European bonus brings it all back for veteran Burke
Big nights in Europe passed a youthful Burke by so he aims to make memories at Killie...
FOR Chris Burke, the thought of European football stirs memories of mixing in the highest company. A Champions League debut at Old Trafford as a teenager against Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs.
Snatching a stunning late draw in Porto with a young Ross McCormack the unlikely hero.
A comeback point in front of a raucous Ibrox against Inter Milan as league strugglers Rangers created history.
And of coming within the length of a stud on Kris Boyd’s boot of reaching the last eight of the Champions League one steamy night in El Madrigal, Villarreal.
Not that Burke took much notice at the time. The gravity of that miss in Spain, the scale of achievement in becoming the first Scottish team to reach the tournament’s knockout phase, the sense of occasion facing myriad Manchester United legends at 19. They all rather passed him by.
Burke suspects he was too young, convinced that the present would repeat itself and deluded that dining with the elite at Europe’s top table was staple stuff.
Unappreciative at the time of the opportunities his burst into the Rangers team as an exciting young winger had afforded him.
It’s a source of nagging regret to the Kilmarnock veteran, who will be back in European action this week in Rhyl.
That’s the alternative venue for Connah’s Quay
Nomads hosting Killie in the first leg of a qualifier. The Welsh side’s own Deeside Stadium doesn’t meet UEFA stipulations. It’s a far cry from the packed Champions League venues Burke graced as a Rangers star, including 16 years ago when he made his first European outing in a 3-0 defeat to one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s finest Manchester United teams. However, Burke fully intends to savour the experience and maximise the chance to inch a step closer to the Europa League groups — a stage he went on to grace with Birmingham City in 2011. The 35-yearold explained: ‘I think you expect it a lot because you’re at Rangers, you think it’s normal and you’re not taking it in as much because you think it’s always going to happen. ‘Ask any footballer — they think: “I wish I appreciated it more”. That only comes through experience. ‘And I just think you take things for granted and don’t overthink things. Even me looking at those Manchester United players, you wouldn’t have thought anything about it. ‘Now you’d think: “Wow, what a tough match” and start overthinking it. I know that was huge for me. But you don’t think about it. It can work in your favour because you don’t realise the magnitude of playing Champions League football at Manchester United.
‘I remember games in Porto and at home to Inter Milan the night we qualified for the last 16.
‘I am sure the experienced players at Rangers did take it in more than me. It’s a vague memory now.
‘The other day, I was talking to Stephen O’Donnell who is getting shirts framed, including Eden Hazard’s top from the Belgium game.
‘Players that are established and known throughout the world. I said to him that’s something I wished I had done more of.
‘I hadn’t swapped any of them. Maybe it was down to embarrassment. Maybe just not thinking about it. But it’s something I regret not doing.
‘It’s great to see that he’s switched on a bit more and has realised the career he’s now having, trying to make the most of it. World-class strips? I don’t have a single one. I just got on with it, really.’
Under Alex McLeish, Rangers languished behind Celtic and Hearts in the league in 2006 yet found a way out of a Champions League section featuring Porto, Inter and Artmedia Bratislava.
In the last 16, Manuel Pellegrini’s classy Villarreal drew 2-2 in Glasgow and were expected to advance without fuss.
However, Rangers battled to a 1-1 draw in Spain and only exited the competition on away goals.
In both legs Burke was a problem
The experienced players took it in more than me. It’s a vague memory now
presence for Villarreal and came within an ace of assisting Rangers into the quarter-finals when he fizzed a low cross over for Boyd, only for the sub to inexplicably miskick from four yards out.
‘That moment shows you the fine margins in football,’ Burke recalled. ‘They had a great team with Juan Riquelme. That was the first player I thought: “Wow, he’s something special”.
‘Taking the ball in tight spots, two-footed, technically gifted and could find a pass really quickly.
‘Usually Kris stuck them away but it wasn’t to be that night. The crazy thing is that you think you’ll get that chance again the next season.
