I came back and stopped 10 in a row...
BIG LURE FOR LAFFERTY
NEVER go back might be one of the most well-worn warnings in football.
However, Colin Stein reckons the old saying goes out of the window when the call comes from Ibrox and there’s a chance to make history.
The legendary Rangers striker didn’t think twice about heading back home to help the cause of stopping Celtic making it a record 10 in a row under his namesake Jock.
Gers hero Stein hadn’t wanted to leave in the first place after he was sold just months after his goalscoring star turn in the Cup Winners’ Cup triumph in the Nou Camp in 1972.
He ended up punted to Coventry but when the call came to head back home after three years, he admitted he jumped at the chance.
There might have been a few miles more on the clock and the legs were a tad more weary.
But it was Stein who struck the crucial blow just a few weeks after re-signing, when he hurled himself to get on the end of a Bobby McKean cross to head the winner against Hibs at Easter Road which secured the championship in 1975.
It’s changed days in Glasgow but current Gers boss Steven Gerrard has brought back Allan McGregor and is trying to secure Kyle Lafferty for a second stint at Ibrox – for a mission every bit as important as the one facing Stein and Co in the 70s.
It was a no-brainer for Stein at the time and he reckons Lafferty could be about to jump on board as the modern-day Gers aim to mark the beginning of the end of Celtic’s dominance in the city. He said: “I felt I still had more to offer when I left but you could say Willie Waddell sent me to Coventry – literally! “I was arguably past my sell by date when I returned but when the
chance comes up to go back then there’s only one answer.
“Ibrox is hard to leave but easy to go back to. In fairness it worked out pretty well for me personally and for the club. We won the league title and stopped Celtic winning 10 in a row.
“That was what it was all about back then – stopping Celtic after all those years.
“I enjoyed my chance to return because I missed playing in front of such big crowds.
“They always say you should never go back but winning that title made it well worth it.”
Stein has heard about the modern-day calls to halt 10 but he believes Rangers should be looking to end Celtic’s run way before it gets to that stage.
He said: “I don’t know about this stopping 10 in a row. “It’s about being the best team in Glasgow and Scotland right now – stopping eight in a row. “Celtic have had it
far too easy for too long. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much of a challenge while Rangers were building back up through the divisions.
“It looks as though we might see more of a fight of it this season. I was at Ibrox on Sunday and you could see the difference in the place – on and off the pitch.
“The team look to be in much better shape this season and there is a real optimistic atmosphere among the fans.
“The support will see them as heroes if they can stop eight in a row.”
Stein admitted it is a big ask for Gerrard to halt the Hoops juggernaut in his first season.
But the Ibrox men might as well aim high.
The former Scotland star has been impressed with the summer recruitment drive and while some Gers fans might not exactly be preparing to party for a Lafferty return, he can see where the Northern Ireland man can slot in.
Stein said: “It is obviously up to him but if he’s up for it then it COLIN STEIN