Murray not Minted.

It goes without saying that appointing Frenchman Paul Le Guen may go down as one of the biggest mistakes in the history of Rangers Football Club.
In recent times, observers could also point to the salubrious spending spree of Dick Advocaat which led to crippling debt threatening the livelihood of the club, never more encapsulated than by the staggering £12M fee paid out for Norwegian Tore Andre Flo. However, by and large Advocaat’s reign was a success on the pitch, and the capture of Le Guen was designed, albeit on a more restricted budget, to emulate that kind of footballing eminence.

It was during Lyon’s stunning performances in the Champions League taking them as far as the quarter finals in2004/2005, only losing out on a penalty shoot-out to PSV, which catapulted Le Guen into the upper tier of world coaches.

During this flourishing time for the French club, Rangers were about to embark on one of their poorest seasons for many years, eventually collapsing to an embarrassing 3rd in the league behind the inconsistent Hearts. Change was in the air, so when incredible news began to filter through that Le Guen was in the frame for the Rangers hot seat, having taken a year long sabbatical from the game, the fans were truly astonished at such a high profile boss being linked to the club.

Indeed, many believed this would be the dawn of a new age for the Ibrox club, with a world class tactician like Le Guen at the helm, presumably backed up by a handy transfer budget.

Early signs, however, were not promising. Not only were no quality names acquired, but performances in preseason were less than convincing, particularly when a dreadful performance against Sundowns led to the first defeat under his management. Regrettably, this was the level at which the side remained under Le Guen’s stewardship, with fleeting glimpses of improvement.

This situation, and the resulting disintegration of the season for the Govan men, begs the question of who takes the blame for such a catastrophic reign.

There are two distinct sides to this appointment;

The fans, who wanted a world class foreign coach with experience at the highest level.

And Sir David Murray, who ultimately holds responsibility for any staff acquisitions the club makes, and patently pursued Le Guen vehemently.

The puzzle is was his courtship of Le Guen explicitly inspired by the fans directly wanting the Frenchman, or did he make his interest in Le Guen known independently of what the fans desired?

What this is really asking is if no interest in Le Guen had existed in the press, on websites or by the fan on the street, would Murray have even blinked twice in his direction?

If the answer is yes, then can Murray be trusted to appoint the right man to replace him?

Even more pertinently, if the answer is no, would the fans concede they were wrong, Murray a mistake in listening to them, and consequently agree that what the fans want is not always good for the club?

Surely Murray had to be aware of the fervour surrounding Le Guen when the link was mooted; and as a result, was his decision based on a decision to please the fans?

It stands to reason that because the past six months or so of Le Guen’s tenure have been a disaster, that the fans really should not be listened to when it comes to picking a manager.

After all, it went against popular choice to choose Alex McLeish and he won plenty of trophies despite his awful final season at the helm.

Murray’s been in this business for 20 years, and has time and time again done what is best for the club.

In appointing Le Guen, perhaps his heart ruled his head, and this mistake showed that even a fine businessman like he can get it wrong.

Le Gaffer says Aur Revoir

Never before has a year started so torrentially for Rangers.

2007 will be remembered as the year which began with the sensational news that manager Paul Le Guen had dropped club captain Barry Ferguson and stripped him of his status entirely. Fans all over the globe were astonished at events, and the fallout was as dramatic as anything witnessed in past years.

However, just when it seemed like nothing else could top this, the staggering revelation plastered over the official website on the 4th that Paul Le Guen had left Rangers filtered through.

Words cannot begin to express the gravity of events over the turn of the year.

The tumultuous nature of the New Year has been quite incredible, and Rangers fans might be wondering if they are dreaming at this point. Never in recent history have such gigantic events occurred at Ibrox in such quick succession.

Looking back, however, it is pretty clear things did not work in any way for Le Gaffer.

It is more than safe to say Paul Le Guen’s brief stay in the Rangers hot seat did not reap the anticipated domestic dominance expected of it. Indeed, the moniker of ‘French Revolution’ so keenly recycled in the red top tabloids was conspicuous by its absence, and the presumed overturning of the slide suffered the previous season simply did not transpire.

Reflecting back, however, reveals that signs were there even in the irrelevant pre-season of a side which was not going to turn into world beaters overnight. Unconvincing victories over the likes of Linfield and Jomo Cosmos followed by a comprehensive defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns were dismissed as part of the ‘bedding in’ period, with hope it would click in on resumption of SPL business.

