Rangers

Rangers: 2031/32 Review
Season review
Fixtures
League table
League awards
Club awards
Squad

Much like last season our campaign was a relative damp squid as we again just won the domestic double. We fell fairly short in the Champions League in my eyes but we were dealt a hard draw so it was inevitable. In our first leg versus Paris Saint-Germain we were 3-0 down within 15 minutes so we decided to go hell for leather to try and get something from the game and in the end we managed a respectably scoreline that we actually felt could give us a good chance of progressing. When we didn't manage a goal in the first half and then PSG scored ten minutes later we knew it was game over and that's what it turned out to be, still, 6-4 wasn't too bad of an effort we just really need to start defending better in these games. We routed our way to the Scottish Cup and kept four clean sheets on the bounce in the process to notch up our tenth in fourteen years. The league was more or less a formality once again, despite Hibernian rattling us twice in the second half of the season. We started utilising our youth back four in the last ten games or so and they impressed me in all but the Hibernian game where we were dire.

Shaun McStay, Bobby Cowie, Iain Scott and Ricardo Macedo could be our main defenders in a couple of years so it was good for them to get some key playing time, of the four only Macedo failed to score in that time too as the rest managed a solitary goal each. Young Duncan McLeish looks like another real prospect from the academy this year and he'll be looking to progress as well as the likes of Allan Wilson, Iain O'Neill and Logan Dear have this season. The game time that has been given to our players out on loan this season has been spectacular and as a result I expect to see them coming back and knocking on the door for their chance here next year. The strikers in particular have been superb although that is the one position that definitely looks locked down at the moment as we have our fantastic four playing exceptionally right now. In actual fact the midfield through to the strikers have all found their shooting boots this year as the goals seem to be split more than I've seen in a long while. Our central midfielders have been getting in on the act whilst a couple of our wingers have scored enough goals to make a striker proud too.

It is looking good for us right now and I'm happy with the squad we are building I am just frustrated that we failed to win the treble or managed any European success once again. That will come though, the only disappointment is that we won't win as many European trophies as I set out to when I started this journey. If we never win the Champions League then I will see this journey as a failure. On a brighter note though we have been granted the go-ahead on the new stadium and our almost £400m stadium will be funded entirely by the club and will be scheduled for completion by the 2035/36 season. I am honoured that the club have decided to name the stadium after myself and it will be called Chris Burns Park. I have signed a contract extension that will tie me to the club for another four years minimum and as per our agreement whilst in negotiations the club have also agreed to improve our youth facilities too. We have made the decision to terminate our affiliations with Sochaux, Cagliari and Fortuna Dusseldorf as all three clubs were relegated and no longer a good option for loaning players out for us, we will be on the look out for new clubs. Across the other side of the city Richard Fox has been named as the tenth Celtic manager in fourteen years after Paco Jemez became the seventh of those to jump ship for another club.

Records to beat
Sandy Archibald - 513 League appearances
Ally McCoist - 251 League goals
Sam English - 44 League goals in one season
Bill Struth - 18 League titles

Current
Ross McCrorie - 335 League appearances
Tony Herd - 318 League appearances
Bobby Docherty - 283 League appearances
Tony Herd - 225 League goals
Bobby Docherty - 182 League goals
Tony Herd - 37 league goals in one season
Christopher Burns - 14 League titles

Never mind, European success WILL come! Having a stadium named after you must feel excellent, as it reflects the hard work you've put in. A lot of young players coming through which will really aid the club going forward - the foundations look very strong.

Much deserved to have the stadium named after you! Europe is still needing to be conquered by a 6-4 defeat to PSG isn't a disaster especially since you were 3-0 down so early! It will come, sooner rather than later!

2019-09-01 13:13#260870 ScottT : Never mind, European success WILL come! Having a stadium named after you must feel excellent, as it reflects the hard work you've put in. A lot of young players coming through which will really aid the club going forward - the foundations look very strong.

That's it mate, eventually it will! It is it's a first for me I think and been a big part of the longevity of this save too, to get this kind of things. Definitely, just need to find some with equal ability, character and mentality!

