Blue Sea of Ibrox [FM14]

The twenty sixteen twenty seventeen campaign ended with two victories and a Scottish Cup success as we also retained that trophy as well, we defeated St. Mirren three one at Ibrox before our league campaign ended with a three goal win at Fir Park as Ryan Hardie, Kevin Kraus and Barrie McKay scored and then we'd have to come from a goal down to beat Hibernian in the Scottish Cup final.


It's been another remarkable season at Ibrox as we managed to win the treble (League, League Cup and Scottish Cup success) as we also managed to get over the one hundred points, finishing sixteen points ahead of Celtic. Edinburgh duo Hearts and Hibernian will participate in next seasons Europa League, Hearts through their league finish and Hibs due to being in the Scottish Cup final.

Well done on the expected league title and the cups along the way chum

Still afraid Celtic will overtake you?

Grats on the wins tho.

Cheers Dan, the league ended up being straight forward but now I expect Celtic to come out "all guns blazing" next season.

Nope Dyrim, I'd like to think we can make it three in a row next season.



Fraser Aird has been named Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year after an excellent campaign for the twenty two year-old attacking midfielder saw him bang in twenty one goals in thirty five appearances, can he repeat his excellent campaign next or was this one lucky?


Striker Marvin Ducksch won the Scottish Top Goalscorer award after finding the back of the net twenty eight times following his move from the Dortmund second team as his return made him a "bargain", team mate Fraser Aird came second.


The Young Player of the Year award went to central defender Ricardo Tavares after an excellent season saw him produce a string of solid performances while he also helped himself to six goals in thirty games.


Lewis MacLeod has been named the Scottish Premiership Young Player of the Year after a season of high-class performances saw him score sixteen times in thirty one appearances.


I've been named both the writers' and Scottish Premiership Manager of the Year after I guided my Rangers side to back to back league titles along with League Cup and Scottish Cup success over Celtic and Hibernian respectively, in what was an excellent season for the club as we also made our return to European competition.


Seven players were named in the Team of the Year and they were defenders Kevin Kraus, Ricardo Tavares and Lee Wallace - midfielders Barrie McKay, Fraser Aird and Sammy Ameobi along with striker Marvin Ducksch.

And finally:


Despite still having two years to run on my existing deal, I've put pen to paper on a three year contract extension that will see me remain at Ibrox until May twenty twenty two as I'm also going to be remaining on the same wage but when you're managing the club you support then that doesn't matter. I've got big plans for this club and I want to stay forever.

Last season I requested about getting the ground expanded and they agreed to do so but only at the end of the season, while the work is being done we will be playing our home games at the national stadium of Hampden Park, sharing with Queens Park in the process.

The most surprising thing is that we only have to challenge for the league title but I feel we have enough quality to make it 3IAR so I've chosen "winner" and that's given me a transfer budget of £16.75m but that'll be raised as I'm sure players will leave the club.


Our pre season program will see us play seven games, three at our temporary Hampden Park home as Cruz Azul, Austria Wien and Montpellier come to Glasgow while we will travel to Brighton, Basingstoke, Dover and then Linfield two days after the season starts.

So got a plan whom to keep and whom to offload. 16.75Mil should be able to bring in 1 major strenghtening and with some good trading maybe a second.

Excellent read. Looking good for next season but it was tight until the end there, to an extent. Still have confidence in the triple!

Absolutely Dyrim, absolutely. Two players had previously agreed to leave the club "a few months back" but more will follow as I'm still trying to bring in cash.

Cheers for the comment Sherlock Holmes, always nice to get new followers. It was nice to have wrapped up a second consecutive league title as I'm looking to recapture the ten in a row that I got on last years Football Manager, oh and some European success won't be bad either.



A busy pre season has seen nine players join the club for not even a combined £4m. Scots duo Jason Holt and Ryan Gauld both joined for a eight hundred and fifty thousand and £1.7m respectively. Four players joined on frees when their contracts expired - Jeffrey Bruma came from PSV, Rewan Amin Mohammed from Heerenveen, Connor Wickham from Sunderland and Rudi Pozeg Vancas from the Dnipro second team.

Jack Butland became our latest signing when he arrived on a free transfer while two players arrived on deadline day - Souleymane Coulibaly arrived from Tottenham for just under a million pound while Andre Almedia came from Benfiica B for only sixty grand.

