"TONIGHT'S GAME IS A FRIENDLY MATCH BUT WITH TEAMS
GETTING CLOSER TO THE START OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SEASONS
THEN A COMPETITIVE EDGE STARTS TO CREEP INTO PLAY"
Rangers v Ajax CnfvJ
GOOD EVENING and welcome to
Ibrox for tonight's friendly match
with Ajax. After four games on the
road it's always nice to come back
home and play in front of our own fans
again for the first time this summer.
We are now well into our preparations
ahead of the new season and I am satisfied
with how things have progressed to date.
We enjoyed a productive week over
in Germany, playing three matches over
six days and also taking the opportunity
to bed the new players in to the squad.
We followed that up with a useful
friendly match with Falkirk last weekend
and I now feel that our players are
starting to reach the sort of fitness
levels expected of them.
Our Champions League first leg tie is
only a week away and tonight's match,
coupled with Saturday's game against
Chelsea, will take us closer to the state
of readiness required for such an
important fixture.
We arranged our pre-season itinerary
so that the games would get
increasingly difficult and our next two
matches will be very testing encounters.
A competitive edge is something you
can get only through playing
competitive matches but hopefully
playing against teams of the quality of
Ajax will help hone our sharpness and
prepare us for the challenges ahead.
Tonight's game is a friendly match but
with teams getting closer to the start of
their respective seasons then a
competitive edge starts to creep into
play and I'm sure our players will be keen
to make an impression this evening.
There will be a level of competition to
the game I'm sure which is what we
are looking for.
It's not always the best thing to play
two home games back to back ahead
of the start of the season but when the
possibility to play these two sides arose
we felt it was one we should take.
It also gives our new players a chance to
take in their new surroundings and for the
supporters to get a first-hand look at how
things are shaping up for the new season.
I feel all our new signings are
progressing very well. We still have a
bit to do teamwork-wise but when you
bring in a number of players I think
that's an obvious factor.
It's going to take us a little bit of time
to get everything right but some things
are falling into place.
We had some decent movement in
the match against Falkirk and hopefully
we can sustain that a bit longer tonight.
Ajax, of course, are among the elite
of European clubs and will provide us
with a suitable test.
They retain a reputation as a really
good footballing club and they are
always there or thereabouts in their
league championship each season.
They possess a number of talented
players within their squad and I hope
therefore that tonight's game will be
entertaining for the fans as well as
challenging for our players.
Enjoy the game,
Walter Smith
www.rangers.co.uk tJ /J