2019-09-01 17:35#260888 TheLFCFan : Much deserved to have the stadium named after you! Europe is still needing to be conquered by a 6-4 defeat to PSG isn't a disaster especially since you were 3-0 down so early! It will come, sooner rather than later!

Cheers mate. Nahh it wasn't disastrous but defo not good enough!

On the back of successive seasons only winning the double and not achieving too much progression on the European stage my frustrations were starting to show. This meant that for the first time in a long time we had a proper clear out of first team players. Half of our core defenders left the club in the summer of 2032 as we set about rebuilding from the back. Murray McAllister played with us for around nine years, Adam Munro and Kenny McAvoy were each with us for a decade, full backs Blair Thomson and Jamie Dair were with us for eleven and seven years respectively. The departures of McAllister, Munro and McAvoy left a gaping hole in the centre of defence as these guys were three out of my four key centre backs. Ross McCrorie was the fourth but he too needed replaced due to his advancing years and he was asked to accept less playing time this year and as a result he decided he would retire upon the seasons end. The departures of Dair and Thomson left us needing rotational options in the full back areas too. We were fortunate enough though to have players returning from loan spells, on the fringes of first team and in the youth set up that we believed could fill the void left by aforementioned. Shaun McStay and Ricardo Macedo made the step up from the youth team, Colin Noble and Bobby Cowie emerged from the fringes of first team football to full rotation and Martin Wilson done the same after his productive spell on loan at Ross County. With us needing that extra bit of ability and experience added to the side we decided to splash a rare bit of cash and bought David O'Donnell from Blackburn to complete our new look defence. Reese Camm was the last first team player to depart as he followed the path of Jamie Dair by going out on loan.

I was much happier with my squad going into the season as I felt we had freshened the side up pretty well and looked good for it. Our season got off to a flier as we won all our competitive games up until the 1st of October where we succumbed to defeat to a stubborn Motherwell side. In the following two months we were defeated three times across three competitions. Hibernian took us to extra time in the Scottish League Cup and beat us as we failed to win the competition for the second year running. We were also beaten in our return tie with Chelsea but we managed the better result over both games which set us up to finish 1st in the group ahead of Chelsea, despite their 10-0 victory over Napoli. Celtic then beat us in the league and narrowed our lead at the top but our eight game winning streak opened the gap right back up again before Hearts decided they wanted in on the action and beat us in the New year. The rest of January and also February saw progression in the Scottish Cup and an unbeaten run in the league. During this period we also played Manchester City in the Champions League and we were knocked out rather weakly yet again. We were on the receiving end of resounding defeats to both Edinburgh clubs during the latter stages of the season and Motherwell beat us again too which signaled danger for us as Celtic had closed the gap on us again. Thankfully we were able to win our two games inbetween our draw with Celtic which was just about enough to secure us the league title for the 15th time in a row.

This was a season in which I felt we really struggled as we lost nine games and drew four but in reality, the games that we did actually win weren't convincing enough for me. It was just all too close this year and required me intervening constantly in terms of criticizing the players, giving them angry team talks and also issuing warnings and fines over poor performances. It simply wasn't good enough. What may have been a major factor in our struggles could have been the absence and ultimate lack of form of Tony Herd who was sidelined with a two month abdominal injury as well as well as two or three other niggling injuries he picked up. These injuries seem to have set Tony back quite a lot as he went from a player without any cons to his name to a player lacking in confidence in big games among a couple of other slight issues. It would seem that we didn't set him on the right path when he came back from injury as we threw him straight back into the team and didn't allow him to do some rehab work on his return. With Herd being the focal point of my team I am now worried that he is on the decline and unlikely to break the records set by Ally McCoist, Sam English & Sandy Archibald. I can only hope that next season he stays injury free and gets some goals in pre-season as a confidence booster after his poorest season yet.

We say goodbye to our captain of eleven years this summer as Ross McCrorie has taken the decision to retire from the game completely after 339 league appearances, 18 goals, 15 league titles and 15 cup wins. We will sorely miss his presence in the dressing room, on the park and off the park too as he was a fantastic leader for many years. His departure fills a void I'm not quite sure how to fill as of yet. On a bright note, Dean Wilson had a fantastic season for us as he picked up four individual league awards as well as being named in the team of the year. An indicator of how the season of 2032-33 went in the Scottish Premiership was Bobby Docherty winning the golden boot despite only scoring 15 goals, the second lowest amount by the golden boot winner in fifteen years.

