Rising to Ibrox demands now just a reality of life for Arfield
Until you wear that badge, you don’t get a full judgment on size of the club
EXCEEDING all expectation has been the theme of Scott Arfield’s time at Rangers. It’s a trend he hopes can continue by moving closer to a place in the last 32 of the Europa League.
The 30-year-old midfielder insists the sheer scale of the Ibrox club, and the demands it brings, have been unlike anything experienced before in his career.
But that responsibility is being warmly embraced as he looks to help Steven Gerrard’s side to victory over Villarreal this evening.
These are the kind of experiences that persuaded Arfield to turn his back on the English Premier League when his Burnley contract expired at the end of last season.
His life has changed in the five months since. And not just because of the recent arrival of a second daughter.
To Arfield (below), being a Rangers player brings a need for a different approach, on and off the pitch.
‘The whole thing has exceeded my expectations, to be honest,’ he admitted. ‘You are obviously brought up with these two huge clubs in Glasgow, but until you wear that badge you don’t really get a full judgment on it. Everyone thinks they know you and your life gets scrutinised.
‘I’ve had former teammates who told me about it, but it’s like everything — until you are in those shoes on a daily basis, you don’t realise how big this club is.
‘You get fully judged on your performances — and rightly so. It has exceeded all expectation I’ve had in an incredible way.
‘You need to experience it to realise what a privilege it is to wear the badge.
‘You can never take it off because you are a Rangers player. The club is full of tradition and success over the years and you can’t get away from that.
‘The dressing room is full of men who fully get that. On the pitch, it takes time to settle in and it takes a while for the foreign lads to get used to the environment. Some games in Scotland aren’t as pretty as European football.
‘Now we’re into the back end of November, I think everyone gets it and realises what a chance we have to be successful here.’
Arfield scored the first of his six goals for Rangers in the 2-2 draw with Villarreal in Spain in September. By that stage, Burnley were already out of the Europa League having lost to Olympiakos in the qualifiers.
Turf Moor was a happy home for five years, but playing at Ibrox has offered a heightened intensity.
‘Come 9.45pm tomorrow night, hopefully I have got the right result to back up my judgment,’ said Arfield, reflecting on his decision to leave Burnley.
‘The noise which is going to be generated against this Villarreal team will be tremendous — and, by the way, what a team it is.
‘Particularly in the first half in Spain, but even in the second half they kept the ball so well and their rotation was phenomenal. It was a wake-up call, back to Premier League days with the players so technical and so gifted.
‘You give them as much respect as possible but, hopefully, not too much.
‘We’re at our best when we go after teams. We’ve seen that against Maribor, against Ufa, against Villarreal in the second half, against Rapid Vienna here — and they maybe take us and the atmosphere a little bit lightly. We hope they do the same, that we get up to our speed and play our best game.’ Defeat would send Rangers out if Spartak Moscow win against Rapid Vienna. A more positive result would, however, open the door to a thrilling final Group G assignment in the Austrian capital on December 13. ‘Once you come this far, you want to go through,’ added Arfield. ‘It was the same right back against Shkupi (in the first qualifier) on July 12, we just wanted to get through to the next round and the one after the next.
‘It will be a tough game but we want to take it into the Rapid game, not give ourselves a mountain to climb.’