Oh the excitment!!!

Roll on christmas day.

Can’ wait to open up my brand spanking new Football Manager 2007 handheld game. I am slowly starting to prefer the handheld version to the PC version, due to the fact it is quicker to play and more convenient!

My Football Manager Handheld Career So Far

 

STATS (up to but not including Sat 20 Sep 2008

Games played – 188
Games won – 134 (71.3%)
Games drawn – 33 (17.6%)
Games lost – 21 (11.2%)
Goals scored – 400 (2.13 p/m)
Goals conceded – 137 (0.73 p/m)
League titles – 2
Cup titles – 8
Players bought – 19 (£26 million)
Players sold – 18 (£84 million) ……… £58 miilion up
Teams managed – 1
Manager points – 2425
Board confidence – The Rangers FC directors are delighted with your general performance as manager. The club’s financial status is extremely healthy.

BONUS CONTENT UNLOCKED

Sugar Daddy

COMPETITIONS WON

Champions League (2) – 2006/07, 2007/08
Euro Super Cup (2) – 2007/08, 2008/09
SPL (2) – 2006/07, 2007/08
Scottish Cup (2) – 2005/06, 2007/08
League Cup (2) – 2005/06, 2006/07

SQUAD EVALUATION

It is my intention to have cover for every position, that means I want at least 2 good players for every position for my first team squad.

In total, my aim is to have a first team squad of 25 players.

This will consist of three goalkeepers (you can never be too safe), 2 left-backs, 2 right-backs, 4 centre-backs, 2 left-midfielders, 2 right-midfielders, 2 defensive-midfielders, 2 central-midfielders, 2 attacking-midfielders and 4 strikers.

Some players we have at the club already are very much in my plans, others will either have to prove themselves in the reserves or will be moved on.

Goalkeepers

I am happy with the three goalkeepers I have in my first team squad at the moment. All three will battle it out for one spot,

however Stefan Klos will have to wait as he is injured and will be out for at least 2 months.

In the reserves I can also call on Lee Robinson but he has a lot to prove to me if he wants a future at Rangers, the

likelyhood is he will go out on loan but failing that, will definitely spend the whole season in the reserves if he doesn’t find a club to go out on loan to.

We also have youngsters Scott Gallacher, Callum Reidford and Joe Sagar. I will have my youth coach report back on their progress at the end of the season. Callum Reidford is out on loan to Dundee and will hopefully pick up some valuable experience.

Left-backs

I will not be in the market for a new left-back as I have two excellent ones to choose from as it is. Steven Smith and Ian Murray will battle it out for the left-back position, Ian Murray will perhaps be the slight favourite due to experience but don’t be surprised if Smith forces his way in. Sasa Papac can also play at left-back if need be.

The only other left-back on the books is Steven Campbell, a youngster who is currently on loan to Partick Thistle.

Right-backs

We have two to choose from at the moment, Alan Hutton and Phil Bardsley who is on loan from Manchester United. At the moment though Alan Hutton is the only serious choice I have, as having had a look at Bardsley’s stats, they aren’t brilliant and he obviously still has a lot to learn. I will put him in the reserves to start off with and see if he can prove me wrong.

I may look for a new signing in this position but I am not in too much of a hurry.

We also have Fernando Ricksen who is on loan to Zenith St Petersburg, time will tell if he can comeback and play his way back into the first team plans.

In the youths, we have two promising players in Alan Lowing and Jordan McMillan, I will watch their progress with interest in the youth team.

Centre-backs

I will probably be playing two at the back, so ideally I would like four to choose from. At the moment we have Karl Svensson, Sasa Papac and Julien Rodriguez. I may need to look to bring someone else in but not too concerned as I have Brahim Hemdani and Ian Murray who can also play in that position if need be.

Antoine Ponroy is the only player of any note in reserve, he is young and will spend the season in the reserves and youth team. There are a few others in the youths, will get some progress reports at the end of the season.

Left-midfielders

Possibly my weakest position at this moment in time, I have Charlie Adam and Lee Martin, but I’m not convinced that either of them are ready to make the position their own. Lee Martin, on loan from Manchester United, will probably start in the reserves, leaving Charlie Adam as the only choice. I will definitely be looking for new left-midfielder on the transfer market.

I can always call on Steven Smith, Ian Murray and Dado Prso to play on the left if need be, or Makhtar N’Diaye who can play on the left, centre or right, but I only consider him to be a squad player.

I have hopes that Dany N’Guessan will eventually fill this position, but he is still young and is currently on loan to Boston United.

Right-midfielders

We have some good competition here between Chris Burke and Libor Sionko, both will definitely be fighting for this position. However, Burkey is currently injured and will be out for between 3 weeks – a month.

In an emergency, other players who could fill this position are Alan Hutton, Nacho Novo, Makhtar N’Diaye and William Stanger. Although it’s unlikely that any of them will. Hutton will be too busy at right-back, Nacho Novo up front, while N’Diaye is a fringe player and Stanger is a youngster who will be in the reserves until he can show me what he can do.

