“I’d Like a Second Chance” – Luis Palma on Celtic Future
Forgotten Celtic winger Luis Palma has revealed he wishes for a ‘second chance’ upon the expiry of his loan deal with Lech Poznan. The Honduran fell out of then manager Brendan Rodgers’ plans after the Northern Irishman signed him in 2023, despite an encouraging start which seen the 26-year-old net against Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord. And off the back of a fine season in Poland, Palma hopes his form can be transferred back with him to Parkhead. He told De La Rocha: “I had a great time at Celtic, I really enjoyed it. “I’d like a second chance. I’m still under contract with them, I’m still part of the club, and if they say I need to come back, I’ll do my very best.” Palma was forced into a squad number change to 77 when Celtic gave his number 7 jersey to a returning Jota in January last year when he was shipped on loan to Olympiacos. And when the Greek giants refused to take up their option to buy on the attacker, Poznan swooped in this summer and have a £3.5m option to sign Palma, which would smash their transfer record. With talks reportedly underway within Poznan to sign Palma and make a quick flip for profit, manger Niels Frederiksen is not deterred by his loanee’s comments. He said: “For me, his recent words weren’t a big deal. He remains a Celtic player, so he has to be loyal to them in some way. “What matters to me is that he gives everything he has to help us. There will be time to decide on his future and, in my opinion, he is also quite happy in Poznan.” Palma has scored seven times in all competitions for Lech Poznan this season, who sit three points clear at top of the Ekstraklasa with eight games to go.
Gerrard won the most important league title in Rangers’ history and hopefully will be manager again one day – Scott Bradley
Steven Gerrard appeared on the Overlap and was asked about his successful time as Rangers manager. The footballing legend spoke of his regret leaving the Ibrox club for Aston Villa in 2021 as he only lasted eight months in charge. Gerrard made history and won the Light Blues their first league title in ten years and stopped Celtic doing ten in a row. The Rangers faithful were devastated when Gerrard left as they were top of the league and were going in the right direction under his management. The former England international said on the Overlap that looking back he wished he had stayed put at Rangers. Hindsight is obviously one thing, but I can understand why he made the switch to Villa at that time. Gerrard is a serial winner with extremely high standards – that’s why he was one of the best midfielders to ever grace the game. After the Ibrox club won their 55th league title, the former board got complacent and took their foot off the gas. Gerrard wanted to kick on and take Rangers to the next level and the board weren’t willing to support his demands and vision. The Liverpool legend was frustrated and rightly so because he was proved right as the last title Rangers won was with Gerrard as manager. Gerrard spent well with not a huge budget and delivered on what he was brought in to do – he was let down in his final season with poor recruitment and lack of funds. The former England international took charge in 2018 and the club were in a complete mess. He was able to build a team went on to become Premiership champions and Europa League finalists The only negative thing about Gerrard’s tenure in Glasgow was that he should have won more, but he delivered the big one which was bringing that title back to Govan. We can’t ignore the elephant in the room and gloss over the fact that Gerrard did knock Rangers back twice last year, but I can also see why he did. For a starter, he didn’t feel comfortable working with former sporting director Kevin Thelwell and former CEO Patrick Stewart, and do you really blame him? They were two horrendous appointments who were dismissed not long after Danny Rohl’s appointment, and rightly so. If Gerrard was afforded the freedoms that Rohl has now got – he most likely would have took the job back in October. But take nothing away from Rohl, who is doing an unbelievable job and has got Rangers right back into the title race – something many thought was impossible months ago. The way Gerrard speaks about Rangers, you can tell he loves the club and that he still has unfinished business. Rohl will eventually move on at some point but hopefully that isn’t for a long time. Whenever that time comes, I would love to see Gerrard return to the Ibrox dugout and pick up right from where he left off. He won the most important league title in the club’s history and ruined the biggest season in Celtic’s history. I believe one day he will be back in that Ibrox dugout, and I really hope it happens.