Given the state of our last season it's fair to say that an overhaul could be on the cards yet again or it might actually be best to give our newer and younger players an extra season together to gel. All I know is that something has to give, we need to step it up a gear across all competitions now and the players have got to know that.

Frustration yet again. You haven't had the luck when it comes to who your opposition are - Manchester City are one team you certainly want to avoid. I suppose that if you want to reach that upper echelon you need to beat teams as excellent as they are, but the point remains! I do worry that you might not be able to get that elusive title if there isn't a clear stride improvement wise. That would be a shame given how well you have done.

A shame to lose such a leader in McCrorie, but with his drop in playing time it was always going to happen sooner rather than later. It's time for someone new to come in and take the lead! You are really getting close on that league titles record now!

2019-09-08 17:00#260988 ScottT : Frustration yet again. You haven't had the luck when it comes to who your opposition are - Manchester City are one team you certainly want to avoid. I suppose that if you want to reach that upper echelon you need to beat teams as excellent as they are, but the point remains! I do worry that you might not be able to get that elusive title if there isn't a clear stride improvement wise. That would be a shame given how well you have done.

I know that's it Scott, I need to be able to beat these teams like I was able to in years gone by. That is a real fear but I'm giving myself five years to win at least 2!!

2019-09-08 18:22#260994 TheLFCFan : A shame to lose such a leader in McCrorie, but with his drop in playing time it was always going to happen sooner rather than later. It's time for someone new to come in and take the lead! You are really getting close on that league titles record now!

it was mate, in terms of developing my current crop of centre backs it just made sense to phase him out, despite his loyalty, in order to develop the next generation. Just four more to go!

It's fair to say that after our recent seasons inconsistencies across all competitions I was starting to get frustrated with our progress. Having only won the double in the past two seasons I just felt that we ought to be winning everything in our sights domestically and then working that extra bit harder towards our main goal of European success. We certainly hadn't hit the heights I expected in Europe which was increasingly becoming a thorn in our side. Thankfully though, this season has been an absolute joy in comparison to our past couple domestically as we managed to regain a firm grasp on Scottish competitions as we secured my seventh treble with the club.

Our campaign got underway with a fantastic pre-season as we won seven out of eight games against mixed opposition. I was really happy for Bobby Docherty as we managed to celebrate his loyalty to the club by granting him a testimonial against Man Utd and we managed to get the win for him on the day too. I was also glad to see Tony Herd getting on the score sheet a few times as well as we looked to get his confidence and fitness levels brimming once again.

We got got to a fantastic start in the league as we smashed Celtic 4-1 and Tony Herd started the season with a bang as he netted a brace in the match too. We then went on a twenty-two match unbeaten run and there was a fair few routs during that run. The run was ground to a halt by none other than... Celtic! Not to be deterred, our lads pulled their socks up and got on with it and went on a further fourteen match unbeaten run which also contained a couple of massive results for us. On the final day of the season Hibs decided to crash the party and end our second unbeaten run of the season. It mattered little as we romped to the title with a twenty-four point gap over Celtic, who are now on their eleventh manager in sixteen years. Our goals scored was quite impressive this year too but even still, it wasn't our highest.

Both of our cup runs were relatively kind although we did have a couple of scares along the way. We went 1-0 down to Motherwell inside seconds of our League Cup quarter final however we then went on to lead 7-1 before they pulled it back to 7-4 with fifteen minutes to go and, I'm not going to lie, I did get nervous. However, Bobby Docherty was the next scorer and it was in the final minute, job done. In the final we took the lead through Shogo Nakamura before our former player Diogo Afonso came back to bite us, like I knew he would, by netting the equalizer for Livingston. Despite those goals coming in the first half neither side could grab a winning goal in the second half which brought extra time into the equation. With it looking like we were all set for penalties young Ricardo Macedo stepped up to the plate and netted a 121st minute winner for us! Euphoric! Celtic also took us to extra time but this time it was in the semi final of the Scottish Cup. Both sides failed to break the deadlock through normal time and, again, it was looking good for a penalty shoot out until Bobby Docherty shattered the Hoops dreams with a 115th minute winner. The final this time around was rather straight forward and we secured the treble after confidently beating Motherwell 3-0 as Nakamura ran riot.

