Arthur's Column // 25th August 2022

I was in Eindhoven last night, sitting in beside the PSV and Rangers hierarchy and I was so happy to seeing it all unfolding.

To watch Rangers win 1-0 and secure their place in the Champions League was very special.

They overcame the odds to beat a very good PSV team and I was also delighted for Antonio Colak to get the all-important winning goal. He is now a Club Legend! And at a transfer fee of just £1.8million, what a fantastic piece of business.

Giovanni also made a huge statement with that result. I'll say it again, he is a top coach and knows the game inside out. He took us to the Europa League Final and has now followed it up with getting into the best club tournament in European football.

It's very prestigious for Rangers to be back in beside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, PSG and AC Milan. It's mouthwatering and exciting.

The finances involved are also unbelievable. This will bring in around £40million and that is a sum of money that gives absolute security for many years and also, potentially, take the club up another level. With Celtic guaranteed that level of money due to their automatic entry, it was important not to fall behind them. This keeps things on a level playing field.

I wanted this column to be all about the success of last night and to praise James Tavernier and the rest of the squad for their skill, bravery and resilience in the past few weeks during the qualifiers. They deserve massive credit because they have been sensational. But I also need to mention Alfredo Morelos. He would have been at home last night in Scotland watching the game, hopefully full of regrets that he'd made a huge mistake. He should have been with the squad, helping them with their biggest game in more than a decade. But he was dropped by Giovanni and left behind. After several warnings, Giovanni drew the line. Giovanni had had enough of the striker's bad attitude and ill discipline, on and off the field. I'm not sure what the future holds for Alfredo but I'd definitely be encouraging other clubs to bid for him, test the market and see what fee might be out there. His value may not be as high as it should be because clubs are aware they'd be taking a 'risk' with him. However, he is still worth a lot of money. It could well be that Rangers still decide to give him a new contract and keep him. A fit and firing Alfredo is a top striker, let's not forget that. But he needs to change his ways. The manager and the players don't want anyone about Ibrox that may risk ruining all the good work that's going on.It's going to be an interesting few days for Alfredo.

But I do want to finish on a positive note and praise Giovanni, the players, the Board and the supporters. Last night was very special and I was proud to be there to see it.