Salute to the super South

The name of my blog was almost what Queen of the South faced at Hampden Park on Saturday afternoon. Replace “It’s half past four and we’re 2-0 down” with “It’s half time and we’re 2-0 down” and you find yourself looking at the predicament Gordon Chisholm’s team faced in the Scottish Cup final against Rangers. There they were, heroes already to the 15,000 fans who’d journeyed from Dumfries to back the First Division outfit in what, on paper anyway, was a David V Goliath game.

And in the first half, what appeared on paper looked to be factual for a change. Queens appeared to be overawed by the occasion as Kris Boyd’s thunderbolt free-kick saw them go 1 down before a defensive mix up between inspirational skipper Jim Thomson, more on whom later, and the excellent Ryan McCann saw the ball fall to DaMarcus Beasley who fired under goalkeeper Jamie McDonald’s legs.

Despite playing 5 games in 10 days since the UEFA Cup final including Saturday, Rangers showed no ill effects as they appeared to be strolling to victory in the Mount Florida sunshine. It would need the mother all of team talks from Chisholm to re-ignite his team and show the form which led them all the way to the final and 4th in the First Division.

And, from the restart, they meant business. A determination not to let their big day disappear in a whimper, desperate to give themselves a fighting chance. They succeeded, and suddenly the Ibrox club’s weary legs began to return.

And leading the charge was a self confessed Rangers fan. Steve Tosh, at the veteran stage of his career, showed the way to goal with his second in this season’s competition, following on from his goal in the semi final victory over Aberdeen.

Watching with my Rangers supporting other half, I remarked that Queens needed to get the next goal at 2-0 to make it exciting for the neutral. 5 minutes into the second period, the excellent Sean O’Connor, who gave Gers defenders Carlos Cuellar and Davie Weir much to think about, skinned Cuellar on the right hand side and his low cross was bundled in off Tosh’s chest.

It gave Queens a huge lift. Their fans, magnificent in their backing, rose again to will their team on. The only club to appear in the bible were praying for a miracle at half time. And just 3 minutes later, perhaps not even the man upstairs could have scripted it to such a degree.

The Doonhamers were awarded a free-kick on the right hand side and the outstanding left full back Bob Harris floated an inswinging ball into the box. And leaping like a salmon to meet the delivery was the skipper, 37 year old Thomson, who gleefully bulleted a header past Neil Alexander to draw the Dumfries side level.

It was a joyous moment, as he raced towards Hampden’s main stand celebrating at such a lightening pace Linford Christie in his heydey would’ve been proud of. It was fitting that he should score the glory goal, having served with Queens for 10 years. You felt that the underdogs could go on and claim the glory, giving Rangers yet more misery after losing the UEFA Cup and the league title.

Neutrals, along with the Queens support, dared to dream of the impossible. One more chance, a wee half chance could seal it for them. And they almost had it through star striker Stephen Dobbie, a former Rangers youth. Their top goalscorer with 19 goals, found himself with the ball at his feet, 12 yards out. You thought “go on, knock it past the defender and pick your spot”. Unfortunately, his touch deserted him at the final moment and Rangers cleared their lines.

And, as happens so often in cup finals, the favourites got the break they needed on 72 minutes, as a Beasley corner was met by Boyd to head powerfully home. Boyd had emerged to show his boss why he should’ve perhaps started more matches this season, both domestically and in Europe, as his goalscoring prowess is second to none.

Alas, as hard as they fought, Chisholm’s team couldn’t fashion another chance and it was all over for the First Division side. Rangers’ muted celebrations, and the fact Queens were given a rousing round of applause from around Hampden, indicated how relieved Rangers were to edge to victory.

The Palmerston players will forever rue the first half in which they simply got stage fright. And no wonder. It was their club’s first ever cup final, and for many of their players it will be their one and only. But they roared back in the second half and if they continue the form they showed then and throughout the season, they will be a genuine force in next season’s First Division.

And with the carrot of European football also secured, the team toured Dumfries yesterday as the town paid tribute to what has been a remarkable Scottish Cup adventure. Although they didn’t achieve the impossible, the glory of hitting 2 goals in 3 minutes to allow everyone connected with the club to dream will live with everyone present at the National Stadium forever more as they had Rangers rocking.

