1997-98 season memories

Was at the beamback at Ibrox from our game at tannadice. A rumour went round at one point that St Johnstone had equalised. Remember it being a totally bizarre feeling at full time. I was 14 and had only ever known us to win the league.
 
The Pittodrie game was a disaster for us. I'm sure that was on a Sunday live on scotsport too.

... yep and which obviously made their season. (Refer to other thread about sheep "rivalry".)
I was staying in Abz at that time and recall the pubs on my way home being packed & bouncing. Work that week was unbearable.
 
Last game of the league season at Tannadice was beamed back onto the screens at Ibrox.

I think we stayed long enough to see Albertz being red carded, and subsequently ruled out of the Scottish Cup Final :(
 
Was at the beamback at Ibrox from our game at tannadice. A rumour went round at one point that St Johnstone had equalised. Remember it being a totally bizarre feeling at full time. I was 14 and had only ever known us to win the league.
I was there too and remember getting subway back and the police were next to the queue and being really really horrible I was only 12 but went from being so excited at the point when we thought St Johnstone scored to so depressed like you I had never known is not win the league
 
The Goram v McGregor thread brought back memories of that season, and more so Goram's rapid decline during that campaign which ultimately ended with us losing out on ten. His fitness was a disgrace by this point and his form suffered badly, but he wasn't alone.

There were so many unfortunate factors that season that conspired against us.

Goram was an out of shape disgrace, likewise Gazza, Indeed was there not a pre season squad photo with them all topless and their appearance was dreadful for so called professionals. Then you factor in Negri going from goal machine to downing tools in 'strange' circumstances, Laudrup being out of sorts and his Chelsea move, Walter announcing he was leaving around November time and so on. The consistency of the team was dreadful but we really should still have won that League against what was a piss poor Mhanks side.

We were unlucky though. Considering we were due to play them on 31st August when they were in the middle of a dismal start and it was postponed due to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales then by the time that game did take place we were robbed of a win due to John Rowbotham ridiculously sending Gazza off then allowing them ample injury time to.equalise which they did thanks to Stubbs being allowed to climb all over our defender. That was one of those nights where had we won we would have got ten, but several factors.counted against us that year.
 
Niemi

Moore Petric Bjorklund


Cleland Vidmar


Gattuso Ferguson Albertz


Laudrup Negri


In a 532, which is what we used. Judging by previous & future seasons performance. Alan Mclaren was as big a loss as Amoruso, 1 of my favourite players at the time.
 
This season was a nightmare. At that point my worst feeling as a bear as I had only experienced us winning the league. Watching Celtic win the league was very surreal.

I was old enough to full understand what 10IAR would have meant and a few years later I realised that was the season that it sunk in with me what Rangers meant to me. Ironic considering it was a barren season.

I still dislike Marco Negri for leaving us in the lurch and having to rely on Coisty to try and drag us over the line for 10. We wouldn't be under the same pressure right now if we hadn't bottled the game against Kilmarnock at home.
 
For the money we spent that summer we should have schoosed it tbh, remember Gazza being a shadow of himself and most fans wanting him to be sold to Boro
Gazza was a joke that season. If only he had kept it together for another 12 months.
 
Gazza was a joke that season. If only he had kept it together for another 12 months.

He was done, his agents knew he was done hence why they spent the whole season up until his move to Middlesbrough trying desperately to get him one last pay either through hawking him around the EPL (there were no takers) or getting him a bumper new contract with us(we caved and gave him a new three year deal)

In addition to the injury at the Amsterdam tournament, he was also carried off twice with ankle injuries at the end of the season playing for England against South Africa and Poland (IIRC the Poland game he lasted 5 minutes,

The Paul Gascoigne who came back for pre season in 1997/98 looked noticably heavier and slower
 
Stole a wage off of us for a further 3 1/2 years.

Apparently hit in the eye with a squash ball. Various rumours. Whatever happened he went from scoring 31 goals before xmas to 3 for rest of season.

I genuinely forgot he was here for 4 years. Looks like he hardly played in those next 3 1/2 years

I remember working on the day and that was the first time ever I had felt rage at not winning the league, I was 16
 
I never followed football back then so I can’t imagine how it must’ve felt at the time. But I think it might actually have been a blessing in disguise that we didn’t get 10.

