U.S. national team midfielder Maurice Edu won his first professional title on Sunday as his Glasgow Rangers side beat out Celtic for the championship on the final day of the Scottish Premier League season.
Rangers defeated Dundee United, 3-0, while Celtic settled for a 0-0 draw vs. Heart of Midlothian, which gave Rangers its first title since 2005.
Edu finished his strong end of the season with another start and 90 minutes for Rangers, which now returns to the UEFA Champions League after being eliminated early from Europe this past season.
DaMarcus Beasley was not in uniform for Rangers and looks to be on his way out this summer, while Edu has established himself as a fixture and should head into next season as a starter.
What did you think of Rangers' run to the title? Happy to see Edu play a part? Disappointed that Beasley never settled in with Rangers after his knee injury last year?
Share your thoughts below.
I don’t care, I have nothing against people who are Scottish/English. I have many friends who are of that ancestry. How many Irish friends do you have? Did you kick them to death yesterday in celebration?
Celtic might not wake up tomorrow champions, but at least they’ll wake up and not have bigoted, xenophobic fans.
Posted by: MikeK | May 24, 2009 at 03:35 PM
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Anyone want to point out the irony to nitwit boy?
Loyalist Ranger fans kill an Irishman near his home- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8066760.stm
YNWA. You never hear of this happening when Celtic win the league.
Rangers and Celtic are way ahead of any MLS team. The rest of the league is comparable but you’re crazy if you think even the best MLS team is on the same level as Rangers or Celtic.
I just thought it was kind of funny when bloggers are playing the “can you find Edu” in a picture and he is clearly the only black guy in the picture.
I Will Follow Rangers!
Hey CSD, lol, have you ever been to Boston? Once you get outside of Logan, black people are like an endangered species.
lol Adam K. I’ll be honest we didn’t deserve it this year after the second half of the season we had. Still, no need to post this Ives….stop being such a HUN ;D
Above all I am impressed by Edu’s professionalism – he never was a sourpuss, instead he trained with conviction and absolutely ran with his chance.
Nobody could have predicted the turn of events that would lead to his opportunity, but he was ready for it. He’s a prime example to all other US players plying their trade in Europe and complaining about match minutes
I wouldn’t say the SPL is light years ahead, If rangers and Celtic win the title every year. Plus if those two teams leave what will the attendence be like? Thats the whole argument to them having to stay in the spl, everyone is afraid it would kill the league. I think compared together the only difference between MLS and SPL is potential. there is plenty in MLS and nothing in SPL, hence why the US ranking steadily goes up and the scotland ranking goes down. The SPL has plateaued and until the change it and another team starts challenging the top two, there’s no changing this situation.
“No he’s the other black guy in the picture”
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Wow…congrats to Edu…what an experience, and what a way to make an immediate impact on his club.
I was in Scotland once for about 4 days. I saw one black guy. If you ever go to Scotland and see a black guy there is a pretty chance its Maurice Edu.
Is he the one in the center with the shirt over his head?
Posted by: Ed | May 24, 2009 at 01:51 PM
No he’s the other black guy in the picture
i say it’s time for Rangers and Celtic to join the EPL, the rest of the Scots teams could join up with the Irish teams and form a “Celtic League” or whatever…
Celtic might not wake up tomorrow champions, but at least they’ll wake up and not have bigoted, xenophobic fans.
The quality (or lack of) is not the point when it comes to the SPL. Edu will be playing in Europe all the time if he remains at Rangers and next year he is assured 6 games in the group stage facing the top clubs in Europe. That is where he will develop and get better and help the national team. The same goes for Dempsey and Fulham. It is important that our players play a wide range of styles of football and being exposed to Europe’s best will help a lot.
Under the “a” in Clydesdale, you just see his head wedged between the two players holding up the SPL Cup and the guy in the suit on the right in the picture. He also has a scarf on his head.
Is he the one in the center with the shirt over his head?
I think the top 4 teams of SPL (Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, Dundee/Aberdeen/whoever) and the top 4 teams of MLS (At this time I would say Chivas USA, Chicago, Seattle, Toronto/DCU, not in that order necessarily) are pretty comparable.
The rest of MLS is all pretty poor, while you gotta drop a few spots in the SPL before you reach LA/San Jose/Dallas levels of suck.
Now, the leagues themselves aren’t even close. Fan support, prosperity, no question SPL is miles, no light years, ahead. But I’d take any potential MLS champ to play right to the level of Rangers or Celtic.
great stuff. can anyone locate edu in that picture?
Reyna of course won the title twice and is still a well regarded ex-Rangers player who in that Ranger side of that era more than held his own. The scary thought is Edu already has the Rangers fans on side and believing in his talent and from what I have seen of his talent on TV he has already matched Reyna in the talent department, so who knows how far he can go beyond this season for both club and country.
