Euro adventure ends for Hibs after thrilling draw in Warsaw

Legia Warsaw 3 Hibernian 3 (After extra time, Legia win 5-4 on aggregate) An extra-time winner ensured Legia Warsaw’s progression to the Europa Conference League at the expense of Hibernian. David Gray’s side were beaten 2-1 in Leith last Thursday, but started the match well with Warren O’Hora managed the first shot on target in the opening minutes. Despite a settling start for the Hibees, Vahan Bichakhchyan’s powerful drive put Legia in front. The strike put clear daylight between the teams and was a gutting blow for the Edinburgh men. The goal helped the Poles grow into the game; further efforts from Rafal Augustyniak were both well saved by Jordan Smith, keeping the lead to one. Gray’s boys are a very different beast to the team that won just two of their opening 16 Scottish Premiership games at the start of last season. An outstanding second-half display highlighted the levels that Hibs have reached since that horror period. Rocky Bushiri sparked hopes five minutes into the second half, heading home Nicky Cadden’s in-swinging cross to equalise on the night. Then they levelled the tie in the 59th minute, after Martin Boyle powered home Bushiri’s clever setup. They incredibly added a third in the 61st minute, as substitute Miguel Chaiwa accelerated into the Legia and unleashed a brilliant finish across the goal. An outstanding 11-minute period saw the visitors flip the script on this tie. Scottish teams are not supposed to perform in this manner on the European stage; yet remarkably, they were just half an hour away from qualifying for the Europa Conference League. Hibs thought they were down to ten men after Junior Hoilett was dismissed. The referee rightly overturned the decision, offering further hope to the visitors. Warsaw looked dangerous, but the away team continued to carve out the better chances. Kacper Tobiasz denied Josh Mulligan, before a 40-yard volley bounced off the bar from Boyle. Seven minutes of additional time added further torture for the visiting support, somewhat heartbreakingly as Legia clawed their way back into the match. Juergen Elitim was left unmarked in the box; smashing home to make it 4-4 on aggregate, and ensure a further thirty minutes of extra time. The visitors were visibly exhausted as extra time began, and their hopes were dashed in the 98th minute when Mileta Rajovic lashed a high shot past  Smith, putting them behind again. Jan Ziolkowski picked up a second yellow to offer hope for Hibs, but they were unable to find their fourth goal of the evening. A gut-wrenching defeat for the visitors, who had produced a stunning second-half period to come roaring back into the tie. Legia Warsaw: Tobiasz Ziólkowski Jedrzejczyk (Shkurin 90′) Kapuadi Wszolek (Alfarela 79′) Kapustka (Rajović 67′) Augustyniak (Szymański 67′) Elitim Vinagre Bichakhchyan (Stojanović 79′) Nsame (Urbański 90′) Hibernian: Smith N. Cadden (Iredale 79′) O’Hora Bushiri Obita (Klidje 101′) C. Cadden (Hoilett 57′) Boyle (Megwa 90′) Mulligan Levitt (Youan 90′) McGrath (Chaiwa 57′) Bowie

Dons crash, burn and drop into Conference League in Bucharest

FCSB 3 Aberdeen 0 (FCSB win 5-2 on aggregate) Aberdeen have been consigned to UEFA Europa Conference League football this season as they went down to Romanian side FCSB in the Europa League Playoff round. The Dons return to group phase football for the first time since 2023, where they also found themselves in European football’s third tier competition, in a campaign which produces memorable wins over Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt but ultimately no qualification for the latter stages. Jimmy Thelin’s side did well to keep the tie alive last week at Pittodrie, having gone down 2-0 in the second half of the first leg, yet they would get no better opportunity to go ahead for the first time in the tie in the opening minutes of the game, when striker Ester Sokler, who scored a 90th minute equaliser last week, trickled a rebounded effort into the hands of goalkeeper Stefan Tarnovanu who gracefully collected the ball into his hands from six yards out. Aberdeen more than went toe to toe with the Romanian hosts for large parts of the first half, with Ante Palaversa firing a half volley over the bar and summer recruit Adil Aouchiche looking threatening down the left hand side at one stage, yet in equal measure they also got out of jail with Dimitar Mitov rushing to clear a Nicky Devlin backpass, and FCSB failing to make Graeme Shinnie pay after the Dons captain was lackadaisical in possession. With just five minutes to go until half time and Aberdeen looking to go into the break with the tie still level, disaster struck in the most frustrating and cruelest of fashions. David Miculescu was sent through and beat the already booked Alexander Jensen to the through ball, falling to the ground and the ball hitting the arm of the Dane. The referee waved play on, but VAR intervened and perhaps unfairly, the referee pointed to the spot and gave Jensen his marching orders, before Darius Olaru tucked away the penalty to give the hosts the lead. With the man advantage, the second half was all FCSB and they quickly made their dominance count. Adrian Sut picked up the ball from outside the area, and he ferociously struck the ball to fire it passed the Bulgarian in the Aberdeen net to double his side’s advantage who looked to be in a rush to make the UEFA Europa League. Just on the hour mark, Aberdeen fans would have been forgiven if they started to watch the game from behind their couches, when Olaru netted his second of the evening with big thanks to a deflection. Fans across Scotland’s minds at this stage would have been fearing the worst for Aberdeen, given what happened to Rangers in their away tie last night, but the Reds stood firm to keep the scoreline at a minimum. It was degree of inevitability that the Dons would end up in the Conference League and so it proved to be in the end, with FCSB taking the win overall. FCSB: Tarnovanu 6, Cretu 7, Ngezana 7, Popescu 7 (Miculescu 3), Radunovic 6, Lixandru 6, Șut 8 (Chriches 2), Miculescu 6, Olaru 9 (Alhassan 5), Tanase 7 (Politic 3), Birligea 6 (Albec 2) Aberdeen: Mitov 4, Devlin 5, Milne 5, Knoester 4, Jensen 2, Palaversa 6 (Yengi 3), Aouchiche 6, Shinnie 5, Keskinen 6 (Milanovic 3), Polvara 5 (Nilsen 4), Sokler 4 (Clarkson 5)   

