We can end decades of Ibrox pain, says Lasley
JFK was settling into the Oval Office, Yuri Gagarin was preparing to orbit the earth and Elvis fans were lapping up Are You Lonesome Tonight? the last time Motherwell won a Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox.
It was March 1, 1961, when Ian St John and Bobby Roberts inspired a sensational 5-2 third-round replay victory over a Scot Symon side who won a League and League Cup Double that season as well as reaching the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final.
Six more Scottish Cup visits to Ibrox have come and gone since then for Motherwell without success. They also narrowly lost to Rangers in the 1976 and 2003 semi-finals at neutral Hampden Park.
Now, nearly 56 years on, current Fir Park skipper Keith Lasley feels there is every reason to believe a new chapter can be written this Saturday.
‘These records are there to be broken, so why not this weekend?’ he said.
‘It’s only natural, I suppose, when you look at the size of two clubs that Motherwell have rarely won at Ibrox in the cup.
‘But we are out to change that. We’re going into the game with belief.
‘It’s the first game after the break and Rangers have a couple of new faces so we’ll see what happens.
‘Rangers are expected to win. They’re in a better place now than six to eight weeks ago.
‘They lost the Old Firm game before the break but, outwith that, I think their performances have been good and even their performance in the Old Firm game was much better than the previous one.
‘So they are in a better place, but what gives us hope is how we played the last time we were at Ibrox.
‘Anyone who was at that match would say we were unfortunate to lose — and we might even have won it.
‘When we got on the ball I thought we played good football and we are going to need to do that again.’
Mark McGhee’s side lost that league encounter 2-1 on August 20 when Kenny Miller scored in the last minute, but their Premiership play-off success against the Light Blues in May 2015 is fresh in the memory, even if the Rangers team has changed considerably since then.
Lasley reckons the winter break has been ideal for Motherwell as a lot of injuries have cleared up, not least a shoulder problem which put him out of the last two league matches of last year.
The 37-year-old added: ‘We’ve been back in training for over a week now and are gearing up for the game at the weekend.
‘I injured myself in the Aberdeen game so the break has been good for me to get fit again — and it’s the same for another couple of the guys who have been carrying knocks.
‘I wouldn’t say I am 100-per-cent right, but I’m nearly there and I hope to play on Saturday.
‘We went into the break on the back of a couple of decent results after winning at Inverness and then getting a draw with ten men at Hamilton.
‘So it might have been better to keep going, but it has been good for us to recharge the batteries.
‘We now have a full squad to choose from and that’s great for the manager because everyone is desperate to get into the team for such a big match.’
Records are there to be broken, so why not this weekend?