Nacho Novo
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ignacio Gómez Novo | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rangers | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 31, 2006 | |||
Ignacio Gómez Novo (born March 26 1979 in Spain), simply known as Nacho Novo, is a professional football player who currently plays for Rangers. He formerly played for Huesca, Raith Rovers and Dundee.
Novo joined Raith Rovers from SD Huesca in July 2001 and scored 18 goals in 33 appearances in his first season. His goalscoring record attracted the attention of Premier League club Dundee who signed him for £100,000 in July 2002 [1].
He remained with Dundee for two seasons where his form attracted the interest of several clubs. Both Rangers and Celtic as well as Leicester City were reported to be interested in signing Novo [2] however Celtic later dropped their interest in the player [3] and Leicester City's interest failed to materialise.
He eventually signed for Rangers in July 2004 [4] for a reported fee of £450,000.
Novo scored 25 goals in his first season at Rangers, scoring the goal at Hibernian that won Rangers the league title [5]. 19 of these goals came in the Scottish Premier League, with 3 in the league cup and 3 in European competition, including one against eventual UEFA cup winners CSKA Moscow in the qualifying stages of the UEFA Champions League [6].
He wore shirt number 10 and was a regular in the Rangers side until the start of the 2005-06 season when he broke his fifth metatarsal [7], ruling him out for several months. He made his first Rangers come back against Kilmarnock in a 3-2 win. He failed to show any level of consistency for the remainder of the season and was left frustrated with limited appearances in the first team.
In early 2006-07, Novo looked set to leave Rangers after limited first team opportunities under new manager Paul Le Guen. However a proposed transfer to English Championship club Coventry City fell through on transfer deadline day[8].
Novo scored his first goal in over a year for Rangers in a 3-2 UEFA Cup win over A.S. Livorno Calcio on October 19, 2006 [9]. In the following match Novo came off the subs bench to score a late winner against St Mirren in a 3-2 win for Rangers [10]. He then started the next game at the expense of Dado Pršo, Motherwell held Rangers to a 1-1 draw with Novo named Man of the Match.
His rejuvenated form continued with goals against Hearts [11], Maccabi Haifa [12] and AJ Auxerre [13] and Novo now appears to be an integral part of manager Paul Le Guen's future plans. Novo has also stated his desire to play for Rangers for the rest of his career[14]
Honours
References
- ^ "Dundee sign Novo". BBC Sport website. 4 July, 2002.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Celtic make Novo inquiry". BBC Sport website. 15 June, 2004.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Celtic drop Novo interest". BBC Sport website. 30 June, 2004.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Rangers sign Novo". BBC Sport website. 6 July 2004.
- ^ "Hibernian 0-1 Rangers". BBC Sport website. 22 May, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "CSKA Moscow 2-1 Rangers". BBC Sport website. 10 August, 2004.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Novo could be out for two months". BBC Sport website. 26 September 2005.
- ^ "No go for Novo move to Coventry". BBC Sport website. 31 August 2006.
- ^ "Livorno 2-3 Rangers". BBC Sport website. 19 October 200.
- ^ "St Mirren 2-3 Rangers". BBC Sport website. 22 October 2006.
- ^ "Hearts 0-1 Rangers". BBC Sport website. 19 November 2006.
- ^ "Rangers 2-0 Maccabi Haifa". BBC Sport website. 2 November 2006.
- ^ "Auxerre 2-2 Rangers". BBC Sport website. 23 November 2006.
- ^ "Novo clarifies Ibrox exit plans". BBC Sport website. 29 November 2006.
External links
- Photo and stats at sporting heroes.net
- Nacho Novo at Soccerbase