McLeish impressed with Gerrard’s approach as Rangers return to Porto aiming to keep Euro dream on track
A SEASON that gave Alex McLeish so little joy, and was ultimately his last at Ibrox, provided one of the achievements of his Rangers career.
As pressure built domestically, a trip to Porto looked like the last thing McLeish needed as the midway point approached during the 2005-6 campaign. The memories of that night are fond for the Treble-winning boss, though.
McLeish would end that term empty-handed as early exits from both cup competitions were followed by a third-place finish in the Premier League.
But he still wrote his name in the history books as Rangers became the first Scottish club to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League. A 1-1 draw at home to Inter Milan on the final night in Group H was enough to secure second spot and a place in the last 16 for the Light Blues.
But it was the game a fortnight earlier that kept the dream alive as a depleted Gers side somehow earned a share of the spoils at the home of their Portuguese hosts.
McLeish said: “I remember it well. We were staring into the abyss and we came out with an amazing result. We had a real skeleton crew of a squad because we had a load of injuries that season and guys like big [Dado] Prso were missing.
“I had to bring a young boy in Ross McCormack off the bench to get us the equaliser and help get us to the last 16 of the Champions League. Porto were a hell of a good side and we weren’t given a prayer.
“We had a very inexperienced side, a lot of players that probably wouldn’t have played if the first selection had been available but they did the club proud.
“We had to hang on but you need to do that sometimes by the skin of your teeth. It was certainly a night we will never forget.
“Yeah, it was tough and you had to try to take yourself away from what wasn’t within your control and try to concentrate as much as possible on the players you have at your disposal.
“It was out of our control in terms of the injuries, but it can help you. It was a great night for my managerial career in terms of what you can learn from it. That was probably one of my best in terms of tactics that night.”
Rangers will return to the Estádio do Dragão tomorrow evening and boss Steven Gerrard would surely settle for the same outcome as the one his predecessor achieved 14 years ago.
It is Europa League qualification that is the ambition for Rangers this time around and Group G, which also includes Feyenoord and Young Boys, is finely poised after all four sides won one and lost one over the first two rounds of fixtures.
Rangers’ defeat in Bern last time out was only the third Gerrard has suffered in Europe in 24 attempts and McLeish is encouraged by the way the Light Blues have performed on the continent over the past 18 months.
McLeish said: “A 1-1 draw wouldn’t be the worst result this time around and they seem to be having a good run in Europe and they are comfortable in Europe, even though they lost against
Young Boys.
“That was a wee setback for them and Porto is not an easy place to go to.
“They will be smarting from the fact they are not in the Champions League this year and they have got a bit of rebuilding to do as well.
“It is a great record [Steven has] and it goes to show he is a smart guy that has learned a lot through his career as a player and from the coaches that he has had over the years.
“He played a hell of a lot of times in Europe as a player and he gathered all that experience, plus what the managers have given him, and he is using that very well tactically.”
If Rangers could achieve their European ambitions and advance out of Group G, it would be another impressive accolade to add to Gerrard’s growing record at Ibrox.
McLeish was back in familiar territory earlier this month as he took charge of the Rangers Legends side. Liverpool, with Gerrard as captain, were the opponents before the 39-year-old made a late cameo in blue to delight the home crowd.
It gave the former Scotland boss a chance to get a feel for the progress that has been made on and off the park in recent times but there is still considerable work to be done in the coming weeks and months.
It is the Premiership title and silverware in Scotland that are the ultimate aims this term. The balance, as McLeish knows, can often be tricky to strike week to week.
He said: “It is difficult because everyone expects you, as Rangers, to go into the midweek game and go and do what you do and play the same way as you play against a Premier League side in Scotland. You can’t do that.
“There was always a strategy, whether you waited on them or sometimes you go more attacking.
“There was a bit of canniness, in general, in the early exchanges of the game and you definitely didn’t want to go down in the first few minutes in Europe. It can become carnage.
“Steven has rebuilt the reputation in Europe and Rangers are a massive name that people will talk about wherever you go. It is only Rangers and Celtic.
“We regret that we don’t have a league where there are more teams up competing for the title, but even down south that is becoming difficult for top six teams.
