“Champions” League? You’re havin’ a laugh!

Now that the dust has settled after Manchester United’s victory over Barcelona last night, attention switches to the second semi final to determine who will play Sir Alex Ferguson’s men in the Champions League final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. Will it be Chelsea, hot on United’s heels in the Premier League, or their arch enemy Liverpool?

While I believe that Chelsea will just about edge the tie thanks to the 1-1draw they secured in the first leg at Anfield (goals from that are below), that isn’t the point of this latest post. My latest whine is one which has bugged me for quite a while, and that is the set-up of Europe’s elite club competition.

This year’s final will be the third in which two sides from the same country will go head to head for the European Cup, as it was known when the tournament first started. In 2000, Real Madrid defeated Valencia 3-0 in Paris, while in 2003 Ac Milan edged Juventus on penalties at Old Trafford after a forgettable 0-0 stalemate. We are now guranteed an English winner of the competition.

Listening to Richard Bacon’s show on Radio 5 Live last night, he urged callers to phone in with regards the difficulties in which fans of the English clubs will face getting to Moscow and while they are there. Main concerns included the cost of flights and accomodation, with one Manchester United fan telling how he’d spent £5,000 to be there, as well as visas which are needed to enter Russia. These can take a while to process and while UEFA are confident the visas will be issued on time to supporters of the clubs involved in time for the final, fans are still worried.

So cue calls for the game to be moved to Wembley, the home of the English game, to make it easier for fans. Undoubtedly it would, but it shouldn’t be moved, and neither should there be as many as 42,000 visas to process.

Because, my friends, the Champions League should live it to its name- ie, be for Champions only. Since the tournament began in 1955, the cup was solely for the league winners of each European country. Other qualifiers included the Fairs Cities (now UEFA) Cup and the now defunct Cup Winners Cup, which was, you’ve guessed it, a tournament for domestic cup winners across the continent.

But in the 90s, UEFA in their wisdom ditched the CWC (the last ever final played in Birmingham and won by Italian side Lazio) and increased the Champions League, allowing runners up in domestic leagues to qualify for the tournament. Indeed, Manchester United qualified for the 1998/99 tournament after finishing 2nd in the English league to Arsenal, and went on to lift the trophy.

It has now been extended to the point where up to four teams from the bigger leagues in Europe can qualify for the tournament. Whats “Champion” about that? Why not rebrand it the “1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place” league?

While there is no doubt that the bigger sides in Europe can provide entertainment, there is a detremental effect. There is no doubt that the big name advertisers of the competiton, for example Sony, Mastercard and Vodafone, would rather the big guns participated all the time and provide much more revenue.

But, as the rich get richer, the poorer get poorer and we now see the winner of the tournament is near enough guaranteed to be an English, Spanish or Italian team, barring some exceptions, such as Porto in 2004. What chance have clubs from the Belgian league or Swedish league have of competing if they face a couple of rounds to qualify, despite winning their league, while the likes of Arsenal can qualify after finishing third in theirs, simply because the English league has a higher standing according to Michel Platini and the UEFA fat cats? It isn’t fair.

In 1994, Sweden’s IFK Gothenburg knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League. Now, it’s a struggle for Sweden’s champions to even participate. The worst thing UEFA could do was get rid of a successful competition in order to create a bigger Champions League to benefit the bigger clubs.

Some might say they’d far rather watch Liverpool V Chelsea instead of an Anderlecht V Barcelona as the gulf in the latter game would be massive, while the former would be close. Me? Well, give me the latter. If clubs from around Europe, not just the big names, were given a fair and equal shot at qualifying, the experience and finance they’d generate would enable them to compete in the coming years. As it stands, games we see at least twice a season domestically are becoming four or more due to being on Europe’s biggest stage. Its dull and its wrong.

“Champions” League? You are indeed having a laugh.

Forget Ronaldo- The Ginger magician inspires Reds to Moscow

It was all set up for him. The Footballer of the Year in England, all set to play the hero’s role. He was to single handledly dismantle the might of Barcelona and guide Manchester United back to the promised land.

But, not for the first time in the world’s elite club competition, Cristiano Ronaldo was cast as a background figure in the play. And it was one of United’s own who outshone his team-mates and claim the starring role in an enthralling picture.