Rangers at a Crossroads: 5 Potential Replacements for Russell Martin

Russell Martin is hanging by a thread. The Rangers boss insists he still has the backing of the Ibrox board; but with the worst start of any permanent Gers manager on record, few fans are buying it. Three straight 1-1 draws have left the new-look Light Blues already six points behind Celtic, and last night’s humiliating 6-0 battering by Club Brugge has torched whatever glimpses of goodwill Martin had left from the support. Now, with the first Old Firm showdown of the season looming on Sunday, supporters are dreading what could be another dark day in a nightmare start. Celtic may have their own problems after a Champions League flop against Kairat Almaty, but Brendan Rodgers and his side be licking their lips at the chance to heap more misery on their oldest rivals and regain some favour amongst their own disgruntled support. Rangers need answers fast. The big-name bosses have been snapped up, meaning the board may have to roll the dice on candidates they’d never have considered in calmer times. Here are five men who could be waiting by the phone if Russell Martin is sent packing. Barry Ferguson Took charge of affairs at the end of last season after the sacking of Philippe Clement, Ferguson was never shy in saying he wanted the job permanently. While he may have felt slighted that Martin got the nod ahead of him, the former captain’s loyalty to the badge can’t be questioned. His brief stint as caretaker was steady if unspectacular, but he brought the best out of Nico Raskin, who has since vanished from Martin’s plans. Joe Rothwell is crying out for a lift, and Lyall Cameron could be moulded into Ferguson’s image if coached by the man himself. Add in the fact he’s unbeaten against Celtic as a boss,  including a shock win at Parkhead, and it’s easy to see why his name is back in the mix. Marco Rose Linked with the job early in the summer, the German tactician is without a club after leaving RB Leipzig in March, and his availability has alerted a number of suitors across Europe. Rose is known for his sharp pressing game and ability to shape young players into elite performers, something Rangers badly need after a stuttering summer rebuild that has seen the side look slow, pedantic and disinterested. The sticking point? His wages. Rose won’t come cheap, and whether this new Ibrox board has the gumption for a continental gamble remains to be seen. But landing him would send a statement that Rangers are still a heavyweight name in European football, despite last night’s result looking contrary to that belief. Jose Mourinho He’s the biggest name that could potentially be on the market but could the Special One really rock up in Govan? Jose looks set to depart Fenerbahçe, this week after coming under pressure, and while his trophy cabinet speaks for itself, the fiery Portuguese would come with baggage, and a wage packet that would dwarf anything Rangers have ever offered a manager. Yet stranger things have happened in football. Mourinho loves a project steeped in history and passion, and the thought of him standing in the Ibrox dugout for an Old Firm debut is enough to make fans dream. Mourinho already praised the Ibrox support when he witnessed his Fenerbahçe side lose to Ferguson’s Rangers on penalties in their UEFA Europa League clash last season. It’s a long shot, but it would also be a real statement of intent from the new board. Billy Davies: Now back on the grass as technical head coach at Morton, Billy Davies has quietly stepped back into the game and could be a shock name in the frame if Rangers rip things up. The no-nonsense Scot is famed for his ability to light a fire of belief under players, exactly what the current Ibrox squad is crying out for. A proven man-manager who knows Scottish football inside out from his time with Motherwell, Davies showed at Derby and Nottingham Forest that he can take squads far beyond their paper worth, famously hauling a rag-tag Rams side from the Championship basement all the way to the Premier League. He also had a successful spell at Preston North End and a pair of positive stints at Forest. He’s even had a recent taste of frontline management, stepping in to lead Morton against Dunfermline earlier this year, going toe-to-toe with ex-Celtic boss Neil Lennon. Not many fans had Davies on their radar, but with safe bets thin on the ground, could the wildcard be the one to drag Rangers out of their predicament. Sold off at the start of the Greame Souness revolution as a player, could Davies be the man to kick start the newest era of success at Ibrox? Kevin Muscat A former Ibrox defensive enforcer, Muscat has made waves as a coach in Japan and Australia, building on Ange Postecoglou’s blueprint at Yokohama F. Marinos. His high-energy, attacking football earned admirers, and his Rangers past makes him a natural candidate to restore steel and swagger to the squad. Now managing in China, the former Millwall hard man would bring a steel and grit to a dressing room full of players eager for excuses and someone else to blame. Discipline and hard work would be the orders of a day for a squad guilty of coasting and switching off. With the Chinese Super League still ongoing, and Muscat attempting to defend his league title, it may be hard to sway him to Scotland, especially after he was overlooked for Phillipe Clement a few years previous. As a player Muscat was never trusted to feature in and Old Firm match, could we see him debut as a boss in the very fixture he was excluded from as a player? Muscat has never hidden his ambition to return to Europe, and a tilt at the Ibrox hot seat could be his perfect entry point. But would the fans buy into a disciple