Scotland v Serbia: A winning start?

Finally we're ready to start.

Just as well. Given the rate we've been careering through the English divisions looking for fit defenders, Craig Levein's next call would have been to the reserve left back in Wallsend's under-11 squad.

He can step away from the phone now.

Levein's squad might not have room for the player that grabs the most headlines and maybe there is abundant talent missing for reasons both sensible and inane.

Yet it's the squad that the manager thinks offers him options enough to get off to the good start he desperately needs.

It's his job to back himself to pick the right players to take care of the task in hand.

In Scottish football the benefit of the doubt is rationed. Only yesterday Levein was being hauled over the Twitter and forum coals for failing to pick an injured player. The giant diddy.

That might make triumphs all the sweeter for a character such as Levein, an often contradictory mix of thin-skinned petulance and thrawn stubbornness.

Not that international management is a personality contest (he'd lose), it's about qualifying for tournaments (he might lose, he might yet succeed.)

Some say Levein has reinvigorated the squad with a comradeship that George Burley dismantled. Some say he's not up to the task.

It might be that he's used his club experience - at clubs fighting against dominant forces - to build an esprit de corps.

That might also be that can count against us at crucial times, our default dig-in, grind it out, one-for-all mentality proving hard to shake off in games we could dominate. In crucial games that can mean missed opportunities.

Still, Levein's had a qualification failure to learn from.

He should now have his blueprint for success. It's to be hoped he's also accepted the need for some flexibility (the right sort of flexibility. Not a 4-6-0 sort of flexibility.)

This looks a tight group but not an impossible one. Ladbrokes currently price us at 7/1 to qualify.

Belgium bulge with talent. Croatia are ranked in Fifa's - compromised - top ten. Serbia are ranked above us. As (just) are Wales. Macedonia have troubled us before.

A tough group, with the potential for more than a few bruising games. But Serbia have only one game in their last ten. Croatia two in their last seven and Belgium four in ten.

Scotland have won five from ten.

Opponents differ. Lies, damned lies and can't-be-arsed friendlies.

Yet none of these sides could be considered aristocrats of the international game at the moment (Belgium might be ennobled soon enough). There's no need for Scotland to cower like paupers.

A look at the odds for Saturday's clash with Serbia would seem to confirm that there's not much to choose between some of the Group A teams.

Scotland are 13/8 to win. The draw is 9/4. And Serbia are 13/8 to win.

Different things worry me. We seem to have produced a glut of midfielders but fewer defenders.

We're not full of goals. Kenny Miller - and it will be a shock if he doesn't start up front on his own - has 16 goals at a rate of one every 3.75 games.

That's far from prolific but it's more than the rest of the squad have managed between them.

In Jordan Rhodes we would seem to have goals in reserve but we don't yet know how Levein will opt to use him.

We're unlikely to want for grit and determination. Inspiration might be in short supply. And we're still not sure how the manager would handle it if he realised it was at his disposal.

In the recent friendly with Australia Gary Caldwell was played as a defensive midfielder - he'd sort of played there in the infamous Czech game but in reality we were all defenders that night - which might be a clue to the manager's thinking.

He's taken some stick over the years has Gary. But I'd rather have him at the heart of the defence. I suspect we might well see Christophe Berra and Andy Webster in there though with Caldwell cast as the protector to let the attacking midfielders - Shaun Maloney, Robert Snodgrass, James Morrison, Steven Naismith? - to lay down their lives in support of Kenny Miller.

As we search for opportunity in our midfield possibilities the Serbs don't seem overly fussed.

Borussia Dortmund defender Nevan Subutic has mentioned this Serbian team having "technical quality" on their side.

Which is a bit insulting to his hosts. But probably fair enough.

This is an evolving Serbia though, a squad even shorter on goals than Scotland yet still packed with players from successful club sides.

I'm torn on this one. Starting off with two home games is an advantage we need to grasp.

Failing to beat Serbia would be unfortunate. Losing would take a sledgehammer to our hopes.

But am I confident?

Serbia have failed to score in seven of their last ten games and have scored just four goals across those games.


That encourages me.

Enough to back a Scotland win. Ah, go on then.

Scotland to win 1-0 at 13/2?

Tempting.

Scotland to win and James Morrison to score at 8/1.

That would do for me.

And, for now, for Craig Levein and some of his critics.

All odds from Ladbrokes

www.gambleaware.co.uk

Scotland: Starting blocks

What is a good start to a qualifying campaign?

