Steven Gerrard joins Al-Ettifaq, completing his return to Rangers after a long absence

Andy Firth has joined Al-Ettifaq as an assistant goalkeeping coach, which means Steven Gerrard will be playing with Andy Firth again.

The former Ibrox goalkeeper was hired by the Saudi Pro League club on Saturday night as an assistant goalkeeping coach. This came after John Achenbeisg was named head coach for the goalkeepers.

Firth, who is 27 years old, worked for Gerrard at Rangers and knew the manager from when he was at Liverpool.

آندي فيرث مساعد مدرب لحراس المرمى 🤩

أهلًا فيرث بين كتيبة النواخذة 💚❤️#الاتفاق pic.twitter.com/FfLSlieQO0

— نادي الاتفاق (@Ettifaq) June 15, 2024

Firth left Rangers and signed with the Welsh team Connah’s Quay Nomads. He played 32 times for them last season.

However, it looks like Firth will become a full-time coach after the surprise announcement that he would be working in the back office in Saudi Arabia.

“Andy Firth, assistant goalkeeping coach,” said the post on X, which used to be Twitter, confirming the news.

“Welcome to the Nawakhatha Brigade.”

Before moving to Al-Ettifaq, Firth had one job as a coach in the Liverpool academy and another as a player at Connah’s Quay.

Rangers offered the custodian a similar job as a coach when he was leaving the club in 2022, but he chose not to stay in Glasgow.

During his three years at Ibrox, Firth only played seven minutes for Rangers.

An “embarrassing” England fan chant at the Euros makes people think of the Tartan Army as trouble starts to happen in Gelsenkirchen

Fans of England ignore police warnings about a song

Billy Bragg, a musician and activist, shared a video of England fans signing the “10 German bombers” song before their first Euro 2024 game. He threatened that Scotland fans would not be heard doing the same thing.

German police told travelling England fans not to sing the song before the tournament because it makes fun of the deaths of German soldiers in WWII, but they now admit they can’t really stop it.

Since 2017, when it was sung during the team’s friendly in Germany, members of the England Supporters Travel Club who were caught singing it could be banned from future games. That was after Gareth Southgate, the manager of England, condemned the chant, saying, “It’s completely unacceptable.” We’re past those times, or we should have been past them.

On Sunday, video showed a group of England fans singing the offensive music in the streets of Dusseldorf in the hours before their game against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, which is close by. Bragg responded by comparing the bad behaviour of the English fans in the 1980s to the mostly good behaviour shown by the Tartan Army at the tournament. This was in line with his 1991 song “The Few,” which criticised the behaviour of English fans at the time.

Bragg shared the video on X and wrote, “Even though the Germans bombed Scotland’s industrial areas a lot during World War II, you never hear the Tartan Army singing this embarrassing song.”

Also, there were fights in Gelsenkirchen before the game, and seven Serbian fans were arrested. Social media videos show that things were getting bad on a side street before the riot police arrived. People were throwing tables, chairs, and bottles. A man covered in blood was posted on the social networking site X by former England striker Stan Collymore, along with the message, “Police vans en masse in Gelsenkirchen centre now.” Beginning with small groups.

Police in Gelsenkirchen confirmed that all of the people who were arrested were from Serbia. A spokesman said, “There was a fight in Gelsenkirchen between Serbian and English football fans.” The two groups of fans were split up. There are seven people in jail. A claim of serious bodily harm was also made. The story behind this is still not clear.

“We are aware of an issue in Gelsenkirchen ahead of the England vs. Serbia match,” a spokesman for the UK Football Policing Unit said. Police in Germany have arrested a number of people who we think are supporting Serbia. We don’t think that any UK citizens have been arrested yet, but investigations are still going on. Our officers are there talking to their German coworkers. Right now, our investigation team is looking at video of what happened, and if any UK citizens were involved, they will be asked to be banned from football.