“Steven has shown his maturity in the way that Rangers have been playing.”
THE change in Borna Barisic as a player has been evident for the Rangers fans to see in recent weeks.
But Nikola Katic has witnessed his Croatian countryman become more settled and more content off the pitch as well this term.
The first months that Barisic spent at Ibrox were difficult for the left-back. At the end of his debut term, some supporters were questioning his place in Steven Gerrard’s squad, never mind his starting jersey.
His performances have undoubtedly improved, however, and the 26-year-old is now the first choice in his position ahead of Jon Flanagan and Andy Halliday.
Gerrard has always had faith that Barisic would show the kind of form he believed he was capable of when he brought him to Ibrox from Osijek.
His exploits on the international stage are further proof of the quality he has and Katic, signed last summer from Slaven Belupo, is pleased to see his friend enjoying his football and life in Glasgow.
“I’m really happy for him, because I almost live with him,” Katic said. “We don’t live in the same place but in the same building, so we often spend the whole day together.
“Last year, he had problems with hamstring injuries and other things. He was also dealing with a new club, a new culture and a new league.
“It was difficult. There were times when he felt really bad. But he has started to do more this year, more work to prevent injuries to hamstrings and other things. Now I think he is playing amazing.
“You can see that in the last two or three months. He has scored great free-kicks and his confidence is really high.
“His performances for the Croatia national team have also been at a really high level. He played against Gareth Bale recently – a real world-class player – and played very well against him. It just proves that he is in a really good way.”
It was the first of those free-kicks, against St Mirren in August, that could prove to be the turning point for Barisic at Rangers.
It gave fans an insight into what he is capable of and when he curled home another against Hamilton a few weeks ago it was clear to see what it meant to the Croatian.
Barisic has gone some way to winning over his critics in the opening months of the campaign.
And Katic reckons he is also benefiting from the presence of a friendly face around the club and the city.
He said: “We try to help each other all the time. When I am not playing, he tries to help me and we have positive talks. I did the same for him when he had difficult times.
“There was a period at the start of the season when I was in the team all the time and he was on the bench or out of the squad. So we try to help each other whenever possible.
“I’m really happy I have Borna here. I have a really good connection with all the players here and can speak with anyone but to have a guy from my country is something different.
“Obviously, he is now happier away from the pitch, because this is our life. When you play well in every game then you will be happy when you are away from football.
“If you are in a bad position, injured or not playing, then you don’t feel good at all. That is the only difference I can see in him.”
It is not just for Rangers that Barisic has performed admirably this season. He was part of the Croatia side that beat Hungary 3-0 and then drew with Wales during the last international break.
He could one day be joined by the man that lines up alongside him at Ibrox.
“Obviously Croatia were World Cup finalists, which means we have really good players who are with top clubs in Europe such as Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid,” Katic, who last week signed a new long-term contract with Rangers, said. “It is really difficult to break in there.
“But I have faith in myself and definitely think in the future that I will be a Croatia national team player. The only thing I can do for now is work hard and try and play better in every single game for Rangers to try and show the manager of the national team that I deserve to be there one day.”
SOME of my best friends are racist. Although to be fair, they are black and have a point.
That’s a Frankie Boyle joke. Like his best-crafted gags, it works on more than one level and makes you laugh. The man was also spot on.
I have as much of an idea about being black as a I do being a woman and yet I have enough about me to look beyond my white maleness to appreciate what many of my fellow humans must endure on a daily basis.
We live in a racist society and, no, this isn’t something I’ve just become aware of.
I don’t have single black friend. I have worked in journalism a number of years and can count on one hand the number of non-white work colleagues I’ve had … and they were always beneath me in the pecking order.
And I’d like to think I’m one of the good guys.
Football as a business is by far the least racist in Britain. Where else can a young black kid without much of an education get a job that could well lead to fame and fortune?
Walk into any boardroom and it will be mostly male and nine times out of 10, perhaps more, all white blokes.
Walk into any dressing room at a football club and there are players from all sorts of different backgrounds. The only thing that counts is whether they can kick a ball.
