Alex McLeish?s time as Rangers manager is coming to an end it was announced today. It wasn?t a shock announcement and it IS the right decision but it is a shame that his four and a half year stay at Ibrox has to come to an end in a low note as he has brought so many good times to the club in such a short space of time.
Don?t forget all he has achieved at Ibrox. He took over from Dick Advocaat half way through a season and was given the task of lifting a struggling squad who were already out of the title race by November. He took that squad of players and restored some pride in the league and also won the two domestic trophies, one of them against Celtic at Hampden.
The next season he took virtually the same squad of players give or take a couple and lead them to a glorious TREBLE, no mean feat I can assure you. Many people argue that Celtic took their eye off the ball that season due to their UEFA Cup run where they went all the way to the final in Seville but that?s nonsense, the league winners are the team who were the best over 38 games and Rangers WERE the best that season without any shadow of a doubt.
It went down to the wire, the last game in actual fact and we needed to beat Dunfermline and make sure we beat them with as many goals as possible, especially with Celtic beating Kilmarnock 4-0. Arteta?s penalty to put Rangers 6-1 up against Dunfermline clinched it and Rangers were the champions, that was down to Alex McLeish for bringing the best out of the players. The fact we also won both cups proved that Rangers were the best in Scotland that season and proved that Alex McLeish was a first class football coach.
The following season wasn?t such a success for McLeish and it was this season that people were already calling for his head, crazy talk when you consider what he done the previous season. Sure he went through the season without winning a trophy and yes he did make a few dodgy signings, Nuno Capucho in particular, but he was working on a shoestring budget.
Rangers didn?t have the money to spend that they used to and McLeish was having to gamble on the bosman market. He had also lost some key players from the treble winning squad so he had a hard task that season.
The next season had a brilliant climax as we all know but Eck nearly lost his job early on, only a penalty shoot out victory over Maritimo to take Rangers into the UEFA Cup Group Stages kept him in his job. That group stage got off to a good start but it fell apart after defeats to AZ Alkmaar and Auxerre and Rangers were out of Europe before Christmas again. They had also fallen 7 points behind Celtic in the League.
Victory in the Old Firm game at Parkhead in February put Rangers right back in the title race but by the time the next Old Firm came round Rangers were two points behind Celtic, a loss would leave them five points behind with four games to go and that would almost certainly be too much of a gap at that stage.
Rangers did lose the game and did fall five points behind but as we know now, miracles do happen if you keep believing and on the final day of the season Rangers needed to beat Hibs and hope that Motherwell could beat Celtic, it was a big ask and with Chris Sutton putting Celtic in the lead at Fir Park Celtic fans got ready to party.
Nacho Novo did his part at Easter Road by putting Rangers 1-0 up against Hibs but everyone still believed that it was all too late. With a couple of minutes to go the helicopter was getting ready to land when up popped Scott McDonald to score two goals for Motherwell and force the helicopter to change direction and head to Edinburgh.
Alex McLeish had done it again, against all the odds he brought the title back to Ibrox again and suddenly he was a hero, Rangers also won the CIS Insurance League Cup that season for good measure.
Some people have short memories though and only a couple of months into this season people were calling for his head. This was BEFORE Rangers went on their worst run in history when they went 11 games without a victory.
I have to admit though, at the tail end of those 11 games even I believed his time was up and I like big Eck but it was time for change. Then he did the unthinkable, he somehow managed to take his side into the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in the club?s history. He?d manage to do what no other Rangers manager before him could do and he done it with no where near the amount of money they had spent.
For that reason I believe David Murray was right in giving him some more time, I mean how could you sack a man who had just made history?
Now though the decision has been made and he is on his way out, I do believe it is the right decision but Alex leaves with my thanks and best wishes and I?m sure most decent Rangers supporters will agree with me that McLeish deserves praise for what he has achieved in his time at the club and we will all have fond memories of these last four years.
Alex McLeish is a total gent and true professional, he conducts himself with great dignity and he is a credit to the club.
You gave it your best shot Eck and you will always be a true blue, you deserve to go and achieve more great things in your career and who knows, you may even take Rangers to the quarter-finals and beyond of the Champions League! What a boost that would be to your CV.
All the best in the future Eck and thank you for everything.
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