Der Goalie
Replacing The Goalie was never an easy task.
During the period of 9IAR Andy Goram had consistently produced breathtaking save after save. Perhaps his gravity and physics-defying double save at the head of Larsson or his simply astonishing reaction block to keep out Van Hooijdonk’s perfect volley epitomised just how good the keeper many Scottish football fans described as the greatest ever to grace the top flight in Scotland actually was.
So when 9IAR was over, and 10 had failed, the break-up of the squad was part of the rebuilding process, including the departure of The Goalie. A replacement was needed, and new boss Dick Advocaat scouted the Borussia Dortmund and CL-winning stick man Stefan Klos. That deal fell through, and Frenchman Lionel Charbonnier was signed for the start of the DA era. However, 6 months later Klos officially joined the club for a crazy knock-down fee of £650,000 having reportedly paid out his Dortmund contract in order to move on.
Having witnessed a number of keepers in the DA era already, such as Charbonnier, Norwegian Myrhe, and Fin Niemi, stability was becoming a priority, and the Little General was hopeful this German of pedigree would be the answer.
He was.
And how…
For 7 years Klos was regarded as by far the best keeper in the SPL, and one of the best in the UK. His shy, demure and understated yet gentlemanly conduct was very akin to another great, Brian Laudrup, and this translated to his performances on the pitch.
He was not a giant presence, both literally and psychologically, but his ability shone through like a beacon, and his reliability gave the entire side a rigidity which comes from implicitly trusting your last line of defence.
He was a stark contrast in every sense to Goram – he shunned the limelight and did not perhaps seem to have the same prodigious talent about him, but nevertheless had an incredibly stable and high level of performance over such an elongated spell which truly catapulted him to legendary status.
It is indeed such a crying shame that Germany was so blessed with great goalkeepers like Kopke, Kahn then Lehmann, or it surely goes without saying that Klos would have been an international. We cannot even suggest it was his playing in Scotland which hurt him, because he spent a huge period of his career with the-then great Dortmund. He was just around at a hugely rich period of time for the German national side’s goalkeeping position.
The benefit of course was that he concentrated 100% on his club career with Rangers and the side benefited from that dedication.
Klos himself adores Scotland, and does not especially wish to leave; his children were born here and are as Scottish as haggis.
He was also awarded a lifetime achievement-style award for services to Rangers in season 2004/2005, which regrettably was the beginning of the end of his career in Glasgow. He suffered a dreadful injury in training in December 2004 and the club had to sign a replacement short term in the shape of Ronald Wattereus. Unfortunately the boss kept the Dutchman in goals even when Klos was fit, much to the dismay of the fans. And when PLG took over, and Wattereus left, a new keeper in Letizi was signed because, yes, Klos had been injured that summer in a biking accident. It seemed like destiny was handing the German a rotten set of cards, and when Letizi left, it was Allan McGregor who was the number one. Klos’ time was up, and tragically his career ended at Ibrox in something of a whimper, which was rather disappointing.
Still, his contribution to Rangers and Scottish football will not be forgotten, and he will be rightly recalled as one of the greatest players the SPL has ever hosted.
During the period of 9IAR Andy Goram had consistently produced breathtaking save after save. Perhaps his gravity and physics-defying double save at the head of Larsson or his simply astonishing reaction block to keep out Van Hooijdonk’s perfect volley epitomised just how good the keeper many Scottish football fans described as the greatest ever to grace the top flight in Scotland actually was.
So when 9IAR was over, and 10 had failed, the break-up of the squad was part of the rebuilding process, including the departure of The Goalie. A replacement was needed, and new boss Dick Advocaat scouted the Borussia Dortmund and CL-winning stick man Stefan Klos. That deal fell through, and Frenchman Lionel Charbonnier was signed for the start of the DA era. However, 6 months later Klos officially joined the club for a crazy knock-down fee of £650,000 having reportedly paid out his Dortmund contract in order to move on.
Having witnessed a number of keepers in the DA era already, such as Charbonnier, Norwegian Myrhe, and Fin Niemi, stability was becoming a priority, and the Little General was hopeful this German of pedigree would be the answer.
He was.
And how…
For 7 years Klos was regarded as by far the best keeper in the SPL, and one of the best in the UK. His shy, demure and understated yet gentlemanly conduct was very akin to another great, Brian Laudrup, and this translated to his performances on the pitch.
He was not a giant presence, both literally and psychologically, but his ability shone through like a beacon, and his reliability gave the entire side a rigidity which comes from implicitly trusting your last line of defence.
He was a stark contrast in every sense to Goram – he shunned the limelight and did not perhaps seem to have the same prodigious talent about him, but nevertheless had an incredibly stable and high level of performance over such an elongated spell which truly catapulted him to legendary status.
It is indeed such a crying shame that Germany was so blessed with great goalkeepers like Kopke, Kahn then Lehmann, or it surely goes without saying that Klos would have been an international. We cannot even suggest it was his playing in Scotland which hurt him, because he spent a huge period of his career with the-then great Dortmund. He was just around at a hugely rich period of time for the German national side’s goalkeeping position.
The benefit of course was that he concentrated 100% on his club career with Rangers and the side benefited from that dedication.
Klos himself adores Scotland, and does not especially wish to leave; his children were born here and are as Scottish as haggis.
He was also awarded a lifetime achievement-style award for services to Rangers in season 2004/2005, which regrettably was the beginning of the end of his career in Glasgow. He suffered a dreadful injury in training in December 2004 and the club had to sign a replacement short term in the shape of Ronald Wattereus. Unfortunately the boss kept the Dutchman in goals even when Klos was fit, much to the dismay of the fans. And when PLG took over, and Wattereus left, a new keeper in Letizi was signed because, yes, Klos had been injured that summer in a biking accident. It seemed like destiny was handing the German a rotten set of cards, and when Letizi left, it was Allan McGregor who was the number one. Klos’ time was up, and tragically his career ended at Ibrox in something of a whimper, which was rather disappointing.
Still, his contribution to Rangers and Scottish football will not be forgotten, and he will be rightly recalled as one of the greatest players the SPL has ever hosted.
posted by RangersMedia @ 11:14 PM
