Ashley ‘to appeal £7,500 fine’
Midfielder now having a ball under McCall
REPORTS claim Mike Ashley is set to take on the SFA over the £7,500 fine imposed on the Newcastle United owner for breaching dual ownership rules through his involvement with Rangers. But it was not known what the grounds of such an appeal would be or when the matter would be dealt with by the governing body. The fine was imposed on Ashley — who is worth an estimated £3.5billion — on March 2, four days before the Ibrox board he supported were ousted at an AGM requisitioned by Dave King. Ashley was charged under SFA disciplinary rule 19, which states that a person ‘involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management or administration of a club’ cannot — without the prior written consent of the SFA board — ‘be involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management or administration of another club or… have any power whatsoever to influence the management or administration of another club’. An SFA spokesman declined to comment on the matter last night.
SAPPED of confidence and disillusioned after January’s League Cup semi- final defeat to Celtic, Nicky Law admits his unhappy Rangers career was very much up in the air.
Much like the ball had been for large spells of his time at Ibrox, when route- one football saw the talented midfielder reduced to a bystander as his team-mates hit it back-to-front under Ally McCoist.
As a smiling, re- energised Law sang the praises of new manager Stuart McCall yesterday f or restoring his confidence and form, McCoist’s name was notable only by its absence.
The Ibrox legend, who quit in December, was recently lambasted by sidelined winger David Templeton, who claimed players hadn’t been coached well enough prior to the arrival of McCall.
Whether Law meant it or not, his openly-voiced frustrations about risking a neck strain while watching balls being shelled towards Jon Daly was the latest damning indictment of the ex-Rangers boss.
‘I was finding it difficult — I wasn’t enjoying it,’ admitted Law ahead of today’s visit of Falkirk.
‘We weren’t playing well, either individually or as a team. The games were tough and we weren’t playing good football. The midfield was being bypassed quite a lot and we (midfielders) weren’t really involved in the games as much as we would have liked.
‘In the early parts of the season there were spells where we did play some good stuff. But there were more spells where we didn’t and we were going too long maybe at times to big Jon Daly and people like that. It was always in the air. I just felt that at times we (in the midfield) were getting missed out.
‘But the style of play has changed a little bit since the new manager has come in. He’s been playing with two smaller guys up front together (Nicky Clark and Kenny Miller), so you can’t really play the long ball.
‘Instead, the emphasis has been on playing out from the back, through midfield and getting the ball wide. I think everybody has enjoyed it.
‘As you’ve seen in the past few weeks, we have good players in midfield who want to play. We’ve been playing good stuff again, which we knew we would. We’ve been playing to the team’s strengths.’
Law feels he is now replicating the kind of form that he showed under McCall at Fir Park and which prompted McCoist to sign him two years ago. Despite admitting he didn’t know where his future lay in January amid cash woes at Rangers and interest from Huddersfield Town, he now hopes to remain at Ibrox for the long haul.
‘It’s taken time to get going again, not just for myself but for everyone because confidence was so low,’ said Law.
‘It was a simple confidence thing but I feel I’m getting back to where I was before at Motherwell. I’m playing like my old self, scoring goals and assisting and I’m l ooking forward to the games again.
‘The gaffer is always concentrating on the positives and what you can bring to the team rather than the things that maybe you don’t bring to the side. He gives us all huge confidence.
‘ I definitely see my future here. January was a time when the club was low as a playing staff. On the back of the Celtic defeat, there was speculation and I didn’t really know what was going to happen.
‘But in the last few months, it’s all changed. I don’t want to leave a club of this size because it’s as fantastic a football club as, realistically, I am going to play for. Not just for myself, f or most of the boys i n that changing room. Why would you ever want to leave?
‘Hopefully, we can do the job now. We want to play in the top league next season. It’s why we signed here. It’s in our own hands and we are confident again now. We also feel we have the momentum.’
Law was at pains to stress that he respects potential play-off rivals Hibs, Queen of the South and Scottish Cup finalists Falkirk, who must win at Ibrox today and hope Queens lose at home to Dumbarton if they are to retain an outside chance of making the end-of-season showcase.
But he admitted there is a creeping sense of fate throwing up the ‘nightmare’ scenario for himself and McCall of facing their old team Motherwell in a two-legged final.
For Law, the prospect of taking on old friends would also mean a first-ever competitive match against younger brother Josh.
The added complication is that, 24 hours after the second leg, the siblings jet to New York where Nicky will be best man at Josh’s wedding.
‘It would be difficult enough playing my old club but also my brother,’ he said. ‘I have a great affiliation with Motherwell, so it would be doubly tough. With the manager and his assistant Kenny Black involved as well, it is the nightmare scenario.
‘I’ve only ever faced Josh in a f riendly match when I was at Rotherham and he was at Alfreton Town. He’s playing right-back now and I’ve been on the left lately, so we could be in direct opposition.
‘We’re living together just now and he does all the cooking and cleaning instead of paying rent. The day after the last play-off game, we all fly out to New York for his wedding, so that will be interesting. I’m his best man — at the minute, at least!
‘Hopefully, Motherwell will get out of it and it won’t happen but fate might ensure it does. If it comes down to it, then we just have to do our jobs.’