That man was Paul Scholes, an Old Trafford legend with an incredible 565 appearances and 138 goals to his name since making his debut in a low-key Coca Cola Cup tie at Port Vale in 1994. Well, make that 566 appearances and 139 goals after tonight’s encounter.

The Champions League semi final was never going to be a game full of goals, but there was a lot to admire about how both teams went about their business. Barca were of course technically gifted and dominated possession but despite possessing the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Andreas Iniesta and the wonderfully talented Lionel Messi, they failed to create any clear cut chances.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team on the other hand, were the opposite. Attacks were in short supply, as was the flowing football seen so often in their pursuit of the Premier League title. But there was a fantastic dogedness about their play, epitomised by those who almost bleed Manchester United red- Scholes, Wes Brown in the centre of defence and Rio Ferdinand.

Their defence of Brown, Ferdinand, Hargreaves and Evra was impressive and repelled Barcelona’s attacks with relative ease, while Michael Carrick worked tirelessly with Scholes to combat Xavi and Yaya Toure in midfield, while Carlos Tevez up front led from the front by snarling into tackles.

In a match where the Reds missed inspirational centre back Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney, they needed inspiration from somewhere to help them through to the final. And they got it from Scholes.

After 14 minutes and around 20-25 yards from goal, he let fly and his fantastic shot flew into the top corner to give United the lead.

It proved enough and United reached the promised land for the first time since 1999 and their famous last gasp comeback win over Bayern Munich, ironically at Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium.

Scholes suffered the heartache of being suspended alongside Roy Keane for that game, and so missed his club’s most famous night since they lifted their first European Cup against Benfica in 1968. So how fitting he was the one who sent United on to meet either Chelsea or Liverpool in an all English final on May 21.

His manager declared after the game that his midfield magician would be “the first name on the teamsheet” for the final. And after his role which left his more illustrious team-mate in the shade, its no surprise.

Scholes could provide the magic to see Manchester United to not only their 3rd European Cup, but to relieve his own ghosts of 9 years ago. Forget Ronaldo- the real magician was United’s quiet, unassuming, ginger headed midfield maestro.

Accies are just champion!

The Irn-Bru SFL First Division championship was finally won last weekend and Hamilton Accies will take the step up to join the big boys. In what has been a remarkable season for Billy Reid’s side, they will be playing top flight football for the first time since the late 1980’s.

And it has been a success built on laying solid foundations and sheer hard graft. You couldn’t help but admire the way Hamilton went about their business this season, playing with a young but experienced side. The old heads, as it were, include goalkeeper Bryn Halliwell, who has played SPL football with Dunfermline and had previously narrowly missed out on promotion from the First Division with Clyde in 2004.

In midfield, to compliment youngsters James McCarthy and McCarthur, more on whom later, they have former Falkirk man Stuart Taylor and ex St Johnstone star Simon Mensing, who also played for Reid with Clyde. The 35 year old has relished the challenge of this season and has helped banish memories of last season, as his Saints side lost the league title in the very last minute, ironically at New Douglas Park.

And the man who denied them, the evergreen James Grady, also pitched up at Accies in January having left Gretna in January. A player who has seen plenty of Premier League action has provided yet more invaluable experience to a Hamilton team who have come of age this term.

And it is chairman Ronnie McDonald’s decision to lay out and maintain a successful youth policy which has paved the way for this success. The team is packed with young players. Defenders Brian Easton and David Elebert, at 20 and 22 years old respectively, have been prominent figures in the league’s most miserly defence, which has only conceded 3 league goals at home.

But it is in midfield that houses two of Hamilton’s crown jewels. 17 year old McCarthy has simply excelled since debuting last season and has become a regular for Hamilton’s first team. He courted controversy by opting to play for the Republic of Ireland rather than Scotland, but he has had a superb season and is being courted by big name clubs such as Liverpool, Chelsea and Reading. There is no doubt that the starlet can go on and shine on the big stage.

In the same vein, his namesake McCarthur has also had a splendid season. I saw him completely run the midfield in a 1-1 draw between Dunfermline and Accies this season, and he is still only 20 years old. He has now been capped at under 21 level for Scotland, which is just rewards for both player and club.

And, up front, the impressive Richard Offiong is the league’s top marksman with 19 goals, and even drew applause from Dunfermline fans with a magnificent solo goal in a 5-0 romp in Fife. A strong, targetman like figure, Offiong is also very quick and skilfull and I have no doubt he can score goals at a higher level.

