Slumped in the dugout to the edge of my seat
Nicholl backs Gerrard to turn Gers’ fortunes in second season
JIMMY NICHOLL sat slumped in the dugout as Celtic put nine goals past Rangers without reply in just two games.
Eight months later the Light Blues brought him to the edge of his seat as they dominated their arch rivals at Ibrox to go top of the Premiership table.
They were unable to build on the momentum of that 1-0 win on December 29 but Nicholl baulks at the critics who claim there has been no progress under Steven Gerrard this season.
Nicholl was brought in for the second half of the last campaign to provide mentor support for Graeme Murty after the Under-20 coach agreed to take interim charge following the departure of Pedro Caixinha.
A shoulder to the wheel became a shoulder to cry on as Rangers shed so many tears it was in danger of burning the Northern Ireland number two to the bone.
The 4-0 loss in the Scottish Cup semi-final and the 5-0 trouncing at Parkhead, both a year ago this month, provided new lows for a club that had gone from the penthouse to the pavement in the previous seven years.
Nicholl, now assistant to Oran Kearney at St Mirren, returned to Ibrox yesterday for the launch of “Rangers: The Ulster Connection”, celebrating the club’s links to the Emerald Isle.
The Light Blues may be trailing the Hoops by 11 points as the post-split fixtures beckon but Nicholl insists the future of Gers under Gerrard is brighter than at any time in its recent history.
He said: “People keep giving me facts and saying there has been no progress. They say Rangers have only taken so many points against this club and they were so many points better off at this time last season. So what?
“I ask, ‘How do you know there has been no progress?’ There is progress about things they don’t know about, things they haven’t seen.
“I can say that because I was there for five months last season. I know there has
been progress. I’ve been about the place, I’ve been about the club.
“Of course the fans want to see it tighter and a lot closer than it looks as though it’s going to be again.
“However, if they have to wait another year they’ll have to wait another year. Be positive. It wasn’t going to happen overnight.
“When Rangers beat Celtic 1-0 on December 29 everyone got wrapped up and thought this was it, it would be closer this year, but it hasn’t happened.
“I was involved in those defeats to Celtic last season, including the Scottish Cup semi-final.
“However, December 29 was the one time I was out of my seat thinking this was the one game that would have define the moment, that Rangers players decided they’d get closer – and it didn’t happen.
“They’ve had too many draws this season so you have to assess it and ask what they did and didn’t do in those games and what players were used. There has been inconsistency with too many draws but Steven is a football man and upstairs will help him.
“I’m sure it has been an eye opener for him at times. You say, ‘I’ll get closer, I’ll get closer’ but then you have to tell yourself to hold on because there are other things going on around the scene you have to take on board and it’s more difficult than you realise. Steven will be a lot better for it.”
Gerrard may have known little of Scottish football’s geography when he arrived at Ibrox last summer but recent months have also provided a crash course in its personnel and politics.
He has added Jordan Jones on a pre-contract, with Jake Hastie and John Souttar also on the radar and at least three quality players of experience set to be added to his group in the summer.
Nicholl knows how quickly football fortunes can change for the better – and the experience of 1986, when Graeme Souness signed a string of top-class English players, reminded him that a
knowledge of Ibrox and its surrounding streets isn’t a pre-requisite to making an impact at the club.
He said: “I signed for Rangers in 1983 and was there when we were finishing fourth and fifth and playing in front of 11,000 people in 1984. Some people don’t believe that.
“I returned for my second spell in 1986 and what a difference. We won the league at the end of that season and that’s how quickly it can change.
“Graeme Souness surrounded himself with English internationalists, including Terry Butcher and Chris Woods. There were loads of factors that led to us winning the title that year but it was about good experienced players who had a handle on the situation.
“That’s what I hope Steven does in the summer. I hope he addresses whatever he believes is needed and gets the backing from the board.
“It’s about quality. Some fans say, ‘ We need so-and-so and someone who knows what it’s all about’. What does that mean?
“It doesn’t matter that you’re steeped in Rangers if you can’t pass the ball from here to there. You must have quality, certainly just as much quality as Celtic.
“But there is progress all right behind the scenes and Steven has also learned over the coursese of the campaign.
“He handless difficult situations well and things he might have said in August and Septemberer will not be getting saidd in April and May.y.
“Yo u ggee t wrapped upp in things but Steveneven is level-headed.d. I’m sure there are a couple of thingsngs he wishes he hadn’t said but he’lll look back and be better for it next year.”r.”
Rangers:ers: The Ul s t e r Connection by Billy Kennedydy is available in all good bookstoresres priced £9.99