Monthly Archives: January 2017

31st January 2017. By Danni Biggs
As many of you avid Rangers supporters are well aware of, The Gers have had a rough journey over recent years. Since administration in 2012, failing to find a way out of administration Glasgow Rangers was invited into the third division, where they began their long journey to return back to the Premier League.

Where did it all start?

In the late 2000's Rangers entered financial difficulties and by 2009 they owed between £25 million and £30 million to the Lloyds Banking Group. In February 2012, the club trading as The Rangers Football Club PLC entered administration, owing substantial amounts to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and who also refused the exit of Rangers from administration via a Company Voluntary Arrangement. Then, in October 2012 Rangers entered liquidation.

After administration in 2012, Rangers got 'dumped' into the Third Division following a vote from the Sottish football league clubs. 30 SFL clubs took part in a vote, which saw 29 accept

31st January 2017. By Danni Biggs. 
Carlos Tevez waves goodbye to his beloved Boca Juniors and says hello to mega-money with his new signing to Shanghai Shenhua. The Argentinian, former Manchester United striker has secured his deal that will make him the highest-paid player in the world.

Supporters were left pleading for Tevez to reconsider his move to Shanghai Shenhua by holding up signs that read "Don't Go, Carlos!" during his last game, where he was took off during the 90^th minute to receive a rapturous reception, giving an emotional wave goodbye to his beloved fans as he prepares for his next chapter in his journey.

Tevez at Boca Juniors

As some of you loyal fans are well aware of, Boca Juniors is where Carlos Tevez began his professional footballing career. Carlos made 110 appearances for Boca in the seasons 2001 to 2004, scoring a total of 38 goals. At the young age of 16, Tevez made his debut for Boca Juniors where he went on to assist his club to be crowned champions of the 2001

30th January 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
After an injury ravaged 2016, that was punctuated by him missing 185 consecutive days, which ultimately cost him his spot at the Euros, when Marco Reus finally returned on November 23 of last year for Borussia Dortmund's Champions League encounter with Legia Warsaw, he didn't waste any time reminding us all what an extraordinary talent he is.

In what was a scintillating man of the match performance from the classy German in Dortmund's crazy 8-4 win against the Poles, he bagged a brace and chimed in with two assists to highlight his genius.

An unsurprisingly delighted Reus spoke of his joy at finally being able to make his long awaited return in his post match comments, saying: "I was overjoyed to play from the beginning. This is how you imagine a comeback after such a long time.

"I was looking forward to this. This was an important step for me. I've worked hard for this moment. I didn't toil myself to death today, I'm not completely exhausted, but

27th January 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
After a decent spell on loan at Sporting Gijon last season, where he produced plenty of glimpses of his extraordinary talent, Alen Halilovic returned to Barcelona hoping to kick on with the Catalan giants.

But despite Halilovic and his agent stating the player's intentions to stay with Barca and fight for a place in the squad, they quickly came to a realisation that with such fierce competition, from the likes of Lionel Messi, Arda Turan, Denis Suarez, Andres Iniesta and countryman Ivan Rakitic for a place, a move away would be best for his development.

Following plenty of consideration, Halilovic chose to join Hamburg for a transfer fee of €5.5 million that included a buyback clause of €10 million for Barca. Upon signing, the Croatian was full of excitement about the challenge that lay ahead, and even decided on taking the number 23, which was previously worn by former Hamburg star, Rafael van der Vaart. "I am delighted and proud to be here.

26th January 2017. By Danni Biggs.
With another win under their belt, Celtic continues their impressive unbeaten run. Last night The Hoops made their 25th win of this season, of course meaning they are comfortably at the top of the table leaving the other team's way behind.

Brendan Rodgers, the new manager of Glasgow Celtic since May 2016 and has now matched John 'Jock' Steins legendary unbeaten record from season 1966/67. With a total of 26 domestic games unbeaten after defeating St Johnstone last night, Rodgers and his squad will need just one more game to beat this staggering record. With a 22 point lead Celtic prepare for their upcoming away fixture against Hearts on Sunday.

