Rangers News

The FA’s decision to hand Rodrigo Bentancur as seven-game ban for racism has been upheld.

The Tottenham midfielder gave a TV interview back in his homeland of Uruguay in which he made offensive remarks about club teammate Son Heung-min.

The FA slapped down a lengthy ban as well as a £100,000 fine.

An independent regulatory panel has now ruled on it and upheld the governing body’s decision meaning both the suspension and the fine stand.

Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur can face Rangers despite Son reacism

In a TV interview, the Uruguay star was asked by the interviewer if he could a hold of Son’s shirt.

Bentancur responded by saying it could be his cousin’s as ‘they all look the same’.

The 27-year-old apologised to Son and has been forgiven by the South Korea international.

But he will still miss a string of matches for Spurs and will next be available to Ange Postecoglou domestically for the Boxing Day clash with Nottingham Forest.

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During that spell, Tottenham are in Glasgow to face Rangers in the Europa League.

But Postecoglou WILL be able to pick Bentancur for the December 12 Ibrox clash against Philippe Clement’s side.

That’s because the ban only applies to domestic matches and the midfielder can play his part in European clashes.

Whether the former Celtic boss decides to use him after his disciplinary breach, and also amid a lack of action, remains to be seen.

Nice treat Rangers as must-win

Rangers actually have another Europa League game to take care of before the Tottenham one as they travel to face Nice on November 28.

The French side haven’t had a great start to the league phase and will be scrambling for the points to get them through.

That’s why manager Franck Haise is treating Rangers as a must-win game.

He said: “It’s very clear if we want to continue our progress in this competition, we must win our next game against Rangers at home.

“That game will be decisive along with our last game of the year against Union Saint-Gilloise.

“We have to win because we have not managed to do that after four games.

“We can say that we managed to be resilient and the 2-2 draw is good because it looked unlikely at one stage.

“But I cannot ignore the first hour against Twente because we were not at the required level.

“We lost two players late on to injury and that had an impact, but I have to take responsibility for not winning a game yet.”

Celtic-daft Tottenham Hotspur starlet Archie Gray admits he cannot wait to face Rangers next month at Ibrox.

The Light Blues were drawn against Ange Postecoglou’s side in the Europa League league phase in August and will do battle in Govan on December 12.

Much of the talk at the time was centred around former Celtic boss Postecoglou heading back to Ibrox, with Rangers handed the chance to make it an unhappy return north for the Aussie-Greek.

But Spurs have another Celtic supporter on the wage bill in the shape of Archie Gray, whose father, grandfather and great uncle all played for the Scotland national team.

Gray has chosen to represent England though and plays for the U21s – although a switch to Scotland’s senior team is still possible.

The youngster was brought up supporting Celtic and with that, it is natural he is relishing the prospect of playing against Rangers for Spurs in Europe.

Celtic fan Archie Gray on facing Rangers

Gray has said: “Especially watching Celtic and supporting them a little bit you always look for the Rangers game. The chance to play at Ibrox is a special thing and I can’t wait for it.

“I have been to one (Old Firm) and it wasn’t at Ibrox. They’re brilliant games and I love them every single time. Even on TV they’re just as good to watch.”

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Speaking to Tottenham club media back in July, Gray revealed that he was a Celtic fan for the first time: “I’m not going to lie to you, I’m a massive Celtic fan so I love him (Ange Postecoglou) and my whole family loves him. I haven’t really said this to be fair.

“He’s also a massive factor because playing under a really good manager is really important for me as well. I’ve still got loads to learn as I’m only 18.”

Who do Rangers play in Europa League before Tottenham?

There’s still over a month to go before Gray potentially fulfils his dream of playing against Rangers at Ibrox.

That game is on December 12, as mentioned, so Rangers have plenty of work to do in the Europa League before then.

Olympiacos away is next up for Philippe Clement’s struggling team on November 7 before a difficult trip to French outfit Nice three weeks later.

Rangers are 11th in the league phase table with two wins and a defeat so far.

One of Rangers biggest problems in recent years hasn’t been the abiity to spot players who could add quality to the first team, it’s being able to persuade them to sign or affordability that have been the problems.

