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There are no soft touches at the highest level of European football and, while Advocaat looks for strong characters to shoulder some responsibility, he must have been livid to see two of his major summer signings, Bert Konterman and Fernando Ricksen, revealing just how badly they are struggling to adapt to life in Scotland.

Headlines like the one that accompanied Konterman's story - ''I play like a mummy's boy'' - do nothing for the player's credibility and Advocaat, who has put his reputation on the line by adding to the already sizeable Dutch colony at Ibrox, will no doubt have had some words with the player.

Whether Konterman recovers from his hamstring injury in time to play against the Austrian champions remains to be seen but, like Ricksen, he has looked like a duck out of water in the frenzied Scottish game.

Of course, it takes players time to settle in their new surroundings, and some longer than others, but the #8.5m forked out for the two was with Europe in mind, and if both are involved, then this is the platform on which they have to showcase their talents.

It has to be a concern to Advocaat that his team are haemorrhaging goals even against the weaker opposition in the top-12, and while he can cite the loss of Craig Moore as a contributory factor, there should be enough strength in depth to compensate.

It's not all bad news for Rangers, though. Michael Mols' rehabilitation is almost complete and if he shows up well against Dundee this afternoon then it will be difficult for Advocaat to resist the temptation to play him alongside Ronald de Boer against Graz.

His loss to the club last season was as significant as Henrik Larsson's across the city, and if he can recapture the form he showed consistently before his knee injury, then Rangers' chances of progressing into the next phase will be greatly improved.

Jorg Albertz is also likely to return from injury, and in recent weeks his surging runs from deep have been sadly lacking.

Advocaat might have sleepless nights as he contemplates his most potent line-up, but he has made a habit of getting it right on the night and, even in spite of all his troubles, few would bet against him doing it again.

n So, Ivano Bonetti thinks the world is conspiring against him?

We have heard it all before from foreign players and mana-gers who are unable - or unwilling - to adapt to a new culture, and while his Dundee side have found themselves in hot water with six sendings off already this season, he can rest assured there is no witch-hunt.

Rather, it is simply a matter of him sitting down, understanding the vagaries of our game, and relaying the information to his players. Bonetti must also do his best to integrate with his contemporaries, rather than ostracising himself, or he will discover to his cost how lonely management

really can be.

It has all gone a bit pear-shaped after a blissful start to his term of office on Tayside, with the Scottish Football Association taking a dim view of Dundee's disciplinary record. After losing three players in total and a CIS Cup quarter-final place against St Mirren in midweek, Bonetti turned to ''the big judge in the sky'' for help but only he is able to halt the dramatic slide, and perhaps he should stop trying to lay the blame elsewhere.

n I was not surprised to see Ally McCoist entering the record books again with his sixty-third League Cup goal, equalling former Celtic striker Bobby Lennox's record.

Ally has made a career out of confounding critics, and his recent goalscoring exploits have justified Bobby Williamson's gamble in handing him a final one-year contract with Kilmarnock at the ripe old footballing age of 37.

The striker insists this is his last hurrah before focusing on his television commitments, and, hope-fully, he will sign off in the fashion that has helped him achieve legendary status in the game.