The big test, as ever, was in Europe and after being paired with Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen and Club Brugge I was confident of a successful group stage, at least. It started off on that track anyway as we picked up three wins from three in our first round of ties with each side. We won against the latter two sides easily enough before really challenging and battling with an Inter Milan side that had taken the lead after several minutes into the game. It involved a different game plan than usual which is something we later decided to try out again. Inter Milan got their revenge on us in a huge way as they annihilated us 6-0 at the Guiseppe Meazza. My biggest defeat whilst in charge of the club although the now second biggest, 6-1 by Celtic, will always be my worst defeat. We rounded the group off with a disappointing draw followed up by a second win over Viktoria Plzen and were drawn with Bayern Munich in the next round. I was surprisingly optimistic with our tie this time around and I'm not quite sure why. We managed to secure a narrow lead at home to the Germans and I was happy to try and hold on to that lead in the second tie but it didn't quite pan out that way in the end.Our game plan of trying to be tight and hold out looked to be undone after 25mins when Jack Cordeiro levelled for our opponents. Somehow, we managed to hold the scoreline and take the game into extra time. Unfortunately for us though, Jon McCann got himself sent off in the last few seconds of regular time which left us with a highly fatigued squad of ten against the might of Bayern. They soon took advantage and the game was done, as was our progress in Europe once again.

Like last years signing of David O'Donnell we decided to splash the cash on a proven and experienced Scottish international. This time around we shattered our club and domestic transfer record to sign Jon McCann from Liverpool for £80m. McCann has been on my radar throughout his entire career but having been picked up by Liverpool from Hibernian pretty early on I've never considered paying the fee quoted on him repeatedly over the years. We've never been in such a desperate need for a right back but with the waning performances of Willie Craig and the departure of Blair Thomson last year the time was right. So we now have world class full backs on both sides which bodes well for Shaun McStay and Ricardo Macedo. We brought in a further seven youth players in the summer too, some of whom were in and around the first team like Andy Bell, Darren Maitland and Scott Savoury. The others were placed with the reserves and under 18's for the season to get some extra work done on several attributes and features of their game. As previously mentioned, we sold Willie Craig after seven years with the club and we got a handsome fee of £40m for him too. Receiving that amount meant that McCann was essentially picked up for £40m which was a great deal all around considering Craig's lacklustre performances in the previous season. Following him out the door firstly was Craig Johnson for £18m. Johnson had been a decent player for us when called upon but he was never outstanding and we had some bright talents coming through we thought we'd try utilise such as Logan Dear who had a tremendous loan spell with Hearts the previous season. We picked up decent fees for Reese Camm, Jamie Dair and Jamie Hughes who were all out of favour upon their return from loan deals. Camm and Dair had shown a lot of promise in their early years but neither really hit the heights for us and after several years of service it was their time to move on. We got a little welcome cash bonus from a previous sale too as we received £20m(50%) of Alex Bielsa's move from Tottenham to West Ham.

Andy Lawless came back from a decent loan spell with Monaco to play rotation with Ali Wilson and we then sent Teddy Landais out on loan, for the third time in five years, to Bristol City. Both of our goalkeepers done reasonably well but with Landais set to return no one player really stands out for me as all three remain at a similar level. In defence our younger players are really starting to develop now and almost all of our defenders are at a similar level. Such is his progress in recent years Martin Wilson picked up a double in the young player of the year awards. Jason Henry remains a standout for us in defence although Ricardo Macedo and Darren Maitland could yet reach the same level as Henry and maybe even go that bit higher due to their better mentality. Jack McMaster has taken his game on to another level this year as his assists were higher than ever and his goal tally was decent too. He assisted five goals in one match this year and that is just an incredible stat. Unfortunately an injury or two got in his way nearer the end of the season but this is the kind of consistency we've been crying out for from a player with so much ability in his locker. Willie O'Halloran, Dean Wilson, Matthew Love and Steven Wright all kept up their impressive goalscoring and assisting tallies once again from the wing and this is a real position of strength in our team. It was Matthew Love taking the awards this year and he stole them from his friend Wilson but it was well deserved by Love this time out. Aside from McMaster we had no real standouts in the side although David Brown and Allan Wilson are developing nicely whilst we have a few young lads in and around the midfield just now too. I wasn't entirely enthralled by Logan Dear's contribution this year so I am a bit undecided on the lad going into next year. Upfront our main man Tony Herd produced the goods for us this season and his thirty-three goal haul in forty-five appearances impressed me. It also made him our new record goalscorer at the club! Docherty and Nakamura both had a decent record this year but their fellow striker Paul Wilson didn't and he may well find himself out the door by the end of summer.