Sixteen players departed the club this season on frees, permanent transfers and loan deals.

The biggest and most surprising departure this summer was last seasons top goalscorer Marvin Ducksch who has joined German side Hannover 96 for five and a half million pound while Jake Cassidy, Sammy Ameobi, Jamie Paterson, Abdul Razak, Cammy Bell, Chris Hegarty and Kevin Kraus have all left on cash deals. James Dougall, Kyle McAusland, Devante Cole, Darren Ramsay, Sergey Kundik and Ravel Morrison departed on loan deals while Andy Murdoch and Jamie Burrows were released.


Our pre season program wasn't bad as we remained undefeated, winning six and drawing three from nine games including a frustrating 0-0 draw at Windsor Park against Linfield. The best result of the program was a 5-1 win away at the AMEX Stadium against Brighton - youngster Stephen Bell scoring twice in the first half.

Great pre season! And brilliant amount of money brought back into the club! Some great signings especially Gauld! I guess the offer was too good for Ducksch hopefully the replacements take over the scoring.

Thanks for the comment George, I'm pleased enough with the profit we've made this season and it's something that is consistently going to happen until I feel we're ready to reject "big" bids from "bigger" clubs but at the moment that's not possible in my opinion. The only real why Marvin Ducksch departed is because we made a decent enough profit on him, if we didn't then he would've remained at the club.



It's been a great start to the season as we've progressed in the Champions League after seeing off Icelandic side FH, Belarusian's BATE Borisov and Austrian side Salzburg to qualify for the group stages while we've made a one hundred percent to the league season, beating Celtic two one in the process as Barrie McKay and Fraser Aird scored at Hampden Park.


We've started the campaign with a one hundred percent record as we are sitting top of the table, already three points clear of fierce rivals Celtic as it's been a good start in an attempt to win a third straight league title while both Motherwell and Hibernian have yet to win in the Scottish Premiership.


Summer signing Jeffrey Bruma has been named August's Player of the Month after the free signing had been in outstanding form as my Rangers side claimed a clean sweep in the awards - fellow central defender Ricardo Tavares came in second while another summer signing, Ryan Gauld came third.


Speaking of Ryan Gauld, the twenty one year old left winger has been named Young Player of the Month after scoring three times in five league appearances during his first month at the club and long may his excellent form continue.


I've been named Manager of the Month for August after guiding the champions to five consecutive league wins this month including a 5-1 win over Aberdeen and a 2-1 Old Firm success over Celtic as Barrie McKay and Fraser Aird, who have been with me since day one, scored.

Looks like we can tell where the title is going again this season, good start

You could be right Dan but lets just enjoy the good start to the season first, shall we?



Our good start to the season continued as we remained unbeaten in the league, scoring four goals in three league games against Inverness, Hibernian and Motherwell while we played out an undeserved one all draw with German side Stuttgart away from home. Deadline day signing Souleymane Coulibaly has made a solid start to life in Glasgow, scoring six times in the league.


Nine straight league wins sees us with a six point gap at the time although Celtic have a game in hand, but it's also been a free scoring start to the campaign as we've already notched us twenty nine goals while we've conceded just three as the defence (so far at least) is tight and long may that continue.


We claimed a clean sweep in the Player of the Month award for September. Ryan Gauld won the award after he wowed fans at our temporary Hampden Park home with some outstanding performances as he notched five goals in four appearances while Souleymane Coulibaly and Ricardo Tavares came second and third respectively.


For the second straight month I have been named Manager of the Month after I managed the side to four consecutive league wins and nine on the bounce so far this season as we also managed to keep three clean sheets this month.

October started with a sensational and unlikely 3-1 win at home to Arsenal before defeating Partick Thistle and Ross County in the league, the side then recorded another sensational Champions League scalp after a two nil win away to Zenit St. Petersburg in which Connor Wickham and Ricardo Tavares scored and the month ended with a win away to Aberdeen.


It's now twelve consecutive Premiership wins this season from as many games as we are sitting six points clear of second placed Celtic who also have a nine point gap over third place Dundee United. Despite finishing in such a high position last season, it's been a tough start to the season for Hearts.


