Fear of failure keeps eyes on TAKING AIM
● Rangers stalwart determined not to go down as club captain who fails to win silverware and says squad now has five leaders
If the 24-year-old Lee Wallace had been asked back in 2011 what he expected and hoped to achieve as a Rangers player, a trio of lower division titles and a Challenge Cup final victory would not have been part of the conversation.
But as he marks his 30th birthday today, Wallace approaches his seventh season with the Ibrox club acutely aware of the prospect of finishing his career with an unwanted blot on his CV.
“I am driven on by the fact that I do not want to go down in history as a Rangers captain who does not win any major silverware,” he admits.
Wallace’s decision to commit himself to Rangers for the duration of their absence from the top flight was a sacrifice appreciated by the club’s support.
In more recent times, many of those fans have questioned his position as skipper, a debate intensified by the summer signing of Portuguese international defender Bruno Alves, who was touted for the role.
Wallace has retained the armband and the backing of manager Pedro Caixinha as Rangers seek to restore some credibility as challengers for major honours, having finished a record 39 points behind treble-winning Celtic last season.
At the official launch of the new Ladbrokes Premiership campaign, which begins for Rangers with a trip to Motherwell on Sunday, Wallace remained defiant about the prospects of leading a more competitive and successful side.
“It is a unique situation for myself but I recognise that challenge and I want to become a captain at Rangers that does lift silverware,” he said.
“I will keep working hard and learning in the role to make sure that is the case. I am still a relatively young captain as I have only been two years in the role.
“It was the same for me last season when the manager brought in guys that had the tag of having a more successful career than me, had played at a higher level than me and had more international caps than me. It has happened again this year.
“There has not really been any reassurance as the manager has not needed to say much to me. What Bruno will bring is that he will join the group of captains that we have already got. It will be a powerful tool for us as we will have five different characters within different areas and that can only be a positive thing for me and the rest of the group.
“We have five ‘captains’ at the club and that will be great for the team moving forward. Myself, Kenny Miller, Bruno, Niko Kranjcar and Graham Dorrans are all captains They are the five that the manager recognised early on as being his captains on the park.
“I am delighted that can be the case and great for me that I can lean on any of these guys. It is also great for the rest of the squad.
“We have some young Portuguese guys in the squad who may look up to Bruno Alves and think ‘this is my hero’ which is great for Rangers. I will still happily have the main responsibility and I will still be the one that has to face up to any disappointment or scrutiny.”
That scrutiny came early for Caixinha’s new-look squad with their wretched Europa League exit at the hands of Luxembourg minnows Progres Niederkorn in the first qualifying round last month.
The sense of gloom which enveloped Rangers in the wake of that embarrassment has been partially lightened by a series of hastily-arranged friendlies against Marseille, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday which delivered a draw against the French side and victories over the English duo.
“There has been a more positive mood in the last ten days,” said Wallace. “Since the Marseille game and with the trip down to England, we have been really encouraged.
“We’ve spoken about trying to gain momentum in the pre-season. We failed on that front in terms of Europe. We don’t want to go into that too much, but we did rightly suffer humiliation for it.
“We have to overcome that, we have to be brave enough to face up to it. Which we have.
“In the last three performances, we have generated more solidity in our play. At the same time, we’ve managed to score a few goals which has been nice.
“We are definitely feeling a lot better about ourselves and hugely motivated for the start of the league season on Sunday.
“People on the outside might have been looking at those three friendlies we were playing and thinking it would be tough for us, especially the way we had played previously.
“But we tweaked the shape a wee bit, used some different personnel and we are now feeling really positive. There is still a long way to go, we recognise that. But we will keep working hard.
“Our aim this season is to try to win every tournament we enter. It has to be that way. That never changes and it has always been the mindset in the seven years that I have started a pre-season.
“We knew at the lesser levels in Scottish football that would be more achievable, but in the top flight that has to be the aim. It cannot be anything other than that.
“We understand the realism of the challenge, but we will not change or deviate from how we will approach every game.
“We have to feel we can close the gap (on Celtic). That’s a big motivation for us this year. We need to close that gap and it’s about the players who have arrived from all different places, settling quickly and adapting to the demands.
“We need to be competitive in every competition we play in. Slowly but surely we are getting there.
“I feel the positivity and it’s up to us players to make sure we start off the league campaign well. This season we need to start with a win.”
“Our aim this season is to try to win every tournament we enter. It has to be that way. That never changes” “What Bruno Alves will bring is that he will join the group of captains that we have already got. It will be a powerful tool for us”
LEE WALLACE