It would be easy to sound patronising, but as a fan of a fellow First Division club, I applaud what Queen of the South have achieved. It would’ve been easy to crumble at 2-0 down, as many teams including my own have done against the Old Firm in the past, but they showed great battling qualities, great spirit and also showed what a good football side they are in the second half.

A banner in the Queens end, in a rather ironic slant on Rangers’ fans singing of “God Save the Queen” was to proclaim “God Save the Queens”. What a pity he couldn’t completely finish the job and ensure the cup ended in Dumfries on Saturday night. But they deserve to be saluted on a great achievement. Well done the super South.

Celts crowned Champions

From the moment Lee Miller’s header zoomed behind Neil Alexander to put Aberdeen 1-0 ahead against Rangers, you knew that it was written in the stars. And Jan Venegoor of Hesselink’s header, followed by Darren Mackie netting Aberdeen’s second goal, merely confirmed what fate seemed to be alluding to- Celtic are the champions of Scotland for the third year running.

Their 1-0 victory at Tannadice over Dundee United, coupled with Rangers crashing at Pittodrie ensured that the trophy was heading for Glasgow’s east end yet again. An incredible title race full of twists and turns finally came to its climax in thrilling fashion last night.

Labelled ‘titanic Thursday’, the destination of the title was in the balance. Locked on the same points but with the Hoops having a far superior goal difference, Gordon Strachan’s team knew that bettering or matching Rangers result would hand them the championship, unless the Ibrox club went goal crazy in the Granite City. Rangers were relying on United to do them a favour and therefore bettering Celtic’s result.

So while revising for today’s Information, Communication and Society exam at Uni, I listened in to Radio Scotland and their coverage of the evening. The chosen game for me was Celtic at Tannadice and it was an interesting first half, with both sides going close. Even from around 60 odd miles away, you could feel the tension of the players and supporters involved. Celtic were desperate to claim the honour in memory of the late Tommy Burns while Walter Smith’s team looked to eradicate the memory of Manchester by bagging the flag.

Half time saw both games locked at 0-0, with one goal in either one able to swing the title one way or the other. And on 63 minutes, sudden cheering from the Celtic faithful signalled Miller’s goal for Aberdeen and gave their side on grip on the title. And 10 minutes later, Tannadice erupted as the goal Strachan’s men had longed for arrived. Paul Hartley’s corner was met by Venegoor of Hesselink and his header signalled the end of Rangers’ challenge. Mackie’s goal 13 minutes for time added salt into an already gaping wound, as did Nacho Novo’s red card for an awful challenge on Stuart Duff, meaning he will miss tomorrow’s Scottish Cup final.

So all that was left was for the final whistle to blow on the season’s end and for the helicopter to deliver the trophy to Dundee from nearby Edzell. You couldn’t help but feel the emotion as Celtic’s supporters burst into a rousing song for Tommy Burns and belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone as skipper Stephen McManus hoisted the trophy aloft. The message from him and the rest of the team was simple: We did it for Tommy.

And its hard to argue with that. While you can point to Rangers very heavy schedule in reaching the UEFA Cup final ultimately catching up on them, Celtic deserve immense credit. Their defeat to Motherwell in early April left them 6 points behind with 2 more games played, but 7 wins out of 7 at the end of the season is a remarkable run and Strachan has had the last laugh on some Celtic fans who wanted him out after that defeat.

So it’s congratulations to the champions, and perhaps it is fitting they won the league in honour of a Celtic legend. With three league titles in a row, equalling only Willie Maley and the legendary Jock Stein, will Strachan be considered a Celtic legend in time? Thats a question only Celtic fans can answer, but I’m sure that TB will look down and be more than content with the current boss’ achievements at his beloved club.

UEFA Cup Final- Football forgotten

It wasn’t supposed to end this way. Rangers‘ run to the UEFA Cup final in Manchester had the whole of Britain talking, as well as the rest of Europe watching. Just one step away from their first European triumph in 36 years. A tantalising tactical battle between two of the game’s mature students, Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat.