Been named Manager of the Month for the third straight month after winning all three league games this month and maintaining the one hundred percent league record so far this season.

Fantastic form unbeaten!

It's been a tremendous start to the season George and long may it continue.



Much to my delight, we qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League after seeing off Zenit 3-1 at Hampden Park while we also defeated Stuttgart at home while the group will be won if we can pick up at least a point at the Emirates in the final day. We maintained our one hundred percent league run with wins over Hearts, Dundee United and St. Mirren.


Our remarkable league form continues after stretching our unbeaten league run this season to fifteen games while we have scored forty three goals to date while we are sitting six clear of second placed Celtic.


Fraser Aird's goal against Hearts at the beginning of November was named Goal of the Month as he scored an excellent goal, skinning an opponent on his way to scoring a powerful effort and the same man came third when he struck vs. St. Mirren.


Once again I have been named Manager of the Month after winning all three league games this month.

Excellent performance in the CL buddy, looking like this season will be even more success.

Wow! How brilliant your league and Champions League form has been this season!

Yeah the performances in the Champions League have been surprising to say the least Sherlock Holmes and can't believe we have advanced to the first knockout round but we face Dortmund. so the run could come to an end.

The league form doesn't surprise me Dan as we are the reigning champions but the CL form has been stunning.



The final month of twenty seventeen saw our one hundred percent league form come to an end when we could only manage a nil nil draw at home to Hibernian but we did win away to fierce rivals Celtic three two - Jefrey Bruma, Ryan Gauld and Ricardo Tavares on target while our Champions League group stage ended with a thee two defeat away to Arsenal.


We are sitting nine points clear at the top heading into twenty eighteen as we look to win the Scottish Premiership crown for a third consecutive season.


Yet again I have been proudly named December's Manager of the Month after winning four games out of five including a last gasp three two win away to rivals Celtic while our one hundred percent run came to an end against Hibernian. Frustrating result.

Going to have to play the big guns at some point mate! Enjoy your trip to Dortmund, you earned it

Oh absolutely Sherlock Holmes, I'm just hoping we can give a good account of ourselves over the two legs and who knows, maybe seal a place in the next round.



The New Year saw us play four games, all in the Scottish Premiership as we won three and draw one. We defeated Partick Thistle, Aberdeen and Hearts while we had to come from three down to earn a point at home to Ross County, Connor Wickham equalising in the seventy sixth minute, Souleymane Coulibaly made his return from injury against Hearts and scored in a two nil win.


It's now only a four point gap at the top of the table but this time we have a game in hand over rivals Celtic in a match that we need to win to stretch our lead at the summit, Livingston and Motherwell are occupying the bottom two spots while last seasons surprise package Hearts are currently seventh.


Ryan Gauld's goal against Aberdeen saw him win the Goal of the Month award after he scored a cheeky lob from twenty five yards as we won the game two one at Hampden Park as the former Dundee United man has been an outstanding signing since his switch from Ipswich Town in the summer.

I'll say it now, well done on an unbeaten league season chap

As much as an unbeaten season would be nice Dan, there is still a long and I mean LONG way to go this season.



We maintained our unbeaten run against Celtic (this season anyway) after seeing them off in the League Cup semi final 3-0 at Hampden Park while we also salvaged a Scottish Premiership draw against them, coming from 3-0 down also at Hampden Park while our Champions League run is in danger of ending after a 2-0 defeat in Dortmund.


Due to our twenty eight game unbeaten league run, we have officially secured a place in Europe next season as we are still in the driving seat for a third consecutive league title with ten league games remaining, Ross County continue to impressive over the last few season and currently occupy third place.

March turned out to be quite a disappointing month in the cups as we suffered an annoying four three defeat to St. Mirren in the Scottish Cup quarter final while Dundee United won three two in the League Cup final despite us dominating and Dortmund finished the job in the Champions League. We didn't drop any points in the league.


It's been confirmed that we'll be participating in next seasons Champions League after ourselves and Celtic both secured a top two finish in the Scottish Premiership as we still remain unbeaten in the league with just six games left. Can we go through the league season unbeaten?


Centre back Jeffrey Bruma has been named Player of the Month for March after being in scintillating form, scoring twice in four games and he's been a rock at the back since joining the club on a free in the summer.