Central-midfielders

Not totally sure about my formation yet, but will be happy to have 2 good players for this position. At the moment, Barry Ferguson is the clear first choice and is club captain. We will also have Gavin Rae but he will probably spend most of the season warming the bench.

Depending on formation played, defensive midfielders Brahim Hemdani and Jeremy Clement, and attacking midfielder Thomas Buffel could also slot in here.

No immediate plans to go out and sign a new central midfielder as we have plenty of others who can fill this position, but may have my scouts on the look out.

There is plenty of players in reserve and in the youths who I will need to keep my eye on for progress, they include Brian Gilmour, Dean Furman, Paul Emslie, Steven Lennon and Rory Loy.

Defensive-midfielders

Spoilt for choice here, we have Brahim Hemdani and Jeremy Clement to choose from. Ian Murray can also play here if need be.

Attacking-midfielders

Thomas Buffel is the only serious choice here, we have N’Diaye and Stanger also but as mentioned earlier, they are not the preferred choice. Charlie Adam could also play here if need be.

Strikers

I like to have 4 to choose from and right now I have 4 good strikers in Kris Boyd, Dado Prso, Nacho Novo and Filip Sebo. We also have some promising youngsters in Moses Ashikodi, Derek Carcary, Robert Davidson and John Fleck. I will be checking on their progress throughout the season. Robert Davidson is currently on loan to Boston United.

TRANSFER TARGETS

So having evaluated my squad, I’ve decided that priority signings should be a right-back and a left midfielder, but I will also be on the look out for an attacking midfielder and a central defender.

Pre-season update, 4th July 2006

NEW CONTRACT FOR SMITH 

Rangers youngster Steven Smith has signed a new contract. The hot prospect was delighted to extend his stay to at least 2010 and was happy to accept £900 per week with a 10% yearly pay increase. He also has a £1,800 appearance bonus and a £200 win bonus.

BACKROOM RESHUFFLE

On my first day in the job, I decided the first thing to do was have a look at my backroom staff. I decided some changes had to be made and I wanted to bring my own people in.

I had to break the news to some of my scouts and coaching staff that they are surplus to requirements and to pack up their things and go find a new job.

Out went coaches – John McQuade, Eddie Lindsay, Craig Ellis and Craig Mulholland, as well as scout David Winnie and Physio Stuart Collie.

I really wanted to sack Yves Colleu as my assistant but unfortunately he was demanding too high a compensation package and my board wouldn’t allow it. I tried to reemploy him as a coach so I could bring in my own assistant but he wouldn’t accept this lesser role. As soon as his contract is up he is out of here, his stats are rubbish.

I have placed adverts for new coaches and scouts so hopefully the positions will be filled shortly.

Win a copy of Football Manager 2007

 

Vital Football is giving away copies of Football Manager 2007 as well as other great prizes such as -shirts, pens, practice-ball sets, plus a great electronic clock in the form of a substitute board and some funky doormats ideal for a local team’s changing rooms.

Click on the following link to view and enter the competition:

http://www.rangers.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=34999

Pre-season friendlies

Paul le Guen’s last action as Rangers manager before I replaced him was to set up friendly matches against Spanish opposition.

While I would have preferred to have played away and got a bit of Spanish sunshine, they are decent fixtures and So I have decided to stick with them.

So here is the pre-season friendly fixture list:

Rangers appoint new manager

Rangers have appointed John Latimer as the replacement for the outgoing Paul le Guen.

Latimer was unveiled to a shocked Scottish press at a press conference at Ibrox today.

The Rangers fans are angry that an unknown manager with no experience has been handed the mammoth task of regaining the SPL title from arch rivals Celtic. But Gers chairman David Murray told the press conference that Latimer is the right man for the job and he has every faith in his ability.

Welcome to Planet Rangers Football Manager blog

 

Hello folks and welcome to Planet Rangers Football Manager blog.

Here I will be keeping a diary of my progress in Football Manager 2007 and Football Manager Handheld.

Having just bought my copy of Football Manager 2007 which came out a week or so ago, I am fairly new to it and not got to grips with the new features. Obviously my first blog will see me take on the task of taking on the Rangers job and challenging Celtic for the SPL title.

Meanwhile, in Football Manager Handheld. I have been playing this since September and have just got my third season as Rangers manager underway. I will update you on my progress there and what has happened so far.

I will also detail any other games I have in progress. At the moment I have only one game underway in Football Manager 2007 but on Football Manager Handheld I have a few different save games in progress. I am managing AS Roma in Serie A, Barcelona in La Liga, Liverpool in the FA Premiership and East Stirling in the Scottish Third Division.

I will update you on my progress on those as much as I can. This should keep me busy on the handheld until the new one comes out in December.

Apart from that I will also bring Football Manager news such as new patches, updates, new games and much more.

Don’t forget to visit http://www.planetrangers.co.uk for all the latest Rangers news.

We are also on myspace and can be found at http://www.myspace.com/planetrangers.