That's been the subject of intense debate this week as Scotland prepare for another tilt at reaching a major championship.

Maybe not much of a debate actually.

First we had Craig Levein's assistant Peter Houston suggesting that four points from six against Serbia and Macedonia would be just swell.

Then we had just about everyone bellowing: "Catch yourself on Pedro, you muppet. It's six points or bust ya baldy numpty."

Which might lead one to the conclusion that six points is at least essential to heal the growing - but not yet irreparable - rift between the current Scotland regime and a public that has never been adoring.

We certainly know about bad starts.

Ten years ago today we found ourselves 2-0 down inside 12 minutes against the Faroe Islands in a performance of abject incompetence.

The team snatched a draw but Berti Vogts would forever have the stench of the "fool of the Faroes" hanging over him. And he reached a play-off.

So a good start is important.

In the current run of seven of failed qualifying campaign we've won two opening games, drawn four and lost one.

The most depressing thing is how many early points have been dropped to teams that we wouldn't consider qualification rivals (we tend to always consider ourselves as contenders, even as the law of averages and the blunt mallet of reality threaten to impudently destroy our unshakeable belief):

• Euro 2000: Lithuania, drew 0-0 (Away)
• World Cup 2002: Latvia, won 1-0 (Away)
• Euro 2004: Faroe Islands, drew 2-2 (Away)
• World Cup 2006: Slovenia, drew 0-0 (Away)
• Euro 2008: Faroe Islands, won 6-0 (Home)
• World Cup 2010: Macedonia, lost 1-0 (Away)
• Euro 2012: Lithuania, drew 0-0 (Away)

Compare and contrast: In that golden age (did we fully appreciate it as such at the time?) when we qualified for nine tournaments in 28 years we kicked off with seven wins, one draw and just one defeat:

• 1970 World Cup: Austria, won 2-0 (Home)
• 1974 World Cup: Denmark, won 4-1 (Away)
• 1978 World Cup: Czechoslovakia, won 2-0 (Away)
• 1982 World Cup: Sweden, won 1-0 (Away)
• 1986 World Cup: Iceland, won 3-0 (Home)
• 1990 World Cup: Norway, won 2-1 (Away)
• Euro 1992: Romania, won 2-1 (Home)
• Euro 1996: Finland, won 2-0 (Away) 
• 1998 World Cup: Austria, drew 0-0 (Away)

We didn't qualify for every tournament in those days though. And when we failed it was often after a bad start.

In six opening games in qualifying disappointments between 1970 and 1994 we lost three, won two and drew one. One of the wins (against East Germany in the 1984 European Champions qualifiers) was the only game we won in the group:

• Euro 1972: Denmark, won 1-0 (Home)
• Euro 1976: Spain, lost 2-1 (Home)
• Euro 1980: Austria, lost 3-2 (Away)
• Euro 1984: East Germany, won 2-0 (Home)
• Euro 1988: Bulgaria, drew 0-0 (Home)
• 1994 World Cup: Switzerland, lost 3-1 (Away)

From the qualifying stage of the 1970 World Cup we've had seven opening wins out of nine in successful campaigns. And just four opening wins out of 13 in unsuccessful campaigns.

International football is - as the cliché has it - much changed in the last 40 years. Some of our qualifications came from groups of just three teams. Some of them belied a good start and turned into desperate, last gasp battles to get through.

That makes it hard to draw conclusions from Scotland's opening game record through the years.

But it does harden the opinion that failing to beat Serbia at home will nudge our qualification chances to the impossible end of difficult.

We'll just need to trust that Levein and Houston realise that as well.

Otherwise we're doomed. And so are they.

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SPL: Celtic v Hibs

After they both enjoyed SPL wins last Saturday the week rather diverged for Celtic and Hibs.

Celtic progressed to the Champions League group stage, that promised land where the streets are paved with gold and the couches upholstered with £50 notes.

24 hours earlier Hibs were dumped out of the League Cup by Queen of the South in a display that seems to have flitted between pathetic and miserable.

Pat Fenlon said he was "disgusted" with the performance and well he might have been. He should also have been mildly nauseated by his own decision to rejig the team with a series of changes that made Hibs weakest in the very areas where Queen of the South were strongest.

After taking seven points from three games - Fenlon's best SPL sequence - it was an unfortunate return to the amateurism that has pockmarked Hibs' recent travails.

The result wasn't the end of the world. But it was hugely unfortunate.

