
Steinwender 'can't wait to move forward' at Hearts after home debut goal
Michael Steinwender is still settling into life in Gorgie, but, the defender is already sure Hearts will "stick together" after their first defeat in nine games.The 24-year-old signed from Swedish side IFK Varnamo on a three-and-a-half-year deal last month and made his home debut in Sunday's loss to Rangers.Steinwender scored a header from a James Penrice corner to cancel out a first half own goal by team-mate Jamie McCart, but Vaclav Cerny restored Rangers' lead before McCart, almost unbelievably, scored a second own goal to give Philippe Clement's side a 3-1 win.Though it was it first taste of defeat in maroon, the Austrian is enjoying life at Hearts."It's brilliant, everybody sticks together, everybody's been helping me since I came here, the people, the team, everybody's nice, everybody's helping each other," he said."I think you could see in some parts that we can really play good football and we also create a lot of chances."I'm so happy to be here and cannot wait to move forward - I'm feeling good. "Of course, when you don't play a competitive game for two months, it's a long time, but I'm getting there, and I will do everything to get there as fast as possible."Steinwender was delighted to score in front of his visiting parents but disappointed with the defeat in a game where Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland had a superb afternoon and the home side missed several chances.On his goal he said: "Of course it's a nice feeling. My dad had his birthday on Saturday, so that was his birthday present."It felt good for me and for my family, but I'm still not happy with the result and the team, of course, were not happy after this game."There is a lot of work to do and we will analyse the game and we will look it through and then we will improve."

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Daily Record
38 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Rangers £50m triple transfer is pie in the sky and here is brutal reality for fans
If we're going by social media the numbers just keep going up and up. By last night, the latest sale figure for Nicolas Raskin appeared to be sitting at £25 million. For Hamza Igamane, you're looking at around £15 million. Want to buy Mohamed Diomande? Let's call it £10 million. That's some going eh? £50 million in the coffers for three players who won the square root of hee-haw last season. They were part of a team who got their manager the sack and couldn't beat Queen's Park in 90 minutes or St Mirren over the course of three games. Now we're meant to believe that Europe's elite is suddenly after them and willing to spend big to get them. You can't help feeling the Rangers support might need to take a reality check here. Remember, this is a group of players who threw away the chance of a league title two seasons ago. This year, they weren't even at the races as they allowed Celtic to gallop clear, clinch 4-in-a-row and a Double. They let down their ex-gaffer, Philippe Clement, and when Barry Ferguson took interim charge - they turned up for Old Firm games or Europe but were posted missing against the rest. So they're not world beaters, by any stretch. If you take the trio of Raskin, Diomande and Igamane - all three are assets to Rangers. That's indisputable. But as it stands, there have been no bids tabled for any of them. And what have they done exactly to merit these exaggerated transfer fees they might command? Raskin is the pick of the bunch. And of course, his recent inclusion in the Belgium team will have added real value. But a £25 million player? He hasn't done enough to earn that price tag. On his day, he's a quality player. But has he dominated games for Rangers regularly? It wasn't that long ago, with fellow Belgian Clement at the helm, that he couldn't get a start. Has he been the driving force in a title or trophy success? Not yet. To warrant that kind of fee, Raskin will have to be a lynchpin of Russell Martin's new-look side this season and win silverware. With two years left on his contract, Rangers should probably be trying to get him to sign an extension ahead of the World Cup next summer. If Raskin is really worth what the punters think he is, he'll have a stormer this term, be a key man for Belgium in the USA, Mexico and Canada - and then offers might come flooding in. With Diomande, there's been talk of Everton interest but no concrete bid. The Ivorian has a lot of good attributes but is nowhere near the finished article. He's blown hot and cold at Rangers. One week, he can be brilliant at Parkhead against Celtic. The next, he's anonymous at Motherwell. Again, he now has to step up to the plate for Martin if Rangers really want to get some bang for their buck and kick-start a proper player trading model. Igamane is similar. The Moroccan striker is a rough diamond. At his best, he's genial and explosive. At his worst, he spends 90 minutes trying to nutmeg people and making little impact. It's Martin's job to smooth out Igamane's edges and turn him into a prolific striker in Scotland - one that clubs in England and abroad can't ignore. It's understandable that Rangers fans want to start seeing some decent money coming in for their best players. They've had to watch Celtic rake in millions for their best talent over recent years. They'll argue that if Matt O'Riley can go for £25 million, why can't Raskin? And they've got a point. But O'Riley was scoring goals from midfield, winning Trebles and performing in the Champions League. Rangers are right not to set the bar low, given the ridiculous fees Premier League clubs pay these days. But getting rid of Raskin, Diomande and Igamane shouldn't be the priority for them, Martin or sporting director Kevin Thelwell. Because first of all, they need to get a return on some expensive flops. In this window, Rangers should be trying to offload Robin Propper, Ridvan Yilmaz, Ben Davies, Kieran Dowell, Jose Cifuentes, Nedim Bajrami, Rabbi Matondo and Danilo. If they can somehow get dough back on them - allied to the fresh investment from Andrew Cavenagh and the new owners - it will give the manager a chance to build something. A team who have the quality and mentality to put up a genuine challenge to Celtic for the title, as well as competing in the cups and Europe. And rather than selling them off - they should be hoping that Raskin, Diomande and Igamane are integral parts of that.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Pressley 'in a much better place' to manage Dundee
