Broadfoot detects more than a hint of deja vu at Ibrox
ADEFENCE under siege, Allan McGregor pulling off a string of improbable saves and, ultimately, European progression. Watching Rangers on Thursday night, Kirk Broadfoot felt like he had been shoved in a time machine with the controls set for 2008.
The biggest compliment the Kilmarnock defender can pay Steven Gerrard is that the performance against Maribor reminded him of those Walter Smith regularly coaxed out of his team en route to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final.
It would be foolish to suggest Rangers are close to replicating that kind of run and, indeed, Broadfoot fancies his current team may have more than a fighting chance in today’s Betfred Cup tie at Rugby Park.
Guided by the wily Steve Clarke, Killie got the better of the Ibrox side last season, winning two and drawing another of the four meetings between the teams.
Yet Broadfoot suspects Killie will get fewer chances today thanks to a game-plan that reminds him of his own spell in a light blue jersey.
‘I have mates and cousins who are season-ticket holders at Ibrox and they say that they see a Walter Smith team,’ he says. ‘You can see the comparison — hard to beat, staying in games and nicking 1-0s.
‘I don’t know much about some of the signings but I played against the big boy at the back, Connor Goldson, when he was at Brighton and he was fantastic.
‘He is a good signing and obviously I know Greegsy, too. It’s massive when you have a goalkeeper like that. As a centre-half you’ve got to trust the man behind you because he is the one who dictates the shouts, whether to get up or drop.
‘And if you do make a mistake or the other teams gets in, you can trust him to make a save.
‘You saw that against Maribor. He is a big signing and he knows the club inside out. I think you need that at Rangers.’
Although Killie were almost uniformly excellent from the moment Clarke took over from Lee McCulloch last term, there was something about playing against the big Glasgow teams that brought out the very best in his team.
‘To be fair, the way the manager came in we felt we could beat anyone,’ continued Broadfoot. ‘Rangers or Celtic, we had a good record against them both.
‘Without being disrespectful to the Rangers team we played last season, the way they play now is going to make them a harder proposition.
‘You can see they’re better organised. Last year they were on top in a lot of games and would lose goals in quick succession.
‘It happened here — they were 1-0 up, should have seen the game out and they ended up losing 2-1.
‘I watched them against Aberdeen and I thought they were fantastic after going down to 10 men. They probably deserved to win it anyway but they would definitely have won the game with 11.
‘Going back to my time at St Mirren there was always a fear factor when you played at Ibrox. Now, that is probably back. I spoke to a couple of the St Mirren boys after last weekend’s match and they said they had never seen anything like it — the fans, the display and the crowd right behind them.’
The 34-year-old is no fan of the artificial surface on which the Kilmarnock board have decided the team must play its home games. But, on certain occasions, he knows the pitch provides a palpable home advantage.
‘It could knock Rangers off their stride — I don’t think Stevie Gerrard will have seen anything like this!’ he smiled.
‘It’s part and parcel of Scottish football now with Livingston and Hamilton also putting down new pitches and that’s unfortunate.
‘A cup run would be great. If we win this we are into the quarter-finals and taking out one of the big boys would give everyone hope.’
Killie finished fifth in the Premiership last season, the achievement earning Clarke the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Manager of the Year award.
‘I would put the manager up there with the best I have worked with and I include Walter in that,’ continued Broadfoot.
‘He is top-notch. The way he prepares and the way we train towards games is second to none.
‘But this is a bigger test. We just go into every game looking forward to it. The fans have their expectations but I think the chairman’s comment that we can maybe challenge is unrealistic.
‘We just need to get away from that relegation zone and — if we get the points — who knows where it will take us.’