The Rangers International Courier
Market6 Jan 2031
George Abine asks to leave Rangers International
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
Sodiq Lawal pops up at the right end — 7.53
7.53, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
Rangers International tie Abraham Onyekuru down
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Ganiyu Gberefu in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rangers International this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
7 academy players handed senior numbers at Rangers International
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Door shut on Chijioke Aniagboso
Rangers International asked and Oleksandriya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces6 Jan 2031
The crowd has taken to Sodiq Lawal
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Market6 Jan 2031
One of our own: William Obafemi joins the Rangers International first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. William Obafemi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market6 Jan 2031
Abraham Babatunde steps up from the Rangers International academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abraham Babatunde has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
- Market Victor Umar steps up from the Rangers International academy
- The dugout No hiding place for Divine Chidera
- Boardroom Rangers International let a promise lapse