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Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy is very quickly learning about the intense pressure that comes with managing the Scottish Premiership giants after losing his first four matches.

The Hoops board, however, have put their support behind the new head coach, despite an unprecedentedly poor start to his reign, and are not looking to sack him already.

Nancy is the first manager in Celtic’s history to lose his first four games as a manager, just as he was the first manager to lose his first three games in charge, but he has the support of those above him.

Why Celtic should consider sacking Wilfried Nancy

If the Hoops do not produce a positive result against Aberdeen at Parkhead on Sunday, the Scottish giants should seriously consider ending his time at the club already.

His attempts to implement a 3-4-2-1 system have been dismal, as evidenced by the results, and the second half against Dundee United could be used as evidence for why it is not a formation that suits Celtic’s domestic standing.

The system worked early on when Dundee United pressed high, providing the wing-backs with space in behind to stretch the game, and they created chances, including the goal scored by Daizen Maeda, as a result of that.

However, when Jim Goodwin tightened his defence up and United dropped into a low-block, especially after they went 2-1 up, Celtic found it hard to break them down and create chances.

In a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation, you can push both full-backs on and create overloads centrally and out wide to break down a low block, moving them side to side, but that is not as easy in a 3-4-2-1 because of the back three. Instead of having two centre-backs distributing the ball to break down that block, Celtic had Liam Scales, Auston Trusty, and Anthony Ralston passing to each other across the halfway line.

When one of those did move forward to help the attack, it meant that the Hoops were relying on central defender Liam Scales’ crossing ability to find an equaliser, which did not work out.

With Nancy’s system seemingly being unsuited to what Celtic need domestically, it may already be time to end his reign to appoint Kjetil Knutsen instead.

Why Celtic should appoint Kjetil Knutsen

The Bodo/Glimt boss was reportedly one of the frontrunners to replace Brendan Rodgers before the job eventually went to Nancy, and they should revisit that interest if they decide to part ways with the Frenchman.

Knutsen, who favours a 4-3-3 formation (Transfermarkt), just finished second in the Eliteserien with Bodo/Glimt, missing out by just one point in the 2025 campaign.

Whilst missing out on a title may not scream ‘perfect Celtic manager’, the Norwegian head coach’s overall career with Bodo/Glimt shows that he has the coaching nous to be an excellent appointment.

Nancy had only won the MLS Cup once in his managerial career, which came in 2023 with Columbus Crew, who had previously won the title in 2020 and 2008 under different managers, per Transfermarkt.

Knutsen, however, took over a Bodo/Glimt side that had never been champions of Norway and has won four Eliteserien titles in his time in charge of the club.

Season

Knutsen (Eliteserien)

Nancy (MLS)

2025

2nd

7th

2024

1st

2nd

2023

1st

3rd (MLS Cup winners)

2022

2nd

2nd

2021

1st

10th

2020

1st

N/A

Stats via Transfermarkt

As you can see in the table above, the Norwegian boss has been far more successful in domestic football as a manager, with a club, in Bodo/Glimt, that had less success than Columbus Crew had before their respective managers took over.

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Knutsen, whose former captain Bodo/Glimt Ulrik Saltnes described his playing style as “kamikaze”, also plays attacking football with a 4-3-3 system, as his team scored 85 goals in 30 league games in 2025, per Sofascore.

He could also be an upgrade on Nancy because of his experience in Europe. The Bodo/Glimt tactician reached the semi-finals of the Europa League last season and qualified for the league phase of the Champions League this term, something Celtic failed to do under Rodgers.

Whereas Nancy’s only match in European football to date was the 3-0 loss to Roma in his second match in charge of the Scottish giants last week.

Related Celtic now making enquiries for new manager in the hours since Lawwell exit

Nancy’s disastrous start became even worse in midweek.

Posts 1 ByTom Cunningham

Therefore, Knutsen could come in as an immediate upgrade on the current Celtic boss because of his style, playing a four-defender system that is better suited to breaking down low blocks, his history of winning league titles, and his experience in Europe.

