14 years since Le Guen arrived

Even the 2-2 draw at home to Dundee United when we were 0-2 down I was still quite excited with what I saw of us going forward.

We were well beaten at the Piggery and never got going after that. Karl Svensson must be one of our worst ever centre halves?
 
Even the 2-2 draw at home to Dundee United when we were 0-2 down I was still quite excited with what I saw of us going forward.

We were well beaten at the Piggery and never got going after that. Karl Svensson must be one of our worst ever centre halves?
I don’t actually remember him playing cause of my age but I started playing FM06/07 last month. He had 5star potentially and is valued at something like 6 million at the start. Shows how wrong FM can be sometimes.
 
Like everyone else, absolutely buzzing for the 06/07 season after his appointment. Watched the World Cup with a particular interest in the French squad wondering how many of them we were going to sign.

By the old firm game it was blind hope that we were getting a result.
 
Right idea. Wrong guy.

A continental manager was the right idea. If we'd been able to bring in a director of football who could have worked with him and secured the players he wanted then I think things would have been better than they ended up being. I don't think Le Guen was prepared for the move, but it didnt need to be so disastrous.

Having Martin Bain running things in the boardroom was a major problem. Add in a group of players who simply didnt buy into what Le Guen wanted to do and who actively opposed him.

If we were committed to modernising the club and implementing a modern, continental structure back then? Le Guen could have done a job for us. The current set up with the director of football, head of youth development and lots of support staff would have been far more suited to what Le Guen was trying to do because its more like the set-up he was used to at Lyon. Unfortunately it happened when we were struggling financially and where Murray was waging war on anybody who had the audacity to stand up to him. As much as the culture shock may have been too great for Le Guen, and his record since Lyon puts his own talent as a manager in perspective, it didnt need to be the utter shit show that it turned out to be.
 
The french club chairman said 'PLG inherited a Ferrari- but he drove it beautifully'
He may have inherited a Mini - when he joined us - but crashed it before he got out of 2nd gear

I have no sympathy for PLG whatsoever- he had 6 months preparation time before he joined us- how many managers get that luxury?
& I'm convinced he never even looked at the Scottish scene in all that time

If he'd watched a video of our game against Dundee Hiv's the season before he joined - he'd have seen an almost identical squad- playing identical tactics to the match under his command- yet it was painfully obvious he was unprepared - even surprised at the opposition & clueless how to play against them

I know he won't have been helped by 'ma baw' tantrums & player attitudes - & I'm sure he wasn't helped by our board at the time - but he didn't help himself either

Why he went to one Austrian club for his signings was a mystery to me
Iirc the press linked him with potential French players even before he arrived with us
Now I know the press are hardly to be trusted - but it seems possible to me that he didn't have the 'goodwill' from French football to help make potential signings we could have hoped for

Whatever the reason - I remember thinking the week before the season started that the squad wasn't up to it - but I also thought- we've got a tactical & motivational genius at the helm & maybe the quality of the squad won't matter for the moment

How wrong could I get ??
 
The french club chairman said 'PLG inherited a Ferrari- but he drove it beautifully'
He may have inherited a Mini - when he joined us - but crashed it before he got out of 2nd gear

I have no sympathy for PLG whatsoever- he had 6 months preparation time before he joined us- how many managers get that luxury?
& I'm convinced he never even looked at the Scottish scene in all that time

If he'd watched a video of our game against Dundee Hiv's the season before he joined - he'd have seen an almost identical squad- playing identical tactics to the match under his command- yet it was painfully obvious he was unprepared - even surprised at the opposition & clueless how to play against them

I know he won't have been helped by 'ma baw' tantrums & player attitudes - & I'm sure he wasn't helped by our board at the time - but he didn't help himself either

Why he went to one Austrian club for his signings was a mystery to me
Iirc the press linked him with potential French players even before he arrived with us
Now I know the press are hardly to be trusted - but it seems possible to me that he didn't have the 'goodwill' from French football to help make potential signings we could have hoped for

Whatever the reason - I remember thinking the week before the season started that the squad wasn't up to it - but I also thought- we've got a tactical & motivational genius at the helm & maybe the quality of the squad won't matter for the moment

How wrong could I get ??

Martin Bain signed guys who were way down Le Guen's list of targets.
 
I really bought in to the hype surrounding Le Guen’s appointment and his reputation and told everyone that would listen that he was the one that was going to elevate us to the highest level possible and was totally gobsmacked when the elevator went straight to the basement.
 
Martin Bain signed guys who were way down Le Guen's list of targets.

I shudder when I hear that name.

Just think of the money he raped off Us and laterally off Sunderland.

Nothing but a Catalogue Model and not even a good one of them either.

