[craguuscool]

Include him!

Some more top updates man, KIU. And I sent you a PM.

[Teckle Toby]

HISTORY MADE AS NOVO IS INCLUDED IN SCOTLAND SQUAD
13th of November 2008

History has been made today as Scotland manager Craig Levein has included Spanish born striker Nacho Novo in his Scotland squad to face Argentina on Wednesday.

The striker has now lived in Scotland for over five years and after Lord Triesman abolishing the Home Nations agreement just under a fortnight ago Craig Levein has taken advantage of it and included Nacho Novo in his squad.

The squad also includes several non capped players such as Hamiltons James McArthur and Aberdeen trio Jamie Langfield, Zander Diamond and Charlie Mulgrew as Craig Levein looks to experiment against Argentina.

One player who is not in the squad and was left out of the previous squad is Celtic winger Shaun Maloney. Maloney has not seen a great deal of first team football this year only making one appearance in the league being brought on as a substitute against Hibernian. The winger is said to be disappointed but still believes he can force his way back into the Scotland squad.

The Scotland squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers:
Craig Gordon, Jamie Langfield

Defenders:
Christophe Berra, Kirk Broadfoot, Gary Caldwell, Zander Diamond, Steven Hammel, Alan Hutton, Stephen McManus, Charlie Mulgrew, Mark Reynolds

Midfielders:
Scott Brown, Craig Conway, Simon Ferry, Darren Fletcher, James McArthur, Michael McIndoe, Scott Robertson, Kevin Thomson

Strikers:
Kris Boyd, Steven Fletcher, James McFadden, Lee Miller, Steven Naismith, Nacho Novo, Derek Riordan

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 05 July 2009 - 05:43 PM

[Teckle Toby]

SCOTLAND STAR PULLS OUT THROUGH INJURY
16th of November 2008

Craig Leveins Scotland plans were thrown into disruption yesterday afternoon when midfielder Kevin Thomson fell awkwardly during a training session.

The Scotland medical team were quick on the scene to assess Thomson but unfortunately they confirmed that he had twisted his knee and will not be able to feature against Argentina on Wednesday.

Scotland manager Craig Levein has immediately called up Celtic midfielder Barry Robson in replacement for Thomson.

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 05 July 2009 - 05:43 PM

[Nezzyyy]

Nacho Novo

Great story so far mate, I will definitely keep reading.

[Teckle Toby]

SCOTLAND MATCH ARGENTINA'S QUALITY

Craig Levein included Nacho Novo in his starting line up against Argentina for his first cap and also handed first caps to Charlie Mulgrew and Craig Conway who both started the game and also Simon Ferry who came off the bench.

Both teams started the game similarly coming close in the opening 10 minutes with Kris Boyd for Scotland having a shot from outside the box go narrowly over and Javier Mascherano also having a shot from outside the box go over.

The first real chance of the game fell to Scotland. Scott Robertson played it to Kris Boyd on the edge who's poor first touch toke it away from him but he recovered to pass it to Nacho Novo who played it through to Craig Conway one on one with the keeper but his shot was saved by the Argentine goalkeeper before being scrambled away by Demichelles.

Despite being dominated possession wise, Scotland were having the best chances. A deep Mulgrew free kick was met by Kris Boyds head but he good only head it tamely at Carrizo in the Argentine goal.

Argentina started turning their possession into chances and on the 34th minute they had a great chance. Tevez and Higuain linked up superbly with some slick one touch passes before Tevez playing it through for Zabaleta who's shot was saved by Craig Gordon. Fortunately for Scotland even if it did go in Zabaleta was ruled to have been offside when he toke his shot.

After a slow start to the second half, Argentina had the first chance. Lucho Gonzalez found a lot of space down the right wing after beating Craig Conway before crossing it into Diego Milito who could only strike it over the bar.

Argentina were starting to dominate the game and on the 66th minute they opened the scoring. Maxi Rodriquez was given too much time in the middle of the park and played it through to Javier Zanetti who slotted it past Craig Gordon easily.
Scotland 0-1 Argentina

After the goal Scotland decided to be patient and were rewarded for this on the 72nd minute. After some passing around the midfield Barry Robson played it through to Lee Miller unmarked and the striker scored his 4th goal for his country after slotting it past the Argentine goalkeeper. Several Argentina defenders appealed after the goal claming Miller was offside and replays showed Miller was itleast two yards off. Despite this Scotland did not care and had leveled the game.
Scotland 1-1 Argentina

Scotland held on for the draw and sent a packed Hampden home happy.

