The game Rangers can't afford to lose

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 19:40

FOOTBALLERS, MANAGERS, fans and sportswriters alike would much rather talk about events on the pitch than off it. Ball control rather than balance sheets is usually the preferred topic of conversation, but with Rangers up for sale, you cannot ignore the latter.

So let's get news of the Ibrox club's financial crisis out of the way first, with the simple statement that there is no news. Or at least there will be no official update from inside Rangers at the moment, not even on manager Walter Smith's future – "it's not the right time to make such decisions," he said.

Every senior staff member has received a letter from the club's lawyers telling them in polite legalese to shut their traps as Rangers are now in a formal potential takeover situation and the stock market honchos don't like comment that could influence share prices.

So now we can get on with the business of Rangers as a playing team and oops, there could be a bit of a crisis looming there, too. For on Tuesday night at Ibrox, Rangers play VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League. If they lose, they are out of the Champions League, and will also be unable to gain third place and the parachute drop into the Europa League. Victory is vital, therefore, as it is for Stuttgart who have also stuttered with their league and European form, being only a point ahead of Rangers in Group G. The omens for a home victory are good. On the two previous occasions that Rangers met Stuttgart at Ibrox in the Champions League, the score was 2-1 in favour of the Glasgow club who have only ever lost twice at home in Europe to German opposition.

Indeed Rangers had only lost once in 20 home matches in Europe before this season's disasters against Sevilla and Unirea Urziceni. It's a case of getting back on track, then, for a side which showed in Stuttgart with a 1-1 draw that they are more than capable of competing. And the hero of that night, goalscorer Madjid Bougherra, has been given a passport to play against the Germans on Tuesday.

Northern Ireland internationalist Steve Davis feels that Rangers can still qualify for the latter stages of European competition, but says they need to fix their home form.

"I don't know how to explain it," said Davis, "but when the groups came out we were looking to our home form to push us through and we just haven't been capable of getting the results.

"We played well for an hour against Sevilla but they opened us up after that and against Unirea the performance just wasn't there, and we didn't have any luck either. If we were to lose our first two home games and still qualify that would be a big achievement. It's a must-win game and it would be a big plus if the fans can get behind us.

"It's hard for the fans to get behind you when you are getting beaten 4-1, but hopefully we can start well, the fans can get behind us and we can go on and get the right result. We have to win to give ourselves a chance of qualifying for either of the competitions.

"We performed really well against them out there, and though it took ten or 15 minutes to get to grips, I thought we played really well after that, especially in the second half when we controlled the play."

One probable source of danger to Rangers is Stuttgart's most influential player, captain and midfield general, Thomas Hitzlsperger. Davis played alongside Hitzlsperger at Aston Villa and remembers him well, comparing him with a Rangers hero of recent vintage, Jrg Albertz, with whom Hitzlsperger shares a nickname – Der Hammer.

"I had just arrived and Thomas was an established first-team player," said Davis. "He had a great left foot and could shoot from distance, and that was one of his main attributes, and since he has left Aston Villa (in 2005] he has gone on to do really well for Stuttgart and is quite a big part of the German national team as well.

"There's not many can hit the ball as hard as he does, and obviously Jrg Albertz was similar with a great left peg. As a midfielder, you have to be aware that he is capable of hitting one in from 30 or 40 yards into the top corner and you have to close him down quickly. At Villa, every time he got on the ball at that distance you could hear the crowd willing him to shoot."

Smith agrees that Hitzlsperger is a major threat: "If you let him have a shot at goal he's just like Jrg. When I was at Everton I saw him play in Aston Villa's reserve team and he scored two goals from about 30 yards."

Though securing third spot and a place in the Europa League last 32 would be most people's idea of salvation for Rangers, Smith pointed out that both his team and Stuttgart still have a chance of qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League: "The motivation for either team is great because though the results have not been great, we find ourselves in a position where can still qualify, but we have to find a dramatic change in performance from our last home game."

Rangers simply must not lose or they will be out of Europe, with all the budgetary devastation that will cause. There we go mentioning money again – perhaps the best thing Smith could do on Tuesday would be to tell everyone at Ibrox to forget about bad finances and play good football.