http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/2010/12/06/if-rangers-had-any-money-i-would-still-be-at-aberdeen-fighting-relegation-admits-ricky-foster-86908-22765388/

 

RICKY FOSTER is bright enough to know that if Walter Smith had serious money to spend he would be fighting relegation instead of living a Champions League dream.

 

The 25-year-old was plucked from Pittodrie on loan hours before the transfer deadline because of his ability to play in just about every defensive and midfield position - a versatility Smith needed to bolster a squad seriously lacking in numbers.

 

And while Foster has started matches against Valencia and Manchester United in the world's most glamorous club competition, the mates he left behind have slumped to joint bottom of the SPL and ditched Mark McGhee.

 

The Dons' plight saddens Foster, particularly as he'll have to go back to the Granite City at the end of the season if Rangers don't try to make his loan permanent.

 

But he is convinced he won't be swapping the Champions League for the First Division if he does return to see out the remaining two years of his contract.

 

Also Foster believes he will be able to handle any stick he gets from the Aberdeen supporters who haven't taken kindly to him moving to Rangers.

 

Yesterday, as he landed in Turkey ahead of tomorrow's final Group C match against Bursaspor, Foster said: "I think I would get a little bit of stick but it would only be from a small section.

 

"I'm sure a lot of them would realise that I never instigated this move. It just came about.

 

"If you look at it, in my first two weeks here I went to Old Trafford and since then I've played against Valencia and Manchester United at Ibrox.

 

"I don't think any of the Aberdeen fans could say it was a bad move for me. It has obviously enhanced my CV, it has enhanced my career.

 

"I think if they look at it without bias, they would realise it was a good move for me and something I couldn't turn down.

 

"It has all been a little strange. The manager gave me a new contract in January, but just a few months later he was willing to let me go to Rangers.

 

"I was very surprised. I was probably the second or third up there in terms of games played and experience.

 

"I can also play a few positions. It was a hard one for me to get my head round but I was never going to look at it in that sense. I was just happy that he allowed me to leave and try something new."

 

That something new includes the Champions League and wherever Foster ends up, he will go armed with the confidence that comes with holding his own against some of the world's best.

 

Foster said: "It is a massive confidence boost for me to play in the Champions League.

 

"Against Manchester United and Valencia I was playing against some of the best players in the world.

 

"It's the biggest club competition you can play in. You watch it on the TV and think, 'How good am I compared to them?'

 

"You realise that although the players are better than me, especially at the top clubs, they are maybe not as far ahead of me as I first thought. I was playing against Nani and we've all seen what he can do on his game.

 

"The Valencia game was nerve-wracking at first and I thought I coped better against Manchester United. Right from the start I was confident, I knew I could play at that level."

 

Foster believes Rangers have done well to finish such a strong group in third but reckons investment must be made in January if Smith's men are to enjoy a Europa League run.

 

He said: "It's difficult to say how we'll do in that tournament but ideally we'd want to get in a few more players. There's been a few games where the manager's only been able to put six boys on the bench.

 

"To compete in competitions like the Europa League, and even to maintain our form in the SPL, you need to have depth.

 

"I think with the money being spent by other clubs, it would be difficult for us to progress in the tournament with the current squad."

 

Before that, though, the curtain comes down on the Champions League and with Kirk Broadfoot and Sasa Papac out, Foster is set to play in only his second European tie on foreign soil.

 

He hopes it is a better experience than the one he had for Aberdeen against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup a couple of seasons ago when the Dons were skelped 5-1.

 

He said: "I played in the Allianz Arena in Munich. But I ran about the pitch for 90 minutes while Bayern Munich played. This will be a different experience if I'm involved.

 

"Turkey is a hostile environment anyway when it comes to football. It will be a different experience but it will also be one I'll hopefully enjoy if I'm selected.

 

"It's not a meaningless game for me. I played the last two games against Manchester United and Kilmarnock but since then the matches have been cancelled.

 

"So it would be nice to get this game and if I am in the team I will try to show the manager what I can do and hopefully get selected for more games."

 

Foster would love to stay at Rangers but is wary about admitting it, given that he may have to return north at the end of the campaign.

 

He added: "If my loan spell ends here and I go back to Aberdeen I will welcome that as much as anything else. I do think they've got the squad to stay up. In fact, I do think they are a top-six team.

 

"Individually they've got a lot of good players, just collectively they are not gelling. They are having a tough time right now but I think the players and the management have to take a bit of responsibility, although it is always the manager who loses his job, as Mark did.

 

"But hopefully the new manager will give them a new lease of life and everyone will be fighting to get in the team.

 

"That usually spurs the players on to play better and hopefully they will get back up the league.

