RangersMedia

Motherwell 0 Rangers 0

Rangers under 16′s were held in an entertaining goalless draw at Dalziel Park tonight. It was a continuation of midweek friendlies to provide game time for first year under 17′s and an opportunity to promote some of the under 15′s.

It was the home side that had the better of the early exchanges and in the fifth minute Sam George had to dive to his left to save a 25 yard effort from the Motherwell midfielder. He surpassed that a minute later when Greg Pascazio missed a long ball it left the home striker in the clear, but Sam George came off his line to make a fine save with his leg.

A couple of minutes later and Rangers created their first opportunity, Charlie Telfer and Paul Kane combined on the right and when the later cut the ball back the home keeper dived to his left to save Telfer’s shot. Motherwell again came close on ten minutes, a break down the left saw a great challenge from Darren McGill to clear when the cross came in, but the ball broke to the edge of the box an the Motherwell player shot wide.

So there we have it then, the end of the transfer window for another summer.

How have we fared? Well we have lost 7 first team squad players plus 2 kids who have not reached first team status and we have recruited 4 players in their place.
Following on from net outgoings in the past 3 windows also, it is well known that our squad is much reduced and very thin in places for the battles ahead both domestically and in the big boys playground of the UEFA Champions League, starting in a fortnight with the tough task of a trip to Old Trafford.

We have lost some good players who have seen us through these last 2 titles in Boyd, Thomson and Novo as well as some useful squad players in Wilson, Beasley and Smith and we have also loaned out another backup striker who has been long term injured in Velicka.

New Ranger Ricky Foster tonight interviewed for the official Rangers website confirmed that he knows how much of a challenge moving to Rangers is going to be and that he is under no illusions that he'll have to fight for his place in the team.

"This is a really good opportunity for me. I am under no illusions that I am going to walk into the team but I will work really hard to try to get there and if I do it will be a great personal achievement.

"So I have to hit the ground running and show what I can do in training and try to get into the manager's plans as early as I can. If you look at the Rangers team it's going to be difficult for me to break in. Hopefully my pace can be an asset in either of the full back positions or further forward."

A deal has tonight gone through that will see Aberdeen defender Ricky Foster move to Rangers and Andrius Velicka moving the other way, both on loan. 

It has now been confirmed that it is a season long loan deal for both players, however at this juncture it is not known whether both players will be able to play against the clubs owning their contracts.

Foster is Rangers fourth first team signing of the summer after Weiss, Beattie and Jelavic and will be able to fill in on either side of defence or even in midfield if asked by the gaffer. Foster's ability to play over the pitch fits in well will the gaffers mentality of having players capable of filling into several different positions.