Paul LeGuen’s seven months in charge at Ibrox makes him not only the shortest serving boss of Rangers but only the second to have failed to win a trophy during his tenure. (For trivia buffs the other was the much-maligned Davie White from 1967-69. White had the misfortune to have Jock Stein’s Celtic as the opposition.) LeGuen also leaves the post without a win against Celtic.
It is difficult to comprehend how one of the most highly regarded young managers in Europe could so suddenly become a man with a great future behind him.
Only twenty months ago LeGuen had just led Lyon to a third successive French title on his watch before stunning the football world by resigning. A move to Italy or Spain appeared to be imminent in a matter of days but nothing materialized.
Over the next year LeGuen was rumoured to be ready to sign with a number of European clubs but each time LeGuen had a change of mind. When finally Rangers announced his move to Ibrox to replace Alex McLeish more than a few eyebrows were raised. Even though Rangers and Celtic attract 50,000 plus audiences and enjoy a global base of support the SPL is not normally regarded as a stepping stone to greater things.
Some suggested that LeGuen saw the Rangers position as purely temporary until a big Premiership team – Arsenal was frequently mentioned – came calling. If that is now to materialize LeGuen needs to rebuild his career over the next few seasons as his time at Ibrox will remain a black spot for sometime to come.
Rangers’ SPL form has been abysmal while progress in the UEFA Cup as been the sole source of solace for the Ibrox faithful. The players LeGuen bought have been largely ineffectual, a trait he shares with the man he succeeded Alex McLeish. Both were forced to rake through the bargain bin looking for players that might improve the team’s quality while costing very little.
Neither manager came anyplace close to the extravagant transfer kitty enjoyed – and largely squandered – by #### Advocaat between 1998 and 2001. Few managers can have spent so much money with so little return than the man known as the “Little General.”
Now attention shifts to a replacement. Former Rangers manager and current Walter Smith as well as ex-Ibrox star Terry Butcher are the bookies early favourites. However, don’t be surprised if names like Derby boss Billy Davies and Southampton manager George Burley to surface in the next few days.
Oh aye, right you are on many accounts including the mind numbing Advocaat excesses.
Poor SPL results and the recent Ibrox supporter outrage at the decision by LeGuen to drop Rangers captain Barry Ferguson left Chairman Murray with no option.
For a manager so highly though of LeGuen never looked like coming to terms with life in Glasgow. I was curious as to why he ever took the post. Spain or Italy would have been more suitable to his French temperament.
I don’t think Walter Smith will resign his Scotland managers post nor would he be effective doing double duty. Bookies candidates Burley and Davies are enjoying some success in the English Championship so they too look occupied. And, Burley’s recent stint at Hearts would make him wary of returning north of the border with little or no funds available.
Perhaps Butcher is the man but does he have the winning managerial credentials or results?
Who ever fills the slot will need to be a crafty tactician at the very least.
Which brings to mind our currently available old friend Svennis! LOL.
Let’s hope Rangers get back on track. The SPL needs the competition.
All of the SPL supporters will be watching this situation with great interest. In particular those from Aberdeen and the green half of Glasgow.
I thought that rangers have showed a great ####ken weakness, it makes me sick to see good managers get sacked.barry ferguson is not bigger than the club and rangers fans will regret than .l do not think he is a bad manger as an arsenal fan l would welcome him if wenger calls it a day.managers do not become bad in a year or so, if you look celtic bought player and rangers did not celtic had hesselink, jarosik, and a couple of other players
Although the SPL is clearly not in the top seven or eight leagues in Europe I think outsiders have no idea of the pressure that Old Firm managers find themselves under. Looking in it must look like a good gig; 50,000 every second week and as close to an automatic position in Europe as you could ever hopeful; but second place is just not accepted.
Last edited by BobbyMcMahon on January 4th at 7:10 PM.
Bobby two questions,
1. I was wondering if you have seen the show on NBC called the office. It stars an actor named Steve Carrel who very much resembles a certain MAX BRETOS in appearance and character.
2. Why do you think Utd are only persuing heargraves in the january window? Does he seem worth the dough?
I am not shocked at Paul LeGuen's departure from Rangers. It always seemed like a strange "marriage" to begin with. The SPL definitely need someone with the means to challenge Celtic financially and competitively, hopefully that someone remains Rangers.
I think one thing that is very puzzling about all of this is usually in any sport if there is a player who is proven to undermine the coach like Ferguson did, the chairman always sides with the coach. The exact opposite happened in this case and now any manager that comes in now is going to think twice due to the Ferguson incident and how no disciplinary action was taken against him. I think Murray, the chairman, took a bad stance on this, and if I were a coach coming in, I would have second thoughts. I also think we should give Leguen credit for how he left and how he did it in such a classy way.
So Barry F. takes his players out to get smashed in N'castle (?), but that's alright, innit? Just some...er, fun for the lads, yeah? Le Guen does what any self respecting manager would do, and gets sacked.
Although I think he wanted out. Wot, with all the garbage signings he made.