Fenlon remains very much on trial with a lot of supporters. If he wants to win them over he can't afford to take a couple of steps back just when he seems to be moving forward.

Can't afford to lose too many players out of his starting eleven either.

He looked in the cupboard on Tuesday night and - as most of us would have guessed - the cupboard was bare.

No such worries for Neil Lennon who has taken Celtic back to the group stages of the Champions League, returning the glamour of Barcelona to Celtic Park along with all that thunder.

The SPL is warmed by the reflected glory of Celtic's qualification even as it increases the inequality between the haves and the have nots.

For now Hibs need to try and cope with the inequality on the pitch.

60 points separated the two teams last year and a goalless draw in Glasgow couldn't hide how woefully Hibs fared against the teams at the top end of the table.

In 18 league clashes with top six teams Hibs managed just six points, that draw at Celtic joined by draws with Motherwell and Dundee United and a home win against St Johnstone.

Fenlon himself was only in charge for the 1-1 draw with Motherwell.

It's a record that has to be improved. The last three games have indicated progress - a step in the right direction but not a destination.

Certainly Fenlon will feel that he could have done without facing a buoyant Celtic in Glasgow today.

Odds of 12/1 on a away win suggest there's a mountain to climb.

Trying for a repeat of last year's 0-0 would be a risky strategy although with Ben Williams in goal and James McPake at the heart of defence Hibs look capable of being more organised this season.

Fenlon's favoured midfield four - not enhanced by any deadline day deals - might lack creativity but look reasonably well configured to help out a rearguard action while Leigh Griffiths and Eoin Doyle would attempt to take the pressure off with constant movement up front.

That could be the theory anyway. So 14/1 on a no scoring draw might tempt me.

If I had any faith that Hibs will be able to keep a clean sheet.

I don't.

Which would lead me to the conclusion that Celtic will probably prevail.


A 3-1 Celtic win at 10/1 looks enticing.

The head can't rule when Hibs are involved though.

2-1 Hibs with Griffiths getting the first goal. 125/1.

If dreams can come true you might as well make a few quid off the back of them.

All odds from Ladbrokes

www.gambleaware.co.uk

Contact Lenses For Football Players

There are many times during a person’s life when it is absolutely necessary to have convenient and perfect vision. This is precisely why corrective vision such as glasses and contact lenses are so popular, and why the majority of people get eye tests at some point and at least consider glasses or contacts.

For athletes, these concerns are amplified for a number of different reasons. For example, when you play football, it is absolutely crucial that you are able to focus clearly and easily without worrying about fuzzy or uncertain vision.

Specifically, it is important for footballers to wear comfortable contact lenses when they play the game. Here are a few reasons why:

• Comfort – Glasses, or even prescription athletic goggles, are always options, and can indeed be comfortable for many people. However, Acuvue contacts come in enough styles and with enough different capabilities that most players ought to be able to find a pair of lenses that work just fine. Generally, contacts are preferable to glasses or goggles from a comfort standpoint, as they allow you to keep your focus completely on the game, rather than on the fit of the glasses or goggles to your face.
• Safety – When a football player wears a pair of glasses, or even a pair of prescription goggles designed for sports, there is always some risk of injury. The fact is, lenses have hard edges, and sports involve a great deal of contact. The idea of breaking a pair of lenses while playing football is not only unappealing and distracting, but also potentially dangerous for your eyes, your face, and other players. While these dangers are generally remote, contact lenses carry none of these same risks, and are instead completely safe. This is another major reason that contacts tend to be preferable for active footballers.
• Clarity – Again, both glasses and contact lenses can correct vision completely, and allow players to see the field, the ball, and other players with absolute clarity. However, glasses and sports goggles are quite susceptible to a variety of different problems that can impair vision. For example, they can be smudged, dirtied, and clouded, and all of these problems will stop a player from being able to see clearly. While contact lenses can become displaced, this problem is less frequent, and the problem is generally very small in comparison to potential obstructions with glasses or goggles. Active football players need to be able to play the game without worrying about potential hindrances or accidents, and this is yet another reason that contacts provide more clarity and freedom when playing football.

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Europa League: Motherwell v Levante

Edinburgh might be hosting one of the most decorated teams in Europe this evening but Lanarkshire has the romance.

An unfashionable side that battled back from financial trauma and turned last season into an unlikely success story.

But that's enough about Motherwell...

Actually there are similarities between Motherwell and their visitors Levante.

