Football: Herrlich harangues manager

MICHAEL SKIBBE, the manager of Rangers' Uefa Cup opponents, Borussia Dortmund, has been criticised by his striker Heiko Herrlich for not picking the side on merit. It was a costly outburst for Herrlich, who has been fined pounds 3,200 by the club.

Rangers lead 2-0 ahead of the third round, second leg next Tuesday in Germany, and Dortmund's hopes of recovering that deficit will not have been helped by Herrlich's outburst.

Herrlich scored twice in the 2-2 draw with the bottom side, Duisburg, on Sunday, but said: "If Fredi Bobic hadn't injured himself I wouldn't have even been playing. There's not a real sense of competition to win a place in the team. It's always the same names in the starting line-up. Sure you can look on that as criticism of the coach."

The Dortmund crowd called for Skibbe to be sacked during the match against Duisburg, but the club president, Gerd Niebaum, said: "We will be talking to Heiko Herrlich about these latest comments - and they will have consequences. He gets swollen-headed when he scores two goals."