 

"I don't know what will happen with myself. I'm sure if I do well enough it might be on the cards for me to stay. But it's not something I'm thinking about. I'm just here to play.

 

"If I'm playing in the Rangers team every week then it kind of puts me in the market.

 

"But if I was to dwell on that kind of thing then I would struggle to play any football at all."

Jim and Bett are the only two words required to kill this thread stone dead.

Jim and Bett are the only two words required to kill this thread stone dead.

 

Is the right answer.

 

Thread locked, and hopefully fucking buried.

Jim and Bett are the only two words required to kill this thread stone dead.

 

You'd think those would be words that wouldn't need to be used. There you go.

Once you've worn a Rangers jersey you can't play for Aberdeen.

 

The most thick post ever and there is a lot of competition.

:lolabove:

Stoney, I'd assume the same goes for Hartley, Jamie Smith, McNamara, Joe Miller, Charlie Nick and all the other ex-Celtic players that should never have been allowed to pull on an Aberdeen jersey.  Why stop there, what about ex-Hearts players or Dundee Utd?  Aren't they our rivals too?

Not that I agree with Stoney, but the point he was trying to make was about us loaning a player to Rangers and then welcoming him back.  Jim Bett was not loaned to Rangers by us.

Just because Mancs and Red Scousers don't do business doesn't mean that nae other rivals should.

Just because Mancs and Red Scousers don't do business doesn't mean that nae other rivals should.

 

That's because there isn't a Scouser that would get into the Manc team  

Why is Ricky the face of the Rangers christmas promo?

 

 

Article in the herald about him.

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/interview-two-clubs-four-managers-one-dangerous-situation-for-richard-foster-1.1074472

 

Michael Grant

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15 Dec 2010

 

PUTTING a microphone in front of Richard Foster at the moment is the equivalent of handing him a live hand grenade.

 

One of the simplest questions of all – where would you like to be playing next season? – is enough to put him in a spin.

 

Foster can’t talk about wanting to stay on loan at Rangers in case it upsets people around Aberdeen, where he is due to return in May. And he can’t talk about wanting to return to Aberdeen in case it makes Rangers unhappy. It’s football’s equivalent of a Tory crossing the house to sit on the Labour benches for a while, and then going back again. He can’t please everyone.

 

Some solid performances may have increased the likelihood of Rangers making a bid to sign him permanently at the end of the season but Foster’s position is even more complicated than that. It was Walter Smith’s decision to take him on loan but the manager will be gone when any consideration is given to trying to buy him. That will be Ally McCoist’s call. As for the situation back at his “parent club”, Mark McGhee let him leave but has now gone from Aberdeen himself. So who should he be trying to impress most: Smith, McCoist or the new Aberdeen manager he has never previously worked with, Craig Brown?

 

Foster is clever enough to negotiate his way through the verbal minefield. He politely turns down any chance to engage with the “where would you like to be next season” issue at all. “I’m never going to come out and say ‘I definitely want to stay here’ or ‘I definitely want to go back to Aberdeen’,” he said. “But right now it’s not something I am thinking about. I am here until the end of the season and want to play as many games as I can and then take things from there.”

 

Eyebrows were raised by Rangers’ move for Foster, not just because it was a loan move between two clubs who are fierce rivals but because the 25-year-old’s ability to hold down a regular place at Ibrox was openly questioned. Injuries have opened a route to the first team and Foster has done well, starting against Valencia and Manchester United in the Champions League among half-a-dozen appearances so far.

 

If his experience as a Rangers player is to last only five more months he wants it to include involvement in an Old Firm game. The next one is in only 18 days’ time and right now Foster is the first choice at right-back. When the clubs met at Parkhead in October he was an unused substitute. He had never been to the Glasgow derby before, even as a spectator.

 

“I did get a sample of the atmosphere the last time, on the bench. It was definitely one of those games where you think ‘I really want to play in that’. It’s the biggest game in Scottish football. The rivalry between them, the atmosphere and the passion, you would do well to match that anywhere in Europe. It’s definitely a game I would love to experience.

 

“The noise when Celtic scored first; the place erupted. Then it was like a deafening silence when we equalised. It was a strange, strange atmosphere. It’s hard to describe, hard to put into words, but I’d love to experience it on the pitch.”

 

Was he optimistic he would play when the clubs meet on January 2? “Things change week to week, day to day in football so you never know what’s going to happen. As long as I keep fit and put myself in contention there’s nothing more I can do.

 

“I knew it would be hard to get in the team I just need to show what I can do. I hope my performances, especially in the Champions League, have shown I can cope at this level. To get in the team I am having to play pretty much as well as I can. As an Old Firm player your touch has to be better, your passing has to be crisper, your speed of thought has to be quicker because the players here – especially the forward-thinking players like Steven Naismith and Kenny Miller – always seem to be that one step ahead. You always have to try to be on the same wavelength as them.”

