Rangers v Cowdenbeath 09-01-16 Programme Preview

RANGERS V COWDENBEATH SUNDAY 10 JANUARY 2016 • KO 13.00 THE WILLIAM HILL SCOTTISH CUP • ROUND 4

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Ibrox Stadium, 150 Edmiston Drive Glasgow, G51 2XD • tel0871 702 1972 Chairman DAVE KING

INSIDE

//CONTENTS

today’s matchday programme:

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Directors JOHN BENNETT, JOHN GILLIGAN, DOUGLAS PARK, GRAEME PARK PAUL MURRAY

Honorary Life President JOHN GREIG

Managing Director STEWART ROBERTSON

Director: Finance and Administration ANDREW DICKSON

Manager MARK WARBURTON

Assistant Manager DAVID WEIR

Doctor PAUL JACKSON

Head of Performance and Preparation CRAIG FLANNIGAN

Goalkeeping Coach JIM STEWART

Head of analysis NEIL MCILHARGEY

Head of Recruitment FRANK MCPARLAND

Kit Controller JIMMY BELL

Editor NEIL SMITH

Design GREG JOHN GILFILLAN

Photography KIRK O’ROURKE

Contributors ALICE HEDWORTH, NICK THOMSON, ANDY CAMERON, ROBERT CARMICHAEL Print L&S LITHO

8 SNAPSHOT 4 MARK WARBURTON 6 DEAN SHIELS 8

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6

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The views in this magazine are not necessarily the views of Rangers Football Club. All material is copyrighted and may only be reproduced with the written permission of Rangers Football Club. The appearance of an advert within this publication does not necessarily mean that the goods/services advertised are associated with or endorsed by Rangers Football Club. All facts and information accurate at time of going to press.

HARRY FORRESTER 12 MACIEJ GOSTOMSKI 14 FAST FACTS 19 PREVIOUS MEETINGS 20 BLUEPRINTS 22 ANDY CAMERON 28 QUIZ/CROSSWORD 30 LEE WALLACE 36 DAVID MASON 38 ON THIS DAY 42 DAVID ROBERTSON 46 THE TOP TEN 52 JUNIOR GERS 58 FIXTURES 64 THE LAST WORD 66

//COWDENBEATH • SCOTTISH CUP • ROUND 4

J. Taylor (Trainer).

Back Row – J. Steel, N. Smith, D. Haddow, D. Mitchell.

Sitting – H. McCreadie, A. McCreadie, D. Boyd, W. Wilton (Secretary), J. Drummond, J. McPherson, J. Barker.

Front Row – R. Marshall, J. Gray.

Scottish Cup Glasgow Cup

4

//SNAPSHOT

RANGERS ended an agonising wait when they lifted the Scottish Cup for the first time in their history with a memorable 3-1 victory over Celtic at the Second Hampden Park, now Cathkin Park.

The game was goalless at half time but Rangers ripped their opponents apart in a blistering 13-minute period in the second half when they scored three times.

Hugh McCreadie broke the deadlock with a shot from 12 yards before John Barker scored a terrific solo goal. John McPherson added third before Willie Maley netted a consolation goal for Celtic.

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//COWDENBEATH • SCOTTISH CUP • ROUND 4

WORDS ALICE HEDWORTH • PHOTOS KIRK O’ROURKE

//MACIEJ GOSTOMSKI

I’M HOOKED ON GERS

FORMER FISHERMAN MACIEJ GOSTOMSKI WANTS TO IMPRESS BETWEEN THE POSTS AT IBROX

M

ARK WARBURTON snapped up 6’ 5” goalkeeper Maciej Gostomski on a sixmonth deal this week.

The stopper joins from current Polish champions Lech Poznan and Rangers will be the first club he has played for outside of his home country.

The 27-year-old has featured for six clubs in Poland, included Legia Warsaw where he started his career and Bytovia Bytow where he rose up the leagues.

Known as “Magic” the Pole gave up football five years ago to work as a fisherman with his father, but now back in the game and having impressed Warburton and his team, he is looking to make a name for himself in Scotland.

RangersTV sat down with the keeper to chat about his first impressions and his ambitions.

Welcome to Rangers, how does it feel to have signed?

I am very happy, I’ve always wanted to play in Britain, and I like the leagues and the weather here.

Coming from Lech Poznan to Rangers was a huge opportunity for me. Sometimes when you haven’t played for a while you can’t find a club, but I found Rangers or Rangers found me.

You’d been training with the club towards the end of 2015, so how did the move eventually come about?

