Rangers

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Defender John Souttar has been stressing the importance of Rangers' adapting to life at Hampden as they begin the defence of the League Cup against St Johnstone at the national stadium.

Saturday's early evening kick-off will be Rangers' third match at their temporary home, following a Premiership win over Motherwell and Champions League qualifying defeat to Dynamo Kyiv.

"We have to win no matter where we are, whether it was at Hampden or Ibrox," said 27-year-old Souttar.

"These games we have to win, so as players we just try and win football games and do everything we can to do that.

"It's going to be different isn't it because it's not Ibrox, it's always going to be different because it's the national stadium.

"We just have to adapt for however long we're there. We've got to focus on the football, we've got to focus on winning games and that's what we're doing.

"Every trophy is important, every game is important, so we'll be doing everything we can to win the game."

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Philippe Clement says he has received “many messages from all over the world” about the controversial Jefte red card that proved pivotal to Rangers’ Champions League exit.

With a Premier Sports Cup tie against St Johnstone at Hampden up next on Saturday, the Belgian is looking to lift his side following the defeat by Dynamo Kyiv that consigned Rangers to the Europa League.

"They were really down after the game and the day after, but it's part of the story in football," said manager Clement.

"You have moments like this and it's even worse when you play a really bad game and you go out.

"That was not the case. So there were the circumstances and I don't want to go into that again, but it was clear for everybody all over the world.

"I get so many messages from all over the world about this red card. So that was clear for everybody and it changed the game.

"But like I said, after the game you cannot turn that back. UEFA will never say 'OK, we're going to replay the game'.

"So that's done, that's finished and it's our job, that's my responsibility, but for sure the players also, to react in the next game and to win that one."

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media before Rangers' Premier Sports Cup tie against St Johnstone this weekend.

Here are the key lines from the press conference.

• The players were really down after the Champions League exit in midweek but they "can’t turn back time" and "must react now". Things will get better, Clement adds.

• On fans staying away, he "can’t manage that" and says if Rangers do their job then the supporters will follow.

• ⁠Ridvan Yilmaz is out for four to six weeks after being taken off on a stretcher in midweek. Scott Wright will miss Saturday's game, Leon Balogun still a doubt.

• Clement has ⁠not been involved in Old Firm ticket discussions, doesn’t know the history of the situation but says football is better with away fans.

• He "can’t hold a gun to the heads" of players such as Todd Cantwell and Ianis Hagi who have been told they can leave but have not done so.

• Clement would not be drawn on reports linking Rabbi Matondo with a move to Leeds.

• Hampden will never be home but Rangers must make it a second home.

Rabbi Matondo is wanted by Leeds United as the 23-year-old winger prepares for an exit from Rangers this summer. (Football Scotland), external

Rangers could turn to Brandon Williams, the 23-year-old left-back freed by Manchester United, amid growing fears that Ridvan Yilmaz has suffered a long-term injury after the Turkey international had to postpone a scan on his damaged thigh because of the extent of the swelling. (Daily Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

The Times' Michael Grant tells the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast that the Old Firm ticket row is "exasperating" as Rangers confirm they've not received an allocation for the first derby meeting of the season at Parkhead.

Listen to the full episode here.

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The draw for the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup will take place on Sunday after the Celtic v Hibs tie, which kicks off at 15:00 BST.

The draw will be shown live on Premier Sports following their coverage of the game from Parkhead.

All quarter-final ties due to be played on the weekend of September 21-22.

Alasdair Lamont
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Rangers' defeat on Tuesday night by Dynamo Kyiv could have pretty seismic implications for the season to come and beyond, and it appears supporters are fearful of what lies ahead.

Already trailing in the financial wake of title rivals Celtic, the failure to reach the Champions League means Celtic will earn around £20m more before a ball is kicked in European competition.

Philippe Clement spoke before the second leg against Dynamo of the boost Champions League qualification would provide as he tries to build a squad capable primarily of regaining the Premiership title from Celtic and perhaps giving a decent account of itself in Europe.

He will now have to try to engineer that scenario with one hand tied behind his back.

Already stymied by the inability to sell players he either doesn’t want or who don’t want to be at the club, Clement and the club’s director of football recruitment Nils Koppen will have to pull a few rabbits out the hat in the next few weeks if the squad is to seriously challenge Celtic.