Antoine Semenyo was linked with a £5m move to Rangers in the winter of 2022, when he was scoring goals for Bristol City, the reports originated from Ghana but no move to Ibrox ever materialsed and the 24-year old is now attracting elite level interest.

According to GIVEMESPORT, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are all keeping tabs on one of the Premier League’s most effective forwards.

Statistics site Data MB have Semenyo in the top 10 for the highest performing wingers and attacking midfielders in the Premier League despite his side sitting in 13th.

After a slow start when he first arrived on the south coast, Semenyo is now impressing with teammate Lewis Cook revealing that they never had any doubts about what he was capable of as told to the BBC:

“As a team, we knew the quality he has and we saw that last year. He’s got to just keep working hard – being aggressive and being clinical,” said Cook.

“He’s got a lot better at running back and helping out the team too. He’s a powerful lad and has all the ability in the world. Hopefully he can continue to show that.”

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Having sold Dominic Solanke for £55m – rising to £65m with add-ons – the Cherries have shown that they know how to get top dollar for their most talented players and Semenyo will be no different if approached by those with deeper pockets.

What might have been as Semenyo joins long transfer list

He is the latest in a long list of players who Rangers have been reported to be interested in, for an affordable fee, only to spend (waste) the money elsewhere when rebuilding the squad.

For the same money that Rangers spent on Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, Danilo and Ryan Kent (circa £20m), they could have had Andreas Skov Olsen, Ivan Toney, Joey Veerman and Semenyo.

Players who have all gone on to bigger and better things and were at the right age to develop and sell at a profit.

Danilo might yet come good, but first, he needs to stay fit for 30-40 games to rediscover the sort of form that saw Rangers pay £6m for his services.

Not that it would make missing out on a player like Semenyo any less frustrating.

What a difference a week, or even a few days, has made for Czech winger Vaclav Cerny at Rangers.

The international attacker, 26, has joined the Gers on loan from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg until the end of the season and arrives with a sizeable profile.

Having come through the youth ranks at Ajax, Cerny impressed in Dutch football before earning his move to Germany last season but finds himself at a crucial juncture in Scotland.

At the end of a tough week for the winger, Vaclav Cerny signed off with a double against St Johnstone but it’s not just on the pitch the winger has been encouraging Rangers fans.

Vaclav Cerny wins Rangers fans on and off the pitch

For a club which has for long dominated Scottish football, the impeccable standards of Rangers have been the driving force behind the club’s legendary historic success.

Stepping into Ibrox, any player must be made aware of it but more than that, have the character to rise up and flourish within that pressure.

Rangers fans naturally had doubts when an underperforming Vaclav Cerny, a player signed to deliver at the top end of the pitch, turned on the support against Hibs last week.

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This was after the winger missed a one-on-one chance to double the Gers’ lead against Malmo in Sweden.

In a major no-no in Rangers circles, Cerny bit back at frustrated supporters against Hibs and followed it up with a terrible miss in the opening moments of the 4-1 humbling against Lyon.

Such was the response, Cerny deactivated his personal Instagram account.

Online abuse is another issue altogether, and whilst it seems particularly bad amongst frustrated Rangers fans, Cerny’s very public response has gone down well amongst supporters.

Not only did Cerny deliver with a match-winning double against St Johnstone, the first of which was a stunning solo goal, but the winger’s post-match comments have encouraged fans.

Taking responsibility for his poor form as of late, Cerny insists it’s on him to repay Philippe Clement and get firing.

Such honesty is refreshing for Rangers fans in desperate search of a talismanic hero to steal their hearts amid the uncertainty of this season at Ibrox.

”It’s about how you react to things,” said Cerny. “And I think today was a good reaction and I want to build on this.

“In the end, for me, it was today more like a mental thing, to get through it.

“Obviously, those big chances, I woke up in the night like, ‘oh, I shouldn’t miss those.’

“So it helps for a striker, for a winger, to make those two goals after such a tough period. So I’m very glad I could do that.”

Could Rangers star follow Premier League example?

Rangers fans often find themselves having that very modern football debate about players and social media.

