It has happened before

The last three games between Scotland and Spain have all taken place on Spanish soil and as you would expect, the Spanish have the upper hand…but not by much.

A 1-1 draw on 3rd of September 2004 – game abandoned on 59 minutes!
A 0-0 draw on 27th of April 1988
A 1-0 defeat on 27th February 1985

However, on the 14th November 1984 Hampden Park was rocking as Scotland thrashed the Spaniards 3-1 in the 1986 World Cup qualifying group. This was Scotland’s second game of their group on the road to Mexico and this victory saw the Scots sit top of the table with 6 points.

Scotland’s opening game was a 3-0 Hampden win over Iceland with Celtic midfielder Paul McStay notching two of the goals. Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas got a third late on to put a good finish on the game and set Scotland up for their clash with the Spanish team.

Group 7 was one of three four team group in the European Qualifying round and the runner up in Scotland’s group would have to play off against the Oceanic winners. Spain were always likely to be favourites in the group so second place was what Scotland needed to look for.

By half-time against Spain, Scotland were two up and cruising, Maurice Johnston netting twice. The player had not long signed for Celtic by this point but these two goals managed to get virtually the entire country behind him. How things were to change a few years later for Johnston!

Spain pulled a goal back through Goicochea on 65 minutes and Hampden braced itself for a night of disappointment but Kenny Dalglish, the true Last King of Scotland, scored a phenomenal strike to restore Scotland’s two goal advantage. That was the last of the scoring and Scotland looked well on their way to Mexico.

As everyone knows, there were a lot of twists and turns to come in that qualifying campaign with a defeat in Spain followed up by a disappointing loss at home to Wales. A nervy 1-0 win in Iceland set Scotland up for a massive clash in Wales where a draw would ensure Scotland would finish above Wales in the qualifying group.

As most people know, a late Davie Cooper penalty got Scotland the point they needed but the death of Jock Stein was the abiding memory of that evening. It may have been a brief qualifying campaign and it had some great highlights but the loss of Stein overshadows it all.

Scotland at least defeated Australia in the play-offs and reached the World Cup but the home win over Spain will live long in the memory of those who witnessed it.

It will take something special to defeat the current Spanish side, who are amongst the best in the world.

King Kenny Dalglish’s goal against Spain can be seen in this video, at the 3:24 mark. Enjoy!

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All the talk is of Kenny

Things are going badly wrong at Liverpool and even Rafa Benitez would say that is a FACT. Our sister site WeKnowFA managed to capture a great deal of debate about the future of Rafa and if Liverpool could afford to sack Rafa and his backroom staff, they would.

This may keep the Spaniard in a job for a while longer but even this may not be enough to save him and the bookies are looking into who could possibly replace the Spaniard. One short-term solution could involve using a man currently at the club.

Yes, according to the Daily Mirror, some bookmakers have Kenny Dalglish as 2/1 favourite to replace Rafa Benitez. Dalglish is a legend at Anfield and whilst many fans would be delighted to see him take over the reigns, there are definite doubts over whether he has the fire and desire to put Liverpool back on top.

Mind you, King Kenny would love nothing more to get a final victory over Alex Ferguson.

These rumours alone would be enough for Kenny Dalglish but such is the crazy world of Glasgow football, there are some stories surfacing that may indicate Dalglish has other plans as opposed to managing in the English Premier League.

The Scottish media were rather excited about a supposed £18m bid for Rangers that was put to Lloyds.

Given that the latest stated debt figure for Rangers stood at £31m, it was easy to see why this bid was knocked into touch, even if David Edgar thinks the bank should just take the money and let Rangers be. Yes, the 60p in a pound deal is being used in some business buy-outs but given the level of assets at Ibrox, it would be an extremely stupid bank to acquiesce so easily to some media pressure and fan-power.

Not a lot is known about the Gang of Four said to be behind this offer though.

Dave King is at the front of the group, even though his problems in South Africa are well documented and would suggest he, or his money, is going nowhere fast. That is not to say that King or an associate cannot be part of the deal but there clearly has to be some careful negotiations and treading of the path along the way.

Paul Murray, another non-executive director at Rangers, is the other name which has been publicly stated about the four-strong team supposedly behind this bid. No media outlet has announced any names with regards to the other two people but that doesn’t stop the rumour mill from spinning.

What may be surprising is the whispering rumours that Kenny Dalglish may be part of the consortium.

It is well known that Kenny Dalglish was a Rangers fan whilst growing up and before he came back to Celtic Park in the late 90s (with John Barnes in tow, bringing cheer to Rangers fans everywhere), Dalglish was every so briefly, a super spy for Rangers and David Murray. Nothing really came of that though it showed that Dalglish would not only limit himself to his former club in Glasgow.

We admit that these rumours may just be 2+2=5 but King and Dalglish do have a golfing history so there is a history between the two.

In December, 2004 the Daily Record said that King paid £15,000 to play a round of golf with Dalglish. The payment was for charity as part of the Nelson Mandela Invitational tournament.

The two were also part of a fourball Alliance in 2004 for the Gary Player International;
(-14) Dave King, Richard Sterne, Johan Rupert, Kenny Dalglish

Mind you, at the same event you will also find the names of Ian Botham, Lucas Radebe, Jodie Kidd and Ronan Keating and we certainly won’t be suggesting that Ronan Keating is involved with the consortium looking to buy Rangers.

Or are we?

No, we ‘re not, don’t be stupid….its Louis Walsh.

Anyways, we aren’t saying that Dalglish is part of the consortium looking to buy Rangers but there are definite rumours circulating about him. No doubt more will unfold as sources with better contacts look into it.

Where would be better for Dalglish, Anfield or Ibrox?

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