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Showing content with the highest reputation on 17/11/23 in all areas

  1. When he was introduced to those attending Ibrox for a league fixture against Hearts, he was referred to in the match programme as, 'William' and the PA announced him as, 'Billy'. This was the week after our catastrophic Scottish Cup dismissal at the hands of the mighty Berwick Rangers and Billy Jardine played right side of midfield. We won 5-1 and on his next start at the Stadium three weeks later against Ayr United, he scored. The programme notes contained the information he was known as, 'Sandy' and was a promising inside forward. He held his place in the 1967 ECWC final team against Bayern Munich. He was 18 and looked most comfortable in a game we dominated and unluckily lost 0-1 in extra time. Sandy played and won the ECWC in Barca' in '72 and, played in the first Euro super cup final against Ajax in '73. How many Scots have played in three Euro' finals? He established himself as Rangers right back in 1970, pairing up with Tommy McLean on the right flank. Sandy had genuine pace, competed in the Powderhall Sprints in all three events. He played for Rangers over 18 seasons and was rarely injured. Over a period of three and half seasons in the early 70s, he played 171 consecutive matches. I have witnessed other fine right backs at Rangers; Gary Stevens, Alan Hutton and, James Tavernier. However, Sandy Jardine is THE man.
    4 points
  2. Us young pups have the advantage of clear, pre-dementia thinking. 🙃
    3 points
  3. When Goldson was missing last season after getting injured against Liverpool his absence effectively finished our season.
    3 points
  4. Personally, I just prefer to vote for players I saw play. I have watched videos, DVDs and listened to elder Bears tell me of all our great players. I made Eric Caldow an exception as I met him and he always took time to talk to me about Rangers (whilst both of us were supposed to be working). This was during the mid-80s when we were terrible but he would tell me to stick with The Rangers and things would change. Anyway, it's just a bit of fun.
    2 points
  5. It should be Sandy Jardine, and I hope he wins the poll. However, outwith Caldow, I'm sticking to players I had the pleasure of watching. Given that, there is only one person that I can vote for and that's Gary Stevens. A wonderful full-back. Honorable mentions to Hutton and Tav.
    2 points
  6. He's been playing well recently. He's been a great servant to the club, and has played consistently well throughout. He deserves a song!
    2 points
  7. The pairings are: 8 votes: Butcher and Gough 3 votes: Gough and Weir 2 votes: McKinnon and Gough 2 votes: Gough and Amoruso 1 vote: Young and McKinnon 1 vote: Young and Butcher 1 vote: Young and Gough 1 vote: Forsyth and Jackson 1 vote: Gough and Cuellar 1 vote: Maclaren and Amoruso 1 vote: Amoruso and Weir The results are unaudited. Singletons have been ignored. Comic Award goes to @compo for his Valentine/Stanners combo. Or was that more of a tragedy? Only one bloke got it right with Young and McKinnon.
    1 point
  8. "I almost chose Ritchie too but decided I probably didn't actually see enough of him to make a proper decision." - Bill, Tuesday, 20:37
    1 point
  9. Well worth the mention if only for that momentous strike but not coming near Jardine’s class. I’d have Shearer, Little and Stevens ahead of Kai.
    1 point
  10. 1 point
  11. And a gentleman as well he took me round Ibrox many years ago (old stadium) a wonderful afternoon.
    1 point
  12. Stevens was great for us but was never the same after he got injured playing for England. We really struggled to replace him and it took us years to get another good right back. I think Tav deserves it though.
    1 point
  13. I'd an irrational dislike for Gary Stevens. Don't ask me to explain it or justify it, I can't. I just didn't like him. It has to be Jardine. Many people think Danny McGrain was the best right back Scotland has produced, but he was played at left back for Scotland because Jardine was such a good right back, this at a time when Scotland had genuine world class players. When he left Rangers everyone assumed his career was over. He only went and won Scottish Player Of The Year at Hearts. Jardine 'managed' a charity side I played in at Ibrox once. He was faced with a dressing room full of guys who'd bid for a place in the team. We were mainly a motley mix of overweight, middle-aged men living a childhood dream. He took a look at us and said 'lads, it's a big pitch, let the ball do the running.' I should have listened, I could barely breathe after 10 minutes. My father would say Bobby Shearer should win this, and his record is really something.
    1 point
  14. Sandy was more than a player he was one of a few who brought the fans together back in 2012 a great ambassador for the club never to be forgotten.
    1 point
  15. That’s a battle fighting pair of fullbacks but I’ve picked neither. I’ve got another role in mind for them. My best RB is Caldow but I already nominated him at LB. Young’s early service was at RB but as shown when he moved to CH, his immense physique was wasted on the flank. John Little, the Canadian, was very good, Gary Stevens even better but excluding Caldow the choice isn’t too hard - Sandy Jardine. (“Great player, this boy”: David Francey commentating on Jardine’s first match against an east end team. How true)
    1 point
  16. Goram for me. So many games they were all over us and he would make spectacular saves and we would win the game on a breakaway.
    1 point
  17. Simple, Roxburgh and Brown. Also stopped picking Gough and why I lost interst in Scotland.
    1 point
  18. As per other threads, I can't pick the likes of Jardine but for modern era difficult to get past Gary Stevens. There's also the Tav argument which will probably split the forum right down the middle but there can't be many right backs in the history of European competition that finish highest scorers in the tournament.
