This scenario is like Football Manager once you get deep enough into the game — eventually, all the top players start to become managers. Some experience considerable success and bounce around the top teams in the world, while others are stuck meddling around with teams in the lower divisions of various leagues.
Steven Gerrard at Rangers
Frank Lampard at Derby
Kevin Nolan at Notts County
Harry Kewell at Crawley Town
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard won his first match as a manager on Thursday with Scotland’s Rangers FC against Macedonia’s FK Shkupi. Rangers’ Jamie Murphy and James Tavernier led a 2-0 win in the second leg of the first qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League.
The Mexico national dominated in its final match in Mexico ahead of the World Cup on Saturday evening at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. But despite dozens of chances and a majority of the possession, Giovani dos Santos was the only goal scorer for Mexico vs Scotland in a 1-0 friendly victory.
Supporters of Celtic hardly needed another reason to love James McClean.
The Republic of Ireland midfielder, and Derry native, has made no secret of his lifelong love for the Hoops and his desire to one day play for Brendan Rodgers at the club of his boyhood heroes.
They call him “Braveheart.” Of course they do. What else would you call a Scotsman from Livingston, some 15 miles west of Edinburgh, who came up through the ranks at Celtic before making the somewhat unusual move to Bari in Italy’s Serie B during the January transfer window?
However, Liam Henderson’s signing with the club based in southern Italy was/is not a gimmick, and there are many around Celtic who think the Glasgow giants made a mistake in letting him leave. And, it’s important to note, that Henderson is not the first Scot to make the jump.
Arsenal fans know all about catastrophic blunders in defense this year. From Granit Xhaka completely switching off to Petr Cech whiffing on a kick, the Gunners’ defensive frailty is terrifying — and that’s just the Swansea game. But Ayr United in Scotland has Arsenal beat for ineptitude at the back. This video is just under a minute long, but it’s 58 seconds of the worst football you’ll watch this year.
Well, we know which way the wind was blowing for Rangers in their 3-0 victory over Fraserburgh Wednesday. It was blowing in the direction of Josh Windass.
Watch him wind up and bury a penalty for his first goal of the day.
Not many outside Scotland remember Paul Wilson, who played for Celtic and, for one 15-minute appearance, the Scottish national team. In fact, even in the land of celebrated Scots Robert Burns and Sir William Wallace, his name registers with only the most diehard fans of both club and country.