Rangers' Summer of Discontent

2006 is shaping up to be one of the most awful years in the 130 year history of Rangers F.C. Even last season's almighty effort of 1 win from 10 in the Champions League can't make up for a barren trophyless season, and when that is added to the failure to qualify for the CL next season, summer couldn't come fast enough.

Summer 2006 was meant to herald the coming of Le Guen and the French Revolution which would turn the Ibrox club into Le Rangers. A procession of big name signings fueled by the JJB Sports warchest, denied to McLeash, was nothing less than expected, but who has been paraded?

Nobody of any significance. All that has happened is that the club has been handed constant rejection because they won't pay the asking price for players. Why else did Austria Vienna get annoyed with the derisory offer? Just where exactly is the JJB Sports cash?

Le Guen finally showed up at Ibrox months after his appointment at the club. Then it was off to South Africa for a pre-season tour which has since turned into farce. Little did Rangers realize that they would have to play second fiddle to another touring team.

That would be alright if it really was Man Utd, but it turns out they got the raw end of a deal involving Aberdeen. The ultimate insult to any football club. In the last game of the tour, Rangers were mugged 0-2 by the RSA Champions.

Now the way this was reported suggests it was a second string team and this result was irrelevant compared to the drubbing Celtic got from DC United in the USA. That would be okay if the RSA Champions were of a higher calibre than the runaway MLS leaders, and Celtic were playing their first team.

But they weren't, and DC United is several levels above the South African team, but little would you realize this as the result and performance were glossed over as easily as the mad antics of Ricksen were on the plane going to South Africa.

This would be fine if it was an isolated incident but we've seen such terrible incidents such as Rangers fans attacking their opponents team bus with bricks in Spain earlier this year, and today we've seen Le Guen's pre-season planning shredded to pieces with the cancellation of the Bolton V Rangers pre-season game.

Are Rangers fans really that notoriously feared? What has caused this shady reputation to suddenly cause the abrupt cancellation? The answer lies in the incidents of the sectarian songs that Rangers fans were finally called to task for this year. Even David Murray was forced to put his name to a statement demanding it stop, and such dubious organizations as the Rangers Supporters Trust forced to follow follow.

Rangers know they are on their final warning from UEFA and that they will be in serious trouble the next time the so-called fans get up to no good. Maybe the cancelled game in England is an omen.

D.C. - Disasterous Catastrophe

They say there are no pub teams in Europe anymore. Try telling that to MLS team D.C. United who humiliated Celtic to a level we haven't seen since the horrific mauling away to Artmedia Bratislava.

Thank goodness Celtic don't have a European encounter coming up because we would not perform very well. We are such a poor team that we've regressed from last season. It's unbelievable this could happen.

Isn't WGS meant to be a man who knows about players? The legend was that he would bring in all our new players BEFORE the World Cup began. If that is the case then we might as well hand the SPL trophey to Paul Le Guen's all-conquering French Revolution.

I mean, is it remotely possible we can even score a goal? The pre-season friendly score count under Strachan shows 2 solitary goals and 9 against in two pre-seasons so far. We're currently doing a 0-4-3 and 0-0-3 for this pre-season. Those are depressing statistics no matter how much of a Strachan apologist you are.

So what has Gordon done for us. Firstly, he sells the best goal scorer in Scotland against his wishes and then tries to bring in an aging Dutch has-been on crazy wages. Haven't we learned anything from the misfit Dion Dublin?

Then we have others who seems to be emerging in the dud category, with Miller totally losing it tonight with a horrific tackle which totally deserved the red card it got. Rangers were lucky to not bring this one in. Then there's Caldwell which even has Aberdeen fans laughing at Celtic.

It's worrying that we have to rely of a 35 year old Telfer as being our top defender. We have no steel in the middle of the park with our only saving grace being Neil Lennon holding us together tonight. If that's how we play with 5m pounds rated Petrov, then what will we look like without it?

I am so fearful of us playing in the Champions League. This will be six games of torture and ridicule which surely will be Strachan's downfall. He can't hide for too long now that his pal Big Eck has left Ibrox.

Where McLeash may have had his issues in understanding how to deploy tactics, this luxury will be vacated with the Le Guen factor. I hate to say it but the more this man talks clearly shows he is the genuine article. It has been suggested he may not be of the calibre he was being talked up to be but it's emerging that this is all wrongly placed optimism by Celtic fans.

So where does that leave Celtic? Hearts and Rangers surely have to be too strong for Celtic and we'll be lucky if we can fight it out with Hibs and Aberdeen for the runners up spot in the 1st qualifying round of the UEFA Cup next season.

One last thing, Strachan, if you have any common sense get Chris Sutton back to Celtic Park. You think you need an experienced striker who is a winner then look no further than the man you bombed out the door in such a shameful manner. Rangers fear him and this would be a masterstroke up there with what Rangers did bring back Mark Hately and Richard Gough in past seasons to out fox Celtic.

Go do it. Bring him home.