UEFA Cup:
Lazio 0 Inter 3
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 0
Chelsea Linked With Milan Trio
New Deal
For Royle
Redfearn Stands By Barnsley
All Change
At Ibrox
New Scottish League
Premiership Round-Up
Division One Round-Up
Division Two Round-Up
Division Three Round-Up
World Cup Countdown
The Knowledge
Bollocks
Today's TV
And Radio
|
|
    
|
Thursday 07 May 1998
|
 News 5 
|
NUMAN IN, NEGRI OUT
Advocaat Starts Rangers Rebuilding Job
THE first move of what is expected to be a massive summer overhaul of Rangers' struggling squad came yesterday when incoming manager Dick Advocaat announced the signing of left-back Arthur Numan.
The Dutch international defender currently plays for Advocaat at PSV Eindhoven and they will continue their relationship at Ibrox next season thanks to a reported £5m deal. Numan will join his new team in July for the start of pre-season training. PSV have now lost two key players to British football, following Jaap Stam's £10.75m move to Manchester United.
Rangers chairman David Murray was in Holland on Tuesday to finalise terms with a player who will be an important member of the Dutch squad at next month's World Cup. Atletico Madrid were also interested in Numan, and Murray said it was the 29-year-old's respect for Advocaat's coaching abilities that persuaded him to choose Scotland over Spain.
"Arthur is coming because of the Advocaat connection," he said. "The player wants to continue working with his current coach and I look forward to seeing him playing for us. I am sure he will help make Rangers stronger."
Advocaat, who takes over from Walter Smith on July 1, promised fans that this was just the first of several arrivals at the club this summer: "This is my first buy for Rangers and there will be a minimum of three others - maybe from Holland, maybe from other countries. I'm very happy Arthur has agreed to join me in Glasgow because I know his qualities as a player, and they are many."
STRIKER Marco Negri, Scottish football's top scorer with 32 goals, is expected to leave Ibrox as the Dutchman arrives. The Italian hasn't been in the side recently as Walter Smith has relied on players he trusts to keep the 10-in-a-row dream alive and - barring injuries - he is unlikely to feature against Dundee United in Saturday's final League match or in the Scottish Cup Final against Hearts.
Negri has two years left on his current Rangers contract, but he has reportedly told the company he leases his house from that he will not be in Glasgow after the summer.
|
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
'WILL LEAD TO EURO GLORY'
SCOTLAND will have a new league next season after the breakaway clubs were unanimously given the go-ahead to start The Scottish Premier League by the Scottish FA. A raft of measures aimed at rejuvenating the Scottish game were also accepted.
"There is a great deal of satisfaction among those of us who set out 14 months ago to see if there was a new way forward," claimed Hearts chief executive Chris Robinson. "But I think also that the relationships between the top clubs and the others is stronger at the end of the process than it was at the beginning."
The top 10 clubs will now resign from the Scottish League on May 28, with Dundee taking the place of relegated Hibernian.
Robinson insists the new Premiership was prompted by a desire for more European success. Scottish clubs' results in Europe in the 1990s have been dire, the sole highlight coming five years ago when Rangers reached the European Cup semis. He also believes the new League will allow club sides to emulate Scotland's international successes.
He said: "We have the set-up in place to, hopefully, return to the standard we enjoyed a decade or two ago. We all want our own clubs to be successful, but realise we can only do that if the level is right as a whole. The Scottish FA are particularly keen for us to concentrate on bringing young players through at a professional level.
"This is a very important milestone for Scottish football. We have been looking for change to help us perform better in Europe. We were told after the early exits in recent years that we should take a long, hard look at ourselves and that is what we have done."
Robinson promised major announcements on sponsorship and TV contracts - a deal with Sky to show a game live every Thursday night is believed to be on the table - within the next few weeks.
OXFORD TO DRAFT
IN WINDASS
ENGLISH First Division side Oxford United are leading the chase for hot-headed Aberdeen striker Dean Windass.
Manager Malcolm Shotton knows the 29-year-old striker well - he was player-coach at Hull City, the club where Windass spent five seasons before joining Aberdeen. But his time in Scotland has been marred by a rotten disciplinary record and, although he is consistently among the goals, he hasn't been able to lift a struggling side into title contention.
A fee of around £400,000 would be needed to lure Windass away from Pittodrie, where he has a year to run on his contract.
|
PARS GET CASH FOR
HOME IMPROVEMENTS
DUNFERMLINE, fresh from upsetting Celtic's title bid on Sunday, have been awarded £1.5m in lottery cash to improve their ageing East End Park ground. The money will cover half the costs of the renovation.
Bulldozers moved in on Tuesday to demolish the terraces - the last standing areas left in the Scottish Premier Division - where thousands of Celtic fans were stunned by the Pars' late equaliser at the weekend.
It is thought that there is £20m in lottery funds available to British clubs who apply for ground-improvement grants.
|
      
|