Celtic's victory against St Johnstone on the 25^th Jan 2017 was a huge historical result for The Bhoys. A goal from defender Dedryck Boyata after 72 minutes ensured their 26^th undefeated Scottish Premiership game of the 2016/17 season. Now Brendan and his men have matched John Steins record, which they look to

25th January 2017. By Ryan Baldi.
As Wayne Rooney struck a splendid stoppage-time free-kick to draw Manchester United level with Stoke City last Saturday, it marked a historical moment in the 31-year-old's career. The goal was his 250^th for the Red Devils, making him the club's outright all-time highest scorer.

In doing so, he broke a high mark set by Sir Bobby Charlton over 40 years earlier, just as he had for England when he scored his 50^th international goal against Switzerland at Wembley in 2015.

Yet, despite having scored the most goals in the history of both the England team and one of the biggest clubs in the world, some would still argue that Rooney never fulfilled the promise of his early career.

Bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old with a stunning strike against Arsenal, Rooney shot to the nation's attention when he became the Premier League's youngest ever scorer in October 2002.

From there, he never looked back, almost immediately becoming a key player for the Toffees.

23rd January 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Having enjoyed a fantastic season with Fiorentina so far, Federico Bernardeschi crucially carried his fine form into La Viola's clash with fierce rivals Juventus.

For the man who's unquestionably one of the brightest talents in Italian and European football, this presented him with another opportunity to prove himself against one of the league's premiere teams, just as he'd done against Napoli before Christmas, where he bagged a brace and supplied a delightful assist.

Although he couldn't replicate the same output as he did against Maurizio Sarri's men, the 22-year-old still played beautifully and chimed in with an assist in the Lillies' 2-1 win over the Champions.

Operating as Paulo Sousa's 10 in his chosen 3-5-1-1 formation, just in behind forward Nikola Kalinic, the Italian took up purposeful positions throughout to help his team gain superiority.

For the most part, Bernardeschi chose to position himself in the right half space. Indeed, this spatial

20th January 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Although not too many column inches were dedicated towards Sevilla defender Nicolas Pareja following Jorge Sampaoli's side's sensational win over Real Madrid, the 32-year-old's performance was undoubtedly nothing short of exceptional.

In a match where much was justifiably made of Sevilla breaking Madrid's 40 game unbeaten streak and Stevan Jovetic's dramatic stoppage time winner, the players in the less glamorous defensive positions were unsurprisingly overlooked.

While this was precisely the case for Pareja, the Sevilla captain's efforts were a vital contributing factor in the exciting win. From his right sided central defensive position, the Argentine used all of his experience, leadership, composure and masterful defensive skillset to nullify his superstar opponent, the recently crowned Ballon d'Or recipient Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who formed a front two alongside Karim Benzema, within the confines of Zinedine Zidane's 3-5-2 formation, would've

18th January 2017. By Ryan Baldi.
In his 25 minute cameo appearance on his Everton debut on Saturday, Morgan Schneiderlin racked up more Premier League game time than he had been afforded in the last six months at Old Trafford.

The 27-year-old Frenchman joined the Toffees from Manchester United last week in a deal worth £20 million - potentially rising to £24 million if conditional bonuses are triggered - putting an end to a forgettable 18 months with the 20-time champions.

The move to Merseyside represents a new beginning for Schneiderlin, a chance to reignite a once promising career which had stagnated, treading water at both club and international level.

His £25 million move to United in the summer of 2015 was supposed to mark his arrival at the summit of English football. The Red Devils were hardly the force they had been under Sir Alex Ferguson, but Louis van Gaal's men had crept into the Champions League qualifications places the previous season and, after a summer of heavy investment,

16th January 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Having been in outstanding form since September, Thiago Alcantara's unfortunate thigh injury, which occurred while away on a training camp in Qatar, is a real blow for Bayern Munich.

With the enormously talented midfielder set to miss up to a month, Bayern will be desperately hoping he'll be fit in time for their Champions League tie with Arsenal in February. "It's a real shame. Thiago was in very, very good form in the last few games before the winter break," Philipp Lahm said.

While his manager, Carlo Ancelotti, was also stung by the news, lamenting: "It is a pity, but these things can happen. I hope he won't be out for too long. Three weeks, maybe."

In light of what an immense performance he put in against RB Leipzig just prior to the winter break, the setback is indeed a major disappointment.

Throughout their top of the table tussle with the Red Bulls, Thiago, who was deployed just behind forward Robert Lewandowski, epitomised precisely why he's