BARRY FERGUSON
Like most Rangers fans, I was disappointed when Barry Ferguson left the club. He was our best player last season and was an excellent captain over the last few seasons. It was, however, his choice to leave so I agree that it was best for the club to let him go. As soon as a player wants to leave, they should. I personally would not have played him against Hibs or Copenhagen but it's up to Alex McLeish who he plays for Rangers. Barry Ferguson's timing was a disgrace. However, we got into the Champions League in his last game, so I do not wish to criticise Alex McLeish too much.
Despite being the captain of Rangers, Barry Ferguson's official web site did not appear until around the time that the first Blackburn bid was launched. It's obvious that Blackburn is not a bigger club than Rangers. They may be an English Premiership team, but that's all they have over Rangers! I predict that Barry Ferguson will regret, within a few days, deciding to leave.
I was disgusted that Barry Ferguson sold his story to the Sunday Mail. Having lost arguably our best player and captain, the last thing we needed was to read and hear adverts about him selling 'the story of the year' to the Sunday Mail! I haven't bought this rag of a newspaper for many years but did read the story via the Internet. I was disappointed with most of his comments. Having just lost our club captain, the last thing we needed was for him to sell his story to one of our worst enemies.
Barry Ferguson is right to say he will be remembered as the captain of Rangers 2003 treble winning team. However, he will also be remembered as the first ever captain of Rangers to ask for a transfer! Barry Ferguson is an excellent player and I would like to thank him for his many great performances over recent years. I appreciate his efforts over the years - especially last season when he was playing after having injections before games. However, Rangers are bigger than any one player and we will survive - and maybe even get better - without Barry Ferguson. We did not miss him against Stuttgart or Hearts, so let's hope that continues.
I can understand his desire to play in the Premiership - I agree that it is the best football league in the world. However, he was the captain of the club he had supported all his life! I cannot personally understand why he left Rangers and the club he supported all his like to join Blackburn of all teams but it was his choice. He signed a new contract earlier this year, but chose to leave months later. That's not honourable and if that's the type of person he is, maybe it's best that he is no longer the captain of our club.
BRING ON MAN UTD
I cannot wait for the Manchester United games - to say they are going to be massive is one of the understatements of all time! The Leeds games in 1992 were massive but this could be even bigger. The noise at Ibrox on 22nd October will be incredible! It is expected to be out of this world and I am sure it will be (we can all do our bit - let's have 45,000+ Rangers fans going to work with sore throats on 23rd October). For many, many years I have wanted to draw Manchester United in Europe. We may have a weaker squad this season due to the club's financial problems, but I am sure the players will be motivated for the real battle of Britain. Bring it on!
We showed against Stuttgart that we are a team with fighting qualities. We lost a goal at a very bad time. Under Advocaat, we would not have recovered from that. We got a great result and credit to the players for a great response. We can qualify for the next stage of this year's Champions League. I believe we can get a win at home against Manchester United. I also think that if we play to our potential, we could even sneak a win at Old Trafford. It will be hard, but with a bit of belief we can beat them.
RANGERS SUPPORTERS TRUST
The Rangers Supporters Trust is already the largest in Scotland. We are the fastest growing Trust in the UK. If you are not a member of the Rangers Supporters Trust ask yourself a question - why not? The Rangers Supporters Trust was set up with the help of Supporters Direct, which is a government backed initiative designed to promote the interests of all fans! The time has come for you to have a say in the future of your club. The Rangers Supporters Trust has been growing steadily since the launch on 5th April, but we need to increase our membership further so that we can truly say we represent the fans of Rangers Football Club. Join now and have your voice heard. Together we can influence the future direction of Rangers!
THE LONDON BRANCH
The London Branch has 'followed in the footsteps' of the Rangers team for over 40 years! Since 1961 we have travelled from London to see Rangers play. We travel to most Rangers home games as well as most European away games. We also travel to the occasional away league game and to all Cup Finals. Last season, we managed to get a ticket for every member that wanted a ticket for the games against Dunfermline (league decider) and the Scottish Cup Final. We are travelling (as always) to all three away Champions League away ties.
The London Branch appreciate that it's not possible for all London-based fans to get to games. Therefore, we show all Rangers' live TV games at the Cock Tavern, East Poultry Avenue, EC1.
This venue will soon (early October) be owned and run by a consortium of Rangers supporters, including the London Branch. This venue is the home of Rangers in London and by watching games here you are supporting fellow Rangers fans. Thanks to everyone who has visited the venue since we started showing games there at the start of season 2002/03 - we appreciate the support and we are sure our regulars will continue to enjoy games at this venue under the new ownership. If you are ever in London, please do look us up - all Rangers fans are made more than welcome.
