Week 32: Sacre Boo !!!
'Le Gaffer' may have ended his sorry winter tale some months ago - pursued by a Govan bear or two - but the spirit of the Paul Le Guen era, or lack of it, returned to Ibrox on Saturday as Rangers blundered their way to a 1-1 draw with 10-man Inverness CT.
"For the first time since Walter Smith returned to Ibrox, the sound of boos could be heard echoing around this famous old stadium as Rangers fans expressed their frustration at an insipid performance more akin to the sort turned in during the troubled tenure of Paul Le Guen," noted Natasha Woods in the Sunday Herald. The boos probably reminded Walter of the last time he was manager at Ibrox, before he exited stage right - pursued by a Govan bear or two. Nevertheless, The Sunday Mail's Euan McLean also reported "a performance straight from the bad old days under Paul Le Guen", as opposed to the good old days under Alex McLeish and Dick Advocaat, who both left, history tells us, pursued by a bear or two.
As for praise for Inverness, Darryl Broadfoot, The Herald's Chief Football Inspector, wasn't quite Shakespearean but he did go a bit medieval, in his eulogy to the honed mediocrity pedalled by the visitors: "Trapped in the pitiful, pointless dungeon of the bottom six, the Highlanders overcame their condemned status to inflict more untimely misery on another Rangers manager." Who would have thought that the phrase "pitiful, pointless dungeon" would ever feature in a report on football? Then again, it seems quite apt for the SPL.
Celtic's claim to be the biggest bad boy in the open prison that is the top six was futher disputed by a Dundee United side who scored late to share the points in a 1-1 draw at Tannadice. The Sunday Herald's Michael Grant thought Gordon Strachan's side "fluffed their lines again", in what is proving to be a tedious final act for Celtic, but Patrick Glenn in The Observer reckoned "the combination of United's spirit - complemented by forceful football - and their opponents' awkwardness on the pitch brought a contest that was precariously balanced and relentlessly intriguing."
Slightly less intriguing was Aberdeen's 2-1 away win over Kilmarnock, where "for an alarmingly large portion of this encounter, the prospect of winning the half-time draw prize of a McDonald Brothers CD was the most promising on the immediate horizon," according to The Herald's Richard Winton. Sadly, Falkirk's 2-0 home win over St Mirren and Motherwell's victory over Dunfermline at Fir Park, by the same scoreline, didn't even have that in their favour - not even a Chico single.
In the 'showpiece' game on Sunday, Hearts shylocked their way to a 1-0 win over Hibernian in a game that the Herald's Hugh MacDonald reckoned was "a series of fouls sometimes interrupted by a football match", although in fairness the interruptions were kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, Stuart Bathgate of the The Scotsman saw enough of something to come up with this pseudo-philosophical musing:
"Some old bloke with a crown on his head proved long ago that you cannot turn the tide, but Hearts proved something for themselves yesterday: that the contrasting fortunes of football teams are not akin to forces of nature, and that with diligence and desire it is possible to prevent what others may have regarded as inevitable."
Or maybe it just proved that it is possible to run a circus of a football team and get a bit lucky now and again. "Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered," said the Bard - submarines obviously included.
"For the first time since Walter Smith returned to Ibrox, the sound of boos could be heard echoing around this famous old stadium as Rangers fans expressed their frustration at an insipid performance more akin to the sort turned in during the troubled tenure of Paul Le Guen," noted Natasha Woods in the Sunday Herald. The boos probably reminded Walter of the last time he was manager at Ibrox, before he exited stage right - pursued by a Govan bear or two. Nevertheless, The Sunday Mail's Euan McLean also reported "a performance straight from the bad old days under Paul Le Guen", as opposed to the good old days under Alex McLeish and Dick Advocaat, who both left, history tells us, pursued by a bear or two.
As for praise for Inverness, Darryl Broadfoot, The Herald's Chief Football Inspector, wasn't quite Shakespearean but he did go a bit medieval, in his eulogy to the honed mediocrity pedalled by the visitors: "Trapped in the pitiful, pointless dungeon of the bottom six, the Highlanders overcame their condemned status to inflict more untimely misery on another Rangers manager." Who would have thought that the phrase "pitiful, pointless dungeon" would ever feature in a report on football? Then again, it seems quite apt for the SPL.
Celtic's claim to be the biggest bad boy in the open prison that is the top six was futher disputed by a Dundee United side who scored late to share the points in a 1-1 draw at Tannadice. The Sunday Herald's Michael Grant thought Gordon Strachan's side "fluffed their lines again", in what is proving to be a tedious final act for Celtic, but Patrick Glenn in The Observer reckoned "the combination of United's spirit - complemented by forceful football - and their opponents' awkwardness on the pitch brought a contest that was precariously balanced and relentlessly intriguing."
Slightly less intriguing was Aberdeen's 2-1 away win over Kilmarnock, where "for an alarmingly large portion of this encounter, the prospect of winning the half-time draw prize of a McDonald Brothers CD was the most promising on the immediate horizon," according to The Herald's Richard Winton. Sadly, Falkirk's 2-0 home win over St Mirren and Motherwell's victory over Dunfermline at Fir Park, by the same scoreline, didn't even have that in their favour - not even a Chico single.
In the 'showpiece' game on Sunday, Hearts shylocked their way to a 1-0 win over Hibernian in a game that the Herald's Hugh MacDonald reckoned was "a series of fouls sometimes interrupted by a football match", although in fairness the interruptions were kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, Stuart Bathgate of the The Scotsman saw enough of something to come up with this pseudo-philosophical musing:
"Some old bloke with a crown on his head proved long ago that you cannot turn the tide, but Hearts proved something for themselves yesterday: that the contrasting fortunes of football teams are not akin to forces of nature, and that with diligence and desire it is possible to prevent what others may have regarded as inevitable."
Or maybe it just proved that it is possible to run a circus of a football team and get a bit lucky now and again. "Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered," said the Bard - submarines obviously included.
posted by nothing.if.not @ 9:57 PM
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