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Rangers have not been reluctant when it comes to spending money to bring new players to the club over the past few years.

However, one player with whom the Gers were linked in recent memory but didn’t end up making a move to Ibrox is Joey Veerman, and missing out on him could now be a great source of regret for the Light Blues.

Back in April 2021, The Scottish Sun reported that Rangers were interested in signing the Dutch midfielder from his previous club Heerenveen.

The 23-year-old, who has been described as a player who “looks beyond his years” by coach Robert Molenaar, ended up staying where he was last summer before eventually making the move to PSV Eindhoven in January in a deal worth a reported €6m (£4.9m).

In his 18 league appearances for Heerenveen in the first half of the current campaign, the midfielder scored three goals and provided six assists, earning himself an overall performance rating of 7.32/10 from WhoScored, making him their second-highest rated player.

Things have just been as impressive for the 23-year-old since joining PSV, having scored two goals and provided four assists in just nine league appearances, earning an overall rating of 7.29/10 to become third-highest rated player at the club according to WhoScored.

Taking all this into account, it’s safe to say that Ross Wilson dropped the ball by not securing a deal which would have seen Veerman join Rangers, based on what he has done on the pitch for Heerenveen and PSV this season.

Given the midfielder’s young age and the fact that Rangers currently have the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Scott Arfield and Steven Davis in their squad – who have all hit the age of 30 and are set to become free agents at the end of the season – Veerman could have been an ideal long-term midfield option for the Gers and would have been worth the investment.

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Alas, it seems as though the Ibrox club will just have to live with their mistake and hope that they don’t miss out on any other reported transfer targets when the opportunity presents itself to strike.

In other news: Van Bronckhorst’s £3.6m-rated “leader” can be Rangers’ “real handful” in Old Firm

Sussex’s members looked quizzically at one another when Mushtaq Ahmed’s name was not mentioned in the team to face Surrey at Hove. It was later revealed that Mushtaq, Sussex’s whirling legspinner, underwent keyhole surgery on his right knee on Wednesday.”We made the decision very quickly on the Wednesday morning,” Mark Robinson, Sussex’s cricket manager, said. “We were originally hoping that we would just play him in four-day cricket up to the Twenty20 window where he’d then have the operation.”However, on reflection, we felt it wouldn’t be right to compromise our strike bowler by having him playing in discomfort, so, with the amount of unsettled weather around and the fact our club surgeon said he could get him in that day, we felt it was the wisest decision to make. It is a routine operation that many sportsmen have and we are hopeful that Mushy will be back between two and three weeks.”Mushtaq was replaced by Ollie Rayner, the young offspinner, as play finally got underway at Hove after the first day’s washout.

Chris Gayle: unrepentant © Getty Images

West Indies’ tour of England has been plunged into further crisis with just two days to go until the Twenty20 internationals at The Oval, after Chris Gayle, the one-day captain, was condemned by the West Indies Cricket Board for refusing to back down from his recent criticism of the team’s shambolic tour arrangements.Gayle, who had already been smarting from the board’s initial vetoing of his appointment as one-day captain, hit out in his Cricinfo diary after the squad was forced to draft in five players from the local leagues to make up the numbers for their tour match against England Lions at Worcester last Thursday. The one-day specialists in the squad did not arrive from the Caribbean until the morning of the match, and so were unable to take part in the match.”The WICB says they want the best out of players but we also need the best out of the board,” said Gayle in his diary. “The board is always talking about players needing to change but we, the players, need changes from the board as well. We can’t be out in the wilderness all the time because we are the ones who are getting all the blame.”Gayle’s stance drew a sharp response from the board. Ken Gordon, the president, and Michael Findlay, the team manager, met with him on Monday for “lengthy discussions”, advising the player that his statement was “ill-advised and has caused unnecessary embarrassment to the WICB.” Gayle, however, was unrepentant and, in “a very strongly-worded letter of reprimand” was advised by Gordon and the board that his conduct was “totally unacceptable”.The matter is unlikely to end there, with the WICB threatening to pursue things further at the end of the tour. “The WICB is hopeful that notwithstanding his unwillingness to apologise, Mr. Gayle will understand the seriousness of his actions and avoid any further statements or behaviour that will force the WICB to take drastic and immediate action against him.”The intensity of the stand-off will only serve to deepen the resentment currently brewing in the West Indian camp. None of the senior board members were present during the 3-0 Test series defeat, and Gordon is only in the country to attend this week’s ICC meeting.Following an arbitration panel’s ruling last week which means that the WICB faces having to negotiate the contracts for this tour retrospectively, this public carpeting of one of their most senior players is an indication that those contracts are unlikely to be favourable to a team that, rightly or wrongly, feels it has been cut adrift by its paymasters.