I could go on, but you get the general idea. Accies are a real team- not one player stands out from everyone else, just a team packed full of very talented ones. And a team that hopefully Reid, deservedly the manager of the year in Scotland, can keep together and give it a good go ‘upstairs’.

4,940 watched the coronation against Clyde last weekend, which is a far cry from the dark days in the 1990s when Accies were homeless and playing games at Firhill, and sufferring relegation to Division Three as recently as 2000 when players refused to play a match at Stenhousemuir having not been paid. The club were docked 15 points and were relegated. Indeed, the club’s future looked bleak.

But its been a stunning turn-around, and chairman Ronnie McDonald deserves huge credit. Accies now have a good stadium, a fantastic youth system, are on a sound financial footing and now, an SPL manager and an SPL team.

The sky could be the limit for Hamilton, and I’m sure messers Reid and McDonald are plotting their assault on the big boys already. For now, the club’s fans can bask in the glory, and if any club’s fans deserve to, its the loyal followers of Hamilton, a town blighted by support to Rangers and Celtic.

Hopefully some of those will forget Glasgow’s gruesome twosome and go and watch the team on their doorstep who have entertained the First Division fantastically this season.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-3 Dunfermline Athletic

My first installment of my series of trips down memory lane starts with what was an absolutely classic match involving Dunfermline and Inverness Caley Thistle in April 2004. The venue was Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen and the prize for the winner was a place in the Scottish Cup Final.

A second encounter was required after a 1-1 stalemate at the National Stadium. Paul Ritchie fired Inverness, then a First Division side, ahead against the Premier League Pars and then missed a golden chance early in the second half. But Jimmy Calderwood’s team recovered and Craig Brewster’s header from Darren Young’s cross earned a Pittodrie replay.

I was still at school, but somehow escaped 10 minutes early from my final class of the day (Chemistry, which I was hopeless at anyway) to head for the match. Changing out of my school uniform into my Pars regalia in the car was quite a challenge, but I made it to Kincardine on time to make my supporters bus heading north.

A crowd of just 5,728 took in the game thanks to the ridiculous decision to take it to Aberdeen but we were rewarded with a fantastic match, one which showcased the beauty of the Scottish Cup throughout Britain. As always, Dunfermline never do things the easy way and despite looking in command early on, fell behind after 6 minutes.

Former Par David Bingham collected the ball and ran into the Athletic half, and his defence splitting ball found that man Ritchie and he made no mistake in slotting past goalkeeper Derek Stillie to give Inverness a dream start. Cue concerned faces from Fifers all round.

Although Inverness went close again through a Steven Hislop header, the Pars levelled on 24 minutes with an excellent goal. The fantastic Brewster sent the ball to Lee Bullen on the left handside, and his cross was met on the volley by Darren Young. Concern turned to joy as “Ole, Ole Ole Ole, We are the Pars, We are the Pars” was belted out from our end.

Dunfermline continued to press and went close through Gary Dempsey and Brewster as the half drew to a close. Though Hislop smacked the bar for Caley in the second half, unbridled joy was felt by the Athletic support as we hit the front. A superb reverse pass from Dempsey released Brewster, who fired past Inverness keeper Mark Brown from a tight angle.

2-1 up and edging closer to Hampden. The fans were becoming nervous, but that disappeared with 12 minutes left. A fantastic individual effort from Barry Nicholson, dancing past three Inverness players before slotting the ball past Brown, made the game safe, sent us Pars fans into ecstasy and drew comparisons with Archie Gemmill’s legendary goal for Scotland against Holland at the Argentina World Cup in 1978.

Though David Bingham netted a last minute penalty for Caley, Dunfermline made it through to their first cup final in my lifetime and since 1968, as well as a European place for the first time since 1970 which was the end of the club’s halycon period. A fantastic game and result, and the celebrations carried on all the way back home into the wee small hours.

Dunfermline Athletic were back, and a truely memorable game it was. It was night which summed up why I support Dunfermline- we may suffer more lows than highs, but when those highs come, they are absolutely fantastic. Although we went on to lose the final 3-1 to Celtic, that semi final was a phenomenal night and will probably live with me for a long time to come.