The club has had plenty of run-ins with players in the past, Todd Cantwell standing out as the most obvious, with football wrestling with the challenge of this direct, off-pitch communication.

Cerny was asked about his decision to deactivate social media and gave a refreshingly honest answer.

“As I said, it’s been tough for someone like me, who is always willing to give my all, and sometimes I show it too much, as we all saw,” Cerny said.

“But that’s just me, because I want to do as best as I can every single time, and once you guys get to know me a bit better, you will see that.

“This was my bad reaction, it’s alright, it’s in the past, but it’s because I want to help as much as I can.”

Cerny isn’t the first player to deactivate his social media and perhaps the Rangers winger can draw some Premier League inspiration.

Tottenham Hotspur paid £47.5m to sign Brennan Johnson last summer (Sky Sports) but the Welsh winger has struggled for consistency in North London until recently.

The winger deactivated his social media accounts after receiving criticism for his role in the 1-0 North London Derby defeat to Arsenal in September.

Since then Johnson has scored in three consecutive Premier League matches.

According to legendary ex-Wales striker Robert Earnshaw, such returns are ‘no coincidence’ since he put down his phone and focused on the football.

“I think it’s different for everybody, but for sure there’s something in it because I think for him it was clearly affecting him with social media and it’s (deleting the account) clearly had a real positive impact,” Earnshaw told BBC Sport.

“It’s no coincidence for him because I think the reason he deactivated it was because of all the negativity and everything was going into his game and over thinking and then all of a sudden he was thinking about that as he’s playing.”

It’s food for thought, certainly…

Philippe Clement reckons Rangers came up agains a top-six Premier League side at Celtic Park this afternoon.

Or at least that’s what the fawning Ibrox manager was suggesting as he threw stats at disgruntled fans following a 3-0 hammering at Parkhead.

We’re barely out of August and after the summer ‘rebuild’ Rangers supporters aren’t exactly brimming with confidence about the season ahead.

Already five points behind their Old Firm rivals, Rangers are also facing the daunting prospect of a Europa League campaign which will see them face Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

Speaking following the spirit-sapping Celtic Park slaughtering, Philippe Clement reckons that ‘Brendan’s’ team is of a similar quality.

Philippe Clement: Celtic at level of best Europa League games

“You know at this level of games you need to be clinical,” Clement told Sky Sports. “And we need to be more clinical.

“So that’s one of our working points for the next weeks and months.

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“There’s not one fan more demanding than me about results and wanting to win.

“And we came here wanting to win, not only to defend. So we’re going to work hard the next weeks and months to do that in January then but in the meantime we’re going to be focused on the two cups, on the other league games against the other opponents and our Europa League games.

“And these games are also really interesting in that way because this is at the level of our best Europa League games.

“So taking the right conclusions out of it as a player, as a manager and everybody as a staff, we will only get better.

“Celtic played today also with a team that’s been more than one year together, some guys two, three, four players together.

“So it’s normal they have more automatism in that way.”

Asked about a gulf between the two sides: “I think if you score the first goal it’s a totally different game and we can play out of that.

“Celtic score the first goal, they can play out of that, and they score the second just before halftime and they’re for sure more comfortable in that way.”

Rangers manager losing supporters with Celtic shortcomings

Philippe Clement might be trying to speak in a level-headed manner but it’s not quite resonating with Rangers fans.

The under-pressure Gers manager is now five straight Old Firm games without a win and there is serious pressure mounting amongst the few supporters left who are yet to completely embrace the apathy around Ibr-, sorry, Hampden.

For those who have, who cares who’s in charge? Depressingly, it’s not just the same outcome, but it’s getting worse.

One of the biggest frustrations levelled at Philippe Clement, and everyone at Rangers in fairness, is the overindulgent ‘respect’ everyone inside Ibrox appears to have for Celtic.

The team and the manager metaphorically clap them off the pitch at every opportunity.

Off the park and on it Rangers cannot match Celtic in the level of performance or contempt and it’s showing as they continue to make a mockery of us at every level.

The disconnect between the Rangers boardroom, management and team with the club’s fans is depressingly obvious and bleakly, we’re not convinced Clement can turn it around in time to salvage his job.

