Rangers Football Club 0 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) IF Whyte bid succeeds it could be as impactful as Souness appointment, says Herron More... IT is remarkable to think that it's 25 years ago this week that the stunning news came through that Graeme Souness was to become the new manager of Rangers. He was a month short of his 33rd birthday when he walked through the connecting door from the Managers' Office into the Blue Room to be presented to the media. It was undoubtedly one of the most important events in the club's history due to the subsequent impact he had on Rangers and football in general. Rangers supporters are hoping that Craig Whyte can he similarly impactful if he is successful with his takeover of the club but clearly he will have some way to go to match the Souness effect. The prospective owner was still at school when Scotland's captain and three-time European Cup winner with Liverpool changed the landscape almost immediately. Like many of his peers Mr Whyte must have been delirious with excitement as Souness reversed the normal trend in cross-border transfer activity when he signed England's captain Terry Butcher from Ipswich Town and goalkeeper Chris Woods from Norwich City. The valuable experience of Jimmy Nicholl was brought and then the added steel of former Tottenham captain Graham Roberts was introduced at the tail end of 1986 as Rangers chased their first Championship in nine years. The wage structure was scrapped and suddenly Rangers were competing with the best England had to offer when you consider Ron Atkinson tried to take Butcher to Manchester United, but Souness convinced him to join Rangers. Of course Rangers were in a very unenviable place in these days. They scraped 5th position in the 1985/86 Premier Division championship losing more games than they won. Indeed they had not been at the races in terms of the title since the 1978/79 season when they finished runners-up to Celtic. After that their best finish was third and they only managed that twice in the next seven seasons. The Scottish Cup had not been won since 1981 and the only successes they had enjoyed were consecutive League Cup victories in 1983/84 and 1984/85. So there is considerable contrast to the situation now as another "revolution" looms. Rangers are defending SPL champions. Indeed they have won seven domestic honours in the last three years. So, from that point of view, Mr Whyte would be inheriting a group of players who are used to delivering success. You could argue that the only way for Souness was up given the dire situation on the field and that is not to belittle his terrific achievements in the early days of his management when he gave the fans their pride back and re-introduced glory days. There was a stumble in his second season when a resurgent Celtic responded but it was short-lived. Souness then set the seeds for nine successive championships and arguably the greatest period in the club's history. The circumstances Rangers are in now are quite different and more difficult given the financial restraints and potential future problems given the investigation by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs into tax issues. If the Craig Whyte takeover is not competed there does not appear to be an alternative on the horizon so Rangers would have to continue cutting their cloth to suit their situation and that would be so difficult for manager-in-waiting Ally McCoist. By definition all four loan players - Kyle Bartley, El-Hadji Diouf, Vladimir Weiss and Richard Foster - would all return to their clubs. The contracts of Davie Weir, Sasa Papac and David Healy all expire in the summer while Madjid Bougherra, Steve Davis and Steven Whittaker go into the final year of their contracts. In the case of the last three mentioned, if Rangers don't conclude new deals then they would either have to cash in and sell them to fund other transfers or let their contracts run down and worry about the ramifications in the summer of 2013. So effectively McCoist could need to replace TEN players for his first season as Rangers manager. The takeover committee within the Rangers Board seem content that Craig Whyte has the where-with-all to come into the club, eradicate the debt and start a new fresh era. If he does, it might be even more important than the brilliant move by David Holmes to bring Souness to Rangers a quarter of a century ago. Edited April 6, 2011 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,186 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Not often you see an article like that on the official website. An interesting indicator to progress perhaps? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BRIANMC1 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 seems a strange thing to post.. On a very 'Quiet' Day. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BRIANMC1 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Article now removed from website....... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyk 158 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 The story has been pulled from the site, something happening soon maybe or just wishful thinking 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,186 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Probably seen as something that could influence the Stock Exchange. Naughty boy Lindsay. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,186 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Probably seen as something that could influence the Stock Exchange. Naughty boy Lindsay. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,356 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 More likely that it's been removed as it doesn't mention SDM as being the real reason why we got NIAR etc. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BRIANMC1 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 A Man called Lindsay? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,186 Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 More likely that it's been removed as it doesn't mention SDM as being the real reason why we got NIAR etc. So, so cynical for such a young man! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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