THE CROCK IS TICKING Expert Henry fears injury toll as players return from
time.” Rangers boss Steven Gerrard hinted at announcing pre- season friendl ies but f inding suitable opponents could be the tricky part with leagues now out of sync.
The Light Blues had six in total last season as they built up the fitness of players before returning to action but it’s unlikely they will be able to fol low a similar programme now.
Henry said: “It’s going to be very difficult for teams like Rangers and Celtic to get opposition to provide a real test because a lot of teams will be shutting down.
“They have Europe as well which is another challenge because they’ll hit teams who haven’t really stopped or are in the middle of their season.
“Football managers and coaches put a massive emphasis on pre-season.
“Managers are becoming more knowledgeable and understand the need for the strength part and we adjust accordingly so it’s about everyone having an input.
“We sit down as a group – manager, coaches, doctor, physio,fitness coach – and you adjust daily, unlike years ago where you just followed a plan and crashed through it.”
When Dundee won their only top-f light league title in
1962, they had a team of stars but Alan Gilzean outshone them all.
Brilliant in the air and on the ground, Gilzean hit 24 of their 80 league goals and contributed to many more as they finished three points ahead of Rangers.
A pivotal match on the road to glory was in Glasgow where they thumped Rangers 5-1, with Gilzean netting four times.
The quiet man from Coupar Angus in Perthshire did not shout about his achievement on this or any other occasion.
He recalled: “Really it was too easy. I just happened to be there to put the ball in the net at the end of some great moves.
“I can see it yet – [Rangers players] Jim Baxter, Ralph Brand, Ron McKinnon, Alex Scott – disbelief all over their faces as they made for the tunnel. We just took Rangers apart. It could have been seven or eight.”
The following season, the Dens men produced more shocks, beating Cologne, Sporting Lisbon and Anderlecht en route to the semi-finals of the European Cup where they would lose to eventual winners AC Milan.
Alan McMillan’s
Scotland international Gilzean scored nine times in that run to become the club’s top European scorer.
It was a sad day for the fans in December 1964 when Dundee sold the King of Dens Park for £72,500 to Spurs where he became the King of White Hart Lane.
Andy McLaren never got near Gilzean’s achievements with Dundee but he did outdo him on one occasion – by picking up three red cards in a single game.
Facing Clyde in December 2006, McLaren received his first red for disputing a booking after a clash with keeper David Hutton.
He got a second for telling referee Dougie McDonald he was a “f****** joke”. Then, as he ran off, an altercation with Clyde’s Eddie Malone resulted in card No. 3.
McLaren, a Scottish Cup winner in his time at Dundee United, was not a regular on-field villain but he lost the plot that day.
He and Dundee mutually agreed to terminate his contract and the SFA hammered him with an eight-game ban.
Looking back, the winger said: “I’m not saying I was completely innocent but it was much ado about nothing.
“It was really all because of an insidious little man with a whistle.”