We meet once a month - this is an opportunity for London-based Rangers fans to meet reserve places on club trips, reserve match tickets and such like. It is also an opportunity to meet with fellow bears and talk Rangers with fellow bears!
The London Branch has two football teams and an official pool team - we are always looking for new football players and new pool team members.
The London Branch is also hosting the official Rangers Road show at The Cock Tavern (East Poultry Avenue, London) on Friday 28th November. Former Rangers Vice Chairman Donald Findlay and Rangers legend Willie Henderson will be travelling down to London for this event.
There will only be just over 100 tickets available for this event. The cost is £19.72 per ticket - this includes a three-course meal. Further details will be released in due course. If you have any questions, please e-mail
info@rangersfcsalondonbranch.co.uk
Our web site is kept fully up to date - see
http://www.rangersfcsalondonbranch.co.uk for all the information you need on our supporters club.
CRAIG MOORE
I would like to wish Craig Moore every success as the new captain of Rangers. 'Skippy' has been a great servant to the club over the years. I am sure he will excel in this new role. He is a natural leader and was the natural choice as Barry Ferguson's replacement. Let's hope he can remain injury free and can lead us to many honours over the next few years! I am grateful that Crystal Palace suffered financial problems and we were able to welcome back Craig Moore to the club.
MIKEL ARTETA
I rate Mikel Arteta very highly. I am delighted that he stayed a Ranger over the summer. I think he will eventually move back to Spain but let's hope he remains at the club for a number of years. At 21, he is still young. He did well for us last season and took a lot of responsibility in taking the penalty at Dens and to score our 6th against Dunfermline to win the league.
FRIENDLIES IN ENGLAND?
I am delighted that Rangers visited Belfast this pre season for the second successive year. It is a nice way of thanking our Ulster based fans for the support they show for the club. I would like to see Rangers play pre season friendlies in England again. There are supporters clubs throughout England and these fans deserve to see Rangers on their doorstep! As I live and work in London, I would love to see Rangers play Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, Fulham or Charlton! Even QPR! Maybe the club could visit Northern Ireland every two years and England the years they do not travel to Ulster? Although, I don't see why we cannot visit BOTH each pre season!
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
A number of players left Rangers over the summer - it was sad to see some of them go, but I am sure we will welcome them back as guests to Ibrox in the future.
During the 1998 World Cup, I thought Arthur Numan was one of the best players! I was delighted and excited that he was joining Rangers. I liked Numan as a player and he represented Rangers well when interviewed. He did play many good games for Rangers, but was disappointingly injured for a lot of his Rangers career.
Claudio Cannigia is a football legend. It was great that he played for Rangers. I don't think he contributed as much to Rangers as he could have, but he did play the occasional good game and seemed to score every time we played Dunfermline! He's now in Qatar so he's earning so much money that he's probably not missing us too much!
I liked Neil McCann as a player and was disappointed when he left to join Southampton. I think we sold him 'on the cheap' and we thought we would struggle to fill his gap. However, let's hope that Peter Lovenkrands will continue to play so well. Neil McCann's contribution to win the league at Ibrox in 1999 will never be forgotten - he was awesome that day. He also helped win v. Dunfermline to win the league last season. Of course, he also crossed to set up Big Amo's cup final winner too!
Lorenzo Amoruso is a Rangers legend. He should always be made welcome back at Ibrox (though I wish he hadn't came out with the quotes when Blackburn first approached Barry Ferguson). I personally didn't care that Big Amo was a catholic - I saw he was a winner and that's all that matters. He was the first catholic captain of Rangers but very few people cared what religion he was. He did question the wisdom of having separate schools.
It's safe to say that very few Rangers fans were disappointed when Bert Konterman left the club. He was a decent bloke, but was simply not good enough to play for Rangers. He will be remembered for scoring that League Cup semi final goal against Celtic, but for not much else! He came to Rangers as a £4 million plus player, but was not worth a fraction of what we paid for him!
Kevin Muscat will not be remembered as being one of our best ever players! He did play a handful of good games for us, but he was never Rangers class in my opinion. He had a reputation of having a short fuse on the pitch and that is why Alex McLeish never played him in an Old Firm game. After seeing his stamp on an opposition player during the recent Millwall v. Watford game, I know that Alex McLeish made the right decision. It was a disgusting, shameful assault on a fellow professional - imagine if he had done that against Celtic? He would have got at least a 20-match ban from the SFA! His Millwall career looks over before it has barely started! Their fans booed him at the next game and it will take a lot for him to recover.