Gavin Rae: Why am I Captain - Under the Cosh Podcast

oranje-viola

Well-Known Member
Stumbled across this ‘Under the Cosh’ podcast series when it came up on my Spotify recommendations, presented by that unit Jon Parkin who used to look like he’d shifted 4 or 5 pints before he walked onto the pitch.



Don’t think I’ve actually listened to an episode of this show before this but skipped through to the Rangers section on this and been enjoyable and quite insightful so far.

Having listened to the Le Guen years on H&H this interview with Rae is another footnote and window into what was an idiosyncratic and low period of our history.

Rae himself comes across as a decent guy who’s career was ravaged by injury at Ibrox. Doesn’t seem to have had much time for Brahmin Hemdani however!
 
What was his issue with Hemdani?
‘A bit of a fanny’ is how he described him.

Stone-faced and aloof with the Scottish ‘lads’ but life and soul of things with the french lads. Had a fight at training after that Dunfermline disaster in the Cup Jan 2007 as well, Hemdani bitch slapped him after a tackle so Rae says

Rae probably part of the monster much clique
 
‘A bit of a fanny’ is how he described him.

Stone-faced and aloof with the Scottish ‘lads’ but life and soul of things with the french lads. Had a fight at training after that Dunfermline disaster in the Cup Jan 2007 as well, Hemdani bitch slapped him after a tackle so Rae says

Rae probably part of the monster much clique

Encapsulated almost everything wrong with some Scottish footballers there.

Forget your ability, glittering career in European football.
You’re a bit of a fanny for not being one of “the lads” in your second language.

I expect Brahim was also a “bit of a poof” for not rattling twelve pints at the Xmas do aswell.
 
He can go and %^*& himself. It was his leaked "side letter" that started that whole RTC blog.

Did the host ask about that?
 
I know which of the two I'll remember more fondly as a Rangers player. Clue: it's not Gavin fucking Rae.

It sounded like he had one fall out with Hemdani and hasn't been able to let it go since.

Stevie Thompson with the guitar again...
 
It sounded like he had one fall out with Hemdani and hasn't been able to let it go since.

Stevie Thompson with the guitar again...

Would tie in well with the maturity and professionalism that characterised the era.
 
It sounded like he had one fall out with Hemdani and hasn't been able to let it go since.

Stevie Thompson with the guitar again...
If you listen through til the end he picks his 5 a side drinking team

Thompson sounded a lunatic on the sauce, his party piece either throwing glasses or smashing them over his head!
 
I