A man was shot by police in Hamburg just hours before the city’s first tournament game. The police say the man was carrying a “axe-like object” and a “Molotov cocktail.” The person made threats against the police in the German city, and when he refused to drop the explosive, he was shot in the leg. Not long before the Netherlands played Poland at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, the incident happened near the city’s fan park in the St. Pauli district.

Hamburg police said in a statement, “Based on what we know now, a man came out of a neighbourhood around 12:30 p.m. (CET) and threatened police with an axe-like object.” Their order was for him to drop this thing. He also pointed a Molotov cocktail at the police officers and threatened them. Even when asked to drop it, he didn’t, and he kept walking towards the officers. After that, the police shot him in the leg with their standard issue gun. This stopped any more attacks, and no one in the crowd or the emergency services were hurt. Right away, the police gave first aid, which was continued by medical staff a short time later. “The man is now getting more care in a hospital.”

Pictures on social media earlier showed that there were thousands of Netherlands fans in the city having fun before the first game in Group D. It was said that the incident happened near a large group of Dutch fans, but the police couldn’t say for sure if the fans were the target. Hamburg police said, “A football connection cannot be determined at this time, and there are currently no clues as to other motivations.”

Graeme Souness thinks that Callum McGregor’s row with people supporting Celtic is the REAL reason for the explosive Rangers hero rant he named

After Ireland lost 5-1 to Germany, the team’s captain was in the firing line.

Kenny Dalglish thinks that Graeme Souness “willingly” supported Scotland during their loss to Germany, even if it meant hitting Celtic captain Callum McGregor.

In the first game of Euro 2024, McGregor and his teammates were embarrassed as the hosts dominated Steve Clarke’s team. An angry Rangers legend criticised the Hoops’ captain in the TV studio for taking risks to steal the ball from players like Ilkay Gundogan and Toni Kroos at crucial points in the game. Since then, the Celtic captain has said that the harsh criticism will drive him to do better in the rest of the tournament. But Dalglish has a different opinion about the ITV commentator’s hot takes.

Dalglish wrote in the Sunday Post that the Ibrox legend was a clear Scotland cheerleader before Wednesday’s important game against Switzerland. The former Celtic manager saw the fan’s anger as support for the team. He said, “Right now it looks bad, but we’ll be ready for Wednesday and can win the game.”

“Steve will get the players ready, and they’ll be happy.” That team has a lot of experience, and they will figure out how to fix this. Andy, John McGinn, Kieran Tierney, Scott McTominay, and Callum McGregor will definitely want to make things right. They are going to do everything they can to do that.

 

“They can see that every Tartan Army member was rooting for them on Friday night.” After we scored to make it 4-1, they yelled at the German fans, “You’re not singing any more.” It made us all laugh.

“They’ll be loud again in the middle of the week, and every Scot outside of the stadium will be cheering for them.” The media and political experts will also support them. That was clear the other night from people like Graeme Souness and Ally McCoist.

A Celtic star is singled out for criticism as Scotland are slammed by a former Rangers manager

The commentator doesn’t hold back as Scotland loses 5-1 in their first Euro 2008 game.

Graeme Souness gave a harsh review of Scotland and had some harsh words for Celtic captain Calum McGregor after their 5-1 loss to Germany in the first game of Euro 2024 in Munich.

Germany beat Scotland badly. Goals from Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala made it 2-0 inside 20 minutes, and Kai Havertz scored a third from the penalty spot right before halftime after Ryan Porteous was sent off.

Niklas Fullkrug scored the fourth goal in the second half. Three minutes from time, Germany defender Antonio Rudiger scored an own goal, which made the Tartan Army happy.

Emre Can scored a fifth goal in extra time, though, making it an even worse night for Steve Clarke’s team. They were eliminated, suffering their worst loss at a major tournament since losing 7-0 to Uruguay in the 1954 World Cup.

