Le Guen leads French revolution at Ibrox

Since the turn of the new millennium, Rangers have won the Scottish championship twice to arch rivals Celtic's four.

Last season, Rangers finished in third place behind champions Celtic and Hearts and had to be content with a UEFA Cup place. Although Rangers became the first Scottish club to reach the KO phase of the Champions League in 2005/06, their erratic form at home left Alex McLeish without a job at the end of the season.

Chairman David Murray decided to go abroad for a new coach and made a great swoop in persuading Paul Le Guen to join him at Ibrox.

Le Guen, who took a break from soccer management in May 2005, was raring to go and now he's glad to have the chance to break the ice outside France. He is a highly-respected coach following his feat in the Ligue 1.

Le Guen replaced Jacques Santini at Lyon and earned the accolades by steering the side to three consecutive championships as the side became a strong prospect in the Champions League.

Le Guen had previously coached at Rennes and in his playing career he was a formidable attacker with AS Brest, Stade Brestois, Nantes and Paris SG, where he played for seven years and won a Cup Winners' Cup medal in 1996.

His fine pedigree should make him a popular choice at Ibrox.

Le Guen has already signed a number of French players and the 'Pencran Potto' (born in Pencran, a northern town of Brittany famous for its top-quality potatoes) is keen to restore Rangers' domestic dominance and establish them as a force in Europe.

Celtic have captured a good number of signings this summer, including Kenny Miller from Wolves, Derek Riordan from Hibernian and Jiri Jarosik from Chelsea.

They failed, however, to tempt Middlesbrough's Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to cross the border.

Gordon Strachan, who in his debut season led the Celts to the championship and the League Cup, is more than glad to have led the team into the group phase of the Champions League.

Hearts, backed by Lithuanian banker Vladimir Romanov, will be managed by fellow countryman Valdas Ivanauskas after he led the Jumbos to the club's first taste of Champions League football.

Hearts are playing their European matches at Murrayfield, the home of Scottish rugby. It has a capacity of 67,500 - nearly 50,000 supporters more than Tynecastle.

Hibernian fans were unhappy to watch hero Derek Riordan moving to Celtic and manager Tony Mowbray has now given the captain's armband to Kevin Thomson.

The Edinburgh side have also announced plans for a new training complex, having agreed the purchase of land in East Lothian that will cost them around £650,000.

Weekend programme

Le Guen's first Scottish League match will be at Motherwell tomorrow, greeting his counterpart Maurice Malpas, who will also make his debut as manager this season.

Celtic start their title defence at home to Kilmarnock. The first Old Firm clash is scheduled for September 23.