Rangers boss Alex McLeish has insisted he is not intimidated by the pressure on him to join the elite group of Ibrox managers who have won the treble of League Championship, Scottish Cup and League Cup.

Only William Struth, Scott Symon, Jock Wallace, Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat can claim that achievement in their time in the Ibrox hot seat but if Rangers clinch the Scottish Cup on Saturday against Dundee, McLeish will take up membership of that exclusive club.

But the Ibrox boss said he knows what being manager of the Govan club is all about and claimed he is ready and waiting to make his own history. He said:
"It's scary when you realise that only five managers have done it before but I'm not overawed by it. I wasn't fazed by the task of taking the Rangers job because I felt ready for it and I felt confident. There are a lot of wonderful memories when you walk through the corridors of Ibrox, pictures of yesteryear and the stars who made Rangers famous. I'm not overawed by it, I'm inspired by it. Nobody can prepare you for being the manager of Rangers. I've got great mentors like Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat and my former managers like Alex Smith, Alex Ferguson and Billy McNeill. But you have to experience it yourself and when you come to a big club, you do get immersed in it and you know what it's all about and how much it means to people. To win the treble is more important for other people than it is to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm in the game to be a winner and lift silverware and it's about prestige for the club."

Blackburn have confirmed that they have tabled a new £1.5m bid for Rangers' Italian centre-back Lorenzo Amoruso.

It is the third time at least that Rovers boss Graeme Souness has attempted to land the 31-year-old defender, who captained the Gers to the Scottish Premier League title this season. Rovers chief executive John Williams told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"We've made an offer and we're hoping it will be accepted. Of course we're optimistic, but at this stage we haven't been given permission to speak to him."

Amoruso has been at Ibrox for six years since a £5m move from Fiorentina in May 1997 and has one year remaining on his current contract. Rangers boss Alex McLeish has previously insisted that only "a silly offer" would persuade him to part with his skipper, but the Glasgow club's money men may prefer to cash in on Amoruso now rather than allow him to leave for nothing this summer. As for the player himself, Amoruso said after Sunday's championship triumph:
"I love Rangers and everything is on hold at the moment. I hope to stay because Rangers is my life."

A last-minute penalty from Mikel Arteta clinched the championship for Rangers after an extraordinary finale to an extraordinary season. In the end it was all settled by goal difference as Celtic's 4-0 win at Kilmarnock proved to be one strike short of glory.

This was Rangers' 50th title - a world record - and was wrapped up with virtually the last kick of the game thanks to a 6-1 thrashing of Dunfermline. The lead had been Rangers' earlier in the day and remained there for most of the proceedings, including the moments before Arteta's spot kick. But there had been a point when Celtic were in the driving seat until a late flurry of goals allowed the Ibrox faithful to begin the party.

The first goal duly arrived after just two minutes and 25 seconds, with Michael Mols netting it on the turn but Jason Dair stunned the home crowd with a fine equaliser in the 11th minute. That was until Claudio Caniggia continued his remarkable record of scoring against the Pars this season, netting for the seventh time after Fernando Ricksen's cross from the right had been deflected into the veteran's path.

Rangers' championship bandwagon was back on track thanks to two forwards who are likely to be shown the door at the end of the season. Mols saw a penalty shout turned down by referee Stuart Dougal and by the time the Dutchman had been denied by the first of two good saves by Stillie news had filtered through that Celtic were leading at Kilmarnock.

That meant Rangers were once again leading only by the number of goals scored but they went ahead on goal difference when Shota Arveladze threw himself across his marker to sent a glancing header past Stillie from Lorenzo Amoruso's pacy delivery from the left. The Ibrox faithful went quiet again when news of Celtic's third at Kilmarnock came in, a goal that put the Hoops ahead on goal difference. But Rangers then made it 4-1 to put them back in the driving seat through De Boer.

Rangers were back on top on goals scored - and two minutes later they were ahead on goal difference when Steven Thompson, who had come on for Mols in the 63rd minute made it 5-1. There was time for a final twist in the tale however when McCann was brought down in the box by Walker and up stepped Arteta to slot home the penalty that won the title.

