Mandanda.Is that right?
Thought we were on the up when Le Guen was announced. Very quickly prove not to be the case (under him at least).
Remember being linked with Schweinstieger and Govou that year. Was there not s9me French keeper as well?
That was just a strange one from start to finish. A manager who quite clearly didn't want to be here and had zero affection for the club. Making Gavin Rae captain summed up how bizarre it all was.
Possibly. I thought it was the one who played for Lyon at the time. Just looked it up - Gregory Coupet.Mandanda.
When Rae was called to his office to be told he'd been made captain, he assumed le Guen was going to be telling him he was being released. That's what we were dealing with.
If a player can get a manager the sack then the manager clearly doesn't know how to manage.
Lol if PLG could have any claim to anything it would be that.Is that right?
Thought we were on the up when Le Guen was announced. Very quickly prove not to be the case (under him at least).
Remember being linked with Schweinstieger and Govou that year. Was there not s9me French keeper as well?
Lol if PLG could have any claim to anything it would be that.
I remember there being a big thing about 'landing him as it were. Think most of us seen it as a huge statement of intent.
Can't remember who was all linked at the time though, but I don't think any of those names were in the fray lol.
Oh contraire friend:Lol if PLG could have any claim to anything it would be that.
I remember there being a big thing about 'landing him as it were. Think most of us seen it as a huge statement of intent.
Can't remember who was all linked at the time though, but I don't think any of those names were in the fray lol.
Brilliant lolA Celtic website/forum had posted at the time: "PLG would make an ideal Celtic manager but it looks like he is destined for one of Europe's elite teams"
It could all have been so different...Oh contraire friend:
Bayern warn Rangers - Eurosport
Bayern Munich have warned Rangers they have no chance of luring Bastian Schweinsteiger to Scotland next summer.www.eurosport.com
No Gers regrets says Govou | The World Game
Sidney Govou could have been a Rangers player but the Lyon striker insists he has no regrets at deciding to stay in France, even if he is a self-declared admirer of Scottish football.theworldgame.sbs.com.au
I’ve met him on a few occasions in business and can confirm he is a total ignorant,rude Bawbag.His wife on the other hand is the complete opposite.The first four words are a bit careless for a club legend. The rest is fine.
Yes. I think he was promised a war chest and in the end we got one decent player - Papac. We were a bit better in Europe but he didn’t understand Rangers or Scottish football. I’ve no idea what he was promised but I’d guess double what he got. I think he was reasonably expecting £20m and he got about £10m. There is a good argument the squad needed a major overhaul but he wasn’t able to do so.Do you think he was expecting more backing in the transfer market? If so do you reckon he stays on with that backing?
Iirc, the deal was done for plg the previous season. He never sent anyone to look us over or the rest of the league. He just came here with his idea of what would work, and had vastly underestimated the competitiveness of the league.He was expecting more backing, yes. I think he got to Scotland, realised he’d underestimated the challenge of being Rangers manager, hated the style of football and just generally thought he’d picked the wrong job.
It was all smoke and mirrors by Murray. There was never any chance of those players joining us but he was using his friends in the MSM to pull the wool over our eyes.It could all have been so different...
(Honestly don't remember those players being linked at the time though lol)
I think it does excuse his behaviour mateLe Guen tried to resign in September 2006, again at start of December then engineered a situation which meant Murray had no choice.
Simply put, he could never have been a good Rangers manager because very quickly he realised he’d made a bad decision and didn’t WANT to be Rangers manager.
This is not to excuse some of Ferguson’s behaviour at the time.
Getting way off topic, but amazing the success both AM & SirW achieved during periods of the same thing.It was all smoke and mirrors by Murray. There was never any chance of those players joining us but he was using his friends in the MSM to pull the wool over our eyes.
Turned out Le Guen was not the miracle worker Murray thought. And yes Ferguson contributed to him leaving but he was never ever going to succeed in Scotland, even if he had Sir Walter's or Advocaats teams he just didn't have it.
Looking back it is amazing the success we had after PLG left, considering the amount of downsizing that we were going through at the time.
I love Barry Ferguson and to be honest I hate it when he gets slammed and slaughtered in here or any rangers fan, but he is a bit thickIt’s bizarre the abuse Barry Ferguson takes on this board. A proper Rangers legend and a proper Rangers man through and through. He did what needed to be done because Le Guen didn’t understand our club. Similar to Wallace and Miller slaughtering the frauds at Hampden that day, Ferguson got it spot on and deserves way more respect than people give him on here.
I'm sure Lyon were held up as the poster boy club to emulate for having selection committees signing players and recruitment was handled outside of the head coach which Le Guen was. Giving Le Guen none of that structure and expecting him to do it all when he hadn't really done it at Lyon seems to me to be the obvious reason for the failure. I'm sure Gerrard still has final say on players coming in and is heavily involved in the process but I'm sure that at that time, we probably still relied on the manager alone to make those signing decisions with scouting recommendations.Le Guen's success at Lyon (and good results with us in the UEFA Cup) was used as irrefutable proof that we had an outstanding manager on our hands, the heir apparent to Arsene Wenger, and that he should be backed unconditionally by the fans. I was a poster on here at the time and FF had very much taken the side of the manager.
