How I laughed the day I’d Dick as my personal flight attendant
SAYS ARTHUR NUMAN
Dick made it clear I was going to Rangers and that was the end of the conversation
Dick Advocaat told Arthur Numan he planned to retire from management a decade ago, to relax and enjoy life away from the madness of the managerial world.
But Advocaat has been unable to resist the lure of staying in the game and, even now at 72, has that desire and urge to be involved and try to bring success to his club of employment.
His latest task is his 12th job since he was due to hang up his tactics board.
He is now focused on restoring the pride and good fortunes of Feyenoord, in his native Netherlands.
Part of that challenge is to defeat Rangers in their Europa League clash in Rotterdam on the 28th of this month. Both teams scan still qualify for the last 32, so it will make for a fascinating evening.
Numan will attend the game. He knows Advocaat inside out, having spent many of his playing days under him, at Rangers and PSV Eindhoven.
There is no doubt Advocaat will be desperate to beat Steven Gerrard and his players. But Numan knows it will be with a heavy heart because the Dutchman does hold the Ibrox club very dear to him.
Numan, 49, told The Sunday Post: “Speaking from my own point of view, Rangers was the most fantastic football club to play for. It’s special, very special.
“I still go back to Glasgow six or seven times a year. The supporters treat me brilliantly, like a king, to be honest.
“When I have friends or family over from Holland with me they cannot believe the adulation and warmness because it doesn’t happen in Holland.
“I can walk down the street in Holland and nobody will look at me twice. It’s different in Glasgow.
“Mikey Mols, Bert Konterman and all the lads will tell you the same thing. Glasgow and the Rangers supporters are so unique. The Dutch guys all love the club. That’s why all come back time after time.
“I’m sure Dick feels the same. I had conversations with him and I know he felt something very special for Rangers.
“He loved the Treble success of 1999 and the Champions League nights. He just wanted to win more games and do even better. We all did.
“That will to win never leaves you. That’s why I know he will be desperate to do well for Feyenoord.
“Feyenoord need to improve and Dick has a tough job on his hands.
“As you would expect, because it’s been a tough season so far, they are naturally a little bit low in confidence and a wee bit vulnerable.
“That’s why Rangers should go there and look to win the game. Steven Gerrard and his players should be quietly confident without taking anything for granted.
“If Feyenoord win the game Dick will be delighted, for sure. But a little bit of him will be sad that it’s Rangers he has beaten. Of course, the best solution for him is that both Feyenoord and Rangers go through.
“If Dick stabilises the club and takes them up the table, then who knows if he will stay on for longer.
“The man just never stops. I remember him telling me before the 2006 World Cup Finals that he would work for three more years and then retire.
“Since then he has managed Holland, Belgium, Sunderland, Russia, Fenerbahce and a few more. He can’t walk away from the game.
“Good luck to him. I have a lot of time for Dick as a football man and as a person.
“He is still shrewd and knows the game. He has brought in a Feyenoord legend in John de Wolf as his assistant and Cor Pot also to the backroom team. Cor has worked with him before.
“They have a few good players in the team. Rangers need to be mindful of the striker Nicolai Jorgensenand and Steven Berghuis is influential.”
Numan would never have had the pleasure of playing for Rangers had it not been for Advocaat. Advocaat decided to leave PSV Eindhoven in 1998 to move to Glasgow and Numan was his first priority signing.
He cost £ 5 million and had five years at Ibrox. He won the Treble in 1999 and 2003 before hanging up his boots.
Numan recalled: “I remember the day Dick pulled me aside, quietly, and told me he was going to Glasgow Rangers and that I was going with him. He made it clear he wanted to sign me.
“I told him I wanted to consider other options because I knew Atletico Madrid also wanted me. But he made it clear I was going to Rangers and that was the end of the conversation.
“Before I signed we flew over to Scotland from Holland in David Murray’s private jet. I think there were only three people on the plane.
“I decided to have a bit of fun with Dick, so I told him that if he wanted me to sign then he should make make me a coffee and bring me sandwiches. Oh, the look he gave me!
“I had a good laugh seeing Dick being my personal flight attendant!”
Apart from the Europa League games, Numan is well aware of the importance of the next six weeks, with so many crucial encounters for Gerrard and the squad.
Numan s a i d: “A n overall assessment is that Rangers are heading in the right direction.
“Steven is the manager and making a very good job of it.
“But he and the team could be absolutely flying by the end of December. It is a massive six- week period in the club’s history with so
many important things up for grabs.
“The final of the League Cup is there and it’s a chance of the first piece of major silverware in eight years.
“You then have the opportunity to get into the last 32 of the Europa League and that would also signal good progress.
“The main thing, is to get to the top of the League. There are so many vital games, not least of all away to Celtic on December 29.
“If Rangers can go into the winter break as winners of that game, and on the top of the league table, that would be the best outcome any
Rangers supporter could wish for.
“It’s at times such as that you need all the players to step forward and be counted.
“Back in my time at Rangers, we had leaders all over the pitch and we knew we could rely on Gio van Bronckhorst, Barry Ferguson, Sergio Porrini, Tugay, Mikey Mols, Craig Moore, Jorg Albertz, Neil Mccann and many more.
“We wanted to win and we had the attitude that we couldn’t let anything get in our way.
“Steven would have had exactly the same thing when he played and captained Liverpool. They won the Champions League, so he knows for sure what it takes.
“Every player will need to be at their very best over the next six weeks. It’s a case of giving absolutely everything between now and the winter break.
“From Allan Mcgregor in goal, to James Tavernier, Steve Davis, Ryan Jack, Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe, all need to show leadership, calmness and quality.
“Not every moment will go their way in every game, so they must stay focused and not let any pressure derail them.
“I’m sure they can do it. They know it’s time to deliver.”