You’ve got to win this to save your season
Petric message to Rangers
GORDAN PETRIC hailed Rangers’ Euro heroics – but reckons the Ibrox side still need to lift the Scottish Cup to save their season.
The nine-in-a-row hero was thrilled to see his old side batter Braga to reach the last 16 in the Europa League.
But he doesn’t believe cracking the continent will be enough for Steven Gerrard to class the campaign as a success.
The Light Blues have Hearts at Tynecastle in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals tomorrow and the big Serb – who lifted the trophy with Gers in 1996 and with Dundee United two years earlier – believes the stakes are huge.
Petric said: “If Steven wins the Cup he saves the season. He needs to lift the trophy.
“There is pressure for the players to produce because it’s so important to win silverware at this club.
“I don’t know if the European run will be enough – I think they need both for this to be a successful season. The league BY MICHAEL GANNON will be difficult now but if they win the Cup and maybe even go further in Europe, it will really set them up for next term.
“I know from my time as general secretary at Partisan, if you win trophies, it’s easier to persuade players to come to the club, it helps with sponsors and everything.”
Rangers have gone nine years without landing major silverware and Petric admitted he got a crash course on winning when he arrived at the club in 1995.
He found out Europe was fun but it was the domestic rivalry that the fans obsessed over.
The centre-back had helped end United’s Scottish Cup hoodoo but it was a different ball game at Ibrox.
Petric said: “When I joined Rangers I knew how important it was to win silverware.
“The boss Walter
Smith didn’t need to say anything – it was the dressing room who let me know.
“There was a real Scottish core. Richard Gough, Stuart McCall, Ally McCoist, Gordon Durie, Ian Ferguson, Ian Durrant, John Brown – it was a strong dressing room.
“Foreign guys like myself, Brian Laudrup, even Paul Gascoigne, we all had to adapt because these guys were running the dressing room.
“Everything was about winning nine in a row. The talk was league, league, league! It was important to win the Cup and collect trophies, of course. I remember we played in Europe against Juventus and they spanked us 4-0.
“The supporters said, ‘no problem, the next game is against Celtic!’ They just wanted the league.
“It’s totally changed now as Celtic are the ones on a run of titles but in a lot of ways it’s still the same.
“Going for 10 was unbelievable pressure. It went right down to the last game and Celtic won the league.”
Gers are in today’s Europa League last-16 draw and Petric reckons they have no reason to fear anyone – as Gerrard’s game plan is perfect for facing better sides, even if it has led to faltering on the home front.
Petric said: “How far can they go? It depends on who they draw.
“Braga surprised me as they were too open, especially at home. But Rangers were brilliant in Portugal. This is the kind of football that suits them right now.
“They can sit deep and hit on the counter attack. If they play the same type of game against the likes of Kilmarnock then it’s a different story, because there is not the same amount of space available.
“It suits Rangers to play against the better teams. They can sit 35-40 yards from their goal. I’ve seen them a few times this year, they played that way against Celtic.
“It doesn’t work against Kilmarnock. Perhaps they don’t have the type of player for those games and they can’t play the same way against Hearts this weekend as the supporters wouldn’t be happy.
“I saw the Hearts win earlier this year but this game could be different.”
● Gordon Petric was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.