Gers alarm as Bougherra goes missing

MADJID BOUGHERRA faces being fined by Walter Smith this morning after going AWOL.

The Algerian will NOT, however, be axed for the Champions League clash with Unirea Urziceni.

Bougherra failed to return to Scotland until late on Friday night following a World Cup qualifier with Rwanda last Sunday. The alarm was raised when the player failed to turn up for training on Thursday as scheduled.

Despite their repeated attempts to track him down, no one at the club was able to do so.

It's understood Gers No 2 Ally McCoist finally contacted the player's agent only to be told he had lost his travel documents earlier in the week.

The agent couldn't explain exactly why neither the player nor a representative had contacted Rangers to tell them what was going on. The player faces heing docked two weeks' wages when he reports to Murray Park today.

It's understood Bougherra already has a bad reputation for timekeeping and he reported back late from international duty in September.

His explanation that he'd missed a connecting flight in Paris then was accepted by the Ibrox hierarchy but similar excuses won't wash this time.

Smith admittted he was in the dark. He said: "I haven't spoken to him so I can't update you. I'd be pleased if I could update myself!

"There's a bit of a problem but we'll need to find out what it is first. He might be ill.

"As far as I know he came back to Scotland late last night. We've been unable to make contact with him. Maybe there's something wrong with his phone. Normally you can get a hold of people these days.'

This article has 2 comments