    1 point
  19. Come to the party late on this one but it would have been Robertson for me for longevity over Numan. How Robertson barely got Scotland caps was just baffling. He was light years better than Tosh Mckinlay.
    1 point
  20. I'd take Cuellar, Bougherra or Boumsong now!
    1 point
  21. Gary Stevens. Loved the guy, couldn't believe we'd signed the England right back, met him on union Street when I was about 14, was star struck and could only manage 'awrite' 😆 I'm too young to have seen Sandy, my faither will be turning in his grave at me not going for him. 🙃
    1 point
  22. I did not see Tiger Shaw play but my Grandfather was a huge fan. I saw Eric Caldow on a dozen or more occasions but I was a primary schoolboy and my only firm memories of him come from '66/67 season. He had recovered from his leg break but was struggling with his mid-thirties, recovery and, the challenge from Davie Provan. My old man loved Caldow. After Davie Provan, the club left back for the next decade was the bluff Fifer, Billy Mathieson. He played in the team that won the EWCW. Billy or Wullie if you prefer was stuffily solid. A Mathieson goal is real hens' teeth, I believe he notched one? Actually, there is a story that combines Billy and yesterday's topic, 'Rangers Keepers'. It was a game against East Fife at Ibrox in the early 70s and Rangers fielded a young Goalie for his first and last game. I cannot remember his name but he conceded and we lost 0-1. A middle aged guy in front of me blamed Mathieson for not stopping the cross ball and berated the left fullback, "you're tae blame, you're useless, you couldnae kick doors at Halloween". Did I mention Billy had received a ECWC winners medal earlier that year? John Greig played left back from '75 to '78. He bullied/intimidated young wingers and generally enjoyed playing keepie-up with Jinky. I prefer to remember ham and egg as a wonderful driving tough tackling midfielder. Ally Dawson was wonderful before the serious head injury, I thought he lost his edge after a long period of recovery. A real club servant, he Skippered the team that won the Glasgow Cup at Sellik park at the end of '86/87 season under Souness. I have huge admiration for Stuart Munro, he endured and survived a whole host of far more expensive Souness purchases. We signed him for a peppercorn fee from Alloa pre-Souness. He played in a back four of English and Scottish internationals, Woods, Stevens, Butcher and, Gough. He survived eight seasons and we sold him to Blackburn Rovers for £350,000. Munro's secret was his recovery pace, a failed tackle on the half way line concluded with another successful dig on the cusp of the penalty area. David Robertson had genuine pace, could tackle and, a real pile driver of a shot. Numan had the same attributes. Papac was more Stuart Munro. A special mention to Lee Wallace, stayed on after the implosion. I thought he was poorly treated after the 2016 Scottish Cup final and at the end of his Rangers career by the club. Barisic is a fine modern day wing back and a regular Croatian international. After all that, I am voting for Artur Numan.
    1 point
  23. I can't believe I forgot my favourite moment of Rangers goalkeeping, now the thread can close!
    1 point
  24. Also at the core of some fabulous European victories.
    1 point
  25. I wonder if, over time, McGregor will come to shade Goram in these discussions?
    1 point
  26. Regency bias is always present in these discussions. Andy Goram played 181 games for Rangers and for those of us lucky to have seen him he literally won matches for us, Leeds away and numerous Celtic matches come to mind. While the perfect keeper for that time, I doubt Goram would be our number one now, his kicking wasn't his strength, but his agility, reflexes and ability to get inside opposing players and managers heads was unrivalled. Stefan Klos played 254 times for Rangers, a wonderful return for a player who looked after himself and studied the game. Like Goram he wasn't strong with his passing but his ability to pull off saves was equal to Goram's in my opinion. Klos lacked the personality of Goram, he was quieter and didn't have the rapport with the support that Goram did. But 'der goalie' was an incredible Rangers keeper. Bobby Brown spent the 7 seasons before joining Rangers fighting in the 2nd world war. Training to be a PE teacher and playing with Queens Park he joined up along with 5 of his fellow students. He was the only one of them to return. Brown played for Rangers 211 times, a period when Scottish football was genuinely competitive. Bill Struth chose Brown as his first choice for 8 seasons, Brown then remained as an understudy to George Niven for a further 2 years. George Niven himself made 221 appearances for Rangers, holding the number 1 spot for nearly a decade. He holds the unusual distinction of being the Scot with the most appearances for Rangers to have never gone on and played for his country. His successor was Billy Ritchie, who some on the forum might have seen play. He made 207 appearances for Rangers, including a European final. Where regency bias is a negative is with Allan McGregor. I think McGregor is our all time best goalkeeper. I didn't see Niven, Brown or Ritchie play, but I did see Goram, Klos and McGregor and the latter edges it for me. I suspect many of our memories are clouded by last season, a season to far for McGregor. But McGregor made 346 appearances for Rangers and pulled off the two best saves I've ever watched, against Bremen and Slavia. McGregor combined agility and instinctive reflexes with a commanding presence and a will to win that helped transform our dressing room into league winners. These things are subjective, but for me Allan McGregor shades it, but there's some competition for his place.
    1 point
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