GERS HAVE TO WIN, SAYS BOSS
AS A man who joined Rangers just as the Nine- in- a- Row era was gathering pace, Stuart McCall had the luxury of immediately playing to an appreciative, captive audience.
In the sanctuary of the Ibrox dressing room back then, however, the former Everton midfielder would not have to search too hard for anecdotal evidence that it was not always thus.
At the outset of their careers in light blue, both Ally McCoist and Mark Hateley could vouch for the fact that large swathes of the Ibrox support do, at times, take some pleasing. Lee McCulloch, the current skipper who has recently assumed pantomime villain status, would doubtless concur.
As they prepare to dust down the ‘Sold Out’ signs at Ibrox tomorrow for the first time in recent memory, McCall has good reason to view the prospect of 50,000-plus descending as both a blessing and a curse.
Provided his side rise to the occasion, a boisterous, unified support is capable of dragging them over the line. Equally, if matters do not adhere to the expected script, the Rangers manager knows the first groans of derision will not be long in being heard.
‘I think if we hadn’t gone through the Hearts game (a 2-1 win in April), I wouldn’t have had doubts as such, but I would have been thinking along those lines,’ McCall confessed.
‘But when Hearts came, there was a really good atmosphere with 3,000 of their supporters. I think they (the players) got a buzz from it. You could tell that listening to them at half-time and full-time.
‘Because we’ve had the experience of that game this season, then I think everyone is looking forward to the vibe. I would much rather we were going out there in front of 50,000 than the 12 or 13,000 we had against Raith in the Scottish Cup.’
However clichéd the old adage has become, McCall, for one, avidly subscribes to the theory that the mood of a crowd can add or detract from the length of the stride.
‘ I think it’ s got to do,’ he concurred. ‘It works both ways. If they’re against you then you go into your shell. If you run over to take a corner and everyone is cheering then it just makes you feel better about yourself.
‘I think you do things quicker and better when you feel better about yourself. To succeed, everyone needs to be in it and aiming for the same thing.
‘I have said before, we have had ups and downs and we have had highs and lows. But to get the best result everyone needs to be behind each other. That is us behind the players, the players behind each other, the fans behind the players.’
Two goals to one ahead but without the safety net of an awaygoals rule, Rangers’ advantage in the tie remains slender.
James Fowler’s impressive Queens side still have the wherewithal to puncture the slightest suggestion of an Ibrox feelgood factor by ending Rangers’ hopes of a third successive promotion.
There may be no silverware at stake tomorrow but for the Rangers manager this is as big an occasion as any he has presided over in his time in management.
As a player on such days, he became consumed by superstition.
‘ That’s why I was captain of Rangers only 20 times,’ McCall smiled. ‘Walter Smith used to want to give me it, but I told him I always go out seventh.
‘It was just silly things. If you look at me in 1992-93 and my hair was down there (to my shoulders).
‘It was a silly thing when I said that I wouldn’t get my hair cut until we got beat.
‘We had Celtic away the following week so I thought we would lose there and we won. Next minute it’s even longer and down to there. Even I was pleased when we got beat!
‘I’m not superstitious anymore. It’s just things like if we win, I’ll get my missus to keep cooking my breakfast and things like that. I think you mature a little bit and realise it doesn’t mean anything. Having said that, Neil Warnock still wore the same underpants, day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out...’
Increasingly, McCall has come to rely on more reliable sources of inspiration.
In his 12 games in charge to date, a 3-0 thumping by the men from Dumfries remains his only reverse.
While top gear may only occasionally have been engaged in that period, a group of players who were without direction when he came in at least know what it feels like now.
‘We’ve said it many a time that the confidence and morale was at a low,’ he reflected. ‘ There’s no pill to give people confidence — they have got to go out themselves and improve their performances.
‘It takes you a while to get to know people, both on the park and off the park. There is certainly a good core now that we can say: “Yeah, we can trust him”.
‘Also I think if you look around the dressing room there is a bit of belief in each other. I think we have lost one in 16 or something, although I’ve only been in for 12, so the confidence should be quite high.
‘ We are confident of creating opportunities and we are averaging just over two goals a game.
‘ The belief, morale and the confidence lifts with results and performances both as a unit and as individuals.
‘We went to Hearts and put on a really good performance, but for a 90th-minute equaliser we would have won there.
‘We did well at Queen of the South, too. We weren’t brilliant, but we did our job and created opportunities so we are in a positive f rame of mind and confidence is high.’
For a support that has been to hell and back over the past few years, such an occasion at this stage in the season is a reminder of how things used to be.
McCall’s fervent hope that if fans and players can stay united for the duration, it might just be a sign of how things will be from here on in.
‘Obviously, there have been things mentioned about Queen of the South and the importance of the first goal but, for me, the winning goal is the most important,’ McCall added.
‘Yeah, of course it would be nice to score first, but we have got a group of players at the moment that I am confident could create opportunities.
‘There are never any guarantees you will take them, but we have got a sort of style where there are players in the squad who can open teams up.
‘It’s more so for the supporters, too. If we were to go a goal behind, I’m confident we will be on the front foot. It will be an open game, there are no guarantees who will go through. But we want our fans to be with us right to the last kick.’
The belief is there when you look round the dressing room