STUART MCCALL is "set to take charge" of Scottish Championship side Rangers until the end of the season as the Ibrox club "seek to salvage a flagging promotion campaign." The former Motherwell manager "spent seven hugely successful years" as a midfielder with Rangers in the '90s and is the man DAVE KING's "new regime want to boost their Championship prospects." McCall has "held talks with the Ibrox hierarchy over a short-term appointment that would allow him to stake his claim for a longer stay at the club" (London DAILY MAIL, 3/11). ... Former ManU Manager ALEX FERGUSON has co-written a book that the publisher "promises will reveal his secrets on delivering sustained success, both on and off the football field." Leading, which Ferguson has written with venture capitalist and former Google board member MICHAEL MORITZ, will be published in October -- "almost two years after My Autobiography." The new book is a combination of Ferguson’s "personal experience of 38 years of football management -- including 27 seasons at Manchester United," and Moritz’s "examinations of the wider lessons of how great leadership can create long-term, transformational success, according to publisher Hodder & Stoughton" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 3/11). ... A monolithic work of art by Italian artist MAURIZIO CATTELAN that "charts England's football defeats since 1874" was sold for £425,000 ($634,000) at Sotheby's in London on Tuesday. The enormous, black granite plinth "charts every single defeat, from Scotland's 2-1 victory over England in 1874" right through to Romania's PHIL NEVILLE-assisted win at Euro 2000 -- "over 150 defeats in total" (ESPN, 3/11). ... Scotland cricketer MAJID HAQ “has been sent home from the World Cup after suggesting that he had been dropped from the Scotland team” because of the color of his skin. Scotland lost to Sri Lanka on Tuesday by 148 runs in Hobart in a pool A match for which Haq was not selected. Haq, who was born in Paisley and is of Pakistani descent, “reacted to news that he had been dropped for the game against Sri Lanka” by tweeting, “Always tougher when you’re in the minority! #colour #race” (LONDON TIMES, 3/11). ... Former Sheffield United and Wales footballer CHED EVANS is “resigned to not returning to the game until the 2016-17 season, with no decision imminent” from the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which is examining his rape conviction. This case has “been under review by the CCRC since July but was fast-tracked in the autumn.” It “is understood Evans’ legal team submitted fresh evidence in support of his claim of innocence last month” (London INDEPENDENT, 3/11).
