PauloBarnesi

Its not; Adrian Boothroyd only became manager in March 2005. It is from January last year.

Someone somewhere mentioned that Chris Burke was at Villa Park today...

In Romania?

He’s a Londoner.

Its a comment that MON will take a risk on unstable and trouble makers.

I also noticed that Harewood scored a brace against SHA last season...

MON is the man who signed Collywobbles....

Viola is Sutton’s agent I believe

ok

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/display.var.1098280.0.0.php

BARRY FERGUSON was offered a return to the English Premiership within hours of being stripped of the Rangers captaincy by manager Paul Le Guen.

But the shell-shocked midfielder will not rush into a hasty decision as he comes to terms with the Ne'erday move by the Frenchman that has rocked Ibrox.

As the 28-year-old prepared to attend today's SPL clash at Motherwell as a supporter his agent, John Viola, arrived in Glasgow from his base in Dubai.

Viola will now hold emergency talks with chairman Sir David Murray, who is believed to be cutting short a holiday in France to deal with the crisis that has erupted between his under-pressure manager and captain.

Viola was quickly informed of interest from three Premiership sides - said to be Everton, Newcastle and Aston Villa - as news of Le Guen's amazing decision broke yesterday at around 3pm.

However, Ferguson - who spent last night with his family as Le Guen's actions sunk in - is well aware that the manager himself could be close to the axe if results don't improve and fans turn on him after yesterday's dramatic developments.

He will, therefore, await the outcome of talks with Murray before deciding on the next move, mindful that he has until the end of the month to make a decision.

During that period, Rangers face tricky matches after today's crunch at Fir Park which include a Scottish Cup tie away at Dunfermline, and a home SPL game against Hearts.

A source close to the Ferguson camp would also not rule out a loan move elsewhere until the end of the season.

That would allow the Scotland captain to remain a Rangers player should Le Guen's troubled time end in the interim.

And, while England would appear his likely destination if he does indeed move, Ferguson's family have no desire to leave Scotland again after getting their dream return ticket when his 2003 £7.5m move to Blackburn turned sour, and he re-signed for Rangers two years ago for £4.5m. Ferguson was called to Le Guen's office at Murray Park before the scheduled 2.30pm training session.

He was informed that he was dropped from the squad for Motherwell, and that he was no longer the club captain. Gavin Rae was then appointed as his replacement.

Ferguson then went into the dressing room, emptied his locker, and told stunned team-mates that he was on the transfer list and would not play for Rangers again while Le Guen was in charge.

The club refused to confirm whether he was officially up for sale, and released a carefully worded statement that read: "Paul Le Guen has confirmed that he has chosen, on this occasion, to drop Barry Ferguson for tomorrow's game and the captaincy will be given to Gavin Rae."

Le Guen will reveal why he made the stunning decision after today's game at Fir Park.

But it is believed he sees Ferguson as the disruptive influence in the dressing room and a player that has to be removed.

It is understood Le Guen told his chairman that it was either him or Ferguson, although Murray has yet to break cover and comment as his club implodes.

Le Guen and Ferguson have never seen eye to eye. But the midfielder was happy to play for the club he loves and has been Rangers' best player in recent months.

They clashed over several minor issues from the very start, and then had the public disagreement over the importance of the captaincy two weeks ago.

The personal differences between them are now irreconcilable.

And it appears that one of them - most likely Ferguson unless Murray refuses to back his manager - will be on their way.

lThomas Buffel has been linked with a £1.5m move to AZ Alkmaar, while young striker Moses Ashikodi has joined Watford.

it says newspapers; doesn’t say which ones...

Polar bears are a pest now in Canada and Alaska. They just rock into town and going through bins causing mayhem, bit like a drunk...

What about the Fiat Panda?

I just think that we should learn from our past mistakes with our youth players

Sorry to be stupid, but what do you mean?

On the Bale situation. He will have seen from Theo Walcott that going to a top club might not be the thing to do. Lets face it he would go straight into our team. He wouldn’t be on the bench for Man U or Real Madrid. So it depends entirely on his mindset.