Match Stats

Inveress Caledonian Thistle: Brown, Tokely (Proctor 85), Mann, McCaffrey, Golabek, McBain, Duncan (Thomson 50), Bingham, Hislop, Keogh, Ritchie (Mackie 86).

Subs not used: Munro, Fraser.

Goals: Ritchie (6), Bingham (pen 89)

Dunfermline Athletic: Stillie, Bullen, Wilson, Skerla, Dempsey (Byrne 67), Da Young, Nicholson, Mason (Labonte 76), De Young, Brewster, Crawford.

Subs not used: Tod, Mehmet, S Y Thomson.

Goals: Da Young (24), Brewster (63), Nicholson (78).

Referee: Hugh Dallas.

Changes already afoot at East End

Saturday’s penultimate game of the season saw Dunfermline go down to a 3-0 loss at Greenock Morton, in a performance where the desire and effort of the team left a lot to be desired. With little to play for except pride, a lacklusture Dunfermline may have been expected not to play at maximum potential, but it is unacceptable, especially to the hardy band of diehards who followed them west. Morton needed the points in their bid to avoid a relegation play-off and were undoubtedly more up for it, but the way in which the Pars collapsed after going a goal down epitomised the season- one in which we’ve been pretty damn gutless and, quite simply, inept.

A rather damning verdict perhaps, but one which most Athletic followers would agree with. Changes are badly needed as the current squad simply will not take the First Division by storm and win promotion like Billy Reid’s excellent young Hamilton Accies side have done this year.

And to start what will no doubt be an exodus out of the East End Park exit door, on Friday it was confirmed that Mark Burchill and Stephen Simmons will leave after rejecting new deals. Scott Thomson has taken a cut in wages to re-sign for another year, a decision I am happy with as he has been excellent since returning from injury and has helped shore up our shambolic defence.

But back to Burchill and Simmons. Striker Burchill is our top goalscorer with 13 goals, and in his first season with the club netted a significant number which helped ensure we beat the SPL drop and reached the CIS Insurance Cup final. Often he has been posted missing in action though and is a player we need focused and on the pitch- he’s no use in the stand injured, which has happened throughout his time with the club. A loss he will be, but not irreplaceable.

But my biggest cheer regarding football this weekend was the news that Simmons will be leaving. Since joining the club, he has simply failed to deliver. Too often he is found missing in games as he is simply far too lazy. He does have some ability, but he isn’t as good as he thinks he is and has simply decided not to turn up this season, in a campaign where we needed all of our squad pulling in the same direction.

A clear-out simply has to happen at East End, and we need to look at this season’s deserving champions as an example. Accies have a lot of youth in their squad aided with some experienced pros, and they have played skillful, quick and entertaining football throughout.

Pars boss Jim McIntyre has to go down that road if we are to be looking at making a title challenge for next season, otherwise it’ll be a long, hard struggle.

We await the summer with baited breath and see what changes McIntyre makes to a horrendously underachieving football club.

All over bar the shouting

Defiance is as good a word as any to describe Chelsea’s beleagured boss Avram Grant. The Israeli still maintains that his team can win the Premier League title, but last night’s damaging draw at home to Wigan Athletic looks to have gift wrapped the championship to Manchester United.

Grant stated before the match that the Blues required 5 wins from 5 to wrestle the crown away from Sir Alex Ferguson and Old Trafford. In part one, they failed as a last gasp Emile Heskey volley earned the Latics an invaluable point in their own quest to avoid relegation to the Championship.

Chelsea now go to Goodison Park to take on Everton where nothing less than a win will certainly end their title ambitions. Grant admitted in the wake of this latest setback that “it is more difficult now (to win the title) but we will still fight away.”

Though Chelsea did dominate proceedings and scored through Michael Essien, they, much like Arsenal at Manchester United, failed to find a second goal when on top which would’ve sealed the game. Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland denied Salomon Kalou and Nicholas Anelka while skipper John Terry hit the crossbar.

Wigan though never gave up and Heskey netted from a Jason Koumas cross to earn a point similar to Everton’s at Chelsea in November, as a late Tim Cahill goal denied Chelsea.

So why do I think its all over? Well, while Chelsea stutter and look totally unconvincing, as they have done for much of Grant’s reign, Manchester United have once again found that little bit extra to get them through games.