New Dundee head coach Steven Pressley believes he has come back to Scotland better equipped to succeed than when he left for England 12 years former Dundee United defender has agreed a two-year deal at Dens Park and his appointment has had a mixed response from 51-year-old, who wore the Tangerine strip of their city rivals during his playing career, hopes the Dundee fans will give him time."It depends what lens you're looking through," Pressley said."If you look through a certain lens and you're looking for a manager with history of winning titles, then I'm not your man. "I've not demonstrated that yet. I hope I can demonstrate that in the future, but as yet I haven't done so." And he added: "But the type of skill set that Dundee were looking for, then I think I'm very much aligned to that and I've demonstrated that throughout my career."Also, I think that through growth, through my experiences at Brentford, through my learning, there's a different type of manager, a different type of leader here."After a short stint as co-manager at Hearts along with John McGlynn whilst still playing he eventually moved to Falkirk where he ended his playing career. He stepped straight into management with the Bairns before heading south to also had short spells at Fleetwood Town, Carlisle United and in Cyprus with the past four years, Pressley has been working at Brentford as head of individual player development."When I left this country 12 years ago to go to England, I had an ego huge and I was going to conquer England," he explained."Through time, through setbacks, through failures, through growth, I come back with a much smaller ego, but equally I come back with a lot more knowledge, a lot more understanding and a lot more experience."I think that I arrived here at Dundee in a much better place than when I left to go down to England." 'Whether I'm popular or not, I have to win games' Dundee finished sixth in their first season back in the Scottish Premiership, the 2023-24 campaign, but were 10th in the most recent campaign, shortly after which Tony Docherty departed the manager's role."If you don't win games, decisions are generally made," Pressley said. "But I think that from a football club's perspective, you've got to be willing to show strength at key moments and key junctures because sometimes the success is just round the corner."You don't realise how close you are to it and that's why it's important that we have the correct evaluation models in place, that we can see the progress of the team and plot the progress of the team."Sometimes people externally, they're only looking at the result, but there might be real significant improvements in certain areas where we are very close to getting those all important results."These things are really important, but again, as I've said to you, 35 years in the game, I know how it works. Regardless if I was a popular appointment or not, I'm still going to have to win games. That's the reality of it."


Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Rangers preparing £6m transfer bid for striker who could join Dor Turgeman in new-look £10m attack
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) RANGERS are preparing to table an official £6million bid for Matija Frigan. Russell Martin is targeting the Croatian striker, who hit 13 goals for Belgian side Westerlo last season. Sign up for the Rangers newsletter Sign up And they could use the sale of Cyriel Dessers to help fund the move. Reports claim the Nigerian hitman has agreed a £30,000-a-week deal with AEK Athens. The Greek giants held initial discussions with the Ibrox side earlier this week and they now believe they finally have their man. Dessers joined Gers in a £3m move from Cremonese two years ago. And despite netting 51 goals in 109 games he remains a divisive figure among the Gers support. AEK are willing to offer him a fresh start in the Greek capital, with Dessers sold on the move. Rangers' new American owners are set to demand £5m for his services, with AEK willing to spend big to land their man. A fee has yet to be agreed. Robin Propper is another player edging ever closer to an Ibrox exit. It's understood a verbal deal with FC Twente is in place that would see the Dutch defender return home after a single season in Glasgow. Rangers fans react to news Russell Martin is their new manager Twente are prepared to pay £1m for their former skipper, who will hold talks with new Gers gaffer Martin to determine his future. It's expected Propper will be given the green light to head back to Holland. US owner Andrew Cavenagh and his San Francisco 49ers backers have vowed to inject £20m of additional funds into the Ibrox coffers. Last week, CEO Patrick Stewart vowed a 'decent amount' would be ring fenced for recruitment. Leicester City defender Conor Coady remains a target as Martin bids to bolster Gers' backline. And the Ibrox side remain very much in the hunt for £4m-rated Israeli striker Dor Turgeman. Talks with Maccabi Tel Aviv are ongoing as Gers seek to pair him with Frigan next season. Reports in Croatia claim the Light Blues are leading the race for the 22-year-old striker, with HSV and Hull City also showing an interest. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page