The bat used by Don Bradman in his first Test against England at Brisbane’s Exhibition Ground in 1928-29 has been sold at auction in Sydney to an undisclosed buyer for $58,000 (US$44,000).Bradman had a quiet match, scoring 18 and 1 as England romped to an innings victory in the series opener. For the only time in his career, Bradman was dropped, returning for the third Test at Melbourne where he scored his maiden hundred.Sir Donald donated the bat to a children’s hospital, who in turn awarded it to a schoolboy for winning in a fundraising competition.Other items to go under the hammer included a bat, glove and Ashes handkerchief of Victor Trumper, items belonging to Warwick Armstrong and WG Grace, and a signed team photo of the 1909 Australian cricket team.

Sourav Ganguly got into his groove with a smashing hundred for Glamorgan © Getty Images

Sourav Ganguly shrugged off an indifferent start to his English season and cracked a defiant 142 for Glamorgan in their County Championship game against Kent at Cardiff. He smashed five sixes and 15 fours and was the last man out after a tenth-wicket stand of 80 with Andrew Davies had salvaged some pride for his struggling side. Ganguly had got into his groove in the first innings with a solid 69 and ended up as the joint top-scorer along with David Hemp. However, Glamorgan had fallen too far behind by then and were eventually beaten by ten wickets.The other Indians playing in England didn’t have much to cheer. Irfan Pathan couldn’t pick up any wickets in his 23 overs while playing for Middlesex against Surrey at Lord’s and ended with 0 for 73. He had earlier made a good impression with the bat, though, and his breezy 68 had taken Middlesex to a healthy 437 in the first innings. There was a mini-battle in the game as Pathan faced Harbhajan Singh, his Indian collague who is representing Surrey this season. Pathan spanked 11 fours in his 93-ball knock, including a brief charge against Harbhajan, but he was finally deceived by an offspinner that turned sharply and was bowled. Harbhajan finished with 2 for 87 from his marathon 35-over bowling spell.

Canterbury 215 (Fulton 90, Wiseman 65, Orchard 5-10) and 136 for 3 (Stewart 78) trail Northern Districts 434 by 83 runs
Scorecard
The weather may turn out to be be Canterbury’s ally in the race for a place in the State Championship final. While nearly a full day was possible at Gisborne, Wellington and New Plymouth were subjected to the heavy rain that hit most of the North Island. If no further play is possible in the other two games, Canterbury will hang on by their finger nails, with the knowledge that they will have to beat Wellington outright to claim the title.Canterbury will also need to put up a better show than they produced after being asked to follow on. Peter Fulton’s innings ended on 90, soon after the resumption, while Paul Wiseman scored 65 after 231 minutes of graft. But he became the first of the victims who were involved in a hat-trick by Mark Orchard. It was only the fourth occasion in ND’s 51-year history that a hat-trick had been achieved, as Orchard finished with superb figures of 5 for 10.In their second innings, Canterbury lost two early wickets, including Fulton for a duck, but then recovered to reach 136 for 3 at stumps. Shanan Stewart (78) fell towards the end of the day after a 111-run partnership with Gary Stead (39 not out). However, Canterbury were still 83 runs behind ND’s first innings total.Otago 154 for 2 (Gaffaney 69) trail Wellington 482 for 9 dec (Walker 126, Nevin 124*) by 328 runs
Scorecard
Central Districts 268 trail Auckland 316 by 48 runs
Scorecard

