Fare ye weel, Davie Weir.
The Scottish Football Blog has often been facetious about the Methuselah of Scottish football.
Unfair that. Davie Weir was playing at the highest level in Scotland in his 40s and I'm often too lazy to play dominoes in my 30s.
Perhaps unsurprisingly Weir and Rangers will part company this week.

Five things we learned from the Boxing Day football | Jonathan Wilson

Dimitar Berbatov has still got it but Ashley Cole appears to be losing it and Andy Carroll is just unlucky Berbatov's still got it One of the sadnesses of modern football and the prevalence of large squads is the talent that does not get to play.

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.

Reaction is still pouring in after UEFA disciplinary committee announced that England forward Wayne Rooney has been banned for all of England's Group stages in the Euro 2012 tournament.

No one expected such a hash judgement and you can be sure that the ruling is the beginning of a debate that will not end any time soon.

Liechtenstein vs Scotland Highlights Video 2011 Mackail Smith Goal is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Liechtenstein vs Scotland Highlights Video 2011 Mackail Smith Goal is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Liechtenstein vs Scotland 2011 Final score and result:- Liechtenstein vs Scotland 0-1 ( Craig Mackail-Smith) Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz- 8 October, 2011 Craig Mackail-Smith's goal from Phil Bardsley's cross keeps Scotland's Euro 2012 qualification hopes alive [.

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.

Building up to this week's final round of group qualifying fixtures for the 2012 European Championships, BBC Radio Scotland has produced short audio pastiches daily on their Sportsound programme featuring new interviews with former Scottish national team players along with rebroadcasting some audio caught in the moment after some big matches.

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.

Another Scotland game, more howls of anguish.
"We were robbed/cheated/denied natural footballing justice."
Scotland v Czech Republic followed that old familiar pattern and we all felt rank rotten at the end.
Football's an emotional game and Scotland can tease emotions like few other teams.

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.

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.

Aaaaah. That's better. Football. And none of your EPL fancy-dans with their high wages and their their temperemental wayward forwards. No. Proper football. Sendings off. High winds. Goalkeeping errors. The lot. Brilliant. Now, I don't know which team you support dear reader, but I'll come clean. I support Aberdeen.

The first of this weekend's six preview posts, starting with the first game - Rangers v Hearts. Quite a match to kick things off.
The game
Championship flag a-flappin' in the Govan breeze Rangers have the perfect chance to dismiss as exaggerations any rumours of their footballing demise.

Ally McCoist (right) has now taken over predecessor Walter Smith at Rangers

The Scottish Premier League (SPL) returns to action earlier than usual having been brought forward by three weeks. The feeling is that an earlier start to the season will help those clubs who are to represent Scotland in UEFA club competition be more prepared from a fitness point of view as well as make fixture congestion less likely to occur later on in the campaign.

What do Tomar Hemed, Craig Conway and Neil Danns all have in common?

All three were targeted by Scottish champions Rangers and all three turned them down FLAT.

After securing their 54th championship on the final day of last season, there was an expectation at Ibrox that it would just be a case of Ally McCoist stepping into Walter Smith's shoes at the club and hitting the ground running.

Liverpool defender Danny Wilson could be on his way back to Glasgow Rangers on a season-long loan next season according to the Daily Mail.
The 19-year-old Scotland international is tipped for a bright future, but is expected to complete a temporary move away in order to gain some much-needed first team experience.

Glasgow Rangers clinched three in a row after a quickfire demolition of Kilmarnock on Sunday. Walter Smith's men were three-nil up inside 6 minutes as they clinched the SPL Trophy as the perfect parting gift to their outgoing manager in what may very well be his last game in charge.

What a difference a month makes!

A broadside to mark his departure.
As I wrote earlier it would be wrong to paint Walter Smith as having lived out his final days as Rangers manager above the fray of Scottish football's navel gazing bickering.
Today's papers would seem to confirm that opinion. The Telegraph reports Smith as saying:
"The season got off to a bad start, in that respect, when Celtic put up a challenge to referees and to everybody else.

A broadside to mark his departure.
As I wrote earlier it would be wrong to paint Walter Smith as having lived out his final days as Rangers manager above the fray of Scottish football's navel gazing bickering.
Today's papers would seem to confirm that opinion. The Telegraph reports Smith as saying:
"The season got off to a bad start, in that respect, when Celtic put up a challenge to referees and to everybody else.

13 years ago today Walter Smith took his leave of Rangers. After season upon season of success his reign fizzled out.
Wim Jansen led Celtic to the league title, stalling Smith's Rangers on nine championships in a row.
In Smith's final game Hearts took the Scottish Cup with a 2-1 victory.

13 years ago today Walter Smith took his leave of Rangers. After season upon season of success his reign fizzled out.
Wim Jansen led Celtic to the league title, stalling Smith's Rangers on nine championships in a row.
In Smith's final game Hearts took the Scottish Cup with a 2-1 victory.

Maurice Edu leads the National Teamers Abroad news, taking his usual place in Rangers' starting eleven for a 5-1 win over Kilmarnock on the last day of the Scottish Premier League season. The win clinched the title for Rangers, in manager Walter Smith's final game with the club. "Yes, there will be a regret but I still think it's the right thing," Smith told the club's official site.

So a desperate season comes down to this.
It is, after all, just football. A game where championships can still turn on the final day, a game where the drama should be confined to the pitch.
Today has already been dubbed Helicopter Sunday.
It says much for the bankruptcy of the SPL's ideas departments that they think using a six year old marketing device will still engender excitment.