‘He’s an asset’ – Mark Warburton full of praise for James Tavernier and hopes the Rangers captain signs a new deal
Former Rangers boss Mark Warburton says that James Tavernier is still an asset to the club and hopes he extends his stay at Ibrox. The Rangers Hall of Famer’s contract is up at the end of the season and there has been a lot of speculation surrounding his future. Tavernier joined the Light Blues 11 years ago and was signed by Warburton in the Scottish Championship. Speaking on the GersNet Podcast, Warburton couldn’t speak highly enough of his former player and believes Tavernier can always contribute to the team. “I know Tav so well. I’ve said enough things, Tav knows – huge respect for him as a person and a player. “He’s come through some tough times, he’s had a lot of criticism thrown at him, and he’s weathered the storm. “He’s just a genuinely good person. I would love to see him stay. Maybe, it’s a chance for him to go and get a payday somewhere, not in terms of being greedy, but his career will come to an end sooner rather than later. “But I’d just love to see him stay at Rangers and he can always contribute on and off the field, on the bench, on the training pitch, he’s someone who will give everything for Rangers.” The right-back has been a main stay in the Gers starting 11 since 2015 and Warburton believes there needs to be more people in the game that have a similar attitude and approach to their craft like Tavernier does. “I can’t remember Tav ever missing a training session, let alone a game. “He enjoys his trade and there’s loads of players that don’t enjoy it enough and they don’t realise the privilege they’ve got of being a player but Tav has never lost sight of that fact. “Always smiled, from the first time I spoke to him – it was a smile and you go ‘yes the guy loves it’ it’s infectious. “I just think he’s good around the club. He’s been a huge contributor to Rangers now over the last ten or 11 years or more. “But I just think for me, he’s an asset and assets are hard to find and I would love to see the club and Tav come to some sort of an agreement that works for both parties.
‘We have the quality to win the league’ – Danny Rohl talks up the quality of his potential title winning team
Danny Rohl believes his side have the quality to go all the way and win the Scottish Premiership title as the German head coach talks up Rangers’ chances. The Ibrox club face Dundee United tomorrow and have the opportunity to go top of the league for the first time in TWO years. Rohl’s men have won their last two games and are only two points behind league leaders Hearts, who play Livingston on Sunday. Speaking ahead of the clash against United, the Rangers boss said his squad are in a strong place mentally. He said: “I’m happy, I feel really good because I see my group at the moment, I see the development, I think we are mentally strong. “Even if you go away, we took the win against St Mirren, the pressure was on after two draws, but we came back, and we made a very good performance against Aberdeen. “It gives me a lot of belief, there is no doubt, my group is strong – I’m convinced we have the quality to win the league. “It’s a good feeling but the best feeling should be after the game when we win the game and we are top. “We have to work hard for that. We played Dundee United two times this year and we couldn’t win against them, and this is a new challenge. “They did well against Celtic, we are prepared for this, we know what we face tomorrow and it will be a challenge.”
Mark Warburton believes that Celtic are OUT of the title race and tips Rangers to be crowned champions
Former Rangers manager Mark Warburton believes Celtic are out of the Scottish Premiership title race and fancies his old club to win the league. This season has been one for the ages as Hearts, Rangers and Celtic are all competing for the title. It’s tight at the top as Derek McInnes’ men are two points ahead of the Light Blues and five ahead of the Parkhead club. The Hoops’ title hopes took a massive blow after losing 2-0 to Dundee United at Tannadice just before the international break. Danny Rohl’s men made it two wins on the bounce after a dominant 4-1 display over Aberdeen. One man who knows Scottish football and the Ibrox club well is Mark Warburton, and speaking on the GersNet Podcast – he was full of praise for how well the Jambos have done this season but fancies the Gers to be crowned champions this May. “Normally, without being rude it’s normally a two horse race. “So the interest, obviously the involvement of Tony Bloom, and what he brings to the club in terms of recruitment. “That will not have been missed by the Rangers board I’m sure. “It’s all about recruitment, it’s the quality of recruitment, accessing markets, finding players of value and Tony Bloom and Matthew Benham in Brighton and Brentford are the two very best. “So, I think that’s a game changer, we’re seeing that already in Scotland and that will certainly put Rangers and Celtic on their heels and they have to respond – you have to respond to that because if you let someone get ahead they won’t just sit on their lead. “They will certainly keep pushing in terms of quality of players they’re bringing in and investment et cetera. “It’s great for the neutral watching it and it’s coming down really tight and obviously there has been some shock results – there seems to be a shock result every weekend but right now I think it’s between Rangers and Hearts. “Celtic won’t like me saying that but it’s between Rangers and Hearts, in my humble opinion and I fancy Rangers. “I just think at the final hurdle they’ve got enough to get it over the line.” Warburton spent two years at the Govan club and got them promoted back to the Premiership in 2016. The former Brentford manager is currently the President of American footballing side Sporting Jax of the United Soccer League