It promised to be a game that would be talked about for a long time. Sadly, it would not be for the football as much as it was about the fans. Rangers lost the match 2-0 to Zenit St Petersburg, and the Russian champions were able to celebrate their first European trophy. It left the 100,000+ Rangers supporters who had descended on Manchester devastated.

But the attention would be on them and, in the build up, it was good coverage. The fans had been partying in the Manchester sunshine, building up to the game of their lives. A city divided by Red and Blue had been transformed into one which amalgamated red and blue with a bit of white. The specially set up fanzones were full by early afternoon as countdown to the game began.

But, as Rangers’ night of destiny got underway, it all started to go wrong. A screen at the fanzone in Piccadily Gardens lost its signal and failed. Engineers tried to fix the problem but advised fans to head to another fanzone near the stadium to catch the action. Incensed and fuelled with drink consumed all day, Gers fans started throwing bottles at the engineers who quickly gave up. And this started a night of rioting, bringing shame on the whole of Scotland.

The tales and videos of what went on were absolutely frightening. One youtube video shows Rangers fans fighting with the police and each other to the extent one was knocked unconcious, while Rangers fans are seen smashing up a car and in one sickening clip released by Greater Manchester Police, a mob of 200 or so are seen chasing police officers down the street. One of the fans trips one up and a large number start to lay into him with seige of kicks. He suffered a broken arm.

Even outside the stadium, a Russian fan was stabbed in the back. These were scenes which Scotland and British football have worked hard to eradicate. Shops were smashed and looted as fans and police fought running battles for up to five hours during and after the game. I have read tales on the internet of fans running along railway tracks and causing trains to be cancelled due to violence and intimidation towards train staff, as well as vandalising trains.

Rangers moved quickly to suggest that a lot of these people had nothing to do with the club. Now, while I accept this was a minority in a massive Rangers following, it was a large minority and the clips I have seen show a lot of people in Rangers colours involved. There may have been individuals there who don’t normally associate with them, but try telling that to the police, Manchester locals and families who travelled with children and were caught up in the mayhem. They will tar Rangers fans with the same brush and Scotland’s reputation will be damaged.

The scenes I have watched and reports I have read have been nothing short of shameful and was a real throwback to the dark ages. Manchester City Centre looked like a war zone yesterday morning, with thousands of tonnes of rubbish strewn across the streets and buildings smashed up.

As I have said, it was a minority and there was little Rangers FC could do. Fans were quick to blame the police and the council but my view is this. The council have to take some blame for the screen not working and the packed fanzones, but that is no excuse to start fights and cause mayhem. If the police are being attacked, then they have to react. All day drinking undoubtedly played a part, but I believe there were some there itching for some trouble.

I feel really sorry for the many thousands of innocents caught up in this incident. It has ruined what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and completely overshadowed the terrific achievement the Rangers team had of reaching the final.

Focus on Manchester- Zenit St Petersberg V Rangers

Ever since their semi final shoot-out victory over Fiorentina in Florence, all the talk from those connected to Rangers has been Manchester, Manchester, Manchester. Well, that and the fixture congestion, which I had my say about earlier on this blog.

However, the night that Gers fans, and especially the players, have been waiting for is almost upon them. Tonight they go head to head with former Ibrox boss Dick Advocaat’s Zenit side in the UEFA Cup final in what is easily Rangers’ biggest game in their recent history.

The chance is there for Walter Smith’s side to become the second Rangers team to win a European trophy but Zenit are a damn good side. Any team that destroys pre-tournament favourites Bayern Munich 5-1 over 2 legs has to be decent, despite the drawback of having Fernando Ricksen.

Advocaat has done a great job there. He’s led Zenit to their first ever Russian title and now could lead a Russian club to UEFA Cup glory for the 2nd time in 3 years, with CSKA Moscow having become the first Russian club to win a European trophy in 2005.

The game is one which will be tight. Zenit, like Rangers under Advocaat, like to play expansive football while Smith’s success has been built around a solid defence and a counter attacking system, using one striker.

