Gazza history lesson for Gers
EXCLUSIVE
RANGERS were beaten 3-0 by Celtic at Hampden and Walter Smith didn’t even take a seat in the postmatch press conference.
Instead, the story goes that he put his foot on a desk, bent over to tie his shoelaces and nonchalantly told reporters he was about to sign Paul Gascoigne.
It was a bit of psychological genius from one of Scottish football’s legendary gaffers.
Just like good friend Sir Alex Ferguson, Smith was a master of mind games.
After an Old Firm drubbing – albeit in a dead rubber fixture after Gers had sealed their seventh title in a row in 1995 – it was the perfect deflection tactic.
But more than that, Smith sent out a message to his Glasgow rivals, who’d go on to win the Scottish Cup, that the Ibrox club weren’t about to stand still.
Sure enough, Gazza arrived that summer for £4.5million from Lazio and was Player of the Year as Rangers wrapped up titles number eight, then nine.
Circumstances are different now with Steven Gerrard’s side still waiting to properly celebrate their first league flag in a decade.
But former striker Mark Hateley says the same rules still apply when it comes to staying on top
and ahead of the game. He played that day in ‘95 when Celtic battered Rangers with goals from Pierre van Hooijdonk, Rudi Vata and a Craig Moore own-goal.
Incredibly, the Hoops finished FOURTH in the table that season, with Smith’s men streets ahead.
But their response to losing a so-called meaningless Old Firm fixture was to go out and strengthen their squad with Gascoigne’s arrival.
And Hateley insists Rangers must show that they’re ready to stay at No.1 this summer – irrespective of the result at Ibrox this afternoon.
He said: “When you’re on top, you need to stay there. And you do that by signing big players and being ahead of your rivals.
“You need to lead. You need to be a proactive force, not reactive.
“Rangers need a continuation now of the good work that’s already been done.
“I think there will be clubs who come in for four or five of Rangers’ top players this summer. But that’s why you need to build on it and be proactive.
“That’s what Walter did in ‘95. We’d just been beaten by Celtic but, we were about to sign Paul Gascoigne. So the headlines were all about Rangers.
“That’s the challenge for Steven and the club now, to stay on top and make sure there are more Rangers headlines to come.”
■■You can listen to Mark Hateley weekly on Rangers Connection Podcasts where he’s joined by Alex Rae.