I'm pleased to say that yet again I have been named Manager of the Month after picking up four victories from as many games that included two 4-1 victories over Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Hibernian while we also defeated Motherwell at "home" and Ross County at Dingwall.

Our unbeaten run unfortunately came to an end when Celtic won one nil at Hampden Park but we did conclude the season with three straight wins including a five nil win away to Hearts as Ryan Gauld scored twice at Tynecastle. The season concluded with a win at home to Dundee United as we had to come from two down.


The five goals to nil victory away to Hearts saw us retain the league and making it three in a row in the process.


So with the season concluded I'm pleased that we have won the league title for a third consecutive season, racking up one hundred and five points in the process and conceded only thirty times, Celtic conceded just twenty two so I want to beat that. Motherwell finished bottom of the table and could be joined by Livingston in the Championship, if they lose their play-off.

Ryan Gauld has been named Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year after the winger produced some amazing performances following his switch in the summer as he scored twenty one goals in thirty seven appearances.


The Scottish Football of the Year award was won by attacking midfielder Fraser Aird who managed to find the net twenty times as we won the Scottish Premiership for the third straight season and he played thirty six times. Jeffrey Bruma came third in the award.


Ryan Gauld won his second award after he was named as the top goalscorer after scoring twenty one goals and that's a tremendous amount of goals for a winger, Fraser Aird always scored the same amount of goals as Sylvan Ebanks-Blake but he came second as he played less games than Fraser Aird.


Lewis MacLeod has been named Young Player of the Month as th twenty three year old put in some creative performances this season and helped himself to nine goals.


The winner of the Goal of the Season award was Fraser Aird after his goal against Hearts on November fourth as he skinned an opponent on his way to finding the back of the net with a powerful effort, Ryan Gauld's goal against Aberdeen came second.


Once again I have been named the writers' Manager of the Year and the Scottish Premiership Manager of the Year too after I guided Rangers to a third league title in succession, it would have been nice if I could have added the Scottish Cup and League Cup too but it wasn't to be.


Five players were named in the Team of the Year - Lee Wallace, Jeffrey Bruma, Barrie McKay, Ryan Gauld and Fraser Aird.

Great work on winning the title so nearly unbeaten! Was always going to be tough in the champions league but good effort! Plenty of awards too

Cheers George. Celtic had to ruin everything as per usual by beating us but I'm just pleased that we finally sealed the league title.



After three consecutive league titles the pressure is truly on us now as the board expect us to make it four in a row and nothing else will be acceptable. They've given me a transfer budget of just over twenty one and a half million but that's down to me being "tight" over the seasons and don't be shocked if this season will be the same.


I've arranged a busy enough pre season which will start with a "home" game against Pumas before a three game tour of the Republic of Ireland against Cork City, St Patrick's Athletic and Bohemians before facing Stranraer, Morton and Queen's Park while our program will end at "home" to Spanish side Malaga.

You lost a league game last season...get resigning chap!

is that Kyle Bartley playing for Celtic in the team of the year?

You see I should resign Dan but I shant.

Haha I'm afraid to say that it is indeed Kyle Bartley playing for Celtic.



Nine players arrived at the club this summer with eight arriving on free transfers as Gottfried Eibenberger came in from Bayern, Mitiadis Dimogiannis and Makis Dedes came from Greek side Panathinaikos, Vangelis Tsartsidis also came from a Greek side in PAOK and Vangelis Papoulidis arrived from Aris.

Both central defender Joao Nunes and goalkeeper Tiago Soares came on frees while Hervin Ongenda joined the club from French giants Paris Saint-Germain for four hundred thousand pound, our only cash transfer this window.

Jamie Mills, Kyle McAusland and Robbie Thomson were released while Tom Cairney, Adam Thompson, Stefan Scougall, Sergey Kundik, Jason Holt and Conor Wickham left the club in cash sales while Jamie McLaughlin, Darren Shields, Darren Ramsey, Kristoffer Peterson and Micky McPherson departed on loan.


On the field our pre season program was reasonably good as we won all the games bar one and that was a disappointing two one defeat away to Morton but we did beat Pumas, Stranraer, Queen's Park,. Rapid Wien and all three games on a tour of the Republic of Ireland against Cork, St. Pat's and Bohemians.