They didn’t dominate against Arsenal, but they had a determination that saw them haul victory from the jaws of defeat- the hallmark of champions. They have also been down this road so many times before and know the pressure is all on Chelsea. Although they have a home game with United to come, I can’t see United crumbling- indeed, in the big games this season that they’ve had to take points from in the league- Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea at Old Trafford- they have done.

With just 4 games to go and a 5 point gap, effectively 6 due to the massive goal difference in favour of Ferguson’s men, I think its now too much for United to throw away. The bookies seem to think so- United are now 14/1 on to retain the Premiership.

For Chelsea, the Champions League looks like being their only chance of a trophy this season, though I wouldn’t rule out Ferguson’s Reds to clinch a league and European Cup double. As defiant as Avram Grant can be, the title race is indeed pretty much done and dusted.

Super South Stun Dismal Dons

Yes folks, Saturday proved one thing- never take your author’s predictions on football as gospel. In my previous post on Friday, I tipped Aberdeen to edge through their Scottish Cup semi final with Queen of the South and return to Hampden in May for the final. Well, you’ve guessed it- I was wrong.

But I doubt that even the most seasoned of sports journalists could have predicted what was quite an incredible afternoon at the National Stadium as Queens upset the odds to reach their first ever Scottish Cup final. A remarkable achievement for Gordon Chisholm and his players, but to fans of fellow First Division sides like myself, it didn’t surprise that the Doonhamers ended up victorious.

An absolutely pulsating tie saw the Palmerston side take the lead three times with Aberdeen pegging them back. Former Pittodrie midfielder Steve Tosh broke the deadlock after 22 minutes, before Andrew Considine nodded the Dons level before half time.

But a sensational second period saw five goals fly in in the space of 15 minutes. Paul Burns curled home for Queens before Barry Nicholson netted from 6 yards for Aberdeen. Within a minute, Queens were back in front as Sean O’Conner took advantage of a Considine slip to slot home before the Dons defender atoned for his error by heading his second goal of the game from a Lee Miller flick.

But, on the hour mark, Chisholm’s men scored the winner. Queens captain and long serving player, Jim Thomson, flicked a cross ball across the goal and former Aberdeen player John Stewart, released by Calderwood, rifled home the winner after coming on for the injured Stephen Dobbie.

Though Zander Diamond hit the bar then the post late on, the Reds trudged off the Hampden turf beaten and dejected, giving their supporters yet more amunition to fire at Calderwood, who has found himself under pressure from many within the Red Army ever since he took the hot-seat in 2004.

But Chisholm and his players did the 8,500+ Queens fans proud and will even be assured of a UEFA Cup spot if Rangers defeat St Johnstone in next weekend’s second semi final. A remarkable Scottish Cup season continues, and an outstanding season for Queen of the South will climax in the Scottish game’s showpiece.

And you can guarantee that Chisholm will be crowned as the King of Dumfries if they achieve the unthinkable, and who’s to say they can’t?

Super South indeed.

Queens bid to be Kings of Hampden

Scottish Cup action returns this weekend, and while Rangers visit Partick Thistle in their Quarter Final replay on Sunday, attention switches to Hampden Park tomorrow and the semi final clash between Aberdeen and First Division Queen of the South.

The Doonhamers have had a splendid season since going full time last summer. They sit fourth in the Irn Bru First Division, but it is their Scottish Cup run, where they have seen off the likes of Linlithgow Rose and Dundee, which has captured the imagination. Queens stand just 90 minutes away from reaching their first Scottish Cup final.

And the Dumfries public haven’t let them down, with over 8,500 tickets being sold. Queens have the potential for a big support if they are successful, and a win over Jimmy Calderwood’s Dons would certainly rank among their greatest ever achievements.

The hallmark of the Palmerston team has been a work ethic. Boss Gordon Chisholm has instilled that in his players, who have plenty of experience. Midfielder Steve Tosh featured for Aberdeen, Raith and Falkirk while also playing in Gretna’s 2006 cup adventure. Striker Stephen Dobbie, previously of Rangers, Hibernian and St Johnstone and pictured above, has netted 16 league goals, just one shy of the divisions top scorer, Hamilton’s Richard Offiong.

They will make life hard for the Reds, who have had an up and down season. They clinched a top six berth in the SPL by beating Falkirk on Monday, have gone on to play Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup round of 32 but lost 4-1 to Dundee United in the CIS Cup semi final.