So there will be key battles over the pitch tonight. And I believe that the big battle will be in midfield between the captains, Barry Ferguson and Anatolyi Tymoschuk. The duo will have an idea of each other’s game having played against each other for Scotland and Ukraine in the Euro 2008 qualification campaign.

Ferguson is key to Rangers, all their play goes through him. If he’s on song, they stand a good chance and he will be flanked by Kevin Thomson and Steven Davis as part of a midfield five. They will have to track the Zenit midfield and close them down quickly to prevent the Russians breaking quickly. And Tymoschuk will be key to that. A classy player, he has a terrific range of passing ability and if given room and time on the pitch, he will dictate the pace of the game for Zenit.

At the back for Smith, David Weir and Carlos Cuellar will have to continue their excellent partnership to prevent Zenit scoring, as losing the opening goal could prove critical. It would force Rangers to be more attacking, which could leave them exposed defensively.

And up front, Jean Claude Darchveville will have a big job. As Rangers lone front man, he will have to be able to gather the ball, hold it and wait for support when Rangers are counter-attacking. If Darcheville is given service, he has shown this season he can deliver on the big stage.

So, how do I think it’ll go? Undoubtedly, the presence of so many Rangers fans (no doubt millions, having borrowed the Celtic Seville calculator) will help inspire. And there is no doubt Rangers have been excellent in Europe this season, with their defensive tactics working well. But this is a one off game, so I think Rangers will find it much more difficult as there will be more emphasis on attack. And Zenit are a very good side who will attack Rangers from the outset.

Its a hard one to predict, so I won’t. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if it went all the way to extra time and penalties. Will it be a memorable night for Rangers, or heartbreak like their neighbours sufferred in Seville in 2003? We’ll see later on tonight.

Rangers V Zenit is live on STV and ITV 1 tonight from 7pm on STV and 7.30pm on ITV 1.

Gers just have to grin and bear it

The euphoria of reaching the UEFA Cup final still sits amongst Rangers fans, but Sunday’s scoreless draw with Hibernian at Easter Road may be the first sign that their team are beginning to stumble as they hurtle toward the finishing line.

They are a team totally knackered after a marathon European campaign, which began with a Champions League qualifier with Zeta in July resulting in a UEFA Cup final with Zenit St Petersberg on Wednesday week.

Walter Smith has been busy slamming the SPL in his spare time for not helping Rangers prepare for their biggest game since the 1972 European Cup Winners Cup win. A heavy fixture backlog will eventually see Rangers play 4 games in 8 days following the Manchester showdown.

The congestion has been caused by a number of factors, such as sodden unplayable pitches, dreadful Scottish weather and the untimely death of Motherwell captain Phil O’Donnell.

So Smith wants the league season extended. While I agree that the situation is far from ideal, I don’t see what more the league can do. A season extension would be a struggle, mainly due to the start of the European Championships in June and the fact the Scottish Cup final is on May 24. As Queen of the South boss Gordon Chisholm rightly says, you can’t move the showpiece of our game. Queens season finished on April 26 at Dunfermline and they wouldn’t be too happy at having to wait even longer for their big day at Hampden.

Indeed, Smith also forgets that the SPL agreed to let Rangers postpone an SPL match at home to Gretna on the Saturday before Lyon sent them crashing out of the Champions League in a bid to help them.

Smith’s talk of the SPL and SFA conspiring to help Celtic more than his team is absolute nonsense. The fact that his UEFA Cup opponents have had games re-arranged prior to the final is irrelevent- they have just entered their season, while we are at the end of ours.

Its been a difficult season with regards the weather, pitch condition and tragedy all wreaking havoc with fixtures. As a Dunfermline fan, I remember in our First Division title campaign of 1995/1996 we had to play 6 games in 18 days and had to cope with the death of our skipper Norrie McCathie, injuries, suspensions and a car crash involving 2 of our players. We had the next game after our captain’s death postponed before we defeated Clydebank 4-3. Games were cancelled due to the weather, but we didn’t have any choice but to cram fixtures in. We responded in the right way and went on to win the title on the final day of the season.

It is unfortunate, but Rangers will simply have to get on with it. They boasted earlier in the season that they had a big enough squad to field 2 teams- now’s their chance to prove that theory.

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.