Rangers

Alasdair Lamont
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

But for what looks like a bad VAR call, Rangers could conceivably have lifted a 29th League Cup on Sunday.

Regardless, they have emerged from two massive games against Spurs and Celtic with their pride intact and should garner a good deal of belief from having gone toe to toe against teams who only a matter of weeks previously would surely have wiped the floor with them.

Philippe Clement and his players deserve much credit for the recent vast improvement in performances, with the Belgian having answered a lot of the criticism that had begun to come his way from pundits and supporters alike.

The key now is to build upon that improvement because as Clement will know all too well, it will only take one more slip-up in the league to provide the doubters with further ammunition.

Most observers, myself included, do not believe there is a way back into the title race for Rangers, but continuing to take maximum points from the three games before the new year meeting with Celtic at Ibrox is still imperative, as is a good showing and, ideally for Clement and Rangers, a win in that one.

With the on-field situation having improved, the appointment of a new chief executive and chairman should begin to restore some off-field stability and ought to allow the club to put in place structures that can allow Rangers to flourish.

They are still a million miles behind Celtic – the obvious benchmark – in that regard, but as Clement and the players showed on Sunday, with the correct approach, they can compete with their better-off rivals.

Ultimately, however, they ended up as losers on the day. The next step, having rid themselves of any inferiority complex, is to become winners again.

Borna Barisic reportedly recommends former club Rangers sign NK Osijek midfielder Marko Soldo, 28. (Mail+), external

Rangers would demand big money before allowing Hamza Igamane to leave in January amid Everton interest so soon after the 21-year-old Moroccan striker has broken into the first team at Ibrox. (TeamTalk), external

Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum is expected to formally address claims Rangers were wrongly denied a penalty in Sunday's Scottish League Cup final defeat by Celtic when the governing body's monthly VAR Review airs on its YouTube channel on Thursday. (Herald - subscription), external

Glasgow City Council has no concerns about the temporary alcohol licence that has been granted to Rangers before Celtic's 2 January Scottish Premiership visit despite the trouble that occurred in the city over the weekend surrounding the League Cup final between the two clubs at Hampden. (Herald - subscription), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

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Zak Lovelace netted a late winner as Rangers B team edged their Celtic counterparts 3-2 to lift the Glasgow Cup at the City Stadium.

The Ibrox side - featuring first-team players Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo - twice led through Paul Nsio and Cole McKinnon.

Daniel Cummings and Samuel Isiguzo levelled for Celtic before substitute Lovelace struck the 87th-minute winner as penalties loomed.

Everton are monitoring 22-year-old Rangers and Morocco striker Hamza Igamane, with the futures of both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto at the club unclear. (TBR Football), external

Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne have "strong' interest" in Cyriel Dessers, with the Nigeria striker falling down the Rangers pecking order in recent weeks. (Le Republican Sportif, external - in French)

The Scottish FA have accepted Rangers were denied an extra-time penalty kick in Sunday's Premier Sports Cup final defeat against Celtic. (Scotsman), external

Cup final VAR officials Alan Muir and Frank Connor have not been assigned to Scottish Premiership fixtures this weekend after the penalty fallout at Hampden. (The Herald), external

Read the rest of Wednesday's Scottish gossip.

Image source, SNS

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Rangers are still awaiting a response from the Scottish FA over the decision not to award the Ibrox side in the League Cup final, says new CEO Patrick Stewart.

Rangers were aggrieved to not be given a spot-kick when Celtic defender Liam Scales tugged the shirt of Vaclav Cerny near the edge of the box as the match was poised at 3-3 in extra time.

A free-kick was instead awarded, with Scales booked for the challenge, before Celtic went on to win on penalties.

"The manner which we lost was hard to take, and as I think people will know, I have spoken with the SFA to ask for an explanation about the non-awarding of a penalty in extra time, so I will wait to hear what the SFA have to say about that," Stewart told Rangers TV.

Stewart officially began work on Monday, with Rangers having announced the appointed of Fraser Thornton as appointment as chairman at the weekend.

"In terms of how the roles differ, Fraser is a non-executive chairman and I am an executive CEO. What that means, is day to day I will be in the club, running the club, looking after operational matters, whereas Fraser is non-exec, where he is one step removed," Stewart added.

"Clearly, whatever I am doing day to day, I have to operate in a framework which is agreed with the board and with Fraser, and I am accountable to the board and to Fraser.

"But day to day it will be me who is coming into Ibrox, going to Auchenhowie and helping drive the club forward."

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It's only day two of the new job, but Patrick Stewart will surely already feel the weight of the role.