Cue Fir Park, the opening game of the season, and the dawn of a new era, with high hopes of energetic, flowing football akin to ‘Le Gaffer’s’ mentor Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. Witness some decent football with a pungent spark about it, before Libor Sionko’s fortunate opener, which owed more to gritty persistence than classy finishing, put the side in the lead. At this point, there appeared to be a real possibility of the new regime hitting the ground running, and all appeared to be operating smoothly until O’Donnell spoiled the party on 52 minutes with a goal to even proceedings up. The fragility of the Rangers 11 began to emerge at an alarming rate as Motherwell dominated, and the previous fast, pulsing football produced by the men from Govan became but a mere memory. The game turned into a hard-fought battle. 7 minutes later Prso headed home from a corner, before the game was anything but played out as the Fir Park side hunted astutely for an equaliser.

They did not gain it.

This match, ultimately, set the tone for the season up till Christmas.

Rangers under Le Guen were a sporadic team at best and downright atrocious at worst.

Present-day status places them 2nd in the league, but at an embarrassing distance of 16 points behind their ancient neighbours Celtic.
Fans has been constantly frustrated by the lack of parity displayed by their side, especially justified anger when one witnesses the convincing performances and defeats of Hearts, Hibs, and European endeavours like Livorno and Maccabi Haifa. Unfortunately, analysis then consequently must follow of the frighteningly abject shows against Aberdeen, Inverness Caley Thistle, St Johnstone and Motherwell at Ibrox and pretty shoddy displays on their travels at Falkirk, Parkhead, Molde, and Easter Road.

It is this split nature of their team which equally split the fans, with some of the most stark displays like St Johnstone leading to protests against the new management, while more heartening results like the recent destruction of Hibs fill fans with real hope.

And what of the manager during all this; his press handling left much to be desired, with prickly interviews ranging from sheer despair to overt arrogance being the order of the day. Recent media relations had improved, admittedly, and it had been left to other teams to experience the conflict with Scottish journalists and reporters.

Then again, presumably fans would not care if he blasphemed excessively and belched down the microphone at the likes of Chick Young as long as his on-pitch management and tactics, not to mention formations, suited the Scottish Premier League. Regrettably his stewardship was beset with some staggering selections and formations, with fans forgiving Alex McLeish’s curious choices in light of this Frenchman’s thoroughly bizarre decisions.

Specific examples of surreal management include dropping fans’ favourite Alan McGregor, while in excellent form, in favour of personal signing Lionel Letizi who subsequently proceeded to gift ICT the winner on his return. That one was so scripted it was comical. Other examples would be the sporadic appearances of Kris Boyd, who until his unfortunate injury picked up in Falkirk had been settling in the side following being in and out at Le Guen’s behest. Plus there was preference of the arguably mediocre Alan Hutton over the promising Phil Bardsley on the basis of apparent personal squabbles.

Ultimately though, one can only scrutinise the season by focusing on results, which is the end product of the business. As elaborated on earlier, some of the outcomes had been scandalous. Yes, promising football had been present in fits and starts, but overall competence had been absent.

And what of his signings; with a criminally limited budget the players brought in have, by and large failed to shine. The big signings (Comparatively) such as Karl Svensson, Libor Sionko and Filip Sebo had not produced the kind of impact signings from yesteryear could effect. Indeed, Sebo, as the big-money acquisition, had categorically failed to deliver and while no one would question his character, his ability appears to leave a lot to be desired. Another capture from Austria Vienna, Sasa Papac, had a promising start and in fact looked to have gained credibility as the best defender at the club. His ineligibility for Europe was a massive problem though, and during the time when the rotation by Le Guen was at its most notorious, the Serb was in and out of the side almost as chronically as Boyd. A dip in form was inevitable, and when the consistently reliable left back Smith was injured, Papac took his place and produced possibly the worst individual performance this season from any Rangers player.

A lack of money, a lack apparent foresight and perhaps underestimation of Scottish league business has led to the import of a lot of players who do little more than take up the wage bill. It would be unfair to suggest they all scrape the barrel of mediocrity;
Sionko has been injured but also shown shades of what he can do, Svensson has slowly improved, and Clement has been regarded as the best signing of the lot, but overall the investments have not truly been worth it. The fact the only consistent starter is Clement (With Svensson recently joining him) tells it all.

Unfortunately for Le Guen, he has paid for a massive combination of all of the above, and perhaps his own desire to escape Scotland and court Paris Saint Germain’s alleged interest in him.