I had two training sessions, so not too many, but Rangers were watching me before when I was

playing for Lech Poznan. The last six months weren’t so good for me though because I didn’t play too often so they didn’t see me play too much.

They wanted me to come so I could train and speak to them and I must have done well in those sessions.

I came and saw Murray Park, I haven’t actually seen Ibrox yet but I know it is big and the atmosphere there is great, I’m hoping to see it soon.

How long after those training sessions did Mark Warburton or Frank McParland tell you that they wanted you to sign?

It was only about a day after back in December, it was a quick decision because they know what I do.

I had many other options; the Netherlands, stay at Lech or go to another club in Poland, but I decided I wanted to go to Rangers.

It’s a big club and I spoke to my friend Barry Douglas who is playing at Lech and he told me a lot about Rangers, Glasgow, the fans and Scotland.

BARRY DOUGLAS

I wanted to move somewhere that would be a challenge and I wanted to change something in my life. I have family here in Dundee so maybe we will meet each other and I want to practise my English too and improve that.

I want to be part of Rangers, to work well in training and in games and to see Rangers back in the Premiership next season – that is my main goal.

Before you spoke to Barry Douglas about Rangers did you know much about the club?

Not too much, I knew who Rangers were but I didn’t know it was such a big club with these kinds of fans and atmosphere.

I know the club because they were playing Champions League and in the UEFA Cup all the time.

But I didn’t know quite how crazy and big the club was, everything is top level – the training facilities, the fans, Ibrox and the people here.

There is a different mentality here than I am used to in Poland.

This will be the first time you have played outside Poland in your career, was this move about moving out of your comfort zone?

I like challenges, I am 27-years-old so I thought it was a good moment to go somewhere away from my country and to see other cultures, see other leagues, meet new people and learn the language.

So when Rangers said they wanted me I didn’t think twice, I can learn a lot here so it’s great for me.

CHOOSE

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//FAST FACTS

FEBRUARY!

This will only be the second time in eight Scottish Cup meetings between the sides that the match has not been played in the month of February. The only previous tie to have been played outwith the second month, also taking place in January, ended in a 3-1 win for Rangers in 1935.

BOB MCPHAIL, SAM ENGLISH, DAVIE MEIKLEJOHN AND JIMMY FLEMING WITH THE SCOTTISH CUP Bob McPhail is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a Scottish Cup tie between the sides, his treble coming in their very first encounter, a 4-2 Rangers victory, in February 1928. McPhail is also top scorer in Scottish Cup matches between the sides with five goals.

Rangers used 24 players in the four league fixtures with Cowdenbeath last season.

Kenny Miller and Nicky Law, along with Darren McGregor and Lee McCulloch, started all four matches, with Gers also using three goalkeepers over the four games.

INFO: ROBERT CARMICHAEL

Of the six times that Rangers have been paired with Cowdenbeath in the Scottish Cup, they have gone on to win the trophy on four occasions, in 1928, 1930, 1935 and 1950, but have failed to do so the last twice the sides have been drawn together.

8

GOALS

IN FOUR MATCHES

Rangers scored eight goals in four matches against Cowdenbeath in league matches between the sides last season, with seven strikes coming in the second half of matches in contrast to only one in the first 45 minutes.

//COWDENBEATH • SCOTTISH CUP • ROUND 4

Training Gallery N

EW signings Harry Forrester and Maciej Gostomski trained with their Gers team-mates at Murray Park this week as the squad started to prepare for today’s Scottish Cup tie against Cowdenbeath. Club snapper Kirk O’Rourke was in Auchenhowie to take these photos of the players in action.

>HARRY FORRESTER

>MACIEJ GOSTOMSKI

>DAVID WEIR

//TRAINING GALLERY

>DANNY WILSON

>HARRY FORRESTER

>NICKY LAW

>MACIEJ GOSTOMSKI

>JAMES TAVERNIER

//COWDENBEATH • SCOTTISH CUP • ROUND 4

0-6

MILLER 42, 59, 64 WAGHORN 71, HALLIDAY 81, TAVERNIER 88 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

SPFL Championship • Sat 2 Jan 2016 • The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium

SUBS NOT USED • CRAIG • WATERS • EWINGS • CUNNINGHAM

>KENNY MILLER

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BROWN TAGGART (BROWN) DOCHERTY BARR (BUCHANAN) WRIGHT CAWLEY GALLAGHER ROUTLEDGE LINDSAY FLEMING MCCALLUM (KIRKPATRICK)

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RANGERS got the New Year off to a superb start with their biggest win of the season at Dumbarton to maintain a threepoint lead at the top of the Championship.