You showed your true dominance domestically once again this year which is great to see after a couple of disappointing seasons. Tony Herd continues to be a standout and has helped you cross off one of those records which is also pleasing!

A shame about bout the way in which you lost to Bayern as I’m sure without the red card it could of been a different result. 80 million on a 29 year old right back is quite the risk but I think it shows that you are going all out for that European triumph now! It’ll come soon, I can feel it!

Another season, another set of trophies. Rangers are surely the greatest team in football history!

Nice to see McCoist's record finally broken. Another half-a-dozen seasons and Herd will be breaking the league appearance record too!

2019-09-11 10:28#261061 TheLFCFan : You showed your true dominance domestically once again this year which is great to see after a couple of disappointing seasons. Tony Herd continues to be a standout and has helped you cross off one of those records which is also pleasing!

A shame about bout the way in which you lost to Bayern as I’m sure without the red card it could of been a different result. 80 million on a 29 year old right back is quite the risk but I think it shows that you are going all out for that European triumph now! It’ll come soon, I can feel it!

Aye thankfully, it's been a tough couple of years. Herd is my love child hahaha! Just a couple more to go now. He was 28 at the time and as you say it was a case of going for the glory! He'll still have another 2/3/4 years in him so I'd be happy with that kind of return given that I got £40m for Willie Craig who was the same age anyway. I certainly hope so.

2019-09-11 11:24#261063 Justice : Another season, another set of trophies. Rangers are surely the greatest team in football history!

Nice to see McCoist's record finally broken. Another half-a-dozen seasons and Herd will be breaking the league appearance record too!

They definitely are! Aye it's been a long time coming and a goal for mine for many years on FM but never stuck with a save long enough to achieve it until now.

Glad parity has been restored domestically. The next step is to improve in Europe and retain those pieces of silverware, too.

About time one of those records were broken. Delighted to see one of your players have been able to achieve such a fantastic accomplishment.

2019-09-11 20:42#261077 ScottT : Glad parity has been restored domestically. The next step is to improve in Europe and retain those pieces of silverware, too.

About time one of those records were broken. Delighted to see one of your players have been able to achieve such a fantastic accomplishment.

Exactly, I can get my last nerve back! Completely agree, domestic treble and ehhh Champions League win incoming A nice record to break, only a few more to go!

It was treble number eight for us in our most recent season as we once again stormed Scottish football with ease. We lost just once domestically this season and it was to second placed Livingston in what was a very disappointing and frustrating game to say the least. We didn't lose that game until mid March and we only went on to lose in one other game which meant that we had lost just twice in fifty-eight games, winning forty-seven and drawing nine competitively.

We had a pretty hectic pre-season schedule as we cut down on the holiday time and increased our friendlies to ensure that we were fully sharp and focused on the season ahead. We had a tour of South America and played some of the top sides in Brazil and Argentina before playing a mixture of other sides, including Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. The Real Madrid game was a massive shock and I've no idea how we pulled that out of the bag!!

Our form over the ensuing months was just fantastic as we rattled one side after another across all competitions. In our first six months our only dip in form was in the five games in which we drew. Two of those draws came in the Champions League group stage which we had dominated and qualified from after four wins on the trot against some fairly decent opposition.

