Football Punter has gotten over his nightmare at backing both West Brom and Middlesbrough yesterday and has been hot on the trail of the best odds for outright winners of this season’s UEFA Cup after having had time to digest the first round draw as covered live for the British clubs by State of the Game.

Football Punter runs his eye over the available odds from VC Bet and looks for any opportunites for fans of the British clubs to make a few quid off their side in Europe this season.

Spurs may be joint favourites with Sevilla on their European return but what about Newcastle United, West Ham United, Blackburn Rovers, Rangers and Hearts, not forgetting European stalwarts such Ajax, Feyenoord, Celta Vigo and Bayer Leverkusen?

Football Punter has all of the details on UEFA Cup 2006/2007 outright betting.

New signups with VC Bet get a free ?20 bet so click on the link or the banner below and get signed up.

We’ll be covering the draw as it happens for the UEFA Cup first round as British clubs Tottenham Hotpsur, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Blackburn Rovers, Derry City Hearts and Rangers wait to see who they’ll face.

The first-round matches are played over two legs on 14th and 28th September.

A total of 40 teams will then advance to the group stages, where pools of five teams vie to reach the knockout stages.

The winner, runner-up and third-placed team from each group advance to the last 32 where they are joined by eight clubs knocked out of the Champions League.

The competition will culminate in the final at Hampden Park on the 16th May.

UEFA Cup First round 2006/2007 Draw:

Levadia Tallinn v NEWCASTLE
Molde FK v RANGERS
DERRY CITY v Paris St Germain
Sparta Prague v HEARTS
FC Salzburg v BLACKBURN
WEST HAM v Palermo
Slavia Prague v TOTTENHAM

Monaco hosts today’s UEFA Cup First Round draw as 80 teams prepare themselves for their ticket to a European adventure. While the glitz and glamour of yesterday’s Champion’s League draw mightn’t be quite as evident, the UEFA Cup still holds some of it’s old glory and there is a strong selection of Europe’s big footballing names, both seeded and unseeded, with which to make for an interesting tournament this season.

These 80 sides will play each other home and away before the winners progress to the group stages where eight groups of five teams will play each other once.

For today’s draw the sides have been split into seeded and unseeded groups and then further divided into eight pools of ten teams, five seeded, five unseeded from which the draws will be made. Seeded teams can only play unseeded teams from within their own group or pool. Confused yet? Have a look down the following tables to see which of the British clubs involved (Newcastle United, Rangers, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Hearts, Blackburn Rovers and Derry City) have the toughest possible draw.

We’ll be covering the draw live here at State of the Game from 1200 BST.
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The loan signings of Manchester United youngsters Phil Bardsley and Lee Martin have done a fair bit to quell the fears of Rangers fans worried about our thin and unbalanced squad.

Martin, an exciting 2 footed winger came on and looked the part in our disappointing draw against Dunfermline on Sunday while Bardsley may well be the tough tackling right back we?ve been looking for pretty much since Gary Stevens left the club.

But the fact that a club the size of Rangers is taking Premiership youth players on loan gives a more stirring indication to the financial state of not only RFC, but the whole of the Scottish game.

Where Celtic once had Sutton Larsson and Hartson, they now have Beattie, Miller and Zurawski.

Where Rangers once had Van Bronkhorst, Albertz, Tugay, Reina and De Boer, we now have a selection of youngsters and Bosmans.

Fans from other clubs meanwhile have had to contend with a succession of trialists, signings from clubs in North Africa and guys unwanted at clubs in League 2.
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Rangers got off to a good start away to Motherwell last Sunday, beating the Fir Park side 2-1 and looking like they could have scored 9 or 10 had they been so inclined.

All this transpired without top scorer and only recognised goal poacher Kris Boyd, who returns from suspension this weekend.

With Slovakian striker Filip Sebo arriving and the search for a solid right back in full swing, most fans have been united in their praise of the start made by new manager Paul Le Guen.

They remain fundamentally divided on some more important matters however.

Recent statements by UEFA regarding racism and discriminatory chanting have cut right to the core of the Rangers support and there has been a furious debate between three distinct camps.