Both have discovered that money can be a cruel footballing mistress, both weathered those storms and recovered.

Both surprised their leagues last season and got their continental rewards: Motherwell with a Champions League debut and Levante with their first ever appearance in European competition.

The weather's better in Valencia though.

European new boys they might be but the experts are falling into line behind Levante. Not much money to be made betting on an away win in this one.

The consensus seems to be that finishing sixth in La Liga is more of an achievement than finishing third in the SPL.

Cheeky buggers.

To combat this Stuart McCall is considering a "Scottish" approach.

Tactics the staff of President Josiah Bartlett might call "let fitba' be fitba'." Probably.

Not, perhaps, Motherwell's normal game. But if you can't beat them, join them. And if you still can't beat them, leave them and try to beat them the old way again.

What McCall will want is the sort of ferocious European night that grounds across Scotland used to reverberate to.

It won't please the purists who think we should have moved on - we should have - but a rumbustiously crowd-pleasing night has its attractions.

The catch, with Scottish football there is forever a catch, is that we weren't always successful playing that way. And our opponents seem to have leapt forward with more vigour and more conviction than we have managed.

Yet Levante's cherry popping European appearance plays on my mind.

Will the untested tourists just want to drop in to Motherwell, be quietly cagey and get the party back to their place as quickly as possible?

If that's the case then Motherwell hurling blood and guts their way could give them an uncomfortable night.

Not the fashionable way to do things. But when have Motherwell ever worried about being trendy?

Still a big ask though. Motherwell's aggregate score across their last four European match is 8-1 against without a goal scored at home.

Levante have been quick to pay their respects to their opponents but they'll be cheered that their European baptism of fire is in this particular furnace.

Even when the unfashionable collide, they split up into the haves and the have nots.

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Europa League: Hearts v Liverpool

"When are games versus Scottish teams ever as easy as they should be?"

So asked one Liverpool fan after his team were drawn against Hearts in their Europa League play off.

The answer, a bittersweet truth to be sure, is that too many clubs from too many countries have found games against Scottish teams clubs to be all too easy in recent years.

Liverpool themselves have endured a few hard battles but five times out of six they've prevailed in the cross-border clashes that have punctuated their six decades of European participation.

The first test allowed two men on the road to greatness to meet head on in the Cup Winner's Cup.

Celtic v Liverpool.

Jock Stein v Bill Shankly.

It was Shankly who triumphed in 1966, a 2-0 win at Anfield securing a 2-1 win on aggregate.

The 1970-71 Fairs Cup saw Liverpool make their first competitive trip to Edinburgh with a 1-0 win over Hibs.

"Hibs are one down and are playing in front of the Kop. Need I say more?" asked Shankly.

Apparently not. A 2-0 win at Anfield completed the job.

Hibs had another crack in the 1975/76 UEFA Cup. This time a Joe Harper goal gave them a home win before John Toshack dominated the return leg at Anfield.

With Kevin Keegan providing the service, Toshack's hat-trick secured a 3-1 on the night.

By 1980 Liverpool were a major force in European football, Aberdeen the coming force in Scottish football.

In the second round of Alex Ferguson's first European Cup campaign Aberdeen lost only 1-0 at Pittodrie but were undone at Anfield by the eventual winners.

Ferguson said of that defeat:

"The 4-0 beating we suffered in the second was far too emphatic to to allow us to plead mitigating circumstances on the basis of the players missing because of injury. All we could was try to ensure that we learned from painful exposure to the proven masters of the techniques and discipline required in European competitions."

By 1997 Celtic and Liverpool didn't quite offer the same promise as they had when Stein and Shankly were building dynasties and taking the fight to the world.

They could still put on a show though. A goalless draw at Anfield was followed by a Michael Owen goal early in the second leg.

Celtic fought back. A Simon Donnelly penalty had them 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go before Steve McManaman settled matters with a late equaliser to seal a win on away goals.

This time Celtic didn't have quite as long to wait for revenge. The first leg of the 2002-03 UEFA Cup quarter final finished 1-1 in Glasgow.

Advantage Liverpool. But this was a determined - and very good - Celtic team.

A clean sheet and goals for Alan Thompson and John Hartson sent Celtic closer to the final and, after 37 years of sporadic attempts, finally gave a Scottish club a win over Liverpool.

As Liverpool made occasional visits across north, Hearts had to bide their time for a Scotland v England clash.

Not until last year - 53 years and 72 games since their European debut - did they face English opposition.