	Shane Watson: the new Flintoff? (file photo) © Getty Images

Hero to zero: A huge cheer greets Rahul Dravid before he faced hisfirst ball. It turned out to be the only delivery he faced too, as hismiscued pull went straight to deep square leg. His international record inBangalore is a wretched one, and there’s been no reversal of fortune inthe IPL either.No pulling power: The Bangalore boys were on the pull as eagerly asbachelors on a Friday night, and most of them met the same fate -dejection. Dravid was followed by Jacques Kallis and Ross Taylor inperishing to the cross-bat swish across the line. No, those pristinecheerleaders weren’t impressed either.Six or out?: In backyard games, six-and-out is a popular form ofdismissal, and the source of much argument. There was a similar situation atthe Chinnaswamy Stadium after Virat Kohli walloped a delivery fromSiddharth Trivedi to deep midwicket. His Under-19 team-mate, RavindraJadeja, made ground to his left before a big leap, grab and acrobaticroll near the boundary. Though he made the catch his handjust brushed the plastic that covered the rope. After all that effort, it was a six.Praveen the spoiler: Shane Warne had immaculate figures of 2-1-2-1at one stage, but a streaky straight six and a huge biff over midwicketruined them somewhat. But for Praveen’s big hitting, the RoyalChallengers’ embarrassment would have been as acute as it was on theopening day.Home leggie turns it on: After missing the first two games, AnilKumble finally played his first IPL game. A huge roar went up when Dravidgave him the ball after the seventh over, and though Shane Watson clubbedhis first two balls for four, what followed was typical Kumble. Accurateand persistent, he was the only consolation in another poor effort fromthe home side.Is Manpower the new Flintoff?: In Kuala Lampur 18 months ago,Matthew Hayden jokingly suggested that Watson could be part of Manpower.It appears though that the man himself as loftier ambitions. “I’d love tobe the next Flintoff,” he said before his last injury crisis and a superbunbeaten 61 to follow a tidy spell of 2 for 20 was a good way to reinforcehis status as the IPL’s bargain of the season ($125,000).

Scott Newman clips a boundary during his 89 but Surrey fell to a crushing defeat at The Oval © Martin Williamson

Steve Harmison completed an eight-wicket match haul as Durham made short work of Worcestershire on the final day at New Road. With just four wickets left, it was only a matter of time before the home side folded. When Gareth Batty fell to the brotherly combination of the Harmison’s – Steve’s fifth wicket – the tail didn’t hang around long. Callum Thorp wrapped up the innings with three wickets and Durham bagged 20 points.It took Sussex less than 19 overs to knock off the 56 runs they needed to comprehensively beat Kent at Hove and open their Championship defence with a 22-point win. Richard Montgomerie completed an outstanding match, finishing undefeated on 33.Yorkshire showed their winter problems are well behind them with a crushing 346-run win over Surrey at The Oval. Scott Newman offered the lone resistance, falling 11 short of his second century of the match, although he benefited from the attacking fields as plenty of his runs came down to third man. When Newman was seventh out the other batsmen had contributed just 36 runs. Darren Gough took another three wickets, including Rikki Clarke who shouldered arms, but the leading performer was Matthew Hoggard as he found movement to remove the middle order. A decent crowd had turned out, but the Surrey fans among them will have left disappointed. Life back in the top flight hasn’t started well. “We could surprise a few teams this year along the way if we play this sort of cricket,” Gough said. “The body language was excellent throughout. I’m not saying we’ll play like that every game. We’re going to lose games but hopefully we’ll win games also.”Mal Loye’s century ensured Lancashire left Edgbaston with draw despite Warwickshire‘s dominance of more than half the match. After not enforcing the follow on yesterday Gary Keedy had opened up the chance of a turnaround, but Warwickshire’s lower order extended the lead on the final morning before setting a target of 347 with Tim Ambrose’s half century. Alex Loudon struck early with his off spin, but a stand of 91 between Loye and Stuart Law guided Lancashire through the final session.

Nottinghamshire, the division two favourites, laid down an early marker with a nine-wicket win against Leicestershire at Trent Bridge. The visitors led by 67 with five wickets remaining at the start of the final day, but any hopes of building a significant lead vanished when Tom New fell to the fifth ball of the day. The wicketkeeper hadn’t added to his 57 when he edged Mark Ealham low to second slip where David Hussey took a fine catch. Ryan Sidebottom then wrapped up the tail with 3 for 18 in five overs, leaving a target of 111. Although Jason Gallian fell for 37, top-edging Claude Henderson, Bilal Shafayat and Mark Wagh completed the formalities.A match dominated by the bat ended with more records as Somerset and Middlesex completed a run-feast at Taunton. Justin Langer was finally yorked for 315, 27 short of the Somerset record that he holds, but the home side set a new record for the highest score on the ground. Their 850 beat Lancashire’s 810 set in 1895 and was also the highest total in any match involving Somerset. Peter Trego helped boost the total with a run-a-ball 130, his fifth first-class ton. Middlesex, 250 behind despite scoring 600, needed to bat out just over two sessions and Ed Smith’s 103 ended the match in fitting style.Essex comfortably survived two sessions to share the spoils with Derbyshire at Chelmsford. After the visitors batted on for 20 overs, Essex were set 376 but there was never any chance of them attempting the chase. Varun Chopra batted for two-and-half hours after both openers fell to leave Essex 36 for 2.