The problem - as his run as Rangers manager and subsequent career showed - was that he simply wasn't a very good manager. Lyon were already well on the way to becoming a great team before he took over (Santini had won the league and left for the France job) and he was flattered by an exceptional crop of talent that made winning Ligue 1 the footballing equivalent of a walkover. Alain Perrin was sacked by Portsmouth and later won the league with Lyon, FFS.
The less said about the rest of his career the better, but it seems to have been a case of baffling recruitment, questionable decisions and weak management.
His career post-Rangers made a mockery of Speirs' book title on him - "The Enigma." He wasn't an enigma at all. He just got lucky at his first job and dined out on it for a while. It just so happened that the Rangers players who worked with him found that out first.
You can't only hire managers with previous 'affection' for the club. I'm fairly fond of Rangers but I doubt it's going to take me very far. Acting as if we're some unique club when a competent manager could come in without any affinity (like Advocaat) doesn't really seem to be a point worth making.That was just a strange one from start to finish. A manager who quite clearly didn't want to be here and had zero affection for the club. Making Gavin Rae captain summed up how bizarre it all was.
He had a core of Scottish Rangers legends who didn't like change or his way.
I wasn't talking about his hiring, obviously a manager isn't required to have any affinity at all. But at no point in his tenure did it seem as if Rangers mattered to him, he arrived woefully underprepared and spent most of his reign trying go engineer an exit. Advocaat - or even Gerrard - had no previous attachment towards Rangers but they treated the job with the respect it deserved, prepared thoroughly and an attachment to the club grew within them. None of that happened with Le Guen, he clearly didn't want to be here.You can't only hire managers with previous 'affection' for the club. I'm fairly fond of Rangers but I doubt it's going to take me very far. Acting as if we're some unique club when a competent manager could come in without any affinity (like Advocaat) doesn't really seem to be a point worth making.
100%.It is possible that Murray, Ferguson and PLG all made an arse of it.
It's also the reality.
PLG got PLG the sack.
He wanted out very soon after he arrived.
Given some of the articles and comments Ferguson has made about us since retiring, I don’t think it’s an embarrassing comment about him at all tbhFerguson is one of our best ever players for me. The ability he had, the winning mentality, the way he used to control games against the very best. Take the game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen.
pretty embarrassing comment to make about the guy tbh
This, as his career afterwards showed, he was not the messiah, he was a vey naughty boy.Paul le Guen got Paul le Guen the sack.
Or his behaviour later which resulted in being stripped of the captaincy that was given to Davie Weir.Le Guen tried to resign in September 2006, again at start of December then engineered a situation which meant Murray had no choice.
Simply put, he could never have been a good Rangers manager because very quickly he realised he’d made a bad decision and didn’t WANT to be Rangers manager.
This is not to excuse some of Ferguson’s behaviour at the time.
When he stripped Ferguson of the captaincy - he gave it to Gavin Rae!Le Guens downfall really came at that shambolic handling between Letizi and McGregor. It exposed his stubbornness.
To be a half decent centre back you have to attack balls in the air. Svenson acted as if he was scared to head the ball. Also it helps if you don’t turn your back when the fuckin thing is coming towards you.Iirc, the deal was done for plg the previous season. He never sent anyone to look us over or the rest of the league. He just came here with his idea of what would work, and had vastly underestimated the competitiveness of the league.
Maybe he didn't get the backing he was promised but the fact he thought the Swedish boy , Karl svensson? Would do at ch set alarm bells off.
Tellingly, Walter dropped the lad sharpish.
Bear in mind too that the previous year, we finished 3rd in a 2 horse race. I was almost in tears when Murray came out with "I looked into Alec's eyes". McCoist came in for a bit - for a different voice at training.He offered his resignation as soon as he realised Murray wasn't exactly truthful about the budgets available to him. Wouldn't be surprised if that had an effect on the way the situation with Ferguson unfolded, but even if he'd tried to gradually introduce the changes he wanted and was on the same page as Bazza, Boyd etc - that anything other than a win at Rangers is unacceptable - he would have failed as he didn't want to be here.
There was one voice in the wilderness against this.Brilliant lol
Really was seen as a massive coup at the time
Paul le Guen got Paul le Guen sacked. It's been well documented that he had already told Murray that it wasn't working and he wanted to quit before the monster munch brigade got involved.IMO he was getting sacked Anyway
He wasn’t sacked he left on his own accord without a penny compensation.IMO he was getting sacked Anyway
Sums it up exactly.PLG never had what it took to be a success at Rangers.
Barry Ferguson was a winner and a great player for us!
Ferguson got a manager, who wanted away, the sackIMO he was getting sacked Anyway