Kheredine Idessane, has delivered an incredible upbeat message to angry bears fearful that their miserable season is on the brink of collapse.
During the close season few outlets applied more top spin than BBC Scotland to the joblot of duds signed up by Micky Beale as they glowed over the latest Revolution to hit Ibrox.
Vague connections were dug up to bang average players with the brilliance of Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin applied to explain how Sam Lammers and Cyriel Dessers would be transformed into goal machines by Beale’s sessions at Murray Park.
While the bears lapped up the servings from a succulent summer other Scottish fans sat back waiting for it all to implode. It only took seven SPFL matches and a 5-1 defeat from PSV Eindhoven for the damn to burst- Beale was actually winging it in full view.
Now 10 days after he was sacked Idessane has gone back to work to explain the route to the sunlit uplands under a new manager. Basically if all the players find form that has never previously been shown and they win every match the future will be hunky dory.
Rather than pick out some highlights below is the full story which could well have been rejected by James Traynor when he was pulling the strings at the Daily Record.
BBC Scotland reveals:
It may seem improbable from the current vantage point but there could yet be a happy ending for Rangers over the horizon.
Granted, you’d need 20/20 vision, or better, to be able to bring that conclusion into focus right now given the club has lost three of its first eight league games and been bundled out of the Champions League before the competition proper even started. Bear with me though.
If – and it’s a big if – the new manager gets the dressing room behind him from the off, there are two winnable home league matches coming at the end of the month against the capital clubs, with a Europa League trip to Prague sandwiched in between.
Group C couldn’t be any tighter, with all four teams locked on three points after two matches. A point in Prague? With home wins against Hibs and Hearts? Not too much of a stretch if you factor in the return of several players from injury and the ‘new manager bounce’.
Then all of a sudden there’s a League Cup semi-final at Hampden, with Hearts the opposition once again. Quite the prize for the new boss to be one match away from a cup final.
If he gets there, what a shift in mood there would be down Ibrox way. This League Cup takes on extra significance and not just because it would buy the manager instant credit.
Trophies, remember, have been in extremely short supply over the past decade in Govan, as the fans were not slow to point out to both Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale.
Rangers’ new figurehead will be confident he can make the team better than the sum of its parts. He has no choice until the January transfer window anyway. Should he be able to do so, put a cup in the trophy cabinet and qualify for the latter stages of the Europa League, the outlook at Ibrox will be altogether sunnier despite the winter chill.
Catching Celtic from seven points adrift is, of course, a tall order. There’s a recent precedent for it in reverse. Ange Postecoglou lost three of his first league matches, gave Rangers an eight-point start and still reeled them in by early February.
However unlikely it may seem at present that Brendan Rodgers will give up such a healthy lead, there are easily enough points to be played for to suggest we could still have a title race and not a procession.
Of course, all these ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ could just as easily head in the opposite direction were Hearts to beat Rangers at Hampden, or Hibs to win at Ibrox when the Premiership resumes.
But with the likes of Todd Cantwell, Danilo, Ryan Jack, Kieran Dowell and Tom Lawrence all due to return soon to a dressing room with new direction and fresh energy, I wouldn’t rule out some sort of Rangers resurgence in the months ahead. If they choose their next manager wisely.
Idessane spent the best part of 20 years on te tennis circuit, following Andy Murray around the globe funded by the licence payer.
With Kenny Macintyre, Alasdair Lamont, Steven Thompson, Jane Lewis and Tom English all earning fortunes from the state broadcaster competition is fierce to see who cheerlead the most effectively.
Jenz trying not to laugh at a bored Ange is brilliant and then came Ange’s reaction to being asked his personal reflection on Lizzie 😂 pic.twitter.com/6NHfmpx5VM
— Nic Mc 💚 (@NicMcG76) September 14, 2022
Probing questioning from Idessane ahead of a Champions League group match.
1 Comment
by John Copeland
Any time I see or hear the BBC Tennis scoop in Scawlin KheredIne Idessane , I automatically think of the expression ‘ new balls please ! ‘ I haven’t got a clue why !