With respect and pride restored, Europa last 32 holds no fears for Gary

Gary McAllister’s initial return to Scottish football was a strange experience.

The former midfielder had been living and working in England for the best part of 30 years when he began to make trips north to work as a television pundit in 2013.

It was a time when games involving Rangers included the Ibrox side drawing with Stenhousemuir and taking two attempts to knock Albion Rovers out of the Scottish Cup.

Things had certainly improved when he arrived as Steven Gerrard’s assistant last year.

But they had been asked to revive a club that had been knocked out of the Europe by Progres Niederkorn, the fourth-best team in Luxembourg.

The transformation isn’t complete. But Rangers are now reaching cup finals and have made it to the last 32 of the Europa League.

As much as anything, McAllister believes pride has been restored at Ibrox.

That’s why, he maintains, no team will relish coming out of the hat with the Light Blues in tomorrow’s Europa League draw.

He said: “Right from the off coming here, it was about trying to bring back a bit of respect.

“We had to do that because Rangers were an easy target, let’s be honest. They were getting battered from every angle.

“I came up and did a stint with BT Sport, and it was just bizarre to see. Teams were arriving with a bounce in their step, as if they really fancied themselves.

“It is a different thing now. We have sent the message out across Europe that we are a tough opponent.

“We need to keep putting that on the players – to make sure we are really tough to play against.

“We do that no matter the opposition, whether it is Manchester United in the Europa League, or Stranraer in the Scottish Cup.

“Financially, we are light years behind all of the English clubs. But we have to take confidence from the way we went to Porto and got a result.

“Over the two legs, we beat them.

“We went to Rotterdam and got a result against Feyenoord – and beat them over two legs.

“If you’d asked them at the start of the group, I am sure the Portuguese and the Dutch clubs would think they could beat a Scottish club.

“So we have to be confident that whoever we draw, they won’t want to come to Ibrox.”

Steven Gerrard, along with his backroom staff, has just signed a new contract, committing him to Rangers until 2024.

His deal will expire at the same time as Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp comes to the end of his new contact.

It’s only natural the former Anfield captain will be seen as a potential replacement for the German at that time – assuming he moves on.

But McAllister insists the Rangers fans should not fear Gerrard being lured away by another club during the next few years.

He said: “He’s a loyal man, and you can’t underestimate how he feels about the fact that Dave King, the Rangers board and Rangers as a club, employed him and gave him his first job after looking after the Under-18s at Liverpool.

“They took a chance. Now we’re committing to the club and the club have committed to us. They’ve made each and every one of us welcome from minute one. The support has been fantastic.

“It’s been a wee bit easier for me. I was coming home and have family members here.

“You’ve had other people moving up here and they’ve had a lot of support.

“We can feel something special happening, hopefully. We’ve got to keep working hard and you never know what can happen at a club like this.

“There’s a massive job to be done here.”