You have to imagine with the recent new contract given to Clement, the board will stick with him no matter how this season unravels, rather than go through the messy and expensive process of deciding mid-season that the wrong decision was taken once again.

The Belgian must now show his mettle, his tactical nous, his ability to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts; otherwise this season will prove to be another familiar story for both Glasgow clubs.

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Former Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack joined the Sportsound team before Philippe Clement's side were dumped out of the Champions League by Dynamo Kyiv and gave an update on his future.

The 32-year-old remains a free agent having left Rangers at the conclusion of last season, but says he is hopeful of finding a club in the near future.

"No club at the minute, no," he said.

"I was in Dubai recently for two weeks, training away, doing a pre-season camp myself, because obviously I knew I wasn't going to have a club by then.

"A guy I know in Dubai has got a training base that he has some players training out of in the off-season, so I had the chance to go over there.

"I just went by myself for two weeks, training every day on the pitch in the gym, just keep myself going.

"Since I've been back, I've just been running by myself, but I'm sitting at this stage now where you see everyone back, you start seeing nights like tonight, and big games coming thick and fast, and you want to be a part of some sort of team.

"Hopefully it's not too long in the future that I've got somewhere sorted."

Nottingham Forest will not be pursuing their interest in Rangers winger Thompson Ishaka after the 19-year-old Nigerian trained with the Premier League club. (Daily Record)

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

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Dundee United's Scottish Premiership home game with Rangers next month has been rescheduled for TV coverage.

Originally set for Saturday, 14 September at 15:00 BST, the Tannadice contest will now take place the following day at 12:00 and be shown live on Sky Sports.

We asked for your views after Rangers' Champions League hopes were ended by defeat to Dynamo Kyiv at Hampden.

Here's what some of you said:

Steven: Without any shadow of doubt a poor refereeing decision changed the face of the game. However, two facts remain: the lack of a clinical finisher up front to convert the opportunities we did create and woeful defending for the goals conceded. Therein lie the roots of our problems.

Brian: Was it a sending off - definitely not, but after being booked it was just a matter of time before the referee would have got him for something else. You can't play 45 minutes with players on a booking, the manager should have replaced booked players at half-time but no excuses, Rangers have to improve big time and quick.

David: Rangers are slow, ponderous, unimaginative and extremely predictable. They are a terrible team to watch, over a dozen players signed in the last year and we are probably in a worse place. Losing last night was no surprise, even if the red card was a terrible decision, we did nothing over the two games to merit going through. A long, boring season ahead.

Phil: Despite what Philippe Clement said in his post-match interview this was not a good performance by Rangers. Even before the sending off we were second to every ball. Going middle to front we lack skill and imagination. The rebuild will be long and hard, but I will cheer every victory along the way.

Samuel: Robin Propper and John Souttar were excellent. Jefte looked promising and must get over the totally unfair decision, it could have been a great game if the referee had been moderately competent. Onwards and upwards.

Scott: The fans need to stop moaning, yes it's not great just now for a variety of reasons, but slating players all the time is not helping. That tie was first goal wins and the referee has decided to make a shocking decision. Clement had one defeat out of his first 21 games with the same bunch of players, he can do a job for us but needs the fans onside.

Peter: Clement made the wrong substitute at the wrong time. In the first half Rangers didn't get the run of the ball, poor passing and then you look at Dynamo with their theatrics. I think on a yellow already Jefte should have been subbed. However, more chances need to be created as relying on Cyriel Dessers as the main man up front is not going to get the team through.

Bill: Another awful performance, James Tavernier was slow and caught in possession and shows no leadership. The standard of refereeing was appalling and at best amateur level. This will be a long season based on what I have seen so far. The board of directors are a joke, Celtic will not need to get out of second gear to win the league. I'm very concerned about our club.

David: Horrendous, shocking, you could go on and on about the sending off, but we had chances to score and once again never took them.

Charles: Not good enough, the worst Rangers team I've ever seen but I hope the manager can get us where we should be. I thought we didn't play too badly, but the Jefte sending off was a disgrace.

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The empty seats at Hampden Park were noticeable and the atmosphere tepid on Tuesday night compared to the usual Ibrox cauldron on European nights.

