Well chairman calls for unity amid 'intense' period
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Ian Durrant pinpoints the player Russell Martin must keep at Rangers
Durrant, who won the Scottish title on six occasions during his time as a player at his boyhood heroes in the 1980s and 1990s, is optimistic that former MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager Martin can do well at the Glasgow club. He and his fellow Light Blues greats John Brown and Lee McCulloch had lunch with the ex-Scotland internationalist after training at Auchenhowie at the weekend and they were all encouraged to hear his plans for the future. The Hall of Fame member, too, was impressed with [[Rangers]]' performance in their hard-fought 2-0 triumph over Panathinaikos in their Champions League second qualifying round match at Ibrox on Tuesday evening. Read more: However, Durrant feels it is imperative that Martin, who has signed no fewer than eight new players since being named as Philippe Clement's permanent replacement last month, retains the services of Raskin going forward. He was struck by how well the Belgium internationalist dovetailed with Joe Rothwell, the experience English midfielder who was signed from Bournemouth for £400,000 at the start of this month, against the Greek visitors and feels they can form a good partnership in the middle of the park during the 2025/26 campaign. Asked if it was important for the new manager not to lose prized asset Raskin, he said, 'Of course, he'll outline that. He wants his best players here, but sometimes money talks. I hope it doesn't, but that's the nature of the beast. 'But he'll want to keep him, because you can see he's wanting to get Raskin and Joe Rothwell together. The more they play, the better they'll get.' (Image: Steve Welsh - PA Wire) Durrant, who was speaking at a promotional event for the Rangers Youth Development Company's new Big Blue Jackpot at Ibrox, admitted that he had enjoyed chatting to Martin at the weekend and revealed what he, Brown and McCulloch had told the new manager. 'It was nice,' he said. 'I've been doing a wee bit of work with the club and they invited us over. He was just bouncing a few things off us, asking us what we think. We told him, 'You just need to win'. 'That's the be all and end all. Get the proper players, get your recruitment right. He was good. He spoke very well. He outlined the way he wants to go. So you've just got to go and back him. He's certainly got the backing of the club now with the new regime coming in. Read more: 'There will be tough games, especially the Champions League qualifiers. You've got the second leg now. Financially, that could do a lot for the club. It's come at an early time, but he's working every day. 'He spoke to us about the fitness levels of the team. It looked like the second half on Tuesday that he's worked them really hard. He had a great week down at St George's. He's got all his players back. 'He's hopefully got a couple more players now. Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers missed a fair chunk of pre-season. They're a wee bit behind, but they'll get game time on Saturday. 'He wants his team so fit. He said that the way he plays, it might take the last 10 to 15 minutes to break teams down, but the only way they're going to break them down is if they are fitter than the other teams.' Light Blues legend Ian Durrant was speaking as he promoted RYDC's Big Blue Jackpot, a new Rangers Lotto prize for supporters who can win guaranteed end-of-month jackpots of at least £12,000 and £15,000 from August. Full details at
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Germany will reintroduce compulsory military service screening for all 18-year-old men under plans to ramp up defence amid soaring tensions with Russia
Germany is planning to reintroduce compulsory screening for military service for 18-year-old men under plans to ramp up their defence, a defence ministry source said. Conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has made boosting Germany's threadbare military a key priority amid a growing threat from Russia and US President Donald Trump 's questioning of the traditional American security umbrella for Europe. The drive aims to attract volunteers to the armed forces, but includes provisions for compulsory service in case numbers fall short. As part of planned legislation due to be presented to cabinet next month, all young German men would have to fill out a questionnaire about their readiness and willingness to serve in the military. The questionnaire would be voluntary for young women. From 2028, all 18-year-old men would be required to undergo screening to determine their fitness for military service, whether they have shown an interest in joining the armed forces or not. The planned law would also provide for compulsory military service to be reintroduced if deemed necessary because of the security situation, and provided parliament gives its explicit approval. Conscription was officially suspended in Germany in 2011 under then chancellor Angela Merkel. The policy has been introduced amid a growing threat from Russia and Vladimir Putin Merz has introduced sweeping plans to largely exempt defence spending from Germany's strict debt rules in a drive to build up 'the strongest conventional army in Europe'. But the Bundeswehr, currently 180,000-strong plus 49,000 reservists, has been struggling to recruit. This year the defence ministry expects 15,000 new recruits for military service, 5,000 more than last year. The eventual aim is to have a total military strength of 460,000 - made up of 260,000 active soldiers and 200,000 reservists. For the moment the government says it plans to rely on volunteers to build up the ranks, and hopes for 40,000 new recruits per year by 2031. It also wants to make military service more attractive, for example by offering training in new technologies and language courses. Sweden reintroduced a limited form of conscription in 2017, seven years after abandoning it.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
'World class' Wassell's World Cup place not guaranteed
Scotland head coach Bryan Easson is delighted to be able to recall "world class" Emma Wassell - but he says her World Cup place is not says Wassell's selection for his final squad for next month's tournament will be based on performance rather than who is in the Scotland team to face Italy this weekend, will represent her country for the first time since missing the entire 2024-25 season after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour from her says while the return of Wassell, capped 67 times by Scotland, is a huge boost to the squad, she will receive no special treatment."Wass knows that herself because she's been out for a while," Easson said. "But if she gets anywhere near the levels she's been at before, she's a world-class set-piece operator."She's physical, she gives us go forward in attack, but she's also really physical defensively."But as we know, she's been out a while, so it's back to evidence. We need evidence to see what she's like in a more pressurised environment. In pre-season she's thrown herself about, she's ready to go."She's really impressed everybody, but we make it very clear to everyone that selection is performance-based."I believe it's one of the reasons why the team has grown. It's not about being in here and expecting a jersey, it's about fighting for that jersey."So Wass is the same, and everybody that puts a jersey on knows they want to put in a performance that is worthy of selection for the next game."