Afterwards Rangers boss Alex McLeish said:
"It feels absolutely wonderful. But the dividing line between success and failure is so thin. One minute we looked out of it but then I was told it was over at Rugby Park it was brilliant. It was important we kept focused and these players have exceeded my expectations."

Peter Lovenkrands has signed a new two-year extension to his Ibrox contract ahead of his side's crunch SPL clash with Dunfermline. Manager Alex McLeish and Director of Football Martin Bain concluded the deal on the eve of Sunday's title decider.

Ibrox boss Alex McLeish could not hide his delight at securing the services of Peter Lovenkrands for a longer period. He said:
"We are absolutely delighted that Peter has decided to pledge himself to Rangers for a further two years. He's a young player who has achieved success at a young age. If you look at our squad we have a nucleas of young players who will be the cornerstone of the first team."

Peter Lovenkrands says the thought of leaving Rangers never crossed his mind. He said:
"I have always wanted to stay at Rangers for as long as possible and I'm delighted the contract discussions have been completed. I wanted to stay at Rangers and they wanted me to stay so it was fairly easy to sort out the details. However, the only thing dominating my thoughts right now is winning the title on Sunday."

The Scottish premier league title will be decided on the final day of the season after Rangers secured a 2-0 win at Hearts to draw level with Celtic at the top of the table. The Glasgow rivals go into next Sunday's final round of matches locked together on 94 points from 37 games with an identical goal difference, Rangers having scored one more to head the standings.

Georgian striker Shota Arveladze missed a penalty in a tense encounter at Tynecastle, but it did not prove fatal to Rangers' title hopes as Ronald de Boer (65) and substitute Peter Lovenkrands (74) found the net. Manager Alex McLeish told reporters:
"Missing the penalty, I wondered if it was going to be our year. But then we've come up with a wonderful goal thanks to a great header from Ronald."

Third-placed Hearts, who are almost assured of a place in next season's UEFA Cup, probably deserved to be ahead at halftime as they knocked the visitors out of their stride with a purposeful pressing game. Mikel Arteta's early shot that shaved the bar was Rangers' best effort, but the visitors were grateful to goalkeeper Stefan Klos for keeping them level at the interval. The German clawed a powerful Scott Severin free kick over the bar and produced a spell-binding one-handed stop to deny Mark de Vries.

The game swung towards Rangers just after the hour mark when De Vries inexplicably handled a corner but Finnish goalkeeper Tepi Moilanen saved Arveladze's spot-kick by knocking it on to a post. After Barry Ferguson missed two penalty kicks in a recent match at Dundee, the Rangers fans looked anxious but they did not have long to wait for the opening goal.

Hearts surrendered possession in attack and Arveladze skipped down a flank before crossing for De Boer to bullet home a close-range header. Hearts were again exposed when Lovenkrands drilled the second into the net nine minutes later from De Boer's cut-back. McLeish added:
"Hearts were in the ascendancy in the first half and Stefan Klos has made a terrific save from De Vries. That's the kind of save that can win you the game as long as you put your chances in the net."

Alex McLeish praised his players for producing a performance that convinced him they were back on course for the Bank of Scotland Premier League title. The Light Blues were rampant in a 4-0 demolition of Kilmarnock and the only regret for the Ibrox side was that they did not score more. McLeish's side went back on top of the table on goal difference having needed to win by two goals to do so.

The Gers boss conceded he had chopped and changed his team in recent weeks because he had not been happy with the form of certain players at a time when Celtic had clawed back an eight-point deficit to regain the lead. But he was delighted with every contribution to a game that was all but won within seven minutes when Michael Mols netted twice. Substitutes Shota Arveladze and Claudio Caniggia completed the rout late on and Rangers now travel to Hearts for the penultimate SPL game next week full of confidence. McLeish said:
"It was a great win. The performance was very pleasing. Over the last month I have chopped and changed. I hadn't really wanted to but we had one or two players off the boil and that was what clouded my thinking a little bit. But today it all came together. They all played well and you could see what was at stake."