So a desperate season comes down to this.
It is, after all, just football. A game where championships can still turn on the final day, a game where the drama should be confined to the pitch.
Today has already been dubbed Helicopter Sunday.
It says much for the bankruptcy of the SPL's ideas departments that they think using a six year old marketing device will still engender excitment.

A good week for Rangers. A good week indeed.
Back in the driving seat in the SPL after Celtic's defeat to Inverness in midweek.
And now a takeover.
A takeover! Finally an end to the most complicated, drawn out transaction since Ivana Trump demanded joint custody of Donald's hair in their divorce settlement.

Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu is confident that he can rediscover his form after admitting that he has been in "a bit of a funk" of late. Edu, 25, has been struggling to make an impact for Walter Smith's SPL title favourites recently but the USA international insists he still has plenty of belief in his own ability and is sure he can prove his worth before the end of the season.

Long suffering Scottish football fans still reminisce about Archie Gemmill's wondergoal against the Netherlands in the 1978 World Cup and the Tartan Army have been starved of participation in a major international competition since the 1998 World Cup in France thirteen years ago. With the qualifiers for next year's European Championships in Poland and Ukraine four matches in and the draw for the 2014 World Cup in July, what are Scotland's chances of making the cut (see the BetUS sportsbook for the latest odds)?

Manager of the season? As per usual, Eddie Howe is a strong candidate; this year for establishing AFC Bournemouth in League One and for re-energising Burnley's stuttering promotion play-off bid in the Championship. Some would choose Stoke's Tony Pulis. Not only because of the startling events at Wembley last Sunday but also because his side passed the ball a couple of times last October.

Rangers v Dundee United 2011 2nd April, 2011- Ibrox Park, Glasgow Final score:- Rangers v Dundee United 2-3 ( Jelavic, Naismith/ Robertson, Russell, Goodwillie) Dundee United take advantage of Rangers' defensive frailties to shock Walter Smith's side 3-2 at Ibrox after trailing 2-1 at one point of time in the game.

First Star: Maurice Edu went the full 120 minutes as Rangers lifted the League Cup with a 2-1 win over Old Firm rivals Celtic. Steven Davis had Rangers up a goal in the 24th minute, but Celtic equalized seven minutes later. With the score 1-1 at the end of regulation, Nikica Jevalic scored the eventual game winner in the 98th minute.

Game one of the PSV Eindhoven – Rangers Europa League Round of 16 series ended scoreless at the Philipsstadion on Thursday. Maurice Edu went the distance for Rangers with backup goalkeeper Neil Alexander getting a surprise start and an easy clean sheet. "When we look over the game Neil Alexander has not had a save to make while their keeper made an excellent save from Kyle Bartley," Rangers manager Walter Smith said.

Goodbye Walter, Hello Ally... is a post from: Just Football

Rangers are still alive in Europe, but change is a'coming. William Heaney reports:

No matter how the SPL title race turns out, this season will be Walter Smith's last in charge of Rangers.

Goodbye Walter, Hello Ally... is a post from: Just Football

Rangers are still alive in Europe, but change is a'coming. William Heaney reports:

No matter how the SPL title race turns out, this season will be Walter Smith's last in charge of Rangers.

Walter Smith is the phlegmatic type. Over a managerial career now into its third decade with Rangers, Everton and Scotland he has accepted his varied triumphs and disasters in a manner that would earn Kipling's approval.
But there is one impostor that bothers him still, some 18 years after the events of one roller-coaster season.

Now we know.
We suspected, surmised, accepted. But now we've had the official unveiling.
Ally McCoist will lead Rangers into the 2011/12 SPL season.
Probably. Unless someone comes along to buy the club and decides that this is no time for a novice.
"No time for a novice.

Now we know.
We suspected, surmised, accepted. But now we've had the official unveiling.
Ally McCoist will lead Rangers into the 2011/12 SPL season.
Probably. Unless someone comes along to buy the club and decides that this is no time for a novice.
"No time for a novice.

By AVI CREDITOR

Barcelona midfielder Xavi will be out for the next 7-10 days after test revealed a minor muscle problem in his left leg.

With that timetable, the central figure in Barca's attack is set to miss league matches against Mallorca and Valencia, but he should return in time for the club's crucial UEFA Champions League second leg against Arsenal on March 8.

One word from a dozen managers to sum up the SPL this weekend:
Aberdeen 5 v 0 KilmarnockCraig Brown: "Pleasing."
Mixu Paatelainen: "Farcical."
Hearts 2 v 1 Dundee UnitedJim Jefferies: "Determination."
Peter Houston: "Cruel."
Inverness 2 v 0 St JohnstoneTerry Butcher: "Effort.

One word from a dozen managers to sum up the SPL this weekend:
Aberdeen 5 v 0 KilmarnockCraig Brown: "Pleasing."
Mixu Paatelainen: "Farcical."
Hearts 2 v 1 Dundee UnitedJim Jefferies: "Determination."
Peter Houston: "Cruel."
Inverness 2 v 0 St JohnstoneTerry Butcher: "Effort.

I like custard. When I know I'm going to be having custard I am happy. I look forward to my custard experience.
And then the custard arrives. And it's lumpy. This disappoints me.
Too often in the past Old Firm games have been like lumpy custard. You look forward to the big event and then you are treated to a dish about as appetising as cat vomit.