‘Rangers can be national heroes’
■ Boyd in Europa rallying cry ■ Alexander: SPFL teams should support Ibrox side
KRIS BOYD says this group of Rangers players have the chance to become national heroes if they make it to the final of the Europa League. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side take on RB Leipzig in the first leg of their semi-final in the competition this Thursday.
The Scottish champions travel to Germany this week, before then hosting the Bundesliga giants back home at Ibrox seven days later.
Rangers have knocked out Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade and Braga to make it this far.
The incentive is clear for the Govan side – a win over the two legs will see them earn a place in the Europa League final in Seville on May 18 against either West Ham or Frankfurt.
And should they manage to do that, former striker Boyd reckons the players and staff should be regarded as heroes for the whole of Scotland, not just Rangers.
He said: “The European run there’s been some terrific away performances but it’s been at home.
“If you can stay in the tie and get them back to a packed Ibrox, no disrespect to Leipzig but we’ve seen better teams than them come to Ibrox and collapse basically because of the crowd. Exact same at Celtic Park, the crowd is intimidating. It will be hostile.
“And it only will be like that if Rangers can go over there and put on a performance that allows them a chance in the second leg.
“I’d imagine it would be tight, cagey. It’s the semi-final of a major European trophy, it’s a fantastic achievement.
“I was fortunate enough to be part of a Rangers team that made it through the semi-final.
“What I will say is it will change a lot of those boys’ lives. You’ve been successful, won the league the last year and have the chance of winning the Scottish Cup. But getting to a final in Europe is something that will never leave you.
“These boys are potentially two games away from becoming – you could say it – national heroes.
“Not only for Rangers but for Scottish football. I don’t think anyone expected to see any Scottish team back in a semi-final never mind a final.”*
Motherwell manager Graham Alexander agrees a result would be huge for Scotland and that supporters of every club in the country – from Celtic to Cowdenbeath – should get behind Rangers.
The Coventry-born former Scotland full-back played down south until he was 40 and spent another decade in England as a coach but he’s alive to the rivalries which can divide the game in this country.
Yet he insists that every senior club will benefit should Rangers progress to the final in Seville on May 18, which is why he agreed to bring his side’s fixture at Fir Park with Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side forward by 24 hours last weekend.
“I think it’s massive, I really do,” he said. “That was part of our thinking when we spoke to [chief executive] Alan Burrows on Friday morning when their request came through [ to reschedule the fixture] and it was all about improving the coefficient and being better for Scottish football as a whole.
“Obviously, we’re part of that and I believe all of us as clubs have a responsibility to make Scottish football be better, look better and produce better.
“You get respect on an international or European stage by success on the pitch and it reflects on the teams, the country and the league that you are in: it’s only natural.
“Without a doubt, I think it’s really big for our clubs to go and handle themselves really well, try and achieve success and shine a light on how good the Scottish game is.”
Alexander claims that Rangers reaching the final would also make it easier to lure foreign players to Scotland.
“That would definitely be the case,” he said. “We’ve recruited players from abroad and we talk to them about the SPFL, the opportunity of European football, Motherwell’s history of playing European football, playing against teams who’ve reached European finals.
“The players we’ve recruited from abroad, they could easily have earned more money down south in League Two, even probably in the National League, than what we pay. But we offer a better chance of playing international football for their counties, or qualifying for European competition so the profile of it is really important.”