Manager Calderwood knows how to take a team to Hampden, as he, along with Dons players Barry Nicholson and Richie Byrne, took Dunfermline to the 2004 final. That year, his semi final opposition were also from the First Division, when Inverness took the Pars to a replay, ironically at Pittodrie, before the Fifers won 3-2.

No replay will be required this time though, and I’m going to stick my neck on the line and predict Aberdeen will be returning to the National Stadium in May, but don’t write off the underdog. This Scottish Cup season is proof of that.

Aberdeen v Queen of the South is live tomorrow on Sky Sports 1 from Noon, with Kick off at 12.15pm.

Pars look ahead to fresh start

It has been a truely wretched season for Dunfermline Athletic, and one which the Pars faithful are glad has only four matches to run before its conclusion. A season which began with so much optimism and hope way back in August descended into one of depression, confusion and apathy. Yep, its fun to follow Fife’s finest.

Having been relegated at the end of last season and losing the Scottish Cup final in heartbreaking fashion while playing some good football, the feeling was that the Athletic would mount a serious challenge for an instant return to the Premier League with the hope that the experienced players we had, such as Stevie Crawford, Darren Young, Greg Shields, Scott Wilson and Stephen Glass, would enable us to fight our out of what could be described as the country’s toughest division. On top of that, the carrot of UEFA Cup football dangled in front of the team so the opportunity for a memorable season was there to be grasped.

But by the end of August, we were out of Europe by BK Hacken and October saw us already way off the pace of leaders Hamilton Accies. Consecutive humilations in losing 0-5 at home to Hamilton, 0-3 at Stirling Albion and 0-4 to Livingston saw us embroiled in a relegation fight. By December, manager Stephen Kenny was gone, replaced by veteran striker Jim McIntyre.

Results have improved and Dunfermline now sit in mid-table mediocrity, with only 4th place and the avoidance of an extra round in next season’s Scottish Cup left to play for. Its as low as we’ve been since I started watching the team back in 1994 but the focus is on a title challenge next term. McIntyre has signed winger Alex Burke, with the jury still out on him, as well as Stirling Albion’s young midfielder Steven Bell on a pre-contract agreement. Bell has impressed against the Pars this term, and netted a good goal in the Beanos 3-2 defeat to Dunfermline at Forthbank last week.

But one of the biggest cheers of the season could be heard this week when it was announced popular goalkeeper Paul Gallacher had signed a three year contract to remain with the club. Gallacher, or Peter Barlow as he is affectionately known by the fans due to looking very much like the ex Coronation Street character, has impressed since signing for Stephen Kenny in August after falling out of favour at Norwich City.

Much like Dorus de Vries last year, Gallo has saved Dunfermline a lot of points this season, including two crucial penalty saves in a draw at Dundee and in the 3rd minute of stoppage time in a 1-0 win at Queen of the South in October. Capped 7 times for Scotland, Gallacher’s form and general ability caused me to question Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall on Tuesday night. I went along to their game with Dundee at Firhill with the Radio Scotland team (my Beeb match report will appear at some stage on here) and in his programme notes, he described his goalkeeper Jonathon Tuffey as the league’s best.

Undoutedly, he is a fine keeper but, come on Ian, Gallacher has won praise from managers and fans of our first division rivals all season. He is a goalkeeper with international experience and should be playing at a higher level than the Irn-Bru SFL. But it is great to know we have a top quality keeper on board for next season, and shows the club look like they mean business in putting this term’s wrongs right.

We will have to wait until the summer to see how McIntyre rebuilds the squad, and it can’t come quick enough. Roll on season 2008/2009 and hopefully a fresh, exciting new start for Fife’s biggest club.

Can Smith’s Dogs of War hound Lisbon out of Europe?

Yes, I will admit, this is shocking. Given my stance on what I think of both halves of the Old Firm, it is somewhat unbelievable that I find myself about to type a blog post about one of them. However, I will give a stout defence of this.

I am sitting in the Sports department of BBC Scotland’s magnificent complex on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, as I carry out my work experience for our 3rd year. After spending two days with television, I am now stationed with the radio team and part of my remit for today is to be part of the preparation and production from the studio for Sportsound’s live broadcast of Rangers‘ cruch UEFA Cup clash with Sporting Lisbon at Ibrox, which is clearly visible as I peer out the windows to my left.

