Nobody could ever have under-rated Tommy Burns as a human being. His decency was his badge of honour. However, in terms of his standing as a player and manager, Tommy may well have been short-changed.
Tommy Burns’ life had been intrinsically linked with Celtic Park, as player, manager, and then coach, and it was there that supporters began
to gather as news began to spread of his premature death from cancer.
The agony of defeat was laced with the pride of personal achievement for Neil Alexander on Wednesday night. The Rangers goalkeeper has played a key role since the loss of Allan McGregor to injury last month.
The question forming the soundtrack on the road
from Manchester was an urgent "where do Rangers
go from here?" The glib answer, of course, is Fir Park, Motherwell, for an early kick-off tomorrow.
For Rangers, the disappointment
of defeat was tempered by the immediacy of the challenges that await. Walter Smith's side have now won one (CiS Cup), lost one (the UEFA Cup) and have two more to play for (the league and the Scottish Cup) over the next nine days.
Friday's Local hero: Scottish cricket is rich with characters – think Dave Christie at Freuchie and Mike Stanger at Clydesdale – but, during the past 25 years, few have done more to promote the sport from Fife to Dundee and Arbroath to Aberdeen than Clarence Leon Parfitt.
There was no surprise 21st birthday present for Andy Murray yesterday during his 6-3, 6-2 defeat at Rafael Nadal's gifted hands in the third round of the Hamburg Masters.
Richard Gibson
at Lord's
Brendon McCullum fell cruelly short of a Lord's
hundred once again after
instigating a New Zealand fightback in the first npower Test against England.
Nobody could accuse Jeev Milkha Singh of having had a dull year so far – and eventful was certainly the way to describe his opening 66 in the Irish Open.
Rangers were finally vanquished in a cracking climax to their valiant UEFA Cup adventure. Yet, Walter Smith’s side lost without shame to a velvety Zenit St Petersburg in the City of Manchester Stadium. (Includes slideshow)
The improbable dream finally evaporated in the chill of a Manchester evening. The memories, though, will linger for a long, long time. Rangers’ journey to the 2008 final deserves its place in Scottish football folklore.
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