Pic of the day

Rangers’ demotion to the bottom tier of Scottish football has hit the game hard there. This shot of the Rangers bench illustrates the new reality for the Glasgow giants.

Thanks to the financial irregularities at Ibrox, Scottish football is facing its most difficult season ever. The big two, the Old Firm, the dominant life force of the game in Scotland, has been cut in half.

Celtic will kick off their Premier League campaign this Saturday against Aberdeen but their old foes Rangers have already started their season, away to Brechin City yesterday in the Ramsdens Cup.

If, like us, you had never heard of the Ramsdens Cup it is the competition for teams outside the SPL. Anyway, Rangers won the tie 2-1, courtesy of a Lee McCulloch goal in extra-time, in a game where the torrential rain featured as heavily in the match reports as the football.

We hope that some of the Rangers bench managed to find some shelter then, as the dugout was not quite as plush as what they would have been used to.