So, then, its an ideal topic to discuss, with the Light Blues the only British side remaining in the competition, after Everton, Tottenham and Bolton fell in the last 16. And the latter’s conquerers will roll up on the southside of Scotland’s largest city aiming to end Walter Smith’s hopes of an unprecedented quadruple.

Despite the disappointment of Champions League elimination after a 3-0 home reverse to Olympique Lyonais, Smith’s side have advanced much further in UEFA’s secondary tournament than they might previously have envisaged. They knocked out Panathanikos on away goals in Athens before defeating Germans Werder Bremen 2-1 on aggregate, a result quite significant in that many tipped Werder as potential tournament darkhorses.

But Rangers have not advanced this far playing exhilarating football. Indeed, flair has not been the forefront of Smith’s agenda since he returned to the club just over a year ago. Then, Rangers were a mess, completely disorganised, and were out of all domestic competitions in January, as a memorable win for my team Dunfermline sent them spinning out of the Scottish Cup.

So the first task for Gers’ management team was to make them disciplined, organised and hard to beat, the same task Smith carried out excellently when he helped transform the fortunes of the national team after the shambolic Berti Vogts era. And this formula has Rangers with one trophy in the bag, six points clear of Celtic in the title chase and have the chance of a Scottish Cup semi final to look ahead to.

One radio commentator remarked this week that Smith’s second Rangers side are “Dogs of War”, not too dissimilar to the side Joe Royle built at Everton in the mind 1990s. Then, Royle, without signing any “star” players, transformed the Toffees from perenial relegation battlers to FA Cup winners within a year. The similarities between them and Smith’s current squad are quite clear.

This is not to say Rangers are devoid of good players, far from it. Skipper Barry Ferguson is having a tremendous season for club and country, with Carlos Cuellar, the vastly experienced David Weir and goalkeeper Allan McGregor have formed a titanic trio, with Rangers only having conceded 21 goals in the league. Up front, man mountain Jean Claude Darcheville has proved vital to Smith in his preferred 4-5-1 system, while Kris Boyd is always a massive threat to come off the bench, as evidenced as his 2 goals and winning penalty snatched the CIS Insurance Cup from the grasp of desperately unlucky Dundee United.

Saturday’s Old Firm game was another case in point. Celtic enjoyed the early play at Ibrox but once Rangers edged in front through Kevin Thomson, Rangers overall were content to soak up anything Gordon Strachan’s team threw at them and in the end comfortably staved off the threat of the Hoops. Not the most expansive football compared to Smith’s first stint, where players like Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup graced Govan.

But as good as they were domestically, they struggled badly in Europe, with early Champions League and UEFA Cup exits the norm. But Smith, with his more cautious approach, has led Rangers to their best ever UEFA Cup run and will hope to carry on to the final at the City of Manchester Stadium in May.

His tactics this evening will be important. Sporting may adopt a more defensive, counter attacking game, much like Panathanikos did in the round of 32. If they do so, they will rely on two richly talented players to snatch a critical away goal on the break in Brazilian striker Liedson, who has scored four goals in his last two games, and Joao Moutinho, who at 22 is Sporting’s second youngest captain and is already being talked about in the same breath as Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

But if Rangers don’t score, keeping them out at the other end will be critical. The Gers haven’t conceded at home in Europe since Lyon and only Stuttgart have netted at Ibrox other than the French champions. And Rangers away form, including a great win in Lyon and the draw in Greece, indicates that even a 0-0 draw wouldn’t be the worst result, especially as Sporting struggled to defeat a vastly understrength Bolton side at home in the last round.

But with the 2005 UEFA Cup finalists struggling in 4th place in the Portugese League, Rangers couldn’t have asked for a better tie to progress to the last four and a potential meeting with Fiorentina or PSV Eindhoven.

And given the way his team have snarled their way throughout this campaign, you wouldn’t back against it being a memorable night for the Ibrox club tonight.

 For live commentary on Rangers V Sporting Lisbon, tune in to BBC Radio Scotland on 810 MW from 7.15pm tonight. Host Richard Gordon will be joined by Murdo MacLeod, Craig Paterson, Billy Dodds and Chick Young. You can also listen online by clicking here.