DYLAN HAS EURO PLAN
BY ALAN MARSHALL DYLAN McGEOUCH would love to deliver Europa League football for Hibs supporters.
The midfielder was part of the Easter Road team defeated by Danish side Brondby on penalties at the second qualifying round stage in July 2016 after they qualified for Europe through their historic Scottish Cup triumph.
Third in the Premiership would guarantee a place in the Europa League although finishing fourth would also offer a route into the Europa League if Aberdeen beat Motherwell in Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
Former Celtic trainee McGeouch’s future at Hibs next season remains uncertain with interest from other clubs in the final year of his contract.
But McGeouch said: “It was a great time winning the Cup then going into Europe, we gave it a good go. We went to Brondby and got put out but we beat the Danish champions on their own ground and it was a great occasion for the Hibs fans to get away on a European trip.
“It’s something we would be looking to do this year as well. If we could do that from finishing in a good position in the league that would be brilliant.
“It’s been a great campaign but we need to finish it off. We’re still in danger of finishing in fourth or fifth.
“We need to get the most amount of points possible. We’re three points off second so it’s everything to play for and hopefully we can collect some points.” DAVID WEIR walked out the Ibrox tunnel to Going for 55 and knew the only thing Rangers fans were going to see was trouble. Four months previously, in April 2016, he and Mark Warburton masterminded an Old Firm victory at Hampden that hinted at a Rangers return to the big time. Ropey recruitments in the summer hardly helped their hopes of a permanent revival but more than that Celtic bristled at the prospect of a comeback from their rivals. The Parkhead club opened the coffers to recruit Brendan Rodgers, BY GARY RALSTON Joey Barton came, saw and failed to conquer and the status quo of the previous five seasons was restored.
Former Rangers favourite Weir now looks back on their Scottish Cup semi-final win with mixed emotions, acknowledging the short-term thrill of their penalty shootout victory was soon overtaken by the harsh realities of Celtic’s superior monetary muscle.
Mind you the Rangers marketing team hardly helped the footballing department with a hubristic advertising campaign that claimed they were ready to run when they were still staggering from the wreckage of financial carnage.
Weir said: “We won promotion from the Championship and the first thing we saw when we walked out on the first day of the following season was ‘Going for 55’.
“It definitely added to the pressure. There’s an expectation at Rangers always to win and I, more than anyone, understand that. Still, it just added fuel to the fire and raised expectations.
“All of a sudden if it didn’t look like we were winning the league we were failures. In our first season back, after however many years in the wilderness