A repertoire of unsavoury anti-catholic standards have long been favoured by a section of the support and some are unwilling to change one iota, even in the face of their club being sanctioned or even thrown out of Europe.

Thankfully they are a small minority.

A larger group occupy more equivocal ground.

They point to the clubs long standing links with the loyalist community in Northern Ireland and argue that the songs should remain, but with any bigoted reference removed.

The feeling in this camp seems to be that in banning the songs outright, Rangers fans are being denied the right to celebrate what constitutes the roots of many of their number and that they are being forced to comply with a PC neutering of their perception of the clubs identity.

The third group see it as time to move on entirely, focusing on Rangers songs that speak of the club, its achievements and its history on the park.

The feeling in this camp seems to be that songs pertaining to Northern Ireland are less relevant to the club than at any time before and that the continued singing of loyalist songs even in modified form will merely mask use of bigoted versions which will eventually be heard and land the club in all sorts of trouble.

It is also feared that modified versions of loyalist chants and songs will merely afford die hard bigots a cloak of respectability as they nudge and wink their way through the match.

The club at least seem to favour the ?third option?, piping long unheard old standards like ?Wolverhampton Town? (a song celebrating the 1961 Cup Winners Cup Semi Final victory over the then-giants of English football) over the tannoy at recent matches.

Other old standards like ?Every Other Saturday? and ?Blue Sea of Ibrox? have also made a welcome return, as the club seek to comply with UEFA and to become more inclusive and more viable to a family demographic.

RFC have also appointed a PR firm to help publicise their anti-bigotry initiatives.

Where the Rangers support end up on this matter is anyone?s guess.

All fans acknowledge that we must ensure that Ibrox remains an intimidating place to visit.

But the easiest way of doing that - hurling bilious abuse at others ? must end for the good of the club, and simply because it?s right.

Thankfully, most seem determined to find a way of exhibiting pride in the club without the pointless and costly denigration of others.

The great fear of most Rangers fans is that the die-hard bigots who refuse to move on and seem to insist the club somehow belong to them will nullify any sensible debate and will consign the club to a European hinterland we simply can?t afford to occupy.

Fraser Campbell is a Rangers and Scotland supporter and is State of the Game’s new Rangers guest columnist

It would be great to start my first column for State of the Game talking about our new signings, our pre-season or our hopes for the future.

But since the Daily Record and The Scottish Daily Mirror chose yesterday to besmirch the reputation of Rangers and their supporters it befalls me to make a few remarks of my own, for those readers not familiar with the way newspapers work up here in Scotland.

Everyone familiar with British papers will know it is now common practice to make sports ?news? out of rumour and speculation but we don?t mind that really do we?

It?s always good to hear a bit of gossip about transfers, bust-ups or the private lives of our heroes. Gives us plebs something to talk about on the factory floor, doesn?t it?

But here in Scotland there are, generally speaking, four kinds of football story.

The Total Non-Story: This consists of a headline like ?Rangers/Celtic (delete where applicable) Swoop for World Cup Stars.?

The story then goes on to repeat rumours already published and often even fails to name the very ?stars? they are talking about. This tactic is often deployed by The Glasgow Evening Times, who have two editions a day to sell, mainly to Old Firm supporters.

The Advertising Feature: This where a player?s agent has obviously used his contacts in a particular paper to get an article written up touting a particular client to Rangers, Celtic or nowadays, Hearts.

The headlines in these articles should read ?Unwanted Has-Been Duffer Still Fancies Earning 20 Grand A Week?, but instead generally tend to resemble ?Come And Get Me ?Gers/Tic/ Jambos says Thailand/Senegal/Timbuktu Ace.?

Whoever this article is about, he knows that Rangers/Celtic/Hearts are ? ?a huge name in Europe? and is available because of a ?management dispute? or something similar. It?s never because he?s rubbish, oh no. There is generally no fee involved with these guys or if there is we tend to be told that his current club ?won?t be difficult to deal with?. Yeah, we wonder why.