The ECB National Academy defeated Victoria 2nd XI by 30 runs in Melbourne,Australia, in the squad’s first match after the Christmas break.Set a target of 404, Victoria were bowled out for 374 with Durham’s SteveHarmison again taking four wickets, so recording an eight-wicket match haul.A third wicket stand of 230 between Jewell (118) and Hussey (112) put Victoria in a strong position but the ECB NCA hit back to take the final eight wickets for 110 runs. Harmison found support from Steve Kirby, who took three wickets, Mark Wagh with two, and Chris Tremlett, who claimed a single victim. Wicket-keeper Mark Wallace took five catches.The ECB NCA earlier declared on 358 for seven, having added a further 39 runswithout loss to their overnight total. Chris Schofield finished on 48 notout, and Mark Wallace was unbeaten on 36.

Darren Bicknell – grinds out defiance to Sussex Photo © Paul McGregor

Nottinghamshire batted stubbornly in the sunshine at Hove to prevent Sussex from capitalising on their big 404-5 score on the first day. At 240-3 by the close the visitors were 82 runs away from saving the follow-on in this Division Two championship match.Jason Lewry and James Kirtley found little life in the pitch and the only early wicket was that of Guy Welton caught at slip. Darren Bicknell crept to 2 by lunch, took 56 minutes afterwards to increase, and got finally into double figures after being 26 overs at the crease.
Captain Jason Gallian was run out for 44 but John Morris increased the scoring rate with three boundaries in an over from Will House. He seemed to be set to prosper on a pitch which seemed to be made for batting.Sussex accepted the challenge by turning to the unorthodox left-arm spin of Michael Bevan who dismissed Bicknell at 163 to a slip-catch by Tony Cottey.Bicknell’s 45 had taken 66 overs. Usman Afzaal had an early life as Umer Rashid missed a easy chance. After that the batsmen proceeded easily enough with Morris on 75, just eleven runs short of his highest score of the season.Earlier Sussex had increased their overnight total by only 68 runs as the last five wickets toppled for 17: Paul Reiffel took three to finish with 4-85.

‘It doesn’t seem likely’ that Matt Targett will be at Newcastle United next season, transfer insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.

The lowdown

In January, the 26-year-old sealed a loan move from Aston Villa to St James’ Park until the end of the season. He was one of five players signed by Eddie Howe in January, along with Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood.

The Shields Gazette have reported that Newcastle will have the option to purchase the left-back in the summer for a fee of around £15m.

The latest

Jones has said that Targett’s future is uncertain, but as it stands, the journalist doesn’t think that it lies at St James’ Park.

He told GiveMeSport: “Matt Targett’s future is up in the air at the moment. There is a possibility that he will join Newcastle but, at the moment, it doesn’t seem likely.”

The verdict

This is certainly a surprising revelation from Jones, as you would think that both parties would be keen on extending Targett’s stay on Tyneside.

It may well be best for the 26-year-old to leave Aston Villa permanently following their £25m January signing of Lucas Digne, who also plays in his position, while Howe has selected him every time he has been available in the Premier League.

In those seven games, he has averaged 2.9 clearances, 1.9 key passes (a team-high) and 1.9 tackles per match. Strikingly, his overall WhoScored rating of 6.98/10 is the fourth-highest in the squad.

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Indeed, Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher believes that Targett represents a ‘huge’ improvement on what has come before at Newcastle, so losing him would feel like a big setback for Howe and co.