If we are linked with someone, can we please have sources.

Who would also cost a fortune and is being linked with Real Madrid...

And the chances of the two meeting each other to beat crap out of each other? Zero.

Where’s the non-bear option; Koala Bear?

Ok.

I will admit I have seen Ferguson on the telly a few times. Sometimes hes been anoymous. Sometimes excellent. Thats both for Blackburn, Rangers and Scotland. I wouldn’t call him world class. I wouldn’t call him rubbish. I would say he’s on a par with someone like Petrov, but better than Hendrie. He’s not quite the same as McCann, though he can tackle.

Therefore to read he’s shite with no backup, just seems strange. I would question his ability to play in the premier league, because of his previous and also his subsequent return to Rangers. The point is if he was available and at the right price, would he improve our squad. To which the answer, if he played to his ability is yes.

Undoubtly other positions are much much much more urgent; we need width and we need it quickly. But we know now is not the best time to buy players, and if players of his ability are available, then they cannot be dismissed out of hand.

I tend to think that its a powerplay at Rangers which may be entering an end game.

I would like to point out that most successful Villa teams have had a Jock in them; Archie Hunter onwards

Its not necessarily what he thinks of MON or Petrov, its more likely the fear of how some people will react.

Its been raised before. The two things against it are MON and his Celtic connection and probably more importantly how he doesn’t like it south of the Border. He’s now told his friends allegedly that he will never play for Rangers again, so he will get a transfer to anorther Scottish team? How many have the money necessary for signing him? Only arch rivals Celtic one would suspect or will he be like his brother (whose name escapes me) go to Hearts? He did ok at Blackburn when he came back from injury I thought. He has alot of qualities missing from our current squad, though he is injury prone. I guess we could tell him a little about our history, and how we play with a Rampant lion on our chests and a blue inspired by the Gers and he might come. (before our friends north of the border and Norway get on my back; its a bit tongue in cheek)

If you see my thread I said ‘more likely not’. According to the BBC website he’s not in the squad for Motherwell, so he has been dropped (according to there sources), unless its one of those injuries!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6223023.stm

It was all tongue in cheek to be honest

I know he regreted it the first time; its a question like Shearer versus Gullit at Newcastle; who will leave first? Le Guen is having a nightmare...

Here’s the thing TRL; he’s available and he’s a good player. I am more noticing his availability, and the surprise at seeing him losing teh captaincy. MON seems to want to sign senior players rather young ones if recent comments are anything to go on; and if he has been transferred listed and is at a reasonable price, he might be a good investment. Whether he wants to play for MON or in England are open to question, but if he has to leave Rangers where would he go in Scotland?

Well here’s one that might (or more likely not!) happen; Barry Ferguson has been stripped of his captaincy and BBC reports he’s played his last game for Rangers. If Ferguson fancies coming South he could join up with his former nemesis Petrov and O’Neill. He was crap at first for Blackburn, got a terrible injury, but then came good.

I think you will find that Rommel had far inferior resources to Monty at the time, having the additional problem of Italian soldiers. Rommel was also considered to fight ‘Krieg Ohne Hass’ war without hate; a compassionate and thoughtful warrior, respected both by his own and his enemy; the British of course made a movie about him starring James Mason. Monty on the other hand despite his miltary qualities was a difficult man (see the friction in the higher echelons of Allied command during and after Overlord) and made more than a few costly mistakes (Operation Market Garden).

Chelsea are better and have a much bigger fanbase, the only thing that favour us is our history.

The question is who has the bigger potential in fanbase? Chelsea have the home counties and west london as there catchement areas; however they face stiff competition from other London clubs and other successful teams. Villa have the potential of the whole of the Midlands region and towards the West country. There aren’t really any other big clubs in the Midlands, so the potential is greater. Get the team going in the right direction long term and Villa shouldn’t have any problems being on a fan base with Chelsea