Carlton Baugh returns to the one-day team after two years © Getty Images

Carlton Baugh, the Jamaica wicketkeeper, replaces Denesh Ramdin in the West Indies team for the last two one-day internationals against Zimbabwe in Trinidad over the weekend. Ramdin is being rested ahead of the series against India starting May 18 in Jamaica.Baugh, 23, has played five Tests and six ODIs for West Indies. His last appearance in a one-day match was in July 2004 in the NatWest series against New Zealand at Cardiff, scoring 7 in a five-wicket defeat.But his recent performances include a series-clinching match for West Indies A against England A in March 2006. He scored 71 of 73 balls hitting four sixes, coming into bat at 50 for 5.Ian Bradshaw, the left-arm seamer is back in the team after sitting out the three ODIs played in Guyana and St Lucia. He played in the first two matches in Antigua which West Indies won easily.Sewnarine Chattergoon, the West Indies opening batsman was dropped to include Bradshaw in the team. West Indies have already won the seven-match series, leading 4-0.Brian Lara, the West Indies captain is looking for more convincing victories in the last two ODIs. “Hopefully, these matches will be the start of something to come. We have a very important series, starting next Thursday against India, and the next 200 overs of ODIs against Zimbabwe, we must execute pretty well.”I told the guys from the beginning that if we were batting second in any of the matches, we should try to achieve our target in less than 35 overs, and if we are bowling second, we should try to win the games by 100 runs.”Lara felt that West Indies had played good cricket though they had been slow in the field. “I think [Chris] Gayle and [Sewnarine] Chattergoon batted really well in that game, especially Chris who seems to be coming into some form. Others like [Ramnaresh] Sarwan, and myself, have not got a chance yet to make a big score. Hopefully, we will get big scores this weekend, and enter the ODI series against India with some confidence under our belts.”I think the guys know that we can compete and beat India because we have done it in the past in India and the West Indies, so it is just a matter of getting mentally and physically ready and getting the confidence up.”Terrence Duffin, the Zimbabwe captain said that the idea was to keep trying to do the basics and then hope for a win. Duffin feels the team, which will play World Cup qualifiers Bermuda and Canada in a triangular series in Trinidad from May 16 to May 20, will gain experience from the current series. “This series will be a big help for us and, hopefully, we can prove something there.”Squads:West IndiesBrian Lara (captain), Christopher Gayle, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, ShivnarineChanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Carlton Baugh Jr, Corey Collymore, FidelEdwards, Jerome Taylor, Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo and Dave Mohammed.ZimbabweTerrence Duffin (captain), Piet Rinke, Brendan Taylor, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Justice Chibhabha, Charles Coventry, Elton Chigumbura, Gregory Strydom, Keith Dabengwa, Ryan Higgins, Keegan Meth, Blessing Mahwire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Prosper Utseya, Anthony Ireland

Mushtaq Ali: the original dasher

Syed Mushtaq Ali, one of Indian’s early cavaliers and the first Indian batsman to score a Test century away from home, in 1936 at Old Trafford, has died in his sleep early this morning. Ali, 90, who was the oldest living Indian cricketer, is survived by two sons and two daughters.Ali, born on December 17, 1914 in Indore, began his Test career as a left-arm spinner against Douglas Jardine’s English team at Eden Gardens in 1933-34, but quickly made his mark as a dashing batsman with little regard for the reputation of bowlers.Although he batted at No.7 in his first Test, he was promoted to open the innings with Naoomal Jeoomal. But his definitive match came three years later when he set Old Trafford alight with a hundred scored in just under a session. He put on 190 with Vijay Merchant in the last session of the second day against a bowling attack that comprised Gubby Allen, Alf Gover, Walter Hammond and Hedley Verity. This hundred was voted as 18th in the list of all-time greatest hundreds by cricketers and cricket writers in a poll conducted by Wisden Asia Cricket last December.