 

Does he want Miller and Naismith to leave in January? That depends. “It’s a strange one. These are the kind of guys you don’t want to be playing against, but you definitely want to be playing with. If I take a chance to stay here I’d definitely want them to stay, but if I go back to Aberdeen I don’t want to be playing against them . . .”

 

n Foster was promoting a Christmas party for children in the Family Section of the Broomloan Stand at Ibrox before the St Mirren game on Saturday. Christmas cards signed by the players, a disco and an appearance by Santa will be among the attractions from 1.30pm.

Weegie press stirring shit as usual.

 

In all honesty I don't see anything wrong with that article.

 

Which part is shit stirring?

Nothing at all, added to that i think foster has handled the situation very well and due to our complete lack of fullbacks i can't wait for his return in the summer!

I fucking can, hes on the coach with Langfield.

 

Jack of all trades but master of none!

 

After playing at teh top end of the league and in CL, he's not exactly going to be content to play for aberdeen for any length of time anyway so personal grudges against him for turning blue-nose are completely irrelevent. We need to be looking for a replacement either way, so cashing in on him in summer is probably best for all concerned.

Whenever he put on a blue jersey, he was never going to be welcomed back. Best all round if there's a deal and we get a decent fee for him. The fact that he's now doing PR for them suggests that he's gone native there anyway.

After playing at teh top end of the league and in CL, he's not exactly going to be content to play for aberdeen for any length of time anyway so personal grudges against him for turning blue-nose are completely irrelevent. We need to be looking for a replacement either way, so cashing in on him in summer is probably best for all concerned.

 

Cashing in to achieve what exactly?

 

I have zero doubt in my mind that the money we 'gain' from his departure will result in his wages being halfed to bring in someone even worse, whilst any dosh we might make off of him won't even cover a few month's interest on the quagmire of debt we owe to the banks.

 

And so the downward spiral shall continue.

"To get in the team I am having to play pretty much as well as I can"

 

An admission that players feel able to get into the Dons side whilst 'cruising'?

 

Surely he should be trying to "play pretty much as well as I can" no matter who or where he is playing?!?

 

Strange thing to say, for me... I will still welcome him back if it happens. He'd certainly be one of our better players now...

I have zero doubt in my mind that the money we 'gain' from his departure will result in his wages being halfed to bring in someone even worse, whilst any dosh we might make off of him won't even cover a few month's interest on the quagmire of debt we owe to the banks.

 

And so the downward spiral shall continue.

 

You think Brown and Knox would tolerate that? If that happened, they'd pack their bags and go. At their age, they have nothing to lose.

Is Michael Grant not an Aberdeen supporter ?

Is Michael Grant not an Aberdeen supporter ?

 

Very much so.

You think Brown and Knox would tolerate that? If that happened, they'd pack their bags and go. At their age, they have nothing to lose.

 

Give them time, they'll probably be lucky if they've even unpacked their travelling rugs and Tunnocks yet.

 

To get 'better players' we're going to have to spend money.  We don't have any and we won't be given anything anywhere in the region of what we need.

 

So the plan will be to offload players and bring in whoever falls into the bracket of 'free', 'cheaper', 'lower wages', 'available' and 'better'.  None of which fills me with a sense of 'good will to all men'.

 

If you want proof of this, take a look at the past 15 years.  Then look at what has happened during those 15 years.  Then realise that it's the same shite, different day/week/month/year/decade/era/ambitionless board.

 

"Nothing to lose"..... but their health or a couple hunner grand to top up the Werthers Originals fund when it's time to collect the next Stuart Milne golden handshake.

Cashing in to achieve what exactly?

 

I have zero doubt in my mind that the money we 'gain' from his departure will result in his wages being halfed to bring in someone even worse, whilst any dosh we might make off of him won't even cover a few month's interest on the quagmire of debt we owe to the banks.

 

And so the downward spiral shall continue.

 

Ok, in future I'll change my opinions about what's logical so as to suit your paranoia.

I am confident

 

We WILL be in the EssPeeHell next season and will be challenging for Ewerope

"Nothing to lose"..... but their health or a couple hunner grand to top up the Werthers Originals fund when it's time to collect the next Stuart Milne golden handshake.

 

So you don't think Milne got them in the second round by offering incentives? By nothing to lose, I meant that they are in the twilight of their careers, and might not hang around too long if they had to put up with what you suggest. Just depends what burning ambition or egos they have at their stage of life.

I am confident

 

We WILL be in the EssPeeHell next season and will be challenging for Ewerope

 

Confident or delusional?