Scotland 1-1 Argentina
Lee Miller

Scotland Line Up: Gordon, Hutton, Mulgrew, Berra, McManus, Brown (Naismith 68), Conway (McIndoe 64), Robertson (Robson 45), Fletcher (Ferry 68), Novo (Miller 68), Boyd (Fletcher 64)

Man of the Match: Argentina's Javier Zanetti

[Fola]

Nacho Novo :thup:

[Teckle Toby]

Bougherra, on Jul 5 2009, 06:51 PM, said:

Nacho Novo

Great story so far mate, I will definitely keep reading.

It's funny looking at Novo's profile and seeing under his picture a Scotland flag

Thanks

[Teckle Toby]

SMITH SACKED AS RANGERS MANAGER
7th of December 2008

In a move that will come as no shock too many, Rangers manager Walter Smith has been sacked by the Glasgow side.

Rangers are said to be already out of the running for the Spl this year with 15 games gone they sit disappointingly in 7th place. Not only have they performed poorly in the league the side are also out of the League Cup after losing to Dundee United in the quarter finals.

Well last month Walter Smith publicly criticised Scotland manager Craig Levein for disrupting the harmony of his squad blaming him for a split in the dressing room. The Scotland manager is now the firm favourite for the Rangers job which will surely rub further salt into the wounds of Walter Smith with SkyBet giving Craig Levein odds of 4/1 for the job, also in the running for the job are Dundee United manager Jimmy Calderwood currently 8/1 and Burnley manager Owen Coyle who is 11/1. Some reports are also saying that Scotland manager Craig Levein has been offered the job.

The Rangers board will be looking to appoint someone has soon as possible with the crunch game against Roma in the Champions League being whoever wins goes through to the knockout stages on Wednesday.

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 05 July 2009 - 07:12 PM

[Hibee]

Great story, I'm really enjoying all the added storylines, the Rangers players, Novo getting called up.

Some really good results as well, keep it up :thup:

[Teckle Toby]

LEVEIN OFFERED RANGERS JOB!
7th of December 2008

Hours after Rangers announced that Walter Smith has been sacked as their manager, Sky Sports believe that Scotland boss Craig Levein has been offered the job.

Rumours have been circulating for weeks that Smith was set to be sacked as Rangers manager and that Levein was in talks with the Rangers board so this news has came as no big surprise.

Whether the Scotland manager will accept the job or not is unknown and whether Levein would still be in charge of Scotland if he toke the job is also unknown.

Another point to think about over whether Levein should accept the job is about how some of the players will react, most will be against him, one would think for instance Barry Ferguson, Allan McGregor, Kenny Miller and co will be against him being the new manager. And also what about the fans? Martin Bain suggested back in August that Rangers fans may boycott games due to how Levein treated the three Rangers players and although there has hasn't been dips in attendances at Hampden that could be down to the wide fan base Scotland has

________________________________________________________________________________


So yeah dilemma readers I am not sure personally what to do :|

Hibee - Thanks for your comment

[craguuscool]

Don't quit! You have something good going here with Scotland, stick with it!

[Teckle Toby]

craguuscool, on Jul 5 2009, 08:55 PM, said:

Don't quit! You have something good going here with Scotland, stick with it!

I could do both. I was thinking about accepting the job but only doing my story on the Scotland side of things.

I reckon I might carry on the way I am with Scotland just now and also include results at the end of the month for Rangers and major transfers/gossip.

Would that work? Or should I just continue with Scotland.

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 05 July 2009 - 08:07 PM

[Teckle Toby]

LEVEIN DISMISSES RANGERS TALK AS NONSENSE
8th of December 2008

Scotland manager Craig Levein has came out publicly and dismissed speculation linking him with a move to Rangers to be their new manager.

"I am fully committed to my job as Scotland manager. People were suggesting I could do both jobs my reply was, I am not superman despite what some say."

Scotland have been in great form since Craig Levein toke over as manager back in August and the manager has yet to taste defeat as national boss

"I haven't exactly thought about being undefeated yet, or how long we can go on this run for. We are just taking each game as it comes and not getting too ahead of ourself. We still have two matches against Holland to go in our World Cup Qualifying group along with a hard away trip to Norway so we still have a lot of hard work to do".

Scotland manager Craig Levein will have to wait till February before the next national game which is a home game against Cyprus, he told us what he would be doing in his time off

"It is a lot different being a national manager than a manager of a club. You get a lot of time off maybe a little bit too much. With our next game being in February it gives me time to possibly go away with the family over Christmas and then after that attend a couple games here and there".

So with Craig Levein rejecting the chance to become the next Rangers boss who will get the job? The current favourite for the job is Dundee United manager Jimmy Calderwood who is 7/1 on SkyBet.com

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 05 July 2009 - 08:24 PM

[Teckle Toby]

RANGERS THROUGH WHILE CELTIC SETTLE FOR UEFA SPOT

Both Scottish Old Firm sides were involved in European football last night and both were successful in there games.