As expected, Germany was one of the favourites to win the tournament. However, Souness, who played 54 times for Scotland from 1974 to 1986, thought that Clarke’s team’s “miserable” performance helped Sweden.

The legendary player from Rangers and Liverpool told ITV, “My worst fear was that Germany would score early.” You might get in trouble if they get on top of you. We tried that, but we never got going, never gained a foothold, and were never really in the game.

“Firstly, we concede a silly goal that could have been avoided. Then the roof fell in.” Porteous getting sent off right before halftime made things even worse. Tonight we were really sad. We were such a bad team that I can really tell you how good Italy is. With a record of 5-1, it looks like they are a very good team, but let’s see how they do against another very good team. I’m so let down. Unfortunately, we failed tonight.

As for Souness’s other opinion, he thought McGregor had some responsibility for the second goal scored by Musiala for Bayern Munich.

An ex-Rangers manager said, “Musiala again fools the Celtic captain.” It was two moves in a row. For Callum McGregor, he tried to nick it. The ball went to Havertz and then back to Musiala, who tried to nick it again. Keep your distance from the goal and stop trying to reach it.

Rangers were “open to business” when Todd Cantwell decided to leave Ibrox

Stevie Clifford of Four Lads Had A Dream talked about three midfielders he thinks will leave Rangers this summer on the Rangers Review live stream.

As the transfer window officially opens on June 14, Clifford talked about the Gers team with Derek Clark on the platform’s YouTube channel. He said that Tom Lawrence, Kieran Dowell, and Todd Cantwell were likely to leave Ibrox.

It was also said that a midfield of Mohamed Diomande, Nico Raskin, and possible new signing Connor Barron would be “decent,” but the team still needs more depth.

Clifford said, “I think Lawrence, Dowell, and Cantwell could all be moved on this summer,” and Clark agreed.

“I don’t think they have a great future here. One of them might make it, but I’m not sure.” Derek, I think we’ll be ready to do business.

“Would Barron, Diomande, and Raskin in the middle be good enough?” I believe it would be pretty good… We need someone else, though. Even though [Dujon] Sterling could be added, there is still work to be done. We need at least one more midfielder.

Rangers still have a lot to do in the market.

It is well known that Philippe Clement and the Rangers recruitment staff have been busy changing the team, and the midfield has been named as an area that needs a lot of help.

Getting Barron would be a good start, but the Light Blues have lost a lot of experienced midfielders and need to be smart about how they hire players and figure out where some of their current players do best.

Sterling is a good example of this. Clifford and Clark talked about the Englishman on the live stream as a midfielder, but he is really a defender, and it was said that the 24-year-old could play right back if captain James Tavernier leaves this year.

Mohamed Diomande’s loan was made permanent, but more midfield recruits are needed

So far, the new players have been good. Jefte and Clinton Nsiala give Clement more options in the back line. Diomande was bought to fill the club’s midfield needs, but this is likely to be only a small part of Rangers’ summer trade.

Transfer hits stumbling block as club ‘cannot afford’ to sign £3 million Rangers star

Rangers has already signed three new players and confirmed that five will be leaving on free transfers this summer. However, there haven’t been many talks about adding another player to Philippe Clement’s squad lately.

If it weren’t for his salary, which is said to be around £20,000 a week, clubs would be lining up to sign the £3 million man.

Rangers not only paid too much for a forward who had only scored nine goals in the three previous seasons, but they also got him in the summer. They also wrote a contract that made it nearly impossible for many people who wanted to marry Sam Lammers to do so.

FC Utrecht was able to borrow Lammers back to the Eredivisie in January without spending too much. But they can’t pay for a long-term deal.

People are interested in AZ Alkmaar. But while AZ should make more than £15.5 million by selling Vangelis Pavlidis, who shares the Golden Boot, Lammers’ pay package is again rather off-putting.

Rangers have a problem with Sam Lammers.

