Category News

Rangers vs. Viktoria Plzen in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round

Ibrox Date: Tuesday, August 5th, 2019 Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Former Rangers manager Philippe Clement claims that the boardroom’s “total chaos” kept his job at Ibrox.

In October of that year, the Belgian coach took Michael Beale’s place, and he won the League Cup that year.

In his first year in charge, he also overhauled Celtic, winning them eight points and beating Motherwell, Ross County, and Celtic themselves in the title race.

A last-gasp Adam Idah goal in the final minute gave Celtic a 2-1 win over Celtic in the Scottish Cup.

The upheaval of Clement’s first summer in charge followed that.

Rangers started the season at Hampden Park due to a late shipment of materials for development works on the Copland Stand at Ibrox, while chairman John Bennett resigned for a position in the Middle East, and chief executive James Bisgrove left for a role in the Middle East.

Clement stated on BBC Scotland’s Sacked in the Morning podcast, “That’s the frustrating part of the story.”

Everyone was extremely pleased with what transpired in the club during the first seven months. A significant change occurred.

However, following that, the club changed a lot and things started to get chaotic.

Clement was left to address questions about the club’s off-field issues because of a lack of communication between the players in charge.

He claims that the board was unwilling to tell supporters about the long-term project Celtic needed to complete over the summer.

According to Clement, “They said we know we don’t currently have the money that Celtic does.”

“It was a very old squad,” the player said. We are aware that to close this financial gap with Celtic, we will need four, five, or perhaps six transfer windows.

And it begins with bringing in young players, developing them, improving them, and selling them to resurrect the club where it belongs.

Because the fans were already very upset about the stadium issue, I believe the board was reluctant to say these things to them.

Because there was no one else speaking in the club, I was the only one there.

Clement believes that instability at the top of the club was a key factor in Celtic’s on-field dominance during his time at Rangers, despite the fact that the club has since been taken over by a US-based consortium led by private healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh.

When asked about the gap between the Old Firm clubs, he said, “There was a big difference about everything around the team, even maybe a bigger difference than on the pitch.”

Celtic is much more organized than Rangers in terms of preparation and throughout the entire club.

Following a league defeat defeat by St Mirren, Clement was fired in February 2025, leaving Rangers 13 points behind Celtic.

Additionally, earlier that month, he had been humiliated by Championship side Queen’s Park’s Cup exit.

Before the club relieved him of his duties, an incident that irritated him, the former Belgium defender revealed that he was informed of the decision by journalists.

Clement remarked, “It felt incredibly empty.” Because all the journalists I spoke to already knew me, I was also upset that day.

I was unhappy with the fact that I received numerous messages from Scotland, England, and Belgium even before the club even contacted me. That is bad.

“I also told them that that was utter disrespectful,” I said.

However, because you combine everything in the club for both your full day and night, I felt really empty.

As Ireland and Ulster prepare for the Rugby World Cup, second row Fiona Tuite claims planning her wedding to Ulster prop Eric O’Sullivan has been a “nice distraction.”

Tuite is preparing for her first World Cup game while balancing her wedding plans for her long-term partner O’Sullivan in Sligo for the summer.

When Ireland play Japan in their opening Pool C game on August 24th, she is hoping to have her husband with her when they play there.

With the World Cup looming, wedding planning is on the back burner, but it’s nice to have a break from rugby, Tuite, who started in Ireland’s warm-up win over Scotland on Saturday, said.

“It would be great if Ulster could allow Eric to come see me”!

The 28-year-old made the decision to move from the back to the forward a few years ago, and she says it has given her more opportunities to play for Ireland.

She continued, “I absolutely adore it. I don’t think I would be here in the squad if I didn’t make the transition to the forwards.”

Tuite has won 15 caps since making her WXV3 debut in 2023 when she faced Colombia.

She claims it is surreal to be competing in a World Cup because she has been a part of a team that has steadily advanced under Scott Bemand in the past two years.

“We have been building momentum with the WXV1 and the Six Nations,” said the president.

We’re thrilled that so many people are overly supportive because the World Cup is so close to home.

“I started WXV3 and we’ve been up since then, we’ve had some blips along the way, but it’s amazing that we’re going to this World Cup.”

The infamous “Giteau’s Law,” which limited how many players could previous Wallabies coaches select from abroad, has been eliminated, according to Australian rugby bosses.

Among those who may stand out are La Rochelle’s Will Skelton, Taniela Tupou, Tom Hooper, and Langi Gleeson, who will play for Racing 92, Exeter, and Montpellier, respectively, next season.

However, Australia claim that if players are of “equal calibre” to an option outside their borders, head coach Joe Schmidt will favor them in one of their four Super Rugby franchises.

“But we’ve also made a choice to invest in our top competition in Australia because we should choose our domestic players if the players are of equal calibre.”

The Wallabies have struggled for depth and consistency in recent years, falling to sixth in the world rankings as a result of competing for domestic talent with Aussie Rules and rugby league clubs.

At the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, the two-time world champions were eliminated from the pool.

Before 2015, overseas players who played for the Wallabies were largely prohibited in Australia.

However, “Giteau’s Law” was introduced to allow a certain number of overseas players who had served time in Super Rugby and the national team to still be chosen after the likes of playmaker Matt Giteau, wing Drew Mitchell, and prop Sekope Kepu were lured abroad by large contracts.

Players with a commitment to return to Australian rugby have been exempt from the overseas quota, which has been further relaxed in recent years.

Such moves are made by centre Len Ikitau and prop Angus Bell for the upcoming season-long sabbaticals at Exeter and Ulster.

Just before the three-test series between the British and Irish Lions came to an end, the wallabies hooker David Porecki has left the game.

The 32-year-old started Australia’s second Test defeat in Melbourne by going 29-26, but suffered concussion and a cut heel, respectively, in the third and first meetings.

Between 2015 and 2020, Porecki played for the Saracens and the London Irish before moving back to Australia to play for the Waratahs. He spent five seasons in England.

After being injured by first-choice skipper Skelton, he won the first of his 21 caps for Australia in 2022 and led the team to three matches of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.