join the Scottish club. While Rangers and the U.S. international midfielder agreed on a pre-contract deal to bring him from Orebro in January, Rangers manager Ally McCoist wants to speed up the process now that the biggest hurdle has been cleared.

Danny Wilson admits he may be forced to consider a loan move away from Liverpool this season in a bid to boost his international career. The 19-year-old made just eight appearances last term following his switch to Anfield from Rangers a year ago. The young defender partnered Gary Caldwell in Scotland's 2-1 win over Denmark on Wednesday night but knows he will need more game time at club level if he hopes to retain a place in boss Craig Levein's plans.

Rangers crash out of the Champion's League and the chants of "Super Ally" begin to stick in the throats of the faithful.
Ridiculous in the extreme that a new manager should be judged on the basis of four games of competitive football - only one of which ended in defeat.
But life in the Old Firm is a life full of extremes and a life that's often ridiculous.

Young Arsenal striker Rhys Murphy, who has recently declared for Ireland, is attracting strong interest from Glasgow Rangers.
Murphy, 20, has already been training with the Ibrox club and recently played in a trial game against Hamilton.
West Sussex-born Murphy, whose grandfather hails from Dublin has declared for Ireland, with sources saying the processing of his application by the FAI is well advanced.

On yer head, son Rangers defender Steven Whittaker was sent-off for chucking the ball at a Malmo player as the nine-man Scottish champions crashed out of the Champions League. Ally McCoist's side still took the lead in the match after Whittaker's rush of blood to the head through Nikica Jelavic. They were reduced to nine-men [.

Another week of SPL fixtures with the sun still not set on July. An abbreviated card today and an abbreviated run through from me as babysitting duties call.
St Johnstone v RangersAfter the drama of this week's bout of Goodwillie hunting and the unfortunate reverse against Malmo Rangers get back to league business.