Blue Thunder by Jeff Holmes

Author:Jeff Holmes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2014-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

13

The Viking Warrior

THE Ibrox trophy cabinet was bulging and the new season offered the prospect of even more silverware. The squad was largely the same and with a domestic treble behind them, the manager saw no reason to tinker too much.

But a whistlestop tour of West Germany brought defeats against Werder Bremen and St Pauli, before Rangers hosted the first ever Tennent’s Caledonian Cup. They invited FA Cup holders Southampton and Manchester City, winners of the English League Cup, to take part, with Bertie Auld’s Partick Thistle making up the numbers. After seeing off the Jags, Rangers faced Southampton in the final but lost 2-1 in front of 40,000.

When it really mattered, Rangers demolished St Johnstone 5-0 in the League Cup opener. Normal service had been resumed, although Wallace confirmed he had been to watch Clydebank’s talented winger Davie Cooper. He wasn’t alone, as Scotland boss Willie Ormond was also in the stand.

Celtic salvaged a draw in the first Old Firm game of the season after being two down and Rangers’ miserable run continued when FC Zurich came to Ibrox for a European Cup tie and left with a draw. It didn’t get any better and when Clydebank visited Govan for the first leg of the League Cup quarter-finals, Cooper inspired his side to a 3-3 draw. The Bankies wide boy was in demand, and turned down an approach by Arsenal. West Ham, Liverpool, West Brom, Derby County and Aston Villa had also made enquiries about Coop.

On the Saturday before the return match in Zurich, Rangers thumped Hearts 4-2 in a victory inspired by iron man skipper John Greig. The players and management then turned their attention to achieving Mission Impossible, and doing what no Rangers side had ever done before – qualifying after failing to win the home leg.

There was much talk before the match about Rangers’ tired and old-fashioned approach to European matches, and how they would eventually have to change their style to the ‘Bayern Munich way’, a nod to the German club who had completely reinvented themselves in the European arena.

Once again, though, they were killed off by an early goal. The Light Blues pounded their opponents but just couldn’t score. They had five players booked, and Johnstone sent off, but at the end of the night, honest endeavour proved insufficient. Moments after the final whistle, the post-mortem began. ‘The Rangers players – Tommy McLean apart – lacked class. We just don’t have it in Scotland anymore,’ was the opinion of a leading Scottish hack. ‘In our desperation to find new idols to replace immortals like Morton, Baxter and Meiklejohn, we glorify players who wouldn’t have been allowed to carry a hamper into Ibrox 20 years ago.’

There was no disputing the gulf in quality between Rangers and the leading lights of Europe, but the defeat to Zurich had been Rangers’ first of the season and perhaps the team would be judged more on how they performed on the domestic front. The manager was determined to repeat his incredible success of the season before – but it would be a big ask.

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