Ronald de Boer had missed a good chance when the game was literally a few seconds old and McLeish admitted he had feared it might be costly. He said:
"Ronald is normally so assured from that position but snatched at it and I thought "Surely it's not going to be one of those days?" But we quickly got the goal. That kind of performance must give the players a lot of confidence going into the next game."

Rangers coach Jan Wouters has agreed a 12-month contract extension and has praised boss Alex McLeish for the working environment at Ibrox. The former Holland international is first-team coach at Ibrox under manager Alex McLeish and assistant Andy Watson.

Wouters had been brought to the club by former manager Dick Advocaat and stayed on after his fellow countryman left to take charge of the national team. Wouters told the club's website, rangers.co.uk:
"It's very pleasing that I will be staying at Rangers for another year because the club is not only a big club in Scotland, but also a big club in Europe. Working with Alex and Andy for the past year and a half has been great. I also like living in Scotland, so when the offer was made to me I was more than happy to accept."

Wouters admitted there had been initial fears about life at post-Advocaat Rangers and he had seen the Little General's number two, Bert van Lingen, also leave. He said:
"You are never sure how relationships will work out because I was brought to the club by Dick Advocaat and worked with Bert van Lingen and him, and I wasn't sure how it would work out with Alex and Andy. I knew Alex as a player. Indeed, I played against him when Holland met Scotland in Eindhoven, but you never know how things will work out when a new manager takes charge. However I should not have had any fears. From day one, there was a good feeling between the three of us. We all have the same thoughts on football and the way the game should be played, so it has been great to work with them.''

Rangers have arranged summer home friendlies with Arsenal and Everton as they prepare for another crack at the Champions League.

A pre-season tour of Germany has also been lined up, although the opposition have yet to be confirmed.

Arsenal are set come to Ibrox on Tuesday 5 August in the final warm-up match before the new league season begins on 9 August. But that is only if Rangers become champions at the end of the season - if not, the Gunners date will be switched to Saturday 2 August.

That is because the runners-up in the Bank of Scotland Premier League this season will go into the second qualifying round of the Champions League - and the final leg of that tie is to be played on Wednesday 6 August. The champions will have to negotiate only the third and final round, which starts after the new domestic season has begun.

The Everton game is also an Ibrox affair, with David Moyes' much-improved side due to arrive on Saturday 26 July.

The Germany trip will take place before then as a nine-day training camp has been booked for the middle of that month. The plan is to play lower league opposition before finishing up with a joust with a Bundesliga side.

Alex McLeish has reassured worried Rangers fans he does not fear skipper Barry Ferguson will suffer long-term damage by continuing to lead the side when less than fully fit. The midfielder spent time in Germany this week seeing a specialist about his troublesome hip muscle problem. And he is sure to be in the starting line-up at Dundee on Sunday as the Gers attempt to take another step towards lifting the title. McLeish said:
"The consultancies he has had in London and Germany continue until we come to a conclusion and everybody is agreed on the best way forward. Barry will still be available. He has been reassured by consultants that he will play until the end of the season. He has been assured it will not get any worse if he plays on although he is still on a course of pain-killers. The specialists don't think that playing now will set his career back. It looks like an operation will take place but, until all the talking heads et together to decide what the best course is, and they are all agreed, then it is in the melting pot."

For a number of months the midfielder has not been able to take part in every training session but McLeish insisted it had hardly affected his performances on the pitch. He said:
"His training routine is a little bit mix and match but, as for his effectiveness, I think I would probably need only a couple of fingers to count the number of games where he has not been as effective as he has been for the rest of the season. He has been very much a key factor in where we are in the league championship race at this present time. He's a strong boy with mental strength. To be captain of Rangers at the early age he was and to have played against the Monacos, the Bayern Munichs and Parmas over the years has developed him immensely as a player, but also mentally."