PFA PRIZE IS ALL ABOUT RESPECT, INSISTS ELLIOTT
IF invited as an ex-Parkhead pundit to knock them when they’re very down, Paul Elliott is one Celtic-minded man not salivating at the open goal of savaging Rangers players wilting under demand.
The struggles of chasing a dominant, soaring, richer Glasgow rival are remembered by Elliott. He was that man in 1989, new to Scottish football’s peculiarities and toiling through illness to make a mark.
Celtic finished fifth in the top flight. And while he was a very different beast a year later, the ever-so-stylish centre-half’s excellence was not sufficient to hoist his club up any further than a distant third.
They lost a League Cup final to Rangers, in which Elliott scored, then exited to Motherwell in the Scottish Cup last four — roadblocks of quality and mentality that this Rangers lot routinely bump into and fail to progress.
Those superb individual performances from the Englishman did, however, tally up to a wave of votes from fellow professionals crowning him their PFA Scotland Player of the Year for 1990/91.
On the 40th anniversary of the award, this evening’s celebratory Glasgow dinner will feature Elliott among 25 former winners as the 2017/18 top man is revealed.
The prize meant much to Elliott for several reasons. He was the first black player to win. His team won nothing yet he outperformed Rangers and Aberdeen’s star men, according to his peers.
And he overcame a lengthy, unforgiving introduction to the ferocious demands of a merciless environment for the rookie in Scottish football in order to emerge the best player in the country.
Which is always more difficult, he explains, when you are playing catch-up in an Old Firm world. ‘It’s challenging,’ said Elliott.
‘There’s a bit of role reversal now in the current situation. I have genuine empathy because I’ve been where they’ve been and you are under constant, relentless pressure.
‘Whilst we were in transition, we could still get a result against Rangers in the one-off games, whereas at the moment Celtic are just far too strong.’
Elliott’s pedigree of English top-flight experience with Luton and Aston Villa followed by Serie A with Pisa mattered little, he readily concedes, when thrust into the Scottish game.
‘It took me an entire season, if I’m honest, to adjust to it all,’ he recalled. ‘I picked up a virus shortly after arriving and was really unwell. Physically it took so much out of me, I lost a lot of weight.
‘Then it took a while to get used to a fast, ferocious tempo. Some Old Firm games were unbelievable. Relentless pace. But fantastic. I’d come from Italy where there’s a slower tempo then frenetic bursts in the final third — straight to a relentless environment with no rest period. Under constant intensity.
‘I had 16 bookings in my first season. It was mistimed challenges. It took me a while. In this cauldron and high intensity of Scotland, I felt I needed an extra lung to keep up with the game.
‘While I did well in little pockets in my first season, the consistency only came in the second one when I got my game together and won the PFA award.
‘I got stronger, used to the pace, needed a different type of physicality to cope. Only then I flourished.
‘In terms of competitive balance, Scotland was unbelievably competitive. It’s really important that players are stretched and motivated to do well.
‘Players always wanted to beat Celtic and Rangers, and they raised their levels sub-consciously.
‘Knowing it felt like a cup final in every game was something that enabled me to play to maximum performance.’
Elliott’s fellow Englishman Mark Hateley was another who overcame a difficult start. Three years later, in 1994, he lifted the prized individual award and, two seasons on, Paul Gascoigne was the third English winner.
Chris Sutton, Michael Higdon of Motherwell and last year’s recipient Scott Sinclair complete the crop from south of the border on the roll of honour.
Higdon stands out a mile as the only non-Old Firm winner since Aberdeen’s Jim Bett in 1990.
As Elliott points out, though, many Celtic or Rangers signings might have arrived in Glasgow with all the talent for joining the greats but ultimately met trouble handling expectations.
‘Glasgow is a lovely city but there’s an intensity to the day-to-day life that a lot of people can’t cope with,’ he noted.
‘I’ve seen that happen, I think that’s why they fail.
‘You get guys who are good players but more suited to provincial towns. Smaller cities where there isn’t so much scrutiny and intensity. But we know with Glasgow there’s no place to hide. ‘I actually enjoyed it. ‘I’ve been very fortunate to get that validation and confirmation of your estimation by my fellow pros in Scotland. I don’t think there’s anything more rewarding in one’s career.
‘So to be voted as Player of the Year by players is one of the biggest achievements.
‘With all the challenges you’ve had with many black players and discrimination and racism, it is an extra satisfaction that I was the first black player to win it.’