Rangers needed a win against Roma at home to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League and to give a glimmer of hope to there somewhat terrible season so far. They managed to beat Roma by a single goal scored sensationally by Scottish teenager John Fleck. The teenager picked up a poor clearance by the Roma goalkeeper some 40 yards out and without a single hesitation hit it straight for the open goal before sending the Rangers support into raptures. Fleck is still only 17 years old and already shows amazing composure and some say it is only a matter of time before Scotland manager Craig Levein notices his talents. Rangers will now have to wait until January to find out who they will play in the next round of the Champions League.

Celtic on the other hand had already crashed out of the running for the knockout stages of the Champions League losing to the superior opposition of Inter and Werder Bremen who both qualified from there group. However they still had the 3rd spot to fight for level on points with Spartak Moscow they managed to beat them 2-1 thanks to goals from Australian Scott McDonald and Scottish centre midfielder Paul Hartley. The result meant Celtic qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League and await the news on who they next face.

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 05 July 2009 - 09:07 PM

[Teckle Toby]

FIFA ANNOUNCE UPDATED WORLD RANKINGS
17th of December 2008

Fifa have released there updated World Rankings based on the past two months.

Spain have remained top of the rankings with Italy in second place while Croatia have moved up once more to above Brazil to 3rd place.

It has been a positive update for our Home Nations with Scotland moving up one place to 13th, England moving up one place to 18th, Republic of Ireland moving up sixteen places to 34th place while Wales have moved down four places to 58th while Northern Ireland have fallen dramatically down twelve places to 47th.

Rankings:
1. Spain =
2. Italy =
3. Croatia :thup: 1
4. Brazil :thdn: 1
5. Germany :thup: 1
6. Netherlands :thdn: 1
7. Argentina =
8. Czech Republic =
9. Russia =
10. Turkey =
13. Scotland :thup: 1
18. England :thup: 1
34. Republic of Ireland :thup: 16
47. Northern Ireland :thdn: 12
58. Wales :thdn: 4

[Teckle Toby]

SCOTTISH CLUBS LEARN EURO FATE
20th of December 2008

Rangers have been drawn against Inter Milan in the first knockout stage of the Champions League. The first tie will be played at Ibrox on the 25th of February 2009 while the second tie will be on the 11th of March 2009 in Rome.

The two sides previously met in 2005 where the match ended 1-1 with Peter Lovenkrands scoring for Rangers to secure for the first time ever a Scottish club qualifying from the group stages of the Champions League.

Currently managerless Rangers will by then most probably have a manager and if rumours are to be believed a new chairman as David Murray is said to be close to stepping down with a consortium rumoured to be taking over wanting to appoint there own manager.

The rest of the draw is as follows:
Porto vs Bayern Munich
Lyon vs Arsenal
Panathinaikos vs Bordeaux
Chelsea vs Barcelona
Werder Bremen vs Juventus
Schalke vs Real Madrid
Rangers vs Inter
Sporting vs Villarreal

Celtic on the other hand will play English side Portsmouth in the first knock out stage of this years Europa League. The first tie will be played at Fratton Park on the 18th of February with the return leg in Glasgow on the 25th of February.

The rest of the draw is as follows:
Udinese vs CSKA Moscow
Hertha Berlin vs Paris
Nancy vs Man City
Fenerbache vs Tottenham
Partizan vs Sampdoria
Racing vs AC Milan
At. Madrid vs Besiktas
Valencia vs Ajax
Kobenhavn vs Dinamo Kiev
Portsmouth vs Celtic
Dnipro vs Fiorentina
HSV vs Man Utd
Rosenborg vs Olympiakos
Benfica vs Roma
Rennes vs PSV
Sevilla vs Zenit

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 06 July 2009 - 01:50 PM

[Teckle Toby]

MC'COIST NAMED NEW RANGERS BOSS
by NAME, DATE

Rangers and Scotland legend Ally McCoist has been named the new manager of Rangers. McCoist was the previous assistant of former Rangers manager Walter Smith and has now stepped up to become manager.

The appointment brings an end to the speculation that Scotland manager Craig Levein would be the new boss and McCoist is said to be looking forward to attempting to get Rangers back up the table

"I'm obviously delighted at being appointed manager here at Rangers, I just wish it could have gone a little smoother with maybe Walter stepping down rather than being sacked before I toke over"

"It will be a tough job I know with us disappointingly sitting 7th in the league but I think if we can get up to itleast 2nd by the end of the season and have a little European run then the fans wont be too disappointed"

McCoist has got to work straight away on his squad by selling four players already and bringing in two others already with others set to leave. Out of Rangers have gone winger Lee McCulloth who has signed for Plymouth, defender Christian Daily who has gone to Derby, winger Marcus Beasley who has left for AEK in Greece and midfielder Charlie Adam who has joined Wolves. The manager has also put veteran defender David Weir up for sale and striker Kenny Miller as he sets off clearing the deadwood from his squad.