Re. Owen H. I've talked to many German football fans on the GU blogs, and many say Hargreaves is nothing special. Then agin, Sir Wrigley has got to where he has buy buying (mostly) quality, so who am I to argue? But J20 mil? You're avin a laugh, as 'Appy 'Arry of Pompey would (probably) say.
Re. FA Cup. Some of the pool supporters are very arrogant. Yes, Anflield is a very tough ground and they have been playing very well, but I seem to remmember a certain Trafford outfit thinking they would roll over the Gunners...and er, didn't quite happen. Should be a good match, I just hope Tomas plays his game of the season while filling in for Cesc.
1-1.
Last edited by extraordinaryrvanp on January 5th at 7:27 PM.
l have always felt that the big teams always play to our strength.as they are expected to attack us either we hit them on the counter, l thought rvp got into two positions were he could have cut inside and put into that far corner, but l feel stievie g and alonso are not good defensively and so it proved.
one intresting stat from bbc match of the day.
Thierry Henry ran 37 meters in 4.2 seconds at a speed of 19.6 miles per hour to nick the ball off Carragher for his goal!!!
amazing.
a 29 year old who goes for 11 seconds in a 100m race
Another uninspiring nil draw home result for my beloved Atleti. New year, same ####. Mind you, Aguirre chose a very attack-minded squad.
I was thoroughly pleased to see Crapello's Real lose miserably again today. Why on earth doesn't he include Robinho- such a fantastic player. I was rather shocked that Crapello started with Gago (who was less than impressive)-- I thought he would've used the boy as a sub instead...ease him into Liga play.
As for the Liverpool/Arsenal FA Cup game, Liverpool simply did not provide any significant threat up front. Credit to Arsenal for their fantastic counter-attacks.
In terms of Gerrard, I think he's perhaps one of the most overhyped players in the EPL. He's VERY GOOD, but not the savior he's made out to be. His good qualities (commitment, drive, passion, etc) are tempered by his limitations (average touch, slack passing at times, etc). He's an excellent ball-winner in midfield, but doesn't seem to have all of the creativity that so many claim he has.
Last edited by atleti_female on January 7th at 2:22 PM.
I wasn't surprised to see real lose at the Riazor. They never win there; some of their players today were still in diapers the last time Real came away from there with a win.
Please tune to FSC at approximately 3:30pm PST to watch Merk cost Milan the UCL semi-final and send Barca through to the final. Thanks FSC for bringing back these memories - Merk needs to stick with dentistry; I hope he's better at that!
Re: Liverpool v. Arsenal. 3 goals, although great (particularly the first and last) were islands in a sea of Liverpool dominance territorial and possession-wise. As a Liverpool fan, it's not the end of the world.
Incidentally, if I were an Arsenal fan, I'd be very concerned (though happy about the win) simply because you cannot win major trophies playing like the way they did on Saturday. They were played off the park except for a few moments of brilliance. They are not getting any closer to being the team they were 3 years ago.
One final note, in regard to referee Steve Bennett...what an abysmal decision on the Alonso "dive". Alonso, flipped the ball forward and had not one, but BOTH legs taken out by Gilberto's late challenge. If you don't reward a penalty, that's ok (although in my admittedly biased opinion it was), but to give Alonso a card...just horrible! How can someone like C. Ronaldo get away with blatant dives week by week and he doesn't get punished. But to make matters worse, he gets the calls by the way! It's not good to see the nightmare refereeing of 2006 continue into 2007.
atleti...are you out of your mind? Do yourself a favor and watch the FA Cup final from last year. It's a glaring example of why Gerrard is so highly regarded. There is no other player that I can think of (including Ronaldinho and Henry) that can single-handedly bring a team back from defeat. And he does this a few times per season at least.
I suppose it depends on what you value most. If you value cross-overs and flips, then I suppose you're a fan of C. Ronaldo. If you value "put the team on your back in moments of adversity", then Gerrard is undeniably the best. I suppose for you, 35 yard goals with time running out is indicative of a bad touch...and yet van Persie scoring with his shin is a goal of the season candidate. Sorry, I'm a little bitter.
Sir Alex should be on a charge of "GRAND LARSSENY" great singing....maybe chelsea could do business in a similar fashion instead of a sheva flop the situation at chelsea have fans bikering among each other last night on 606 it was funny i invite everyone who have not been there to visit it is funny over there with the comments...www.bbc.co.uk/606.... why is it so quite round here...
Last edited by marlomull on January 8th at 8:45 AM.
Verbal...Yes, I do think Gerrard is a very good player-- there's no doubt about it. And yes, he has moments of brilliance. However, he's not the savior he's made out to be. Against Arsenal, he did the spectator's job. Did you even watch the match? And that's simply one example.
Last edited by atleti_female on January 8th at 4:12 PM.
I'm sorry. I didn't realize that a player had to be completely perfect in every game (or at least the games atleti sees) to be considered a top player. No player can be a "savior" in every game, or else that player's team would never lose.
In any case, you seem to have a very anti-Liverpool bias, which is evident from your "particularly Liverpool comment" from last week, that may be clouding your judgement. I may be biased as well, but at least I can recognize when a player is a different class on even my most hated teams (e.g., Man. U and Chelsea).