Kenny Miller bagged his first hat-trick in Light Blue for over five years while there FODERINGHAM were singles for Martyn Waghorn, Andy TAVERNIER Halliday and James Tavernier in what was KIERNAN one of the most impressive performances WALLACE from Mark Warburton’s side so far.

WILSON Some of Rangers’ football was a joy to LAW (ZELALEM) watch, but when the opening goal arrived HALLIDAY three minutes before half time it was anything but the silky soccer that had HOLT (SHIELS) earlier been on show.

MILLER (CLARK) From the edge of the box, Andy Halliday MCKAY clipped a superb ball over the Dumbarton WAGHORN • defence for Kenny Miller to poke beyond Mark Brown, in doing so however the pair SUBS NOT USED • KELLY collided and then collided again on the line ODUWA • AIRD • as Brown scrambled back before Miller THOMPSON eventually stabbed the ball over the line from all of a yard out.

The chances just kept coming in the second half and on 59 minutes a deep Tavernier cross found Miller on the penalty spot and he planted a header low to Brown’s left to extend Rangers’ advantage.

From there, those straining Dumbarton floodgates were blown open.

Miller grabbed his first hat-trick in the famous Light Blue jersey since November 2010 as he finished another Tavernier assist with aplomb as the home side struggled to cope with Rangers’ outstanding play.

Nicky Law fired an effort over the bar from the corner of the sixyard box as the visitors threatened to run riot, and that threat became all the greater as Waghorn did indeed net his 22nd goal of the season with a thumping finish to make it 4-0.

After Waghorn won a free-kick on the edge of the box with 10 minutes left, it looked as if Tavernier was going to take his chance to cap a wonderful afternoon with yet another set-piece goal, but he left the ball for Andy Halliday to strike, and with the aid of a massive deflection the ball looped up and into the top corner of the net.

Tavernier was to get his goal however, and when it arrived it truly was a thing of beauty.

Rangers broke at pace from inside their own half through Waghorn and he sprayed the ball wide for sub Gedion Zelalem who in-turn fed Tavernier 25 yards from goal to slew a superb effort into the top corner.

It truly was a wonderful performance from Rangers, and if this is a taste of what’s to come in 2016 for the Light Blues, then bring it on!

//ACTION REPLAY

>1-0 >2-0 >NATHAN ODUWA

>3-0

>5-0

>4-0

>6-0 13

//COWDENBEATH • SCOTTISH CUP • ROUND 4

THE INTERVIEW

ON RangersTV supporters can watch in-depth one-to-ones with a number of the club’s greatest stars, as they discuss their football careers and years at Ibrox.

In this season’s matchday programme we’ve picked a player and published a few answers from their must-watch interview.

Today, marauding left-back David Robertson, who featured in Gers’ famous nine-in-a-row title run, looks back on his six sensational seasons at Ibrox.

Name

David Robertson DOB

17-10-1968 Position

FULL-BACK Rangers career

apps 250 (1991-98) • Goals 19 clubs Played for

ABERDEEN, RANGERS, LEEDS UNITED, MONTROSE International

Scotland 3 apps

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GOALKEEPERS Cammy Bell Wes Foderingham Maciej Gostomski Liam Kelly

GOALKEEPERS Grant Adam Shaun Hunter Jamie Sneddon

DEFENDERS Fraser Aird Dominic Ball Rob Kiernan James Tavernier Lee Wallace Danny Wilson

DEFENDERS Kenny Adamson Brad Donaldson Ali El-Zubaidi Fraser Kerr Pat Scullion Josh Thomson Jack Wright Mohammed Yaqub

MIDFIELDERS Harry Forrester Andy Halliday Jason Holt Nicky Law Nathan Oduwa Dean Shiels Jordan Thompson Gedion Zelalem

MIDFIELDERS Jack Beaumont Dean Brett Liam Callaghan Declan Hughes Chris Kane Ryan McDonald Kyle Miller Lewis Milne Harvey Swann

FORWARDS Nicky Clark Ryan Hardie Barrie McKay Kenny Miller David Templeton Martyn Waghorn Tom Walsh

FORWARDS Luke Armstrong Craig Johnston Kyle Mitchell Cameron Muirhead Colin Nish Gordon Smith Greig Spence Josh Wilson

REF: STEVEN MCLEAN • AR1: DOUGLAS ROSS • AR2: BRIAN TEMPLETON • 4TH OFFICIAL: KEVIN GRAHAM