The Belgian certainly won’t do it by gaslighting supporters over what was a 3-0 drubbing going on a 6-0 hammering. Celtic barely broke a sweat.

Suggesting Celtic are at the level of Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur is yet more fawning praise which conflicts with the suggestion Rangers were simply unlucky.

The Rangers manager was setting us all up for defeat heading into this game and his reaction come full-time has gone down like a lead balloon.

It’s about winning and if Clement is to go six games without a victory over the Parkhead side, the Belgian might not get sacked, but Rangers fans are just going to turn off.

You cannot take this acceptance of second best seriously, it’s not Rangers and the only language the club understands is empty seats.

It’s little wonder the support are increasingly despondent with a team and club who are miles off it in every department.

Ange Postecoglou has responded to his Tottenham Hotspur side drawing Rangers in the Europa League league phase.

The Aussie-Greek boss managed Celtic between 2021 and 2023 before leaving for the Premier League to take the then-vacant Spurs job.

Postecoglou was a painful thorn in the side of Rangers during his time in Scotland having guided the Hoops to five domestic trophies out of six.

The Light Blues struggled to challenge Celtic’s dominance during Ange’s era and could only manage a Scottish Cup final victory in 2022 when he was in situ at Parkhead.

Postecoglou certainly earned the right to manage in the Premier League and in his first season as Spurs boss, he led them to a fifth-placed finish.

Postecoglou on Rangers vs Tottenham

That qualified the North Londoners for the Europa League league phase draw as a Pot 1 team, joining Rangers after Philippe Clement’s side dropped down from the Champions League qualifiers.

The new Europa League draw format made it possible for Pot 1 teams to be drawn against each other and that’s exactly what happened with Rangers and Spurs on Friday.

It means Postecoglou will return to Ibrox for the first time since May 2023 when Rangers thumped his Celtic side 3-0 in the Scottish Premiership.

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Speaking at a press conference on Friday, this is how Ange reacted to the match-up: “Exciting. It’s good to be a part of. Some good games. I am sure I will get a warm reception at Ibrox and they’ll look forward to seeing me.”

Rangers Europa League fixtures in full

As well as Tottenham, Rangers will face English giants Manchester United – perhaps the two strongest Pot 1 sides they could have been paired with.

That game will take place at Old Trafford. Gers last faced United in Manchester 14 years ago when Walter Smith’s charges held Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils to a 0-0 draw.

Here is Rangers’ full fixture list for the Europa League league phase followed by the matchday dates:

Rangers have discovered their opponents for the new 2024/25 Europa League league phase format after the draw in Monaco on Friday.

UEFA’s second tier competition has undergone a complete revamp in the same way the Champions League and Europa Conference League has too.

Rangers will compete in a 36-team league and will play against eight teams in their efforts to reach the knockout rounds of the tournament.

The Light Blues found themselves in Pot 1 and were drawn out of the bowl first in Monaco. The computer then threw up a number of tasty ties for fans to look forward to.

Here are Rangers’ Europa League league phase fixtures in full with the order of games yet to be confirmed by UEFA:

Rangers Europa League fixtures

Rangers fans can look forward to Battle of Britain ties against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, with a tie at home to Lyon also on the horizon.

Gers will also face Olympiacos, Malmo and Nice on their travels with matches at Ibrox against Union Saint-Gilloise and FCSB confirmed during the draw.

Man Utd and Tottenham the standout ties

Rangers need to finish in the top eight to qualify automatically for the last 16 or in the top 24 to reach at least the knockout play-off stage.

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But taking in the draw at first glance, it’s fair to say Rangers have an almighty challenge to get out of the league phase and into the knockout rounds.

Premier League giants Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur await as a trip to Old Trafford beckons for Rangers supporters for the first time since September 2010.

Former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou will return to Ibrox with his Spurs side as Rangers fans dream of the prospect of toppling their old rival.

Lyon will provide a stern test in Govan while Rangers also face a difficult trip to Olympiacos. The more winnable games come in the form of home games versus Union Saint-Gilloise and FCSB.

Rangers will also play Malmo and Nice away from home. Here are the matchday fixture dates as confirmed by UEFA before the draw: