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FORWARD THINKING BOUGHERRA COULD BE THE KEY TO RANGERS TITLE BID
By Gary McDaniel
Rangers quest for the treble continues after a lackluster performance in Paisley against St Mirren. Both teams will look to break their deadlock when they meet at Ibrox next midweek. The Buddies will probably regret not taking their chance on Saturday against a poor Rangers side who looked to be ailing up front with the combination of Steven Naismith and Kyle Lafferty.
On a positive note for the Light Blues there was the timely return of Madjid Bougherra to the team. Timely in the sense that he managed to find his way back to Glasgow without any delay. The Algerian has had more travel hic-ups, in a short space of time, than Michael Palin has encountered in his many series’ trekking the globe.
It is not to say that Bougherra has been missed due to his defensive exploits, as Danny Wilson has been an able deputy in that department, but for the defender’s willingness to get forward and create.
Back in the autumn, when the Algerian went AWOL and had injury problems, Rangers resembled an old rusty Austin Allegro making hard work of a slight gradient in the road. Bougherra was then forgiven for his actions, as they really had no other choice, and he returned to the backline for a tricky set of fixtures throughout December.
Read more: Madjid Bougherra return bigger than Robbie Keane signing
As Scotland and Spain get set to duel for a place at Euro 2012, The Away End talks to Joseba Etxeberria, the Spaniard playing for free, who reveals a secret liking of all things Tangerine
By Gary McDaniel
Scotland has seen it’s highest paid player sign for Celtic, and England are witnessing their captain’s personal misdemeanors being splashed across the front pages of all the country’s tabloids. It brings a wry smile to a player who is a matter of months away from finishing his playing career at Athletic Bilbao. Joseba Etxeberria’s final season is not just remarkable at the fact he is retiring at the age of 32, but that he is playing for free.
The former Spanish internationalist’s contract expired last summer but as a gesture to the club and their loyal support Etxeberria asked to play for one more season for his beloved team for nothing.
He said, "Over the last year I considered in what way I would wish to thank the club for their loyalty. After to speaking to my family and close friends I suggested the proposal, of playing without a salary next season, to my team-mates and then the board of directors which they were happy to accept."
"The decision is for all the people that are involved at this special club and, obviously, the associates and fans who are a fundamental part of Athletic."
At a time when top professionals in the game are earning astronomical amounts of money, especially in wages, Etxeberria believes that the passion for playing for a club has been lost.
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Crussell's journey to Hampden
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