Ali walks out to bat

His batting style was unorthodox and he was never afraid of using his feet. During the Old Trafford innings, he repeatedly stepped out against the quick bowlers to upset their rhythm. He opened with Merchant ten years later in England and they put on 124 at Old Trafford and 94 at The Oval. Their association lasted just four Tests and seven innings but they averaged 83.4 as an opening pair.But cricket administrators were not kind to him and he was overlooked for the subsequent tour to Australia, for which he made himself available after initially withdrawing because of his brother’s death. He came back strongly in the next season, making 54 and 106 against the West Indies at Eden Gardens. But he played only one more Test, against England at home.Ali also played 226 first-class games where he managed to score more than 13000 runs and picked up 162 wickets with his left-arm spin. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Indian government for his contribution to cricket in 1964. His son and grandson – Gulrez Ali and Abbas Ali – also played first-class cricket, and created a unique distinction of three generations of Indian cricketers playing first-class cricket.

Brian Lara’s innings has taken its toll© Getty Images

Brian Lara is likely to miss the first three one-day internationals against England, after being advised to rest for ten days to recover from a fracture to the little finger on his right hand.Lara regained his world Test batting record with a phenomenal unbeaten 400 in the fourth Test in Antigua, but the feat was all the more impressive seeing as he was still suffering from an injury he sustained during the first Test in Jamaica.But Lara’s 13-hour epic took its toll, and persistentpain forced him to seek medical attention during the final day’splay, during which time Ramnaresh Sarwan stood in as captain.Sarwan will be in charge again as the one-day series gets underway on Sunday, although Lara will nonetheless be travelling to Guyana with the rest of the squad.

THE initial reaction on looking back at my original assessment of the inaugural World Cup was to cringe at its hyperbole.It was, I wrote at the time, "perhaps the boldest and most ambitious innovation the game has known since the legalisation of overarm bowling". Yet, as we prepare for the eighth such tournament, more than a quarter-century on, it doesn’t seem so outrageous after all.Until the advent of limited-overs, single-innings matches in English domestic cricket in the 1960s, such a concept was simply impractical. A round-robin series of five-day Tests, even among as few teams as the six that then had Test status, was too time-consuming to contemplate.It needed the development of the shortened version, with matches completed in a day, to give birth to the World Cup idea and the daring of International Cricket Conference (ICC) – a body not usually credited with foresight – to implement it.They chose England as the venue, a questionable choice only as far as the unpredictable weather was concerned but best qualified by virtue of its tradition, its facilities, its manageable size and the presence of a large, cosmopolitan, immigrant population of passionate cricket followers.They found a generous sponsor in the Prudential Insurance Company, which paid £100 000 for tournament naming rights. And they invited Sri Lanka, yet to reach their present exalted rank, and East Africa (a combination of club cricketers from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) to take part along with the Test teams of the day (Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies).With everything in place, they set the process in motion on June 7 with matches between England and India at Lord’s and Australia and Pakistan at Headingley.For the following two weeks, the success exceeded the expectations of even the most cock-eyed optimist.One of the main ingredients for its triumphant run was the weather. It remained glorious, untypically British, right through. Not a single ball was lost to the elements.A rousing final, at a packed Lord’s in uninterrupted summer sunshine, was able to run until the final wicket fell at 8:41 p.m. on the longest day of the year as the West Indies completed victory by 17 runs over Australia after 118.4 overs.Large, enthusiastic crowds thronged the six grounds for most of the matches. Thousands of joyous, enthusiastic West Indians, who transformed the Oval and Lord’s into Caribbean carnivals with their drums and whistles, brought to the occasion a special excitement previously foreign to the game in England.The World Cup had come to stay.It has inevitably evolved in the interim so that the 2003 event in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya will be all but unrecognisable from what it was in that unforgettable English summer of 1975.T he innings will be restricted to 50 overs instead of 60. Fourteen teams bedecked in national colours will contest 54 matches at 15 different grounds in three countries over six weeks, many under lights, with white balls against black sightboards and on fields demarcated with a field-restricting area.In the beginning, eight teams used the six main venues in England for 15 matches and got through the whole business in a fortnight.Everyone dressed in conventional white and bowled with the red ball. The only markings were the popping and return creases. And lights were restricted to the scoreboards.Yet a few tenets were immediately established that have remained constant.One was that the best players remained the best players, whatever the length of the game.Others were that partnerships were as crucial over one day as over five, and that tactics were, if anything, even more critical in the condensed version.Above all, the value of fielding was repeatedly emphasised, especially in the final when the West Indies effected five run outs in their pulsating victory over Australia. Three were by Viv Richards, a dynamic 24-year-old athlete soon to become one of the greats of the game, who threw out three of the first four in the order.Another certainty was also established. It was that, for all the inevitable scepticism of the traditionalists, the concentrated action of the abbreviated game made it hugely popular.Aggregate crowds of 158 000 paid over £200 000 to watch the 15 matches, 26 000 of them at the Lord’s final where gate receipts were £66 000, then a record for a one-day match.If these figures – and the prize money distribution of £4 000 pounds for the winners, £2 000 for the runners-up and £1 000 each for the beaten semifinalist – appear laughably puny now, they were not to be scoffed at 26 years ago.The West Indies had been justifiably installed as favourites and lived up to the bookmakers’ confidence. Their strength lay in their all-round depth, their fielding and the experience that 11 of their squad of 14 had of the special demands of the limited-overs game from their seasons of county cricket.They did have one scare, in the first round against talented but mercurial Pakistan when they squeezed home by one wicket with two balls remaining. That apart, they showed themselves palpably the best team.In between the Pakistan thriller, they despatched Sri Lanka by nine wickets in 56 overs and, in a prelude to the final, beat Australia by seven wickets at the Oval, in the heart of London’s pulsating West Indian population.New Zealand proved no match in the semi-final, defeated by five wickets with as many as 19.5 overs remaining.Their captain, Clive Lloyd, a destroyer in spectacles, set up victory in the final virtually on his own – with a little help from Richards and his fielders.His 102 from 85 balls was an exhilarating exhibition of power-hitting that saw the West Indies to 291 for eight from their 60 overs. He followed it with a containing spell of medium-pace bowling (12-1-38-1) that kept Australia in check as they were dismissed for 274.The Australians were scheduled to play a series of four Tests against England following the Cup and their captain, Ian Chappell, made it plain that was their main focus. With limited-overs cricket still in its infancy back home, they were reportedly not keen on it. But, as Australians, they were less keen on losing.The draw placed the West Indies, Australia and Pakistan in the same group that was completed by Sri Lanka.Only two could advance to the semi-final and Pakistan, also filled with county professionals, were the unfortunate ones to miss out, even though they severely tested Australia and, by all that is logical, should have beaten the West Indies whose last two wickets put on 110.Sri Lanka might have fared better with a more favourable draw, but endured three heavy defeats on their way out. They won a host of fans with their plucky batting that raised 276 for four against Australia, even after two of their batsmen had to be hospitalised after taking blows from the fiery Jeff Thomson. Their time would come.England had the advantage of the less demanding group and coasted into the semi-final after sweeping all three qualifying matches.They amassed 266 for six against New Zealand, 290 for five against East Africa and 334 for four against India, the tournament’s highest total. The standard of their opponents only camouflaged their known weaknesses that were exposed in the semi-final against Australia when, on an appalling pitch at Headingley, they were routed for 93 by the left-arm swing and seam of Gary Gilmour (12-6-14-6) and lost by five wickets.The second qualifier from the group, New Zealand, depended heavily on their captain, Glenn Turner, an established pro with Worcestershire.He batted through the innings against both East Africa and India to become the only batsman with two hundreds in the tournament. When he failed against England and against the West Indies in the semi-final, the team couldn’t muster 200 and lost comfortably.India did run New Zealand close in their decisive first round match, but a semi-final place would have been an undeserving honour after they reduced their match against England, the showpiece opening at Lord’s, to a farce.They paid for the selectorial madness of omitting their left-arm spin wizard Bishan Bedi to be hammered around at 5.5 runs an over and made no effort to compete. Sunil Gavaskar, their finest batsman, epitomised their cynical attitude by batting through the 60 overs for 36 not out.It took the sparkle of that ebullient cricketer, Abid Ali, to erase some of the shame with a thrilling, yet futile, all-round performance against New Zealand (70 and 12-2-35-2).Africa’s strongest team, South Africa, had placed itself beyond the pale of international sport by its policy of racial exclusion and Rhodesia, later to become Zimbabwe, was still governed by the illegal Ian Smith regime.So it was left to the inadequate amalgamation of East Africa to represent the continent. Comprised of weekend club cricketers never before exposed to such international standards, they wereduly outclassed.The competition was an unqualified success even before the final, but a remarkable match was a fitting climax."It might not be termed first-class," noted Wisden, the game’s bible, "but the game has never provided better entertainment in one day."It was a contest of intensity and incident that kept the crowd of 26,000 in a constant state of frenzy.It produced Lloyd’s outstanding individual performance and his vital fourth wicket partnership of 149 with the wily, 39-year-old Rohan Kanhai. There were uncharacteristic errors in the field by the Australians that contrasted with the brilliance of Richards and the other West Indians.And an unlikely last wicket Australian partnership of 41 between the two feared fast bowlers, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, produced the final dramatic twist.The pair threatened to snatch an astonishing victory until wicket-keeper Deryck Murray’s presence of mind, calmness of nerve and accuracy of throw, to underarm the stumps with Thomson out of his ground, formalised the result as Lord’s was immediately engulfed by thousands of excited fans.The famous old ground had never seen anything like it. It set a standard by which all subsequent finals would be judged – and none has yet matched it.

