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View From The Cinch - Chapter 1


Welcome to your weekly roundup of all things ‘Cinch’ as we dive into what’s been happening in Scottish football.

Aaron Ramsey

The marquee January transfer window signing in Scotland was Rangers bringing in Aaron Ramsey from Juventus on loan until the end of the season, but so far, it’s a deal that I’m still struggling to get my head around.

Ramsey arrived at Ibrox touted as the biggest signing by a Scottish club since Paul Gascoigne joined Rangers, but so far, it’s been one big disappointment.

He missed Rangers’ biggest game of the season – their 3-0 defeat to Celtic – due to not being fully fit, and since then, he’s made just four appearances totalling 94 minutes, starting just once.

Rangers were superb in Germany last week, defeating Dortmund 4-2, which saw Ramsey making a four-minute cameo.

And he missed the weekend clash at Dundee United due to injury, and there has to be real question marks over his fitness and what he can offer Rangers over the coming weeks.

For all the fanfare over his arrival at Ibrox, he needs to start producing on the park but it won’t be against Dortmund on Thursday as he’s injured… again.

Managerial Moves

It’s been a busy period in the Scottish Premiership for managerial changes, with three clubs appointing new men in the past couple of weeks.

The Stephen Glass experiment failed at Aberdeen, and the Dons have raided St Mirren to appoint Jim Goodwin as the new man in charge at Pittodrie.

And St Mirren were quick to nab Stephen Robinson from Morecambe to replace Goodwin – Robinson has excellent knowledge of the Scottish game, having been in charge at Motherwell from 2017 until last summer.

Dundee also decided it was time for a change as they look to beat the drop with James McPake being axed despite his side losing just one match in six.

Mark McGhee has been brought in to try and steer Dundee to safety, but he is in the middle of a touchline ban – not an ideal start for the new boss.

Arbroath Making Waves

The Scottish Championship is as competitive as ever, and it’s part-time Arbroath who currently lead the way at the top of the table.

Aside from fans of their Championship rivals, most Scottish football fans are rooting for the Red Lichties to get promotion to the Scottish Premiership purely for the excitement of seeing a top-tier player being wiped out by a wave when taking a corner at Gayfield.

And in Dick Campbell, Arbroath have one of the most likeable managers in the Scottish game – if Arbroath could nab promotion, they and Campbell would cause quite a stir in the Scottish Premiership.

Rangers and Celtic in Europe

It was a mixed bag of results in Europe last week for Rangers and Celtic with one stunning result and one shocker.

Rangers shocked Europe by beating Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in the Europa League while Celtic were stunned 3-1 by Bodo/Glimt at Celtic Park in the Europa Conference League.

Dortmund head to Ibrox without Erling Haaland, who, having missed the first leg, is still suffering from muscular problems/is scared of Conor Goldson.

Rangers know the job isn’t done, but they have an excellent chance of qualifying and knocking out one of the top teams in the Europa League.

Celtic meanwhile travel to Norway looking to claw their way back into the tie against Bodo/Glimt.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have been in superb form domestically at home, but the Norwegians were excellent value for their victory last week in Glasgow, and Celtic may just struggle to pull this one back.