One and a half million euros a year at Rangers. “During his six months with Utrecht, the Scots have paid a big chunk of his salary,” Dutch reporter Hans Kraay Jr. told ESPN a few months ago.

“But in general, they won’t do that in the next season.” Naturally, Utrecht is not going to pay 1.5 million euros.

I’m told that he is very highly regarded at AZ as Pavlidis’ replacement. Additionally, Arizona will not pay that $1.5 million.

Football Club Twente is another team that likes Lammers. The Rangers misfit scored 10 goals in 18 games at Utrecht, getting back to his smooth, cocky best for the first time since that productive time at Heerenveen. That’s eight more than he scored in twice as many games in Glasgow, and it’s more than he scored for all of his other clubs combined from 2020 to 2024.

But Lammers’ contract at Ibrox is so big that Utrecht and AZ’s Eredivisie rivals FC Twente would find it easier to sign Wout Weghorst, a Dutch international who used to play for Manchester United.

Return to the Eredivisie hits a snag

“Of course, (Lammers) is being talked about at FC Twente,” Leon ten Voorde, a club expert, tells Voetbalpraat. “Himself is also a fascinating player.” But he’s very expensive.

“I think he might cost more than Wout Weghorst, both in terms of salary.” That’s not possible for FC Twente. Although FC Utrecht pays its players more than FC Twente,

There are, of course, possible ways to solve this problem. In one of those solutions, Sam Lammers would have to walk away from a ridiculously high-paying deal at Rangers and take a big pay cut at his new club.

Chang Junior thinks that Rangers might not want to let Lammers go on loan again, but they might if they think he can do well at Utrecht. This would increase the chances of a sale, which would help Clement get back a lot of Mick Beale’s £3 million investment in the long run.

One more player who could leave Ibrox is Ianis Hagi.

In the meantime, Rangers may want to sell more than just Lammers after he’s been away from Glasgow.Ianis Hagi needs to reset his life. And one might be given to him by a Celtic story.

But, like with Lammers, it’s harder to say no to taking Hagi away from the Rangers because of the money.

„Gheorghe Hagi was a huge player who was known all over the world. NBA legend and new Rapid Bucharest coach Neil Lennon told Sport Romania, “I can say that he is Romania’s national treasure.” He then praised Hagi Jr.’s famous father and sent a message to the player himself.

“I know Hagi is sometimes called “The King.” Although I won’t be the “Emperor,” I might be the “Prince!”

‘Come here, come to Rapid!’ I also tell Ianis Hagi. We may not be able to pay for it, but he is welcome to come to Rapid if he wants to.

He had a tough time at Rangers because he was hurt a lot, but when he did play, he was great. He is a great player. His presence is always welcome at Rapid.

“Please convey this message to him from my end.”

Rangers could sign up to 12 new players – Chris Jack

Philippe Clement wants to make a lot of changes to Rangers’ team this summer, so they could add up to 12 new players.

The Gers will likely make a lot of changes to their team during the first summer transfer window under the new Belgian manager.

A journalist named Chris Jack thinks that the number of new players will reach ten before the end of the transfer window.

He told Rangers Review on June 11: “Don’t be too down or worried about the quality of the signings that have been made so far.” I think that the squad will get more experienced. I also think that the team will get more leadership. This is something that both the manager and the recruitment team are thinking about.

“Rangers will try to do that, but keep in mind that they could make 10 to 12 signings during the window.” It needs a lot of work.

How much work does the Rangers team need to do?

Rangers mostly did well under Clement, but a slow finish to the season and a bad record in the Old Firm derbies meant they missed out on the Scottish Premiership title and the Scottish Cup. They did win the Scottish League Cup, though.

Five players, Jon McLaughlin, Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack, John Lundstram, and Kemar Roofe, will be leaving the team when their contracts run out.

There are also doubts about the futures of several other first team stars, which could lead to a huge change in the team in just one window. Clement and Nils Koppen could be in charge of hiring most of the new team, and Rangers might not even be the same team by the start of the 2024–25 season.