‘That didn’t happen but games like that set me in a good way for my career, to have these experiences so early on. We had some great nights.
‘I’m hoping to replicate some of that success from Rangers and Birmingham in Europe with Kilmarnock now.’
Burke has twice suspected his days of European football were over — and been wrong on both occasions.
When leaving Rangers for Cardiff in the English second tier in January 2009, then again when returning to Scotland with Ross County three years ago.
For he signed for Birmingham following two years in south Wales and walked straight into the Blues’ first European season in 50 years.
Birmingham were relegated under McLeish after winning the League Cup, leaving Chris Hughton to orchestrate a memorable Europa League campaign.
With Burke’s help, they accumulated 10 points from Maribor, Club Brugge and Braga, winning in Slovenia and Belgium yet finishing third.
Six teams advanced to the knockout stages with less points than Birmingham’s total.
‘That was a whole new challenge fitting in our games around the Saturday-Tuesday schedule of the Championship,’ recalled Burke. ‘But we competed really well, beating Maribor at their place for the first time in years and it was a great adventure.
‘When I left Rangers to move to the Championship, I really didn’t think I had European games to look forward to.
‘Then coming back to Scotland, you think that’s European football gone again. So this is great for myself and everyone at Kilmarnock — no matter who we are playing.
‘It’s something that we probably didn’t expect to happen when we signed for the club and it’s new for most of the boys.
‘So we have to relish it now. It’s great at my age to still be playing in Europe. It might not feel like it going to Wales but it is different.
‘Hopefully it’s going to continue and we can have more games to set us up for a good start to the season ahead.
‘We’ve a tough one with Rangers visiting on the first day and, if we get past this round, we have a tough trip to Serbia to come.’
For all his travels, Burke’s only foreign manager was Paul Le Guen at Rangers, under whom he also played UEFA Cup ties.
So the arrival of long-time Antonio Conte assistant Angelo Alessio is a fascinating development for his hopes that Kilmarnock can stay at the level Steve Clarke raised them to and for his own future plans to move into coaching.
Killie spent last week at La Manga for pre-season training and two friendlies against Romanian opposition.
‘Every day we are learning about his philosophy, ideas, regime and system of play,’ said Burke. ‘It’s about getting to know everything and everyone as much as we can.
‘We have a good bunch of lads. We work for each other, don’t give up on anything or shy away from hard work. Nothing will change, that’s what this new manager will get.
‘Slowly but surely we are understanding what he wants us to do. He’s still trying to improve his English and we have Massimo (Donati), who’s lived in Glasgow a lot, which helps translate if the manager is struggling. ‘And we have Alex Dyer, which is crucial. He knows what we were like last year. It’s a good balance in there. He can filter back to the manager what our characters are like. Hopefully all that is a recipe for success.’ Kilmarnock’s thirdplaced finish under the new Scotland manager completed an astonishing 20-month tenure for Clarke. Most observers are anticipating a drop-off from that effort this term and not just because transfer interest is heightening in defensive stars O’Donnell and Greg Taylor.
However, Burke said: ‘After the season before, people thought we’d peaked. But we peaked again.
‘Finishing third in the league was a huge achievement. It’s down to us to keep that level up. As much as people say we may have peaked, people are expecting us to be up there.
‘We’ve not had that pressure in I don’t know how many years. Will teams look at us differently? I don’t know but it’s another challenge for us, managing that expectation.
‘But we are a big enough group to rise to that. We don’t want to have a little fall.
‘We want to be progressive as a team, continue to be consistent in the league — and we have a new challenge in Europe to make the most of now.’
‘WHEN I LEFT RANGERS TO MOVE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP, LITTLE DID I THINK I’D HAVE EUROPEAN GAMES TO LOOK FORWARD TO. COMING BACK TO SCOTLAND, YOU DO THINK THAT’S GONE AGAIN. SO THIS IS JUST GREAT’