Lee is convinced that misfiring Light Blues are in for a big shock
Former St Mirren defender Lee Mair starred the last time the Buddies took three points off Rangers, when they came from behind to win 2-1 in Paisley on Christmas Eve, 2011.
Mair will be at the SMISA Stadium today to watch them take on Steven Gerrard’s men, and he’s confident that they can claim their first league win against them for a decade.
He argues that the Light Blues no longer intimidate opposing teams the way they did while winning the title by 25 points last season.
And he believes that former team-mate, Jim Goodwin – who shocked the Ibrox club by beating them 3-2 in the League Cup quarter-finals a
year ago – can create another upset this afternoon.
Saints are unbeaten in six games, and have won three in a row so they’ll be going into this one bursting with self-belief.
“The current team is on a high while Rangers, although they’re top of the league, aren’t firing on all cylinders,” Mair argued.
“This isn’t the Rangers of last season, who reminded me a little of their great teams of the past.
“The ones with Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne or Michael Mols and Marco Negri.
“You’d probably have taken a 3-0 defeat before you’d even kicked off against them.
“However, that aura they had when they went through the league campaign unbeaten isn’t there any longer, as you can see by their recent results.
“That’s why I’m sure Jim Goodwin and his players will be confident they can keep their momentum going by getting something from this one.”
Mair has total recall of that last league success. Lee Wallace fired Rangers in front, Lee Mcculloch was shown a straight red for elbowing Saints’ Graham Carey and Aaron Mooy and Paul Mcgowan then scored within a minute to give the hosts a half-time lead.
The visitors’ cause wasn’t helped when Dorin Goian was also dismissed after the break to reduce Rangers to nine men.
“They didn’t trouble us all that much, and my biggest worry came when Goian was sent off near the end for hauling back Gary Teale,” said Mair.
“Myself and a few of the other lads had played in the League Cup Final against
Rangers the previous year when they played with nine
men for the last 20 minutes after Danny Wilson and Kevin Thomson had been red-carded.
“But Kenny Miller still managed to get the only goal with six minutes left.
“Christmas is always a great time to get a win bonus, but it’s always more special if you’ve beaten Celtic or Rangers to do it.
“I’d rather have swapped that result for the one in the Final, though.
“That was the worst day of my football career, and it still sticks in my throat that we lost.
“So it was a relief to get over the line the following year, although we deserved it.”
Mair played with Goodwin at Stockport County before being reunited with him in Paisley.
He warns home fans to savour his reign because he
expects the Irishman to leave sooner rather than later.
“He’s been fantastic for St Mirren, and the supporters should enjoy him while they can,” said Mair.
“I’ve no doubts that he’ll go on to become a success with even bigger clubs in the future.”