This is a tactic The Record and the Scottish Sun use a lot, but at least the Sun tend to publish the right picture of the player they are talking about.

These stories also serve the Evening Times, as they can print an article in the afternoon edition of their paper quoting bewildered officials from the club in question who haven?t a clue who the player they have been linked with is.

Thirdly, there?s the Trot Out A Club Legend Story, which generally runs along the lines of ?O?Neils Heroes Can Equal Lions Says Billy McNeil? or ?Burke Can Go All The Way Says Wing Wizard Laudrup.?

Then there is the Old Firm Smear.

This is a story which attempts to embarrass or shame one half of the Old Firm, the idea being to get both sets of Old Firm fans either fuming or gloating but above all, buying the paper.

A lot of Rangers fans are currently up in arms about articles The Daily Record have printed over the past couple of days.

Two articles by Keith Jackson have attempted to suggest that Greater Manchester Police cancelled our friendly with Bolton because they expected trouble from Rangers supporters.

This of course runs contrary to what has actually been said by the Police, who stated they didn?t feel able to deal with the amount of supporters expected to turn up.

While Bolton seemed to be expecting a mere 5,000 fans, it became clear that something approaching 12,000 intended to travel, either from Glasgow, or from where they were already on holiday in England.

Having been firmly rebuked by the Rangers Supporters Trust, Jackson and The Record?s rather bizarre response was to publish an article today in which they justified their stance with quotes from GMP Chief Superintendent Dave Lea which in themselves appear to undermine the ?facts? as presented in their piece.

Jackson surmises the Chief Superintendent?s position thus:

?The police chief who blocked Rangers’ trip to Bolton last night insisted he did it for the safety of the 261,000 people who live and work in the town.?

He then goes on to suggest this is a ?damning remark?, clearly implying that Spt Lea is worried about Rangers fans causing trouble throughout Bolton.

Here?s what the guy actually said:

?It’s down to public safety issues. We’ve had detailed discussions with the club and, as a result, it was quite clear to us we were not in a position to under take an operation which could guarantee public safety across the town.

“It’s specifically in relation to the information we have. We have made a clear assessment of the issues that it will present.

“It’s my job to ensure the safety, not just of the people in the ground, but of the 261,000 people who live and work in Bolton.

There has been some speculation as to the reasons behind the public safety concerns that led to the decision of Greater Manchester Police not to provide policing services at the match.

The agreed ticket allocation for Rangers was 5000. However, the club then provided information Bolton should expect 12,000.

Information provided by Rangers indicated that in excess of 120 coaches would be attending, which were not capable of being received. A Premiership fixture would attract no more than 17.”

In the above statement, Spt Lea makes it clear that it is the number of fans expected that has caused the problem, not the so-called ?reputation? of the fans.

Jackson then goes on to write:

?GMP also confirmed our revelation that the decision had been made following discussions with other English forces who have handled Rangers games as far back as 10 years ago.
Discussions were held with Merseyside police chiefs about a pre-season match between Everton and Rangers eight years ago when fans clashed in the streets outside Goodison.?

No quotes to support that though eh Jacko? Funny that.

This portion of the article is a clear attempt to justify his unsubstantiated smear of Rangers supporters, and in typical Record style is in itself utterly unsubstantiated.

With a great many Rangers supports eager to shake off the more unsavory aspects of the club?s history following the UEFA censure about bigoted chanting last year, this kind of article does nobody any favours.
They give ammunition to rival supports who hate the idea of Rangers cleaning up their act as much as our hardcore of dafties do and they encourage the attacked to close ranks, stifling debate on change and progress.

But many Rangers fans who are calling for an apology or a boycott are missing the bigger picture. It will be Celtic or Hearts or whoever getting it in the neck tomorrow.

The simple fact is that The Record and lickspittles like Keith Jackson are simply and entirely interested in selling newspapers, and are prepared to write anything about anybody in order to do it.

Former Rangers hero Paul Gascoigne has expressed his disgust at the way his old friend Alex McLeish was treated as his tenure as Rangers manager came to an end.