Following his comments regarding the possible relocation of Somerset County Cricket Club to a new out of town site Chief Executive made the following statement at The County Ground on Tuesday.”As a result of the meeting with the Chief Planning Officer, Somerset County Cricket Club has requested that the planners try to identify a suitable relocation site for the club.”Mr Anderson went on: “The position of the council has always been neutral and until they knew whether or not the club wished to move they would not identify a suitable site. The Somerset strategy has been that there is no point in going to the members until we know where we might be moving to if a buyer could be found.”The Chief Executive concluded: “What I am now thinking of suggesting is that we go to the members offering them the same deal that was available four years ago and asking them if they would be prepared to move should it become available again.”

Rangers have experienced the highs and the lows of the transfer market over the years and Ross Wilson is the latest chief at Ibrox to navigate his way through the windows.

He has pulled off some impressive deals, including the signings of Leon Balogun, Ianis Hagi and Joe Aribo, but he has also been culpable for signings such as Cedric Itten and Amad Diallo. This illustrates how difficult it can be to have a high success rate as you can never guarantee that a player will come good.

Whilst you can look at moves over the years and judge whether they were the right ones or not, you can also look back at players the Gers wanted and failed to get.

One famous player the club missed out on a deal for was Barcelona teenager Lionel Messi. The Gers reportedly enquired about a swoop when he was 17 in 2004 and did not take it any further after they were unable to secure a loan, with the Glasgow giants seemingly not exploring the chances of a permanent move.

Thankfully, the Argentine winger didn’t amount to much and hasn’t been heard of on the world stage since… right?

Well… not exactly. The forward was valued at just £2.7m by Transfermakt at the time of Rangers’ enquiry, which – for some context – is less than Fashion Sakala (£3.6m), Amad Diallo (£16.2m) and Kemar Roofe (£3.6m) are worth now.

Since then, he has won just the seven Ballon d’Or trophies and scored 680 goals for Barcelona and PSG combined, whilst also providing 314 assists. He scored 474 goals and manage 216 assists in 520 La Liga outings for the Catalan giants, winning four Champions League titles along the way for the Spanish side.

By the age of 30, Transfermarkt valued Messi at a whopping £162m. Rangers, meanwhile, have a total squad value of £118.85m, which illustrates how big of a talent the Argentine icon has been throughout his career.

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His former Barcelona teammate Carles Puyol previously dubbed him an “alien” and legendary manager Jose Mourinho called him the “god of football”, with his out-of-this-world career statistics backing up the praise. He has dominated football throughout his time on the pitch and Rangers missed out on the chance to watch him play for the Light Blues.

Imagine Lionel Messi in a Gers kit firing in goals with his left foot at Ibrox, even if it was just for one season… it is the stuff of dreams and it could have been a reality. One that got away…

AND in other news, Gvb now plotting Rangers swoop for “exceptional” monster, he’d be a bargain “diamond”…

The ICC has said it would like its anti-corruption officers to talk to Shaoib Akhtar regarding his claims that he was offered money to underperform in matches in India and South Africa.”We are aware of his comments and let me reiterate the ICC has a zero-tolerance approach to corruption in sports,” an ICC spokesman told Reuters.On Thursday Shoaib had told a Pakistan news channel that he had rejected many offers to underperform. “It happened in Johannesburg and India but I never accepted them as I can’t betray my country,” Shoaib said in an interview to Geo TV. “And what do I get in return – a five-year ban the example of which you don’t get anywhere in the cricket world. Even players who were fined and found involved in match-fixing issues didn’t get such bans.”Talat Ali, the Pakistan team manager, said he hadn’t heard of any such offers to Shoaib. “He didn’t report anything to me. This is the first I have heard about it.”The ICC Code of Conduct states that players are required to report any approach made to them by a bookmaker or any other corrupt approach to their captain, team manager, a senior board official or to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. Failing to do so could lead to ban of up to five years.