As for DMB, I have been reading this site for a while and I do feel that you all don’t have a fair understanding of why he hasn’t played for Rangers when fit and why he keeps getting injured all the time. He set the Rangers team alight early last season before hurting his knee in our win against Lyon away in the Champions League, which isn’t a “hack” League. Once he was recovered from that injury he played in the Scottish Cup Final win and got hurt during Pre Season training and as a result his form dropped off and the Rangers formation changed to suit 3 central midfielders with a 3 striker dropping back into the left wing when in defence, a role Novo or Lafferty are far better suited to than DMB. Sadly his early season was ruined by a hamstring injury and when he got back into the team he was taken out in what can only be described as a cheapshot (which took place twice in that same match to Rangers match) and saw his season end with a Rib injury.
So basically a knee injury late-2008 hurt the early form he built up at Rangers and any chance at a Pre Season was ruined by his hamstrings. Only once was he injured during SPL play and in that same match another Rangers player got taken out, so it wasn’t as if he was targeted. He certainly was highly regarded because of his pace, but you can’t use it if your injured.
Still he’ll have a League and Cup Medal to look back on his time in Scotland and Rangers fans and Rangers management certainly will remember him well. We certainly will want him to live up to his ability.
DMB is lazy. Kinda reminds me of Adu.
Congrats Edu!!!
“And I really dont care if SPL is not better than MLS”
What!? Of course the SPL is better than MLS. The bottom SPL teams seem to be about the quality of MLS teams though.
Happy to see Edu doing well with Rangers
So good to see someone win a title in Europe.
And I really dont care if SPL is not better than MLS, what matters is hes getting more exposure to other big time clubs. And gets a chance to play is the Champions League next year.
DC Josh- Rennes didn’t win the French Cup….lost 2-1, but Boca scored
Thanks Never First.
Yes, Reyna won the SPL in 1999 and 2000.
It’s good to see Edu starting at a club with as much history as Rangers, but I don’t think the competition he faces on a weekly basis is much better than MLS. The competition he will face to keep the starting job is probably better.
I do think Edu and Bradley will form a solid midfield for years to come.
Bradley and Edu in midfield?? Imagine a 4-4-2 with them in the middle…Jozy and Ching (since he’s done well lately) up top, landon and dempsey out wide….what do you guys think? This formation worked well the last time we tried it.
Very happy for Mo!!! Dissapointed for DMB. But i think he needs to go to a league that is less physical and he will find his form again. Still DMB has been a good player if you look at it – He has scored in the Champions League, FA Cup (i think), EPL, WCQ and Eridevisie and still only 27. I think a stint in the Bundesliga or Eridivise or Spain would be very good for him. Congrats Rangers!!
Robert Anderson or Anyone – Did Claudio win the SPL when he was at Rangers? Just wondering.
Feel good story of the year for American’s Abroad. It’s been a great season for AA’s all around.
-Dempsey earning a starting role on a very good Fulham team that sets a record for most points ever in the Premier League and a possibly invite to the Europa League.
-Bradley playing a crucial role in helping Monchengladbach avoid relegation.
-Howard setting the clean sheet record for Everton, and single-handedly leading his team to the FA Cup final.
-Boca helping Rennes win the French Cup.
-Edu winning the SPL title AND an old firm derby.
-Then you have all the youngsters, and Hanneman in the promotional playoffs in the Championship and League One.
-Gooch helping his team fight for a second Belgian League title in a row.
-Jozy being the first American to score in La Liga.
I can’t remember another year this good for our boys overseas.
Thanks Robert!
Beasley does get credited with a title because he played in 10 of Rangers League matches (6 Starts/4 appearances off the bench) and that is the SPL requirement.
So that is 2 US Players who won a League Title today, with Edu more than likely to play in next weekends Scottish Cup Final for Rangers.
Mo has become a cult figure for the Rangers fans and he has proven he belongs at the heart of the Rangers midfield. He is solid in the tackle and a great passer of the ball. You just know when he go near the ball, he either is going to win it back for Rangers or its going to end up in a positon that is of advantage for Rangers. His Old Firm game 13 days ago was considered by most fans to be Man of the Match worthy, he was that good on the day.
Today he was again good and his level of play hasn’t really dropped at any stage. He is build for this league and the role that he is asked to play. He will become a far better player in future seasons and for the USMNT that is a great thing to look forward to.
As for the title going to Rangers well thats 52 and Counting. We Welcome the Chase…
I don’t think Edu gets a lot of pub in many corners of US soccer media, but I think his club situation is as good as any other field player we have, and probably better.
Does Beasley get credited with a title?
great for Mo. Winning is an attitude. Once he starts winning he wont ever settle for second best. How did he play today? I haven’t seen him at all beyond the youtube clips of his goals.
Look at the way Rangers played once Mo was inserted into the starting lineup. I think they were like 7-0-1. Let’s pretty damn good. Well done Mo!!!!
We are the people!