Who do you think is world class then? I would be willing to bet the house that they have as many weaknesses if not more than Gerrard. I think Gerrard is the most complete player in the world..which I feel is actually a hindrance to him considering the rate he's played out of position for both club and country (can you imagine Lampard playing on the right wing for instance?).
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I take exception to your singling out of Gerrard. You could point out weaknesses that "temper" any player's strengths. In fact, for an exercise, why don't you point out the weaknesses of all the top players. I'd bet at the end, your list of world-class players would be empty, that is if you applied your "always have to be at your best" philosophy fairly across the board.
verbal, take a deep breath. Obviously no player can be a 'savior' every game, but it's been my impression that most Liverpool supporters regard Gerrard as such. I never once said that he wasn't world class.
Last edited by atleti_female on January 9th at 9:48 AM.
atleti, you said he was overhyped and very good. I inferred from that statement that you wouldn't class him among the top players in the world, therefore not world-class.
I don't think I've ever heard anyone say he was a savior every time out there (in my post above I said he did this at least 3-4 times per season), nor would I agree with any such hyperbolic statements.
I apologize if I inferred your opinion incorrectly. I don't think there is a question that he is more important to Liverpool than any one player on any other EPL teams with the only possible exception being Henry, which I think is indicative of why Liverpool and Arsenal are fighting for top 4 spots rather than the top spot.
Bobby, I have heard that Sir Alex is looking to acquire Owen Hargreaves from Bayern. With this in mind one pundit suggested that this acqusition could spell trouble for Carrick. I'm not sure it will, afterall I think carrick is a better passer of the ball, he is more robust and he is better tactically. What do yout think Bobby?
alex, I was responding to the post above that which inquired about who was more important to their team than gerrard is to liverpool, other than possibly henry to arsenal.
that game just reinforced for me how amazing liverpools championsleague win in 05 was with dudek in goal. amazing stat 6-3 defeat 1 save from dudek -- the penalty shot.
What an embarassing loss for Liverpool. Absolutely appalling. Why on earth would Benitez choose such a weak side after their previous defeat? Good God. Liverpool are once again exposed as a very average side. The likes of Bellamy, Gonzalez, Paletta, and Pennant would never be considered by Chelsea, ManU, or Arsenal. Moreover, Hyppia and Fowler are long in the tooth.
Credit to Arsenal for an incredible display.
Last edited by atleti_female on January 9th at 3:49 PM.
Colossal effort from Baptista and a young Arsenal side. He opens his EPL account and then some.
Is this an indication of things to come and a future commitment?
I would agree Atleti: What in the wide, wide world of sports was Benitez thinking?
I’m sure all the Red supporters including my father were fascinated by today’s selections to say nothing of the result.
Wasn’t Benitez just saying after Saturdays FA Cup loss to the Gunners that the focus was now on the Carling Cup and then Europe. He has certainly lost opportunity for domestic silverware this term and there is Barca waiting in the wings.
Now: What say you admittedly biased Liverpool bloggers? Or - are you waiting until March 31st. and another thrashing?
l thought benitez spend 30 million pounds , while l will raise my hand to say he is one of the game 's great thinkers some of his targets are not world class enough, the likes of pennat, bellamy, lucas niel, l honestly can not see what he sees in these player and that explains a poor record against the big guns.l saw the match liverpool were happy to pass around intheir own defense , but l think going forward the gunners are probably the best in europe.they have to regroup because watford is always a hard place to go and they will be tested for real.o hail the beast.benitez argues that arsenal spend more money something that l can say is a lie he has spend more since he came than wenger in the same period, wenger buys rosicky for 6million , he spend the same amount of money on crouch or pennat
I'm here. I agree with almost everything said above. Liverpool's back 5 (including Dudek) were awful. The most telling thing I noticed while watching this game (and the game from Saturday) was that Liverpool simply can't handle pacy players...Henry Saturday and Aliadiere yesterday.
All that said, these two surreal games were almost identical to one another, and I doubt anyone will say anything like them for some time. Arsenal scored on almost every shot. Counting the penalty and a van Persie counter-attack from Saturday, Arsenal had 11 decent scoring chances and scored 9 goals. Stunning considering their games against CSKA Moskow this fall.
Two small things. One, I thought Aliadiere's dive for the penalty when his team was up 4-1 was a disgrace (and if you didn't think it was a dive, get better glasses and watch the replay). Two, to answer riocharlie above, Drogba has been incredibly important for Chelsea this season (an oversight on my part), but Essien (and to a degree Lampard) have been just as important so it doesn't really qualify with my earlier statement.
Bobby, could you arrange for Max, Christian and Mark to attend a course of the correct pronunciation of the names of players, most especially the Portugese/Brazilian ones. Case in point Jose in Portugese is pronouced with a J, not H as is the case in Spanish. There is a sense of disrespect when these so-called commentators do this. Oh! Why dont you do some of the commentary. It will be a refreshing and educated change.
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