Ted E. Bear chose his on-line name when he stared contributing to newsgroups a couple of years ago. He has been an Ibrox regular for more years than he is prepared to admit to, and a regular at away games as well as the occasional European trip. This Summer, he decided to take the traditional Scotsman's route to fortune and started a new job in Toronto six hours before Scotland kicked off against Brazil. These are his personal thoughts.

1999 – One to Go

It was the worst of years it was the best of years, it was one to go, it was Parma 0 Rangers 1. It was a Jocky Bjorklund passback, it was a Lorenzo Amoruso….oh, never mind, you get the point.

I got to see it from two vantage points. The first half of the year I saw from my seat at Ibrox, and when the next season started, I swapped my Bluenose Burger for morning kick-offs and cooked breakfast at the Duke of Gloucester.

Sure, the year had its low points, and season 1997/98 was a major disappointment, but the first half of the year also brought some rich memories. Thanks to the p.a. at Ibrox, the run-in was played to a backdrop of Belgian techno music, and ‘encore un fois’ will always be the soundtrack of these final days.

May 2^nd, 1998. Rangers lose at home to Kilmarnock in our last home game of the season. Should have been over the next day, although we did a chance to hope one more time (how much did you pay for your ticket for East End park, bhoys ?). What happened next was a spontaneous appreciation of the years these players had put in, not some stage-managed event to a Tina Turner soundtrack. It’s fair to say that. Post-Bosman, we’ll never see a day like that again. Might not have been the way we wanted the season to end, but it’ll be remembered long after Mel Sterland’s two goals against Hearts or that wet Tuesday night at Easter Road when we found out that Motherwell had handed us the championship.

The inevitable changes followed. The early matches perhaps weren't as spectacular as the same time the previous season, but the improvements proved to be real this time. Some of the league results weren't as decisive as they should be, I still feel some of these 2-1 wins should be 3-0 wins, but as long as we get the points, the performances are more important. Still, Dick Advocaat knows more than anyone that he won't be judged on his performances against Scottish teams, to quote the statement that Graeme Souness had held against him, "judge me by my performances in Europe".

On a personal note, here's my highlights of the year;

Best Radio Call-in moment – "we said we wouldn’t take any more calls about Brian Laudrup being left out at Motherwell today, but we’ve got, er Brian Laudrup on the line".

Best signing – Barry Ferguson - Times have changed, and you can't take your young Scottish players for granted. Ferguson in particular was ready to move elsewhere. Best new signing was Giovanni van Brockhorst. Artur Numan showed during the World Cup what we can expect, and hopefully we'll see these performances on a regular basis in a Rangers jersey.

Best game. Leverkausen away was the best result but,call me parochial, Gerry, I’ll go with the 2-0 league victory in April. The cup win the week before comes second.

Best Goal. Albertz. Albertz. Albertz. You choose. I’d go for the Déjà vu goal in the league match at Ibrox. Encore un Fois.

Left with a whimper – Rino Gattuso. In the end, he turned out to be not quite good enough, but for a while he looked like he could be the heart and soul of a future Rangers’ team. If we complain about foreign signings that take their money for nothing, we have to appreciate what this guy put in. He’s the only professional player I’ve seen who can chase the ball when they're playing a 1-2 against him. And get away with it.

Moments that just make you say "did you see that ?" – Amato doing a turn against Parma that came straight from the FIFA 98 playbook, Barry drops a shoulder in Leverkausen, beats five men, and goes from being the new Durrant to the new Baxter. There's still time. Amato at New Year (ok, it was 1999, but only just) beats his first man on sheer skill, his second man on sheer commitment and Rod nods.

Team of the year. I gave up on this one. It would be difficult to see past the team in Leverkausen, but that would be unfair on Ally McCoist, who did so much to try and rescue last season. Along with Jorg Albertz, he was the positive from the second half of 1997/98. And don’t ask me to pick a team without Durrant, Goram and Gough…

Player of the year – by my reckoning, there’s a list of four for this one. Jorg Albertz brings enough over from the first half of the year to edge out Porrinni's consistency.

Best thing to happen to Rangers for years – Dick Advocaat. The man has a dignified passion which fits well with a Rangers tie. He has a long-term plan vision which isn’t getting in the way of putting a winning team on the park.

And my wish list for 1999;

The Championship comes home.

The team continues to improve. One of the disappointments of past years was how we seemed to be unprepared for the European Campaign. Next season starts as soon as we get put out of European competition.

European results. Not sure what the target should be with the changed format, but Champions' League respectability would be a welcome first step.

We DO get a new training ground, and Lionel Charbonnier IS back for the start of next season.

One new face from the youth team seriously challenging for a regular place.

Lose Tina Turner. Give us back Follow, Follow…and there’s nothing in that song about the Pope or the Vatican. Crank it up, put the words on the big screen, and follow the bouncing ball.

Ted E. Bear