Despite leading the Ibrox club to seven trophies in his four and a half year spell in charge, McLeish was unceremoniously dumped this summer in favour of Frenchman Paul Le Guen after a fairly wretched season where Rangers finished trophyless and in third place in the Scottish Premier League.

Having been granted a stay of execution in December while the club enjoyed a run in the Champion’s League, McLeish lost the backing of his players towards the end and it this that has incurred Paul Gascoigne’s wrath in the main:

“It was disgusting,” he said. “It was terrible to hear that.

“I’ve known him for many, many years and not only did it upset me a bit, it upset the likes of Walter Smith and people who have worked for Glasgow Rangers like Sir Alex Ferguson.

“You could see it in Alex’s face and that was the most disappointing thing.

“I hope Alex goes on to another big job - he deserves it.

“If he’s given the opportunity I hope he takes it. I think he was a great manager.”

Bayern Munich coach Felix Magath has written off Rangers chances of signing Bayern Munich youngster Bastian Schweinsteiger in the summer and warned the Glasgow giants that Munich are not in the habit of selling their best young players.

Schweinsteiger is apparently unhappy in Munich following some heated arguments with Magath but the German coach feels that a move to Rangers wouldn’t be right for him despite the regard incoming Ibrox boss Paul Le Guen has built up for the 21 year old midfielder.

Bastian Schweinsteiger burst onto the international scene at the 2004 European Championships with several starring displays for Germany but has failed somewhat to live up to the potential shown there since. Maybe a move to a lower standard of football such as the Scottish Premier League would give him the necessary boost for a year or two to get himself back on track although it’s difficult to see how any young player could see moving from Bayern Munich to a Rangers side sitting third in the SPL behind Cletic and Hearts as a positive career move, regardless of their relationship with their coach.

Former Lyon coach Paul Le Guen has agreed a three year deal to take over as Rangers manager in the summer as a replacement for the departing Alex McLeish.

Securing the services of the highly rated Frenchman is quite a coup for Rangers chairman David Murray and with a warchest being presented to the club in the form of their new sponsorship deal announced this week with JJB Sports, there will be renewed optimism amongst the Ibrox faithful after a season that has seen more progress on the European battlefields than at home where Hearts are still holding them at bay for second place in the SPL.

Le Guen has said: “I am looking forward to the challenge at Rangers.

“I received a number of interesting offers from major clubs around Europe in the last year, but this move to Scotland was the right one for me and my family.

“Rangers has a proud history and tradition and I hope to bring further success to the club for the supporters.”

He’ll be hoping to quickly get back to winning ways with the blue side of Glasgow after winning three successive league titles with Lyon in France before leaving last summer and with his high profile appointment, coupled with the JJB Sports windfall, Gordon Strachan and Celtic may find Rangers a whole different proposition next season.

At the end of a disappointing week for Rangers following their Champion’s League exit to Villareal, their fans have something to smile about with news of a mega sponsorship deal and retail agreement with JJB Sports.

The ten year licencing deal will bring the club a minimum ?48m over the term with an ?18m upfront fee being paid to last year’s Scottish champions on 7th June when they launch their new Umbro home kit.

The deal also allows for a guaranteed minimum ?3m to be paid to the Glasgow giants who will need every penny of it as they look to strengthen their squad and give their new manager (rumoured to be Paul Le Guen) something to operate with in the transfer market, a luxury somewhat denied current incumbent Alex McLeish.

The agreement will allow JJB Sports to retail all Rangers’ branded sports and leisurewear in their 439 stores across the UK and as well as the guaranteed ?3m royalties each year, Rangers will also be given additional payments when certain levels of turnover are met by the sports company.

“The arrangement capitalises on our strong current retail trading position and will enhance future revenue streams through greater availability and continuity of the quality and range of Rangers product,” added Murray.

Inevitably there will be some losers from the deal with the current Rangers Shop chain looking likely to close with some 200 job losses. The club have said they are now entering a period of consultation with the affected staff who will derive little pleasure from the thought of the millions of pounds being exchanged for their livelihoods.