What a shame, therefore, that the game attracts so many knuckle-dragging scumbags who not only don’t know how to behave, they show not an ounce of interest in behaving in a manner most of us deem proper.
And we have a major problem with racism in Scottish football. In 2019.
Lazio are in Glasgow, they play Celtic tomorrow, and I was tempted to write about their fascist supporters and that, while we have problems, at least in Scotland our grounds are free from Nazis.
And then I’d have to step away from my glasshouse while emptying my pockets of rocks.
Alfredo Morelos is the latest non-white player to be subjected to abuse, as he was at Tynecastle on Sunday, and not because he scored a goal, was cheeky to the home fans, kicked an opponent or dived.
The Rangers striker, not for the first time, was abused while doing his job because of the colour of his skin.
What must he think of us?
Does he think all Scots, or at least a large amount, are KKK members? Would you blame him? Would you blame any of the black players who have had to put up with this scumbag behaviour in Scotland?
We have sectarianism, the cousin of racism, or that’s what too many of us have told ourselves.
Neil Lennon is right. The abuse he gets is racist. And, bar one or two life-bans, we get on with things before any dust has had time to settle.
It shames us all. We have reached crisis point.
I was once of the opinion that one idiot in a crowd should not have an effect on the club. But that’s because I’m a white bloke.
It’s only now that I’ve woken up and realised the problem is too big for “fair” punishments.
Hearts have a problem. There is an element of their support attracted to right-wing nut-jobs.
The club are doing their best but proper action speaks louder than a few statements.
What should happen is that next time there is a racist incident, it’s three points docked and the stadium closed; same goes for every club.
Football is tribal and sweary.
It’s illogical and marvellous, capable of searing highs and crashing lows. Emotion plays too big a part.
The nicest guy or gal you know becomes a different person at the football.
And that’s okay. It is also okay to make a fool of yourself. We’ve all been there.
But being racist is different. It’s a belief system which so many white people cling to: we are the master race; a black person, a black footballer, is less than us so it’s okay to make monkey gestures.
These white supremacists – and that’s what this is – somehow look at, for example, Morelos and see a lesser person.
He dealt with the abuse at Tynecastle with perfection but that he had to at all is harrowing. Those caught always plead it was a one-off, that their behaviour is not how they are. Sorry, but I don’t buy it.
Calling a player a black b*****d doesn’t come from nowhere. Those who do so never turn around and apologise. They mean it. Let’s not kid ourselves. Instead, let’s do something about it.
From next season, the SFA and SPFL must take a stand. Points deductions and stadium closures might not be the solution but where else can we go?
We get a lot wrong but let’s get
this one right. Teams will not be penalised if they walk off the field in solidarity with a team-mate.
Clubs will be properly punished should such racism persist within their own support.
No second chances. No excuses. No more.
ODSONNE Edouard is most likely playing in his final season as a Celtic player.
A bid will come in, Celtic will reject it, then after some toing and froing, the Frenchman will become the latest to move to a richer club, making Celtic a handy profit.
Celtic supporters should saviour the time they have left with a young man who, for me, has become a better player than
Moussa Dembele.
The record signing has been the best player in Scotland so far. He’s a wonderfully gifted footballer.
With a title race hopefully in the making, the difference between Celtic and Rangers might just be Edouard – and I’m a huge Alfredo Morelos fan.
He’s the best forward Celtic have since Henrik Larsson.
Europa League,
Porto v Rangers – BT Sport 3 1755; Celtic v Lazio – BT Sport 3 2000; Partizan v Man Utd – BT Sport 2 1730; Arsenal v Vitoria – BT Sport 2 2000; Slovan Bratislava v Wolves – BT Sport/ESPN 1730;
Eintracht Frankfurt v Standard Liege – BT Sport/ESPN 2015.
World T20 qualifiers, Scotland v Bermuda – Sky Sports Cricket 1620 & Sky Sports Main Event 1630.
European Tour, Portugal Masters – Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Golf 1130. PGA Tour, Zozo Championship – Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Golf 0400.
WTA, Zhuhai – BT Sport 1 0800.
NFL, Minnesota Vikings v Washington
Redskins – Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action 1230 (Fri).
European Championship – ITV4 1800.