GIO SHOWS HIS CLASS
Nine-in-a-row legend Gough so impressed by Ibrox boss as he guides Rangers to brink of glory
GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst gathered his players for an emotional debrief that celebrated the club’s arrival in the Europa League final and mourned the passing of club kitman Jimmy Bell. The Rangers manager’s words deftly balanced grief with the euphoria of an Ibrox night for the ages in which RB Leipzig became the latest to succumb to the power of the old stadium on a European night.
Watching from a corner of the home dressing room was Richard Gough, the club’s nine-in-a-row captain and a veteran of countless memorable addresses from Walter Smith. Remarkably, this was the first time the 60-year-old Gough, a club ambassador now based in the States, had encountered the Dutchman in person.
Like many, he harboured some doubts when the cub chose to appoint this quiet, understated coach in place of a personality as domineering as Steven Gerrard.
Just months later, with Rangers about to contest a European final for only the second time in 50 years, he’s inclined to view the move
as inspired. ‘I went
He is not one who goes around with a big baseball bat in his hand
downstairs on Thursday night and listened to Gio give his little speech to the players after the game,’ says Gough. ‘He did that very well and he toasted Jimmy Bell, too. These little things are impressive.
‘This was not an easy job to come into. To take over from Gerrard, who had done so well in his last season, was a big ask.
‘And although it doesn’t look like we are going to win the league, it has been an inspired choice.
‘He is not one of those managers who goes around with a big baseball bat in his hand. He is very levelheaded and calm in his interviews.
‘He speaks sense, from what I have heard. I just congratulated him and said there are not many Rangers managers who have got their team to a European final.
‘It’s a tremendous achievement and he should be very proud.’
In a season of Ibrox anniversaries that has seen the passing of Smith and now Bell, there did seem to be something in the air on Glasgow’s Southside in midweek.
Gough is not especially sentimental. But he couldn’t help thinking of his old manager as Rangers withstood some concerted pressure from the Germans before springing to the other end and digging out the clinching goal from John Lundstram.
‘I think there are a few things at play,’ says Gough. ‘There’s Walter and Jimmy. It’s also the 50th anniversary since we won the last one. Ultimately, it’s about what the players do.
‘When it went to 2-1, I guarantee you 90 per cent of the people in that stadium felt there was a good chance we were going out.
‘We’re dead on our feet, pegged back, hemmed in and we can’t get out. We managed to turn it round, so maybe it’s a wee bit of fate but who knows. It’s down to the players.
‘We have carried a wee bit of luck in the tournament but we were always going to need that. Look at our budget compared to many of the teams we have knocked out — Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Braga — they all have bigger budgets.
‘Glen Kamara signed from Dundee for £45k and we got the boy (Scott) Wright from Aberdeen for not much more. If you had said to them you’ll soon be playing in a European final, they would have laughed.’
And therein probably lies the rub. Gough led a team that was constructed specifically to try to conquer the European stage, but even with Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup and a host of expensive, well-paid team-mates in tow, they did not manage to get as far as Van Bronckhorst has taken Rangers.
‘For someone like myself who — on paper — played in some of the strongest Rangers teams there has been, this has been a remarkable achievement,’ admits Gough (right). ‘I’m not jealous of them in the slightest, though — I’m happy for them and I told them so on Thursday. But I also told them to treasure these moments because they are so special.
‘They don’t come along every week. We’re not a club like Real Madrid who are trying to get to the Champions League final every season. This is very special for our club.’
Smith, of course, did find a way with more modest resources in 2008. The team built by Gerrard and tweaked by Van Bronckhorst does things with a bit more panache, yet Gough saw shades of his old boss in the way they hung in.
‘I was thinking of Walter on Thursday,’ he continues. ‘That was a true Walter performance — backs against the wall and defending like tigers. And making the right decisions as defenders — that was the good thing.
‘I thought we defended well, especially as two of the centre-backs, (Connor) Goldson and (Calvin) Bassey, got yellow cards early on.
‘I thought that was going to be a problem, but they managed to keep themselves out of trouble after that. The three at the back was also perfect for the full-backs (Borna) Barisic and (James) Tavernier. I’m surprised they don’t play that way more often. They are probably not the best defenders but they love bombing up and down those wings, such attack-minded players.
‘Looking back to 2008, it was more backs against the wall. This team has never parked the bus, so to speak. But it has carried good fortune all through the knockout phase. It happened against Borussia Dortmund then against Red Star VAR saved us by three fingernails or something!
‘They had goals ruled out and Allan McGregor had an absolutely world-class save from a penalty. And over in Belgrade they should have scored about ten! A lot of things have fallen in our favour — but even when you ride your luck a wee bit, you have to make things happen.’
It’s on to Seville now for a Battle Royale against Eintracht Frankfurt. Gough believes the game will be tense and does not buy into the theory that, having already knocked out two Bundesliga sides, the cup is Rangers’ to throw away.
He says: ‘A few people have already said to me that we are favourites for the final — I’m like “how do you work that out?”
‘Frankfurt have beaten Barcelona away, defeated West Ham in London. So they are quite capable of beating us in Seville! They will be really hard to beat.
‘I think it’s going to be a very cagey final, different from the way the knockout games have gone.
‘It’s going to be tight, but this squad knows they have a chance to make themselves proper legends. There is only one group of players at this club who have won a European trophy, the 1972 boys.
‘They have an opportunity to make their mark in history, do something only one Rangers team managed in the club’s 150-year history. Fair play to them. After losing the first two group games nobody would have believed they would get to the Europa League final.
‘Anybody suggesting that would have been chased out of the room.’
The European run has helped swell the Ibrox coffers and Gough would now like to see the manager backed.
‘Giovanni knows football and he knows footballers,’ he added. ‘As a player, he left Rangers and went on to play for Arsenal and Barcelona. He played all those games for Holland, too, and has managed Feyenoord, so he knows what it takes at the very highest level.
‘Let him get his own players in and we will see…’