We got out first trophy in early as we won the Scottish League cup once again and beating Celtic in the final always make it that little bit sweeter. After progressing so well in the group stage of the Champions League the luck of the draw paired us with Real Madrid in the round of sixteen. An unfortunate draw but one which we have come to expect and also, the kind of tie that makes the Champions League what it is. The first leg got off to a ropey start as the Spaniards took the early lead through Eric Schouten and it looked like we could face a bit of trouble however it didn't pan out that way and in actual fact we went on to score in the last ten minutes through David Brown. When we faced them in the second leg at home I decided it was time to be bold again as I had a feeling we could overcome them and so we attacked them with all our might and came away with a 2-0 victory. With Juventus up next we had a real tough one on our hands and in the end, despite beating them 2-1 their first leg 2-0 victory ensured progress for them and a knockout for us.

In recent seasons we've felt the need to splash the cash on a big player or two to strengthen our side but this wasn't something we felt necessary this time around. We had lots of young players in the squad capable of taking their game to the next level we just needed to give them their chance. With this in mind we finally relented and let Jason Henry leave for a big club, he had been wanting a move for many years and Arsenal alongside PSG have been relentlessly pursuing him. With Ricardo Macedo really coming on to a game and young Darren Maitland on the up and up the decision was easy for us as I didn't feel we'd miss Henry and in addition he was approaching thirty years old. Ali Wilson also so his time at the club come to an end after a decade. With the return of Teddy Landais from his loan spell with Bristol City and with Andy Lawless also at the club Wilson was seen as the lesser of the three. Paul Wilson had emerged as a decent and reliable bit part player in the squad in recent years. He had some great games for us in the Champions League but his previous season best of two goals in twenty starts just wasn't good enough and he made the unorthodox move to Czech Republic to revive his career. Chris McShane never really amounted to much despite his early career promise and after disappointing loan spells away from the club we severed ties with him. Iain McNeil was promising enough for a young player but with Steven Wright and Dean Wilson on the right wing for us we had no need for him and his loan spells to Scottish clubs weren't going exceptionally well either so it made sense to cash in when we could. Glenn Van Eck is another one of those players to come through our academy or from elsewhere that although he has all the attributes and potential to be a top class player, his mentality lets him down. There is no doubting that he could've perhaps been the best striker at the club by now but we can't have passengers at a club of this level. His loan spells to Doncaster and AZ Alkmaar proved that theory as he scored just five goals in thirty-six games and ten goals in twenty-eight respectively. I hope he can go on and make a name for himself at PSG however I won't hold my breath.

Once again my players have done me proud and a special must go to my favourite player Tony Herd, of course. Herd came a whisker away from nabbing his second major record at the club as he came so close to beating Sam English' record league goals in a season. His tally of forty-three was heartbreakingly close and what hurts even more is the fact that he equaled the record in the dying embers of the final game of the season and had us all jumping around celebrating with him only for the referee to cruelly and wrongly rule out his goal for offside. He might never come as close to the record ever again or alternatively he might come back stronger than ever next year, let's hope for the latter. His goal tally saw him run away with a host of awards at the end of the season and he got the best one of all too; the golden boot. That makes it three times in total for Herd in winning the award, and this time around he outscored second place by a massive sixteen goals too!

In other news we now have new owners after a consortium of buyers came in to buy the club from the legendary Dave King in the middle of the season. It matters little to me who is in charge in the boardroom as I believe I have earned my right to stay at this club for as long as I want to and I should be granted most requests too. We also have an abundance of money which has never been something I've cared for too much either. We have also moved stadium to Chris Burns Park after the stadium was finally completed and I am overjoyed to see the stadium and play in it next year. It has been a fantastic year for the club and for myself personally, as well as all of the above I had a monumental milestone of my own this year as my son Steven Burns came through our academy this year. Now, I'm honest and realistic enough to say that Steven probably won't make his big breakthrough here at Rangers as he's probably just not up to the standard required in truth. However, it was a proud moment for me nonetheless and I will be able to surround him with great coaches, facilities, players and overall professionals that will help his game and if he doesn't make it here then he will have had some grounding in the game before moving elsewhere.

Records to beat
Sandy Archibald - 513 League appearances
Ally McCoist - 251 League goals
Sam English - 44 League goals in one season
Bill Struth - 18 League titles

Current
Tony Herd - 424 League appearances
Tony Herd - 309 League goals
Tony Herd - 43 league goals in one season
Christopher Burns - 17 League titles