DEJA BLUE FOR WISE MAN WEIR
‘I walked in to a Rangers team that was third in the league, was shipping goals and getting destroyed because they were hopeless, basically, and couldn’t defend. It’s pretty much the same situation...’
TEN years to the very day he arrived at Rangers as a player, David Weir was prompted into some reflection. He was the first signing of Walter Smith’s second tenure. Initially viewed as a short-term solution, the arrival of the 36-year-old centre-half instead became a foundation stone of the success that followed. Three successive league titles and a UEFA Cup final earned Weir the indelible esteem of supporters and a place in the club’s Hall of Fame.
A decade on, he is now Mark Warburton’s valued assistant within a management team trying to slowly edge Rangers closer to those past glories.
Thinking back to the situation he found in January 2007, as Smith began to pick up the pieces from Paul Le Guen’s ill-starred reign, causes a wry smile to cross Weir’s face.
Back then, the Ibrox club were 17 points adrift of Celtic. The current gap at the Premiership summit is two points greater.
‘Of course I remember it,’ said Weir. ‘I remember walking in to a Rangers team that was third in the league, was shipping goals and was getting destroyed because they were hopeless, basically, and couldn’t defend. Pretty much the same situation...’
His comparison with the present day was done with dry humour but the broader parallels stand.
Rangers were actually second when he first signed on, battling to fend off Aberdeen and Hearts. This time around, they will drop to third if Aberdeen win their game in hand.
Weir is as well attuned as anyone to the demands inherent at Ibrox. He knows that trying to conduct a rebuilding job under the scrutiny of a huge fanbase desperate to see their club reel in an utterly dominant rival can bring bucket-loads of criticism.
Smith managed to turn it around in rapid fashion. But there is perhaps a crucial difference between then and now. One measured in eight figures.
‘The goal that season was to finish second,’ said Weir. ‘But finishing second then allowed you to qualify for the Champions League. That was a massive incentive and we managed to do it.
‘Walter had come back and changed a few things. Then the club invested a lot of money in the summer, spending £10million or £12m bringing in a lot of good players. The next season we challenged again.
‘We were successful in Europe. We didn’t end up winning the league but we had a good go at it.
‘Rangers were competitive, the league was competitive and there were two teams competing in Europe. That’s where you want Scottish football to be, with two, three or four teams in Europe.’
Five years on from the financial implosion of 2012, Rangers remain a loss-making entity fighting to rid itself of historical commercial issues. Few would bet on Dave King and his board writing cheques for £10m this summer.
Weir knows Rangers will have to try to do it a different way. Gradual improvements are the aim.
‘I’m always optimistic — that is my nature,’ said Weir. ‘But times have changed. Because it happened ten years ago, doesn’t mean it is going to happen now.
‘The world has changed. Ten million pounds then — I don’t know what that would be now.
‘Walter was clever in regard to how he invested and how the players took on the challenge.
‘He made it work but spending money doesn’t guarantee success, as we have seen before.’
Smith managed to take Rangers to a European final within 18 months of his arrival. Simply reaching the Europa League group stage next season would represent a sizeable achievement for Warburton and Weir.
Sunday’s 4-0 friendly defeat from RB Leipzig, in front of 8,000 travelling Rangers fans, offered a further reminder of how the gap to the continent’s finest has grown.
Weir, though, is not interested on dwelling on the heroics of 2008, when Rangers ultimately lost out to Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester.
‘It’s in the past, it’s part of Rangers’ history and it’s about us trying to create new memories and new experiences with these players,’ he insisted.
‘But it’s not easy. The world has changed since then. You look at Red Bull and what they’ve invested in their team, their stadium, their training ground. It’s a massive investment.
‘England has changed in the last five or six years. The money has gone through the roof. China has now come into the equation, as well.
‘We’ve just got to try to adjust and try to compete in whatever way we can.
‘We’ve brought in a couple of loan players from England (Jon Toral and Emerson Hyndman), who are not playing in their first teams at this minute, but that’s a way and means of us trying to bridge that gap.
‘We need to get into Europe next season. Rangers have to be back involved in Europe. It’s fundamental to the club. It always has been.
‘Sunday was a tough lesson because Leipzig are a good football side, playing at a great level.
‘Obviously, we’re not there yet but it gives everyone a benchmark. It gives the fans an opportunity to enjoy a European trip, which they did in their numbers. And we, as a group of staff and players, learned a lot about ourselves.’
Learning how to defend better remains an issue for Rangers, who face Motherwell at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup fourth round on Saturday. Weir may have quipped about it but, as a former centre-half, is he stung by the criticism of that aspect of their game?
‘I don’t take it personally,’ he replied. ‘If you are not top of the league and winning every week, you get criticism.
‘I think we can look at ourselves as a team and say we have not scored enough goals and conceded too many.
‘That is the life of a coach. You are up for being criticised if you are not top of the league. Our job is to try to make the team better, eradicate the mistakes.
‘You’ve got to enjoy the challenge. Everybody talks about pressure being a bad thing but pressure is a good thing. It heightens your senses in that you know every decision and every game matters.
‘It’s the reality of playing at Rangers. It’s a good challenge. You’ve got to enjoy it and the players have got to learn as we go on.’
FANS can buy stadium bricks in honour of David Weir to support the Rangers Youth Development Company. Priced £50, they can be purchased from www.rydc.co.uk, by calling 0141 427 4914, texting RANGERS to 67766 or visiting the Rangers Lotto Office.
I’m always optimistic. It’s my nature. But times have changed