I remember after we won the league in 2009, hate filled bigot Tom Boyd wrote a piece on how celtic would never have recovered had we got 10. I remember chuckling as I read it because I knew that that wouldn’t have been a good thing for Rangers.

Like it or not they are our only competition in this league. If they go, we’re done. We would slowly decline to being Aberdeen’s rival without the challenge the beasts from the east offer.

9 was perfect. If was enough for the era to be a success, but not too much too kill off our rivals completely.

You’re taking pelters for this and rightly so.

The idea that winning TIAR would have been in anyway bad for us is just ridiculous.

I wonder how many garden variety Tramps thought our liquidation and demotion was a bad thing?
 
Remember losing 2 nil at St Johnstone in January or February and I had a real bad feeling about it then
It was a 2-1 reverse away to Motherwell mid March where I started to panic. Something wasn’t right that season. There was too much change and a real lack of continuity. Even the shirt felt like a big change.
I never followed football back then so I can’t imagine how it must’ve felt at the time. But I think it might actually have been a blessing in disguise that we didn’t get 10.

I remember after we won the league in 2009, hate filled bigot Tom Boyd wrote a piece on how celtic would never have recovered had we got 10. I remember chuckling as I read it because I knew that that wouldn’t have been a good thing for Rangers.

Like it or not they are our only competition in this league. If they go, we’re done. We would slowly decline to being Aberdeen’s rival without the challenge the beasts from the east offer.

9 was perfect. If was enough for the era to be a success, but not too much too kill off our rivals completely.
I’ll have a pint of what you’re having ma man.
 
I was 17 back then, I remember the 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock and seeing grown men in tears on the walk home.

I still believe McCoists efforts in the last few months of that season were heroic, he very nearly got us over that line.
He tried his best but he we should never have been relying on Coisty at that point. Negri let us down
 
You’re taking pelters for this and rightly so.

The idea that winning TIAR would have been in anyway bad for us is just ridiculous.

I wonder how many garden variety Tramps thought our liquidation and demotion was a bad thing?

Not many I imagine but since when did the tramps think rationally? We talk all the time about how we should boycott away games and starve them of the blue pound. Had we vanished in 2012, yes they would’ve been celebrating, but they would’ve been f***** in the long run, and everyone would’ve known it but them.
 
Not many I imagine but since when did the tramps think rationally? We talk all the time about how we should boycott away games and starve them of the blue pound. Had we vanished in 2012, yes they would’ve been celebrating, but they would’ve been f***** in the long run, and everyone would’ve known it but them.

Celtic wouldn't have vanished altogether had we won TIAR though.

It's a nonsense to suggest it would have dealt a terminal blow to them. That's just guff players and pundits come out with.

You hear it all the time.
In 2000 after winning the title by a record margin every hack and their dog said it'd take Celtic a decade to catch up.
They were champions the following season.

After being scudded twice in the space of a month by the Beggars at the end of the 2017/18 campaign the same scenario was wheeled out to illustrate just how far behind them we supposedly were.

Eighteen months later . . .

If we can recover from a genuine near death experience inside 6 or 7 years after losing the entirety of our first team squad and all the TV, sponsorship and prize money that comes with top flight status, they would have had no problem bouncing back from TIAR.
 
I was 17 back then, I remember the 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock and seeing grown men in tears on the walk home.

I still believe McCoists efforts in the last few months of that season were heroic, he very nearly got us over that line.
I remember McCoist missing two or three great chances , alone through on goal , in that last Old Firm match of that season that would have made him all-time Old Firm top goal scorer on his own.
I regret that.
 
I remember McCoist missing two or three great chances , alone through on goal , in that last Old Firm match of that season that would have made him all-time Old Firm top goal scorer on his own.
I regret that.
We should have won that game 4-0 or 5-0 easily, with McCoist being the main culprit for missing chances that day. That was a major flaw of ours throughout the 9iar era, we never ever really went for the throat against them when the opportunity was there to do so.
 
Something wasn’t right that season. There was too much change and a real lack of continuity. Even the shirt felt like a big change.
Never liked that 97/98 Nike shirt with the tiny RFC badge in a shield. I was a proud Adidas 9IAR man.
 
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