[Nezzyyy]

You should have took the Rangers job .

[Teckle Toby]

Levein announces Scotland squad to face Cyprus

Scotland manager Craig Levein has announced his squad to face Cyprus in a friendly match against Cyprus next Wednesday.

Among the squad is Rangers teenage wonderkid John Fleck. The striker has been in sensational form since December after he scored the winner for Rangers against Roma in the Champions League. He has so far scored 6 goals in 9 games this season. Also in the squad is Inverness Caledonian striker Andrew Barrowman who has scored 17 goals this year in the Scottish first division and his manager Terry Butcher earlier this week tipped the man for Scotland.

Levein has included several other players who are set to earn their first caps for the country including Falkirk defender Darren Barr and Coventry defender Daniel Fox.

The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers:
Craig Gordon, Jamie Langfield

Defenders:
Darren Barr, Gary Caldwell, Daniel Fox, Steven Hammel, Alan Hutton, John Kennedy, Stephen McManus, Paul Quinn

Midfielders:
Scott Brown, Darren Fletcher, Keith Lasley, James McArthur, Michael McIndoe, Scott Robertson, Kevin Thomson

Strikers:
Andrew Barrowman, Kris Boyd, John Fleck, Steven Fletcher, Ross McCormack, James McFadden, Lee Miller, Steven Naismith, Nacho Novo

________________________________________________________________________________

Bougherra, on Jul 6 2009, 03:26 PM, said:

You should have took the Rangers job .

I thought about it quite a bit and even tried it by saving under a different name. I eventually decided it would confuse the story too much and I dont really feel like doing a story on a club I dislike :evil:

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 06 July 2009 - 02:31 PM

[Teckle Toby]

SCOTLAND DOMINATE GAME

Craig Levein handed debuts to no fewer than seven players against Cyprus as the Scotland manager experimented in last nights friendly.

However it was Cyprus who had the first chance of the game. Xenofontus was played down the wing by right back Michaillidis and then played it to Tsiaklis's who's shot was saved by Scotland goalkeeper Jamie Langfield.

Scotlands first chance of the game fell to one of the players getting his first cap for the national side Andrew Barrowman. Scott Robertson won the ball back in midfield before passing it to Lee Miller, the striker looked up for his strike partner and played it in to him. Barrowman managed to round the Cyprus goalkeeper but was caught up by defender Dimitriou who cleared the ball out of the window.

Scotland went close again on the 23rd minute. A John Fleck corner caused mayhem in the Cyprus box before Scott Robertson shot towards goal but his shot hit the far away post.

Despite Scotland dominating the game possession wise the sides went in 0-0 at half time where Scotland manager Craig Levein decided to bring on three substitutions with Steven Fletcher coming on for Lee Miller, Nacho Novo on for Andrew Barrowman and James McArthur for Steven Naismith.

Scotland had a few chances as the second half began and Nacho Novo should have scored on the 55th minute when his strike partner Steven Fletcher played it to him on the edge of the box Novo delightfully turned the Cypriot defender completely fooling him and then rounded the goalkeeper but he could only hit his shot against the post and the game remained goalless.

Novo then turned supplier to his strike partner on the 58th minute when a poor clearance by the Cyprus defence fell to him, he then played it to Steven Fletcher who easily slotted it in.
Scotland 1-0 Cyprus

Steven Fletcher then came close to doubling his tally twice in a row. Firstly the striker went on a mazy run and really should have scored but his shot was parried out for a corner. From the resulting corner the strikers header crashed against the crossbar leaving the score 1-0.

Scotland really should have at least doubled their lead before the full time whistle and on the 82nd minute debutant James McArthur had a brilliant chance. After some nice slick passing in the midfield McArthur played a neat one two with Nacho Novo who played him through on goal but McArthurs shot hit the bar and rebounded away.

Scotland finally doubled their lead on the 87th minute when substitute James McFadden was brought down in the box. The striker dusted himself down before slotting the penalty in.
Scotland 2-0 Cyprus

That goal finished the game as Scotland finished the game easily 2-0 winners over Cyprus.

Scotland 2-0 Cyprus
Steven Fletcher
James McFadden

Scotland Line Up: Langfield, Quinn, Fox, Barr, McManus, Naismith (McArthur 45), Fleck (McFadden 73), Brown, Robertson (D.Fletcher 73), Miller (S.Fletcher 45), Barrowman (Novo 45)

Man of the Match: Scotland's Steven Fletcher

This post has been edited by Goodwillie: 06 July 2009 - 03:02 PM