A long wait that ended rather abruptly.

A 5-0 win for Tottenham at Tynecastle in the first leg, a display of utter dominance.

The 0-0 draw in the White Hart Lane was creditable but irrelevant.

It was Hearts misfortune - there but for someone's grace go any number of clubs - that it was on their patch that the disparity between the SPL and the EPL would be most starkly illustrated.

Their misfortune too that the Liverpool game - lucrative as it will be - should follow so hot on the heels of their first stab at establishing cross-border relations.

The temptation is to look at what happened last year and allow that to inform our predictions for what will happen tonight.

Thus the challenge that Hearts are being set is not to make history but to stop history repeating itself. Don't reach for the stars, reach for the damage limitation manual.

Maybe that's symptomatic of Scottish football's drained confidence or maybe it's an example of brutally honest realism.

Either way I don't think it helps manager John McGlynn's cause.

Spurs were the better team by some distance last year but the constant pre-game reminders that they were up against a big side, a better side, can't have helped Hearts.

When the game started and Hearts froze the outcome was not only predictable, it could have been a lot worse.

With a younger team, with last year so fresh in the memory, there is a risk we'll see the same thing happen again.

Liverpool have travelled without Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson.

Big names missing as part of a European rotation policy. Mind you, those big names played last weekend in the 3-0 defeat to West Brom.

For their part Hearts might start with debutant goalkeeper Peter Enckleman.

Unlikely heroes can emerge on nights such as these.

Hearts will need as many of them as they can get.

How will it go?

Ladbrokes tell me it doesn't look good. Odds of 11/2 on a Hearts win and 8/15 on a Liverpool win tell their own story.

4-0 Liverpool is 28/1, a repeat of Spurs' 5-0 win is 66/1. Andy Carroll is 25/1 to score a hat-trick.

I suspect Hearts will do well to score (John Sutton is 9/4 to score anytime) though so their best hope might well to a 0-0 draw, keeping the tie alive for the second leg.

You'll get 10/1 for that.

It's never nice to be reminded how well off your neighbours are. And we're forever reminded of the riches that flow into English football.

The reality is that Liverpool's second string would stand out in the SPL.

With nothing to lose Tynecastle will be in full voice. It could be a long night for Hearts.

What a boost it would be for Scottish football if it could also be a famous night for them.

(Remember folks, gambleaware.co.uk)

SPL: Five star

Week three of the SPL.

Week three already. Or week two for any club that feels  unconstrained by the league starting when booking their jollydays.

The marketing geniuses whose brains power the Hampden floodlights will be congratulating themselves for starting the SPL season a fortnight before the English could be bothered kicking off.

Obviously that did mean the SPL had to nudge the Olympics off the media podium but, by the gods of G4S, London 2012 passed with little more than a whimper.

Mission accomplished. Limelight secured.

Yet somehow even a well thumbed SPL Filofax couldn't stop the Edinburgh derby - a footballing peccadillo for the neutral at the best of times - being scheduled against the Community Shield and an Olympics where people would apparently watch televised mahjong as long as there was a plucky British contender and a BBC commentary.

Perhaps not the best way to attract a TV audience to our new look league.

Not that outside influences had anything to do with the crowd in the stadium.

The reasons for that were more painfully local. Fair play to those fans who did get themselves to Easter Road and to grounds across the country. I hope that the experience was good enough to turn straggling irregulars into stoic regulars.

Three weeks in? A start that hasn't overwhelmed. Neither has it really underwhelmed. It's just been there, jostling with other sideshows for attention, eliciting a shoulder shrugging "that's the fitba' back then."

But we've got through the phoney war of two games (or one game).

Time to look ahead now.

Here's how Ladbrokes sees tomorrow games:

Ross County v Celtic

The early kick off. Ross County to win 6/1, Celtic to win 4/9, the draw 10/3.

St Johnstone v Aberdeen

St Johnstone to win 5/4, Aberdeen to win 11/5, the draw 9/4.

Kilmarnock v Motherwell

Kilmarnock to win 8/5, Motherwell to win 17/10, the draw 9/4.

Hearts v Inverness

Hearts to win 10/11, Inverness to win 10/3, the draw 11/5.

St Mirren v Hibs

St Mirren to win 5/4, Hibs to win 11/5, the draw 9/4.

Do the odds shine a light?

If the bookies are never wrong then a successful coupon on the favourite in each game would deliver a return of 36/1.

Narrow margins though.