A Grade 1 James Hunt of man.
 
His tenure was summed up at the AGM he attended when the woman from Ibrox got up and asked Mclelland if she could ask the manager something, of course said the Chairman.
"Mr Le Guen gonae go oot and sign somebody who can heeder a baw"
 
It is still a divisive subject. IMO, too many take the view that things are all good or all bad... the PLG experience showed up an awful attitude from too many players at Rangers.
It’s unavoidable that Le Guen just didn’t understand the demands at Rangers and in many ways like Warburton and Murty years later, was too happy to accept defeat too often.
I was a supportive of what he was trying to do but by the time Rangers were predictably losing away to a Falkirk in December then it was time to cut losses.


At the same time, he gave serious playing time to Hutton, Adam, Burke and the European performances were impressive.

Much of what he sought from the squad was entirely valid, and the change in approach towards fitness between 2006 and now has been significant.
 
Had high hopes for him at the time and thought he would take us in a different direction, especially in Europe. Sadly that early optimism quickly diminished.
 
Missed his first game in charge as my daughter was born that day - all went downhill after that!!
 
High hopes when he rolled up at "Ronguers" but when he should've been learning the Scottish game he was running about a desert.

I remember a quote from the owner of Lyon that did worry me; "I gave him the keys to a Rolls Royce and he drove it superbly". Murray wasn't giving him the keys to a Rolls Royce.
 
There was real anticipation that summer, remember the French usernames on the forum?! :))

Le Guen totally underestimated the level of football in Scotland. Still reckon things may have went better if we had a centre half capable of winning a header...
 
Foreign managers just don't understand it.

I'd disagree there, Advocaat understood it. The amount of times his teams just dug out a victory, especially in his first season, would back that up.

He just ended up changing things which didn't need to be changed, which ended his time as manager.
 
At Lyon the players were signed for him and to suit his style of play/system. With us he had to choose players and couldn't spot quality.

I think it showed early doors PLG had no eye for a player.
I can't believe that last comment; to be any kind of football man you need and will instantly recognise a good and bad player. I remain to be convinced that he was entirely satisfied with the squad he had that season.
 
I thought it was a superb move at the time. He was one of the most respected managers in Europe. Where it all went wrong is up for debate. He clearly wasn’t prepared for the Scottish culture, his ideas on defence we too rooted in playing from the back, and the whole thing turned into a mess really quickly

For all there is to criticize Le Guen for, players like Ferguson didn’t cover themselves in glory either.
 
I thought PLG was going to take us places but he was a complete imposter.

No tackling in training which led to the banishing of Bardsley, making Novo an outcast before bringing him back in out of desperation, letting McCormack go on a free even though he had shown clear signs of promise the previous season and replacing him with Stanger, all added to the list of dross that was signed (Papac apart).

The only positives I can think of were the emergence of Adam and McGregor (although it was due to the failure of Letizi) as well as Papac.

I think the core of the players knew it was going to fail quite quickly.
 
Still remember an early league game at Fir Park and the football played was like something from another planet. Have to say I bought into it hook line and sinker; only time would have told if it was the way to go. Some of his signings were questionable but the approach was miles ahead of what the core Scottish players were used to. That said without his disaster Walter would never have been back... small mercies
 
Think people chose to ignore what he had spent at Lyon to achieve success. Fairly sure that comparatively enormous sums of cash were funnelled in the direction of the first team during his time there.

Was surprised at how badly it went for him here, genuinely thought he would change the game and see us absolutely dominate - how far from the truth that really was. Car crash stuff.
 
14 years! Time flies. I also had high hopes and really wanted him to succeed. He did better in Europe but domestically he just didn't get Scottish football.
 
I was pictured front page of the Evening Times at the door of Ibrox as he appeared. I had told the mob I was subbing for at the time I had a puncture hence my delay. Busted, bang to rights next day.
 
I went all in on Le Guen. Genuinely thought he was next level fantasy stuff.

Another fraud who came unprepared.

I remember going to Motherwell for the first game of the season and thinking, "Well, they are just finding their feet. It'll get better.". History says otherwise.

Rangers played very well against Motherwell that day and should have hammered them.
 
I can't believe that last comment; to be any kind of football man you need and will instantly recognise a good and bad player. I remain to be convinced that he was entirely satisfied with the squad he had that season.

He was interviewed many times that summer and stated he was happy with what he had.

Even during the bad moments David Murray desperately tried to get him an emergency defender think it was Presley at Hearts and PLG said no and our defence was absolutely chronic during that time. He was overseeing a shambles which got worse (Europe aside)

I think it was clear it was the right appointment at the wrong time but honestly he oversaw a car crash it was clear he was ill prepared for the rigours and pressures of Scottish Football he just didn't look interested I remember most games at Ibrox when we were struggling he would just sit in the technical area and do nothing his assistant was another one who was never interested.

