How one night in Govan spooked Van Nistelrooy

RANGERS once made an ambitious £15million bid for current PSV Eindhoven manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. And current Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst has previously revealed that his former Dutch international colleague was terrified of a full Ibrox after being on the end of a 4-1 hammering while a PSV player in 1999. The Europa League runners-up face a shootout with the Eredivisie outfit for a place in the Champions League group stage, with the first leg at Ibrox this coming Tuesday. PSV are managed by former Netherlands striker Van Nistelrooy, who took over at the beginning of the season having previously been in charge of their Under-19 side. Fellow Dutchman and former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat also revealed that he tried to sign Van Nistelrooy for Rangers in 2000 when he was at PSV — but the forward opted for a then-record £18.5m move to Manchester United instead. Advocaat said: ‘We could have brought Van Nistelrooy to Ibrox. I called his agent because he comes from the same town in the Netherlands where I was brought up. But he told me that there’s no way Ruud will come to Scotland. Rangers’ name is much bigger in the Netherlands because of me, but that doesn’t mean to say that it impresses everyone. ‘And, sadly for us, Van Nistelrooy made up his mind to go to the English Premier League.’ Meanwhile, Van Bronckhorst told how Ibrox’s electric atmosphere terrified Van Nistelrooy before the clubs met in Glasgow in a Champions League group stage clash in 2003. An early goal from Phil Neville won it for United, but the current Rangers boss revealed his former international colleague was still scarred from that bruising 4-1 defeat he suffered with PSV in 1999, even though he scored that night. Van Bronckhorst said: ‘Players can suffer from an intimidating atmosphere when they play at visiting grounds. And I know from speaking to Ruud that, when we beat PSV at Ibrox in the Champions League, he thought it was very frightening. ‘He said it was one of the most atmospheric matches he had ever experienced — and he had to face it again with Manchester United. ‘I’ve played in England and I don’t think that any stadium there can compare with Ibrox for its intimidating atmosphere. It is far above them.’