So here's my coupon for today - with all the usual warnings about my prediction pratfalls, as a soothsayer I make a dancing Russell Grant look like Fred Astaire - based on blind faith, hunches and a feeling in my water (which the doctor tells me isn't anything serious):

Celtic to win at Ross County (too early, I feel, for a Celtic slip up.)

Aberdeen to win at St Johnstone (St Johnstone are not winning games, Aberdeen are gearing up to score a barrel load. Probably. Or maybe not.)

Motherwell to win at Kilmarnock (close one this, the two sides exactly level in the table after two games, but lets give the nod to 'Well.)

Hearts and Inverness to draw (Hearts will look to roar back from the derby draw, Terry Butcher might just have seen how to frustrate them.)

Hibs to win at St Mirren (the wheels must fall off St Mirren's title challenge at some point.)

Four away wins and a draw.

A pound on that little lot could well win you the best part of a £130.

Or it could lose you a pound.

That's the fun of it.

Odds correct at the time of going to bed.

Rangers get out of jail in Peterhead

Rangers began what is billed as a stately progression through the leagues on Saturday. But, as guest blogger Robbie Devine found out, Peterhead had other ideas.

Berwick, Chesterfield, Hamilton, Kaunus, Maribor.

At 2:30 on Saturday little Peterhead were on the verge of being added to that list as a side to have ripped up the form book by humbling Rangers with a humiliating defeat.

Only a last minute touch from Andy Little spared the Glasgow’s teams blushes to break the hearts of the Blue Toon on one of the most surreal days in the history of Scottish football.

Pre match the tiny north eastern town more famous for its fishing port than its football team found itself the centre of the football universe with hordes of Rangers supporters descending on this normally sleepy part of Aberdeenshire to witness the rebirth of their troubled club.

Sky TV rolled into town as did countless football hacks, the tiny little Balmoor ground had never seen anything like this.

Peterhead manager Jim McInally  said it was like a circus event, certainly the Rangers team included more than their share of clowns as they really should consider themselves fortunate to leave with a single point.

Credit must go to the home club who were considered an afterthought before the game as the spotlight was on Ally McCoist’s new look Rangers but they were the ones who emerged with all the plaudits giving the Govan giants a real scare.

Although after a sticky start it was the former Scottish champions who took the lead,  17 year old Barrie Mackay showing a maturity way beyond his years with a cool finish.

But the expected avalanche did not materialise and it was no surprise when the hosts drew level thanks to a wonderful piece of skill from Rory McAllister.

With only eight minutes remaining Peterhead were in dreamland as Scott McLaughlin lashed the ball home and a real shock was on the cards.

But the part timers were unable to hold on for a famous victory after Kevin Kyle’s last minute header glanced off the crossbar presenting Little with the opportunity to touch the ball into the net.

Aftewards McCoist did not hold back in his criticism of his defenders which was no surprise as the international centre half paring of Carlos Bocanegra and Dorin Goian combined to produce a shocking display of ineptitude and laziness.

Once he is granted international clearance former Lazio defender the Brazilian Emilson Cribari will no doubt be given a starting place with both the US skipper and Romanian joining the mass exodus out of Ibrox.

McCoist finds himself in a difficult position as despite their stuttering start Rangers should still secure promotion with a bit to spare though already he must have concerns over one or two of his players attitudes and desire to roll their sleeves up and get the job done.

He has been busy bringing in new players to bolster a depleted squad with former SPL stalwarts Ian Black, Dean Shiels, Francisco Sandaza and Kevin Kyle arriving but considering they still have the obstacle of a 12 month transfer embargo kicking in at the end of August I would still expect the Rangers boss to pull out all the stops to bring in further arrivals.

Make no mistake the part time players in the lower leagues will rise to the occasion of facing their more illustrious counterparts from Glasgow and day one should be a wake up call for the Rangers supporters.

Off the field it has been revealed that controversial Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is prepared to pump in around £10 million to the Ibrox coffers with chief executive Charles Green hinting another two billionaires will also be making a major investment as Rangers attempt to drag themselves out of the financial wilderness.

What Greens and his fellow board members real motives are is something of major conjecture as they are still treated by suspicion by the majority of the clubs supports though an incredible 38,000  did attend the 4-0 League Cup romp against East Fife so the fans commitment to stick with their club remains strong.

The story of Rangers adventures in the third division allied with how Green and co plan to restructure the clubs finances is an intriguing one and I expect to bring you more interesting updates as the weeks go by.