‘Rangers are needing a Ferguson or a Gerrard’
It was the legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi who coined the phrase: “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.”
Former Rangers and Scotland striker Kris Boyd agrees with the gridiron guru’s philosophy and gives the impression that it applies to too many of the current players at his former club.
Rangers trail champions Celtic by ten points (with a game in hand), and the Sky Sports pundit argues that Steven Gerrard’s team is missing an inspirational leader like, well, Steven Gerrard, claiming that they lack players prepared to put their heads above the parapet and take the chances needed to revive their flagging title bid.
Boyd believes that the bravery and mental strength needed to succeed in the Glasgow goldfish bowl have been lacking in the home dressing room at Ibrox since they returned from their warm weather training camp in Dubai last month, while Neil Lennon’s side have knuckled down to soar ahead in their quest for a ninth successive championship.
He doesn’t know why the team that outplayed Celtic in the 2-1 victory at Parkhead on 29 December have regressed to the sluggish, timid outfit that have lost to Hearts and Kilmarnock, drawn with Aberdeen and had narrow wins over Stranraer, St Mirren, Hibernian and Livingston since returning from the winter break.
“Steven Gerrard has touched on it himself; he doesn’t know why it has gone wrong since the winter break,” said Boyd. “I don’t think Rangers had made the same mistake twice under Steven Gerrard prior to that.
“You look back to last year when the Cowdenbeath game was called off and Rangers didn’t have a game before coming [and losing] to Kilmarnock. They decided they needed a game this time so they arranged one in Dubai plus a Scottish Cup tie against Stranraer but the performances have still not been there.
“I don’t know what’s going on. The players have lost that confidence, belief and swagger that they had before the winter break. It compounds it when you see what Celtic are doing. Listen, when you’re under pressure to perform every week it can be difficult but that’s why you need your top players and your characters to stand up and be counted.
“You think everything’s against you – it’s not – when you’re that desperate to win every game and get that first trophy; you can feel it from the crowd.”
Boyd won
titles at Ibrox playing alongside inspirational captains like Barry Ferguson and David Weir and he feels that there is no-one of similar stature in Gerrard’s starting line-up, although he thinks the senior professionals should be doing more.
“You need the big characters,” he said. “In my time, Barry was the best at it. It didn’t matter if he was being booed or hounded, he would still go and take the ball. Steven Gerrard was exactly the same at Liverpool: there were plenty of times when he was up against it but I never saw him shying away from the responsibility.
“Rangers need players to do that now. It’s never going to be plain sailing all the time at a big club and that’s when you need players to stand up and be counted.
“I thought Rangers had found the swagger, the arrogance of ‘I’m a Rangers player and can deliver on the big stage’. They’ve proved they can deliver at times but, over the course of a season, leagues are won by coming to Kilmarnock, Motherwell and Tynecastle and walking away with a swagger.
“I think that’s been the difference between the two teams since the break. Celtic have rolled up to every ground
“The players have lost that confidence, belief and swagger that they had before the winter break. It compounds it when you see what Celtic are doing”
“You need the big characters. In my time, Barry was the best at it. It didn’t matter if he was being hounded, he would still take the ball”
KRIS BOYD
knowing they are the champions; that’s their mindset. Rangers are still chasing. Celtic have the swagger and confidence in what they’re doing. Rangers don’t.
“There will be times in that middle area when you’re going to give the ball away.
“But, rather than just playing sideways, keeping the ball and playing with a safety net, they have to get back to trying the pass which will cut out the opposition’s midfield and get beyond their defence. A lot of them look scared to lose the ball, which is no good when you’re playing with a big team.
“You’re on the front foot, the other team is hemmed in and you need to be prepared to lose it. Since they’ve come back, they’ve stopped playing with that freedom.
“There’s no ‘I don’t care if I lose the ball because we’ll get it and try something else’. There’s too much security and safe passing and that needs to change.”