I remember it took weeks and weeks of fan pressure to get him out the technical area by then the damage was done.
 
This place earned its mentalist reputation in the LeGuen era. 99.9% of posters loved his appointment, by January, 99.9% of posters knew it wasn't going to work.

The added episode of nae Barry, nae Rangers versus nobody is bigger than the club is still one of the spicier "debates" we've ever had on here.
 
Lovely football doesn't win in Scotland unless the team is made of multi million pound players. Walter brings in David Weir, Ugo Egiohu and Kevin Thomson and it's an overnight transformation.

Two defeats in fifteen under Walter conceding just ten goals. We conceded six of those in the last four games with a 3-3 draw at Easter Road before beating Celtic 2-0 at Ibrox, then losing 1-0 to Kilmarnock at Ibrox and 2-0 at Pittodrie. Those last two games I'd put down to complacency with it being the end of the season with nothing to play for. Prior to those last four games it was four conceded in eleven including a win at Celtic Park.

Warburton, Le Guen and Pedro teams were all vulnerable. It may have been boring football to some but Rangers win when they have a solid core and fighting spirit under someone like Walter, they sometimes draw but they seldom lose.

I'm still raging Le Guen got rid of Ricksen. When he was in the right frame of mind he was the best player in Scotland. If Walter had the chance to work with Fernando and do what he did with Hutton then Ricksen would have been a top player in my opinion.
 
Some of the football we played in the early games in the league was genuinely better than Dick A’s team....

We just couldn’t defend leads and then the pressure got too much for all involved

Strangely enough I kind of felt it wasn’t going to work after the 0-2 game at Parkhead
 
Shafted and deceived by David Murray, I reckon.

Always remember thinking he'd be a great appointment but no marquee signing whatsoever and the headline for his first game was 'Come and see Paul le Guen's first game in charge' rather than the enticement of new signings.

I think he found out he was deceived, was never going to win against the players, some howling domestic results yet excellent in Europe (the latter is sounding familiar?) and gave up as it was him versus everyone else.
 
Shafted and deceived by David Murray, I reckon.

Always remember thinking he'd be a great appointment but no marquee signing whatsoever and the headline for his first game was 'Come and see Paul le Guen's first game in charge' rather than the enticement of new signings.

I think he found out he was deceived, was never going to win against the players, some howling domestic results yet excellent in Europe (the latter is sounding familiar?) and gave up as it was him versus everyone else.
You’ve missed the key point that he was a sh.ite manager.
 
I think Murray absolutely shafted him.

There is no way he signed here to then have Sebo etc as his transfer targets.
I suspect he was doomed to fail, but I also strongly suspect he was deceived on his transfer budget by Murray.

We went from trying to sign Sidney Govou, Johan Elmander and Steve Mandanda to instead signing Sionko and Letizi on frees and Sebo.
Shafted and deceived by David Murray, I reckon.

...

I think he found out he was deceived, was never going to win against the players, some howling domestic results yet excellent in Europe ... and gave up as it was him versus everyone else.
This is my opinion also.
 
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My recollection was that we were played brillianty that day against Motherwell, only winning narrowly because we passed up a lot of chances. I remember being pretty excited coming away from it - little did I know the depths we would go on to plumb.

Those league numbers. P23, W11, D6, L6. Absolutely howling, and knocked out of the league cup by a lower division side at Ibrox.
St Johnstone iirc
 
I'm still raging Le Guen got rid of Ricksen. When he was in the right frame of mind he was the best player in Scotland. If Walter had the chance to work with Fernando and do what he did with Hutton then Ricksen would have been a top player in my opinion.

We got one good season out of six from Ricksen. Let’s not rewrite history. He was largely a waster at Rangers.

I’d also agree with the assessment that Le Guen was one of many people in this life shafted by David Edward Murray.
 
I remember that exciting summer of rumours. Elmander was one that would have been a very good signing but instead we got Sebo.
Like others I don’t think Le Guen did his homework on Scottish football and his career since has been awful.
 
I remember that exciting summer of rumours. Elmander was one that would have been a very good signing but instead we got Sebo.
Like others I don’t think Le Guen did his homework on Scottish football and his career since has been awful.
Le Guen admitted that he had underrated the task; that said, he didn't get the backing needed anyway. PLG didn't manage Lyon with his eyes closed, and he is an intelligent and considerate man; I don't think it would have taken him too long to acknowledge what he had in front of him. I suspect he wanted out earlier than he left.
 
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