In other news, this injured Newcastle duo are joining their team-mates in Dubai this week

	A win in Port-of-Spain will make Sri Lanka the first visitors to clean-sweep the West Indies © Getty Images

Match facts

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Start time 1000 (local) 1400 (GMT)

The big picture

A victory in the opening Test in Guyana has given Sri Lanka a golden opportunity to claim their first series win in the Caribbean. A win here would also give them a special record: they will become the first visiting side to complete a clean-sweep in the West Indies. Australia came close five years ago, when they won the first three Tests but a record-breaking chase in the final Test in Antigua snuffed out their hopes of a whitewash.Sri Lanka pulled off a 121-run win in the opening Test in Guyana, with Chaminda Vaas engineering the triumph with a splendid 8 for 109. It was their first Test win in five attempts, giving them a shot at an unprecedented sweep.The fact that a scheduled warm-up game was cancelled, owing to logistical reasons, is unlikely to dampen Sri Lankan spirits. Mahela Jayawardene has urged his side to go for a win while Chris Gayle, his counterpart, has plenty of problems with regard to team selection. It will no doubt be an uphill task but West Indies have a record to defend and plenty of pride to play for. The weather, though, might have the final say.

Form Guide – West Indies

Last five completed matches: LWLLLPlayer to watch: Amit Jaggernauth’s exclusion from the side for the first Test created a lot of controversy but he’s likely to win his Test cap in front of his home crowd. Jaggernauth’s chances were vastly improved with his match-winning performance in the final round Carib Beer Series match against Barbados last weekend. He is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 40 wickets at 14.40.

Last five completed matches: WWWDWPlayer to watch: Thilan Thushara offered steady support to the experienced bowling duo of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan with match figures of 5 for 129 runs from 37.5 overs. One among the long line of left-arm seamers to have played for Sri Lanka, Thushara made his Test debut on Sri Lanka’s previous trip to the Caribbean five years ago. He subsequently faded but grabbed the opportunity in the first Test to stake his claim for a longer tenure.

Team news

West Indies will be without allrounder Ryan Hinds, who has a hamstring strain. It means Sewnarine Chattergoon, now fully recovered from the illness, is set to make his Test debut ahead of Devon Smith. He is likely to open along with Chris Gayle. There could also be a rare sight of two specialist spinners in the West Indian squad with Jaggernauth in line to join left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn in the side. The other option was to pick Fidel Edwards as a third fast bowler to support Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor.Sri Lanka were sweating over the fitness of Prasanna Jayawardene, who missed the final stages of the Guyana Test because of a hamstring injury, but he is set to retain his spot. Ishara Amarasinghe remains an option, instead of Rangana Herath, but it’s difficult to see Sri Lanka making too many changes to the winning side.West Indies (probable XI) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Sewnarine Chattergoon, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Daren Powell, 9 Jerome Taylor, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Amit Jaggernauth.Sri Lanka (probable XI) 1 Michael Vandort, 2 Malinda Warnapura, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Thilan Thushara, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Umpires: Simon Taufel, Billy Bowden.

Pitch & conditions

Rain could play a part in the way the pitch behaves. Brian Davis, the groundsman, has spoken about a seamer-friendly track but things could be way different if West Indies choose two spinners. “Surely nobody wants all pitches to be built just for batsmen,” he said.Weather: The forecast isn’t too rosy with showers expected on the second, third and fifth days. The opening day could be overcast too.

Stats

If Sri Lanka win this Test, they would be the first visiting team to complete a clean-sweep in the Caribbean.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is yet to score a hundred at the Queen’s Park Oval.

Quotes

“We want to get accustomed to the conditions in Trinidad. We’ll make sure we do all the hard work and challenge West Indies, and see if we can win this Test series 2-0.”
Mahela Jayawardene“I believe that if we can remain positive and focus, we can win the Test. It’s a must win situation for us to square the series. We’ll try and see what Sri Lanka has to offer a second time around both in the batting and bowling, so it is just for us to return to the drawing board, and come up with a plan, and come prepared to play a tough Test.”
Chris Gayle