Jordan Campbell, a football reporter with The Athletic, says the loss of "superpower" Ibrox was key to Rangers' Champions League demise and cited the club's lack of leadership for the growing apathy among supporters.

Speaking to the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, Campbell said: "Losing the Ibrox factors was costly for them.

"We can talk about the [Jefte] red card but not being at Ibrox - which has been a massive superpower for Rangers in the last five, six years in Europe and is the reason they've only really ever failed once in qualifiers - is a massive problem.

"I think the attendance is probably a sense of apathy growing within the Rangers fanbase.

"I don't think you can question Scottish fans', especially Rangers fans', loyalty or passion.

"But if you're struggling to see a plan or have at least one figurehead within the club you really can get behind, I think that's a real struggle for the fans to unite behind any one person at the club right now."

While Rangers railed against the controversial second-half dismissal of Jefte in the 2-0 Hampden defeat to Dynamo Kyiv, Campbell says "deeper issues" are behind the club's failure to make the group stage for the second season running.

"I don't think Rangers adapted that quickly [after the red card]. And Philippe Clement's in-game changes have got to be questioned again," he added.

"It's a big blow for them not to be getting into the Champions League, especially with Celtic now in three in a row and opening up a revenue gap on them again.

"But you can't look at this game in isolation. People can't kid themselves on that this was all about a red card because there's much, much deeper issues that caused them to go into a game with a squad that substandard."

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Captain James Tavernier insists Rangers can't afford to wallow in their Champions League heartbreak.

"It's obviously disappointing to not get the chance to go to the next round," said Tavernier in the wake of the 3-1 aggregate defeat by Dynamo Kyiv.

"We have to brush it off quickly. We've got another game on the weekend.

"We'll look at the lessons that we can take from it. Then we'll brush ourselves off and we've got to go again."

Like his manager Philippe Clement, Tavernier was bemused by the decision to show Jefte second yellow card for an aerial challenge on Oleksandr Karavaiev.

"We're obviously still in Europe, the Europa League, but that decision changes the whole dynamics of the game," he added.

"I spoke to him [the referee] as it happened. He explained that it was an elbow in the face. Looking back at it during game time, he gets up really early.

"I thought it wasn't even a free-kick. It's a 50-50 ball that's going up in the air. Jefte gets up really early and beats him in the air. I don't know how much contact there is."

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The harsh dismissal of Jefte was no doubt the turning point at Hampden as Rangers' Champions League hopes evaporated.

But former Ibrox winger Jamie Murphy believes the "ridiculous" red card provides a convenient excuse to "paper over the cracks" of a performance from Rangers that simply wasn't good enough.

"It's just a ridiculous yellow card," Murphy told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Just because he's jumped higher than him [Oleksandr Karavaiev] and won the ball doesn't mean it's a foul. There's barely any contact.

"I know it doesn't help the Ukrainian player rolling around the floor, but still a referee of a decent level should not be giving that as a yellow card and it really changed the game.

"Rangers weren't brilliant before that. There was still obviously a chance of winning the game, but it is an excuse for Rangers to use and it probably will paper over cracks for this game.

"I think the red card really changed it, but Rangers need to do a lot more in terms of performance as well."

As Clement's side lick their wounds after the early-season blow, they must rouse themselves for a Europa League campaign and domestic challenge to Celtic.

But Murphy believes Rangers are currently a "long way" behind their Old Firm rivals.

"From their performances it's not been great," he added.

"They have to do a lot better. They have to sign players quickly."

Ukraine and Dynamo Kyiv legend Andriy Shevchenko says his former club's victory over Rangers will raise morale for those facing hardship in his homeland.

Talks have taken place between the agent of WSG Tirol's Malian forward Mahamadou Diarra, 20, and Rangers scouts but the Austrian club have not commented. (Africa Foot, in French), external

Rangers want to move Romania international Ianis Hagi, 25, on at any cost. (Pro Sport, in Romanian), external

Manchester United or Tottenham could be drawn to face Rangers in the Europa League, even though the Ibrox side will be one of the top seeds. (Sun), external

Rangers captain James Tavernier was told by referee Marco Guida that team-mate Jefte was sent off for using an elbow in the Champions League qualifying defeat by Dynamo Kyiv. (Herald - subscription), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip