Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WEIR IN A FAR BETTER PLACE
Standard Liege Rangers
Tomorrow,5.55pm
SOME will argue this is the start of a European campaign that Rangers could do without.
But Davie Weir adopts a very different point of view. In fact, the former Ibrox No.2 and skipper believes were it not for the huge strides made by Gerrard and his players in the Europa League over the past two years, then the manager might not have been afforded the time to build a team capable of winning a title on home soil.
That Rangers are sitting four points clear at the top of the table after Saturday’s win at Celtic Park is down in no small part, says Weir, to the fact Gerrard bought himself some badly needed breathing space on his travels while plotting to go the distance domestically. “What you are seeing is the benefit of two years’ very hard work on the training ground and there’s no doubt the really good results
Rangers had in Europe bought the manager that time,” Weir said yesterday as Gerrard and his players packed their bags for a date with Standard Liege in Belgium.
“You have to give him credit for that. Yes, there may have been a lack of domestic success but the progress that’s been made in European competition has given them a bit of a cushion.
“But there’s no doubt about it, they are well coached. You can see that in the way they play and, funnily enough, it seems to suit them when they are up against better teams.
“They may have struggled more trying to break teams down but they’ve also been much better at doing that recently too which is a sign it’s all really coming together. They have added better players and better attacking options which makes them more dangerou. “I expect you’ll see that against Standard Liege again. Europe suits them because they are coming up against teams who are a bit more aggressive and expansive.
“That allows Rangers to pick them off rather than having to dictate the tempo all the time. “They have taken that European system and made it work for them against Celtic.”