With so much going on, Rangers must make sure they hire the right kind of players if they want to beat Celtic to the league title next season.

The news that a Rangers player is leaving after contract talks is called a “big blow” by a reporter

Dan Bardell thinks that Rangers did everything they could to keep John Lundstram before he left Ibrox for free this summer.

After his contract was up, the English player confirmed on Instagram (June 5) that he would be leaving the club “with a heavy heart.”

Some teams, like Ipswich Town [The Scottish Sun] and Trabzonspor [Daily Record], want to sign him for free.

Bardell is a journalist for Sky Sports and talkSPORT. He thinks that his leaving will be a blow after Philippe Clement confirmed that they are in early contract talks.

In an interview with Ibrox News, Bardell said, “I don’t think Rangers wouldn’t do everything they could to keep him.” I believe his fans like him as a player.

“It came as a bit of a surprise when they signed him. I thought he was a great choice for Rangers after a good season in the Premier League.”

“He wants to try something new, maybe go back to England or somewhere else, but I think it’s a big loss for Rangers to lose him.”

Rangers’ departure is confirmed by John Lundstram.

There will be a lot of new and old players at Ibrox this summer as the Gers make changes to their team.

Something had to give after a terrible end to the season in which Celtic beat Rangers to win both the Scottish Cup and the league title.

Clement has chosen to get rid of some stars whose contracts are up and put his own stamp on the team.

He was one of Rangers’ most important players this season, but they won’t have him next year.

Although it’s not clear where he will go, he will not be at Ibrox next season playing for Clement.

Philippe Clement is amazed by how beautiful Scotland is in these stunning vacation photos

Philippe Clement is enjoying some free time with his family in Scotland and is amazed by how beautiful it is.

The Rangers manager used the pre-season break to travel around the Scottish countryside and shared his thanks on social media.

He wrote along with a bunch of pictures, “Scotland, we love your beauty!”

Others said, “Enjoy every bit of it gaffer before you bring home the treble next season.” Fans loved the content.

Someone said: “Glad you both love our country, Philippe, keep up the good work you’re doing at Rangers.”

One more added: “Some very beautiful scenery in Scotland, enjoy every moment of it.”

Chris Jack: “Ready to move on”: Rangers star scorer could leave

Chris Jack says there are “doubts” about Rabbi Matondo’s future at Rangers as the summer transfer window opens at Ibrox.

When healthy, the Welshman has done well for Philippe Clement this season, but injuries and fitness problems have kept him from playing in all but seven Premiership games.

This summer, Clement is likely to add to his team. Several wingers have already been linked with moves to Glasgow, and Jack, a reporter for Rangers Review, says that both Matondo and Scott Wright could be sold.

On June 10, at 13:00, he talked on The Rangers Review YouTube channel: “I’m not surprised that Rangers are being linked with these kinds of players. They will go out and strengthen in these areas of the pitch.”

“These kinds of players are needed more because of how the manager wants to play.” There may be doubts about Rabbi Matondo and there are probably doubts about Scott Wright’s own future.

“That means you will need to bring in more wide players if the only ones you have are ready to leave.”

When does Rabbi Matondo leave Rangers? The summer transfer window opens at Ibrox.

Matondo is one of the most exciting players on the Rangers team right now when he’s healthy because he can change the course of a game with one move, like the wondergoal against Celtic.

But under Clement, he hasn’t been available enough this season. Because of this, the Gers might be willing to sell him this summer if the right offer comes in, especially since they have other players they want to sign.

Without rushing the 23-year-old to leave, Clement will not be pushing him to join another club. However, he may be open to negotiating a fee to help pay for his big summer rebuild.

Between now and the end of the summer window, this one might be worth keeping an eye on. As long as the door doesn’t close, anyone on this team could be bought for the right price.