Le Guen’s reign is now consigned to history, with Sir David Murray apparently solving the potential catastrophe. He sanctioned action, and swift action at that. Time will tell if the two parties severing ties was the right move, but not even the most pessimistic Rangers fan could conceive of things degrading further from here on in.

Le Guen was a glorious failure in Scotland. It was an honest appointment, and a hugely exciting prospect, but it just failed to deliver on any counts, and it has come to a starkly abrupt end.

Indeed, the man lost a great deal of credibility in his own position when caught apparently lying red-handed. He famously dismissed the role of the captain as unimportant, then, when dropping Ferguson from that status, stated the exact opposite.

All the fans can hope for is a radical shake up and improvement now, with an overhaul of the side in prospect. Quite who will be in charge to oversee it is anyone’s guess at this point, although McCoist has been strongly linked along with Walter Smith.

It is time to move on.

Staring into Oblivion

January first, 2007. A fresh new year at Ibrox, with the hope the second half of the season would improve upon the woeful first. A dreadful draw at home to St Mirren had brought the curtain down on 2006, and the faith of all supporters was being tested to the extreme as a result of the catastrophe of so many abject performances which belied the good and great name of Rangers FC.

The one player to come through this dark period with serious credit was Barry Ferguson, a bluenose through and through, a player who would walk on nails for Rangers and a player gifted to a level whereby his performances were carrying his club through one of the toughest periods in its history.

Indeed, with the exception of the curious display in Falkirk, Ferguson’s quality had been shining through exceptionally for at least three months, and had surely elevated him to the top of the SPL tree.

So when January 1st’s news filtered through, it was met with incredulity from every angle, and even Celtic supporters were staggered by events unfolding from Ibrox.

Barry Ferguson had been stripped of the captaincy, dropped for the Motherwell match, and his future seemed to be over at Ibrox, with Gavin Rae the new wearer of the armband.

This truly sent shockwaves through the heart of the club.

Arguably the darkest day at Ibrox for 30 years was unfolding before the eyes of all bewildered watchers, as the captain of the club was deposed, kicked out for reasons unknown.

This news spread like wildfire, naturally, and rumours began to balloon out of proportion, too numerous to list. Supporters were in three courts; the majority backing Ferguson 100%, the minority believing PLG had to be justified in his actions, and a sizeable number trying to keep subjectivity out of proceedings and renege on committing judgement until the full facts emerged.

It was widely reported that Le Guen would issue a statement, or at least explain the reasons for this staggering decision the following day, and it went without saying that this bred further rumours, with supporters left to their own devices, in the dark as they were.

Cue the following day, and Le Guen’s pre-match promise that all would be revealed after the game.

Further to the chaos though was news Barry was not the only player dropped. Indeed, Novo, Adam and Papac all found themselves out of the picture, with Le Guen promoting ‘freshness’ in the team. A curious decision given his previous insistence on ‘stability’. Nevertheless, changes were being made, and the match was underway.

It was a fraught affair with end to end football and little quality – plenty of effort and passion was being exhibited by both sides, who managed, for now, to put off-pitch shenanigans to one side and play with heart. When Prso won a penalty, Boyd dispatched it and that ended up the winner. This did not tell the full story of the game though.

When Boyd scored, by all accounts he dedicated his goal to Barry, with a signal of ‘6’ fingers, IE Barry’s number. Prso allegedly pointed to this in support.

Furthermore, during one severe ruckus in the Rangers box, a massive free-for-all ensued and Fitzpatrick and Prso received red.

Then Boyd was hauled off by PLG and rumours later abounded of a confrontation between him and the manager in the dressing room where Boyd was alleged to have sworn allegiance to Barry.

Post match, Le Guen gave the promised interview, and in truth revealed very little. He suggested this was something which had been brewing for a very long time, and that he felt Barry had too much influence over the team. Interestingly he managed to insult his new captain by stating Barry was more talented.

Later quotes were even more scathing of the former captain as a figurehead, claiming Ferguson was not setting a good example.

What this all shows is just how desperate times now are at Ibrox. Not just on the pitch, but off too. The heart and soul appear to be dying in Govan, and it seems only one man has the clout to save it, David Murray. Sir, David Murray.

Allegedly he was not privy to Le Guen’s actions, and did not sanction them, and when he was informed of events, chartered a flight back from France immediately.

It seems the future of Rangers is in the hands of Murray, and the next 48 hours will be telling – will he back the manager he worked so hard to obtain, or will he side with the player he gushes about?

These are troubling times for all bluenoses, and it seems no exaggeration to say this is a pivotal moment in its glorious history.

Murray; it is over to you.