On his first day as CEO of Rangers, he demanded answers from the Scottish FA over the decision not to award Rangers a penalty for a foul on Vaclav Cerny in Sunday's League Cup final.

Stewart replaces James Bisgrove, who departed for Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia during the summer, and after the club recently announced a £17m loss for the year to June.

The new man has "a big job to walk into" but one which should bring about much-needed "detachment", says Rangers Review editor Joshua Barrie.

"In the last few years, it's been, I would argue, a number of bad decisions," Barrie said on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"A lack of structure at that executive level has ultimately fed down to what you've seen on the pitch, which is changing ideas and over-trust in too many managers and a belief that a manager can get you out of a situation which is far deeper ingrained than that.

"So Patrick Stewart, in theory, is coming in as a CEO who should have CEO power.

"He should be able to make the big decisions and have the final say over the chairman.

"The chairman will still be an important role, but is not a [John] Bennett, [Douglas] Park or [Dave] King, who has that financial stake in the club and is making decisions with that in mind, so there should now be a bit of detachment."

Listen and subscribe to the Scottish Football Podcast

Jamie Currie
Fan writer

The League Cup final. Mistakes galore from the players on either side and a VAR team who seemed to be watching the game with their eyes closed.

Firstly, you have to credit the Rangers team. Performance wise that was more like it. There was intent, tenacity, heart and desire.

Unfortunately, the four-on-one in the second half will haunt us. If the ball is squared it's 2-0, and at that point we would have been in a strong position.

But what chance do you have when the VAR officials cannot do their job properly? It's a clear penalty on Vaclav Cerny. If they can't communicate to the ref to look at the screen, I don't know what to say.

Rangers' shape in the game was very good and they are showing signs of improving now players are coming back to fitness. All they can do is go out on Saturday against Dundee and maintain the performance levels of the last two matches.

One thing that irked me while leaving Hampden on Sunday was that of our five penalties, we had a keeper and second-choice left-back hitting two of them when we had two strikers on the pitch. Danilo scored his. Where was Cyriel Dessers? Why wasn't he bursting to take one?

It's a sore defeat to take, no question. The club should be questioning the VAR team while the manager and the team need to keep fighting on.

There's nothing much else we can do and as fans, we have to make sure we get behind Ridvan Yilmaz on Saturday.

Thank goodness there is a week to the next game. I don't know about the players but it was an exhausting experience and I'll need a few days to recover.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Mohamed Diomande: A tireless display in midfield in a much improved Rangers performance against Celtic. Took his goal well.

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Former Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell says the side must "move on and move forward" following their Premier Sports Cup final defeat to Celtic.

Philippe Clement's were ahead at the interval and had to twice come from behind to level the game, and Bell says they must use the loss on penalties as a catalyst to go on a "run of good performances" over the busy festive period.

Bell, who played for Rangers for three years and lifted the League Cup in his time at Kilmarnock, doesn't think Celtic were at their blistering best at Hampden and knows Clement can find positives to take from the match.

"They've got to kick on, this is the time to move on and move forward," the 38-year-old told the Scottish Football podcast. "It was a positive performance, it wasn't the outcome they wanted.

"They wanted to retain the trophy and lift that trophy again, but it wasn't to be.

"The manager will be rallying around the players saying: 'We do have good players in this team, we can play well as a team, and we can force good sides into mistakes,' which they did today with Celtic.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't think Celtic were at their maximum, but again, that's partly down to the way that Rangers kind of played.

"So they've got to take heart from what they played today and what they showed on the pitch, they created a number of opportunities against a very good Celtic team.

"Kasper Schmeichel had a number of good saves as well. Listen, this is the time they've got to move forward, they've got to put a run of good performances and results together in the next few weeks."

We asked for your views on Rangers' defeat against Celtic in the Scottish league cup.

Here's what some of you said:

Sally: Rangers played extremely well and were tactically sound. Nicolas Raskin kept Callum McGregor in check and Celtic's play suffered for it. The players gave everything for the entire match and their commitment could not be faulted. Penalties are a lottery and any player could have missed one, sadly it was a Rangers player. They need to continue to play as a team.

Stephen: Gutted! We didn't deserve it, but yet again Celtic get the breaks, who knows if Philippe Clement will ever beat Celtic!

Ronnie: We gave 100% and should have won the game. The four-vs-one was pivotal, not to score at that point ultimately cost us the final. The team has improved greatly in the past four weeks & we showed we can go toe to toe with Celtic. We must gather ourselves keep winning then beat them in the New Year derby. It's a sore loss in a fantastic final.

Anon: Great performance at last. Maybe now those supporters will stop harping on about getting rid of Clement, appreciate the work that the manager is doing with the extremely limited budget and stop this nonsense about the likes of Derek McInnes coming in to replace Clement.

Brian: Firstly I must say what a cup final, two teams all out to win the cup. A great advert for Scottish football, but I have to say what a way to win or lose a cup final. I would like to see the golden goal rule coming in, I think that would be a better way to have a winner.

Fraser: A ray of hope for the New Year's game, it was a sore way to lose with a poor penalty but Philippe Clement has now got something to build on, we can only hope he gets the backing from the board. Definitely our best Old Firm performance in over a year.

Tom: A draw was a fair result, both teams had good spells, so based on this game and the cup final last season you would expect Rangers to beat Celtic at Ibrox and for Celtic to win their home games, the gap between the teams isn't that big but a poor start to the season means the league is over but long term we are on the right track.

Peter: Very proud of the performances put in by many players in the Rangers team. However, even though he's saved us before, I think the reason we lost that cup final was down to Jack Butland. Just throwing yourself to the ground isn't an ideal tactic to save penalties. I can see now how he's only had nine caps for England.

James Tavernier admitted the Premier Sports Cup final defeat to Celtic was "sore" and said the penalty shoot-out defeat brought back memories from the Europa League final a few years ago.

"It's obviously a sore one," he said. "It brings flashbacks to the Seville final, losing on penalty kicks when the game is so close.

"These games are decided on small margins and I'm proud of all the boys who step up to take a penalty. It's one of those things where you either win a shoot-out or you don't.

"It wasn't our day but you can take positives out of this game.

"It's still sore and raw because our aim was to win it."

Rangers should "100%" have been awarded a penalty for Liam Scales' shirt pull on Vaclav Cerny in Sunday's Scottish League Cup final defeat by Celtic, according to former referee Bobby Madden. (Scottish Sun), external

Another former Scottish referee, Des Roache, says VAR Alan Muir broke protocol by not advising referee John Beaton to review the incident. (Daily Record), external

Former Celtic player and manager Neil Lennon has criticised Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers for not taking a penalty in the shoot-out. (Daily Record), external

Rangers are planning a January bid for NK Osijek's Marko Soldo, with the midfielder likely to command a "huge" fee. (Football Insider), external

After six successful spot kicks in the shootout, Rangers' Ridvan Yilmaz's low effort was saved by Kasper Schmeichel and, although goalkeeper Jack Butland netted the holders' next kick, Daizen Maeda converted to seal the trophy for Celtic.

The triumph – after an epic 3-3 draw after extra time - extends Brendan Rodgers' record of never having lost at Hampden and leaves Ibrox counterpart Philippe Clement still searching for his first derby victory.

It also moves Celtic ahead of the silverware haul of their old rivals for the first time since the 1930's.

Rangers fans, were you at Hampden or following the action from home? Either way, we want your thoughts on your side's performance, external.

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Philippe Clement and his players needed to turn up and signal this would be no formality.

They did exactly that and much, much more. Anyone wondering if Rangers are progressing have more than enough evidence on this viewing.

In an incredible final, they showed tactical nous, discipline, determination, and crucially, no inferiority complex whatsoever.

With so much at stake, Rangers could not shirk this challenge. They stood up.

They played with a freedom and purpose, for the most part, and showed incredible mentality to twice come from behind after leading at half-time.

They more than matched Celtic, something they have struggled to do. But this will hurt and adds more pain for these supporters and players.

They can take enormous positives but, given their league position, to be so close and let this chance slip will undoubtedly be damaging.

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Rangers manager Philippe Clement tells Premier Sports: "It's cruel today because you're the team who get the most chances in the game.

"There's also a penalty situation. That's a crucial moment and you don't get that also, but I'm very proud of what my players showed.

"We had a short talk about that and they didn't get any contact from the VAR to watch the image. That's something they need to look at why there was no communication about that issue. I'm focused on my team about how we can get better and better.

"It's a big blow. The players deserved more than they got, that's disappointing. We missed one penalty, they didn't."

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Former Aberdeen captain Willie Miller: "Celtic are the best team in Scotland and they've proved it once more.

"It was a good cup final for Rangers, if being defeated in a cup final can be a good thing.

"I think Phillipe Clement can rightly say that they played well and he can put forward a case to the fans that his players are beginning to respond to what he wants them to do.

"It was very, very close. It could've gone either way.

"I think Clement can be proud of the character and the fitness."

Former Rangers striker Billy Dodds: "Celtic found a way.

"Rangers brought so much to it, they ran them so close and pushed them all the way, but Celtic just have the mindset to hit five perfect penalties.

"They have the mindset of champions."

Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner: "Celtic were absolutely put to the test today, but they answered it."