Return to Ibrox is no pipe dream for Stewart
FOR Greg Stewart, his past occupation unblocking pipes with a high-power jet hose should ensure he has no problem handling the pressure at Ibrox. Growing up as a Rangers fan, the young striker was left crushed when he was let go by his boyhood heroes at the age of just 14.
When further rejection followed from Hearts, on that most familiar grounds of ‘being too small,’ Stewart found work with Grangemouth firm CIS in the local petrochemical complex.
That meant getting up at 6am and training with part-time Cowdenbeath in the evening after Central Park manager Jimmy Nicholl spotted him playing for Syngenta Juveniles and gave him a chance to climb back up the football ladder.
Stewart’s hard work and dedication has since seen him complete a true rags-toriches tale, literally as he has swapped his dirty refinery overalls for the light blue jersey of his beloved Rangers.
And he believes the knocks he has taken along the way may stand him in good stead for coping with the rigours of life with one half of the Old Firm.
Put to Stewart that Ibrox must have seemed a world away when he was working in Grangemouth, he replied: ‘Yes! I thought my chance in football was gone. But all the hard work has paid off now that I am here. Hopefully I don’t need to go back to that job any time soon.
‘Does the experience of working in the refinery make me more able to handle the pressure at Rangers?
‘Everyone is different but maybe I appreciate being here more than someone who has been in football all their life and not had a job before.
‘But everyone is their own person and I’m just excited for what lies ahead with Rangers.
‘Now I’m doing something that I have always dreamed of doing. I just want to work hard and try to make sure that everything goes well.’
Stewart admits that it was a hammer
blow when he was released by Rangers in his youth.
Just like Andrew Robertson, who was cast aside by Celtic but is now a European champion with Liverpool, the 29-year-old former Dundee, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and Birmingham City forward’s tale shows there is hope for those deemed not good enough in their early to mid-teens.
‘When you are young and you get rejected, it is not easy to take,’ said Stewart. ‘The fact I was a Rangers fan made it that bit harder to take. But I had my family around me to help me and cheer me up and I signed for Hearts quite soon after. Getting a new club straight away made it a little bit easier for me.
‘But it’s something that I will always remember because it was a sore one.
‘So, to get the chance to come back is great because back then I probably didn’t think it would happen.
‘My advice to young kids, let go by clubs, would be that there’s rejection in every job. It’s about how you handle it.
‘You just have to keep on going and try to pick yourself up. You need to have that strong mentality about you and keep on believing in your own ability.
‘And hopefully if you keep working hard, then you will get your rewards in the end.’ Stewart was initially pinching himself
at following in the footsteps of the stars that he worshipped while growing up, but his thoughts then turned to hard work. He is now busting a gut in pre-season training in Portugal as he focuses on next season’s aim of stopping Celtic reaching 10-in-a-row. ‘When I was young, my favourite player was Brian Laudrup,’ the Stirling-born striker recalled. ‘There are a lot of Rangers players I could mention but Laudrup was the main one I liked. ‘I loved the way he played, the way he ran with the ball. He was just amazing to watch. I also loved watching Ally McCoist, and all the goals he scored, and Gazza too.
‘I’ve so many memories of watching Rangers, like when Peter Lovenkrands scored against Inter Milan and we got through to the last 16 of the Champions League (in 2005). That was amazing.
‘I also followed the club on the road to the UEFA Cup final in Manchester. I went down
for the final on a bus with friends and family. ‘It was not the result that we wanted (losing 2-0 to Zenit St Petersburg) but seeing so many people down there was incredible. It’s something I will never forget. ‘European nights at Ibrox are brilliant as a fan. I can just imagine what Ibrox is going to be like as a player. ‘It will be an absolute dream to pull on a Rangers jersey. But the dream only lasts for a day. There is always a demand at this club to get silverware and I need to make sure that’s done by the end of the season.’ Fate has decreed that Stewart kicks off his Rangers league career back at Rugby Park on August 4, after leaving Kilmarnock for Aberdeen midway through the season.
He dismisses suggestions he was not quite as good at Pittodrie as he was in the first half of the season in Ayrshire under Steve Clarke.
‘I’ve not been back to Kilmarnock since I left in January but I’m sure I will get a good reception,’ said Stewart, whose aim in the longer term at Rangers is to catch the eye of new Scotland boss Clarke.
‘It will be difficult at Kilmarnock. They have a new manager (Angelo Alessio) and it’s always a difficult place to go because they are a good team.
‘But it’s a game we want to win because there’s always a demand on you at Rangers to win football matches.
‘Yes, I scored more goals and created more chances at Kilmarnock than at Aberdeen but I felt I played well at Pittodrie. I wasn’t getting the assists or the goals but I felt my all round game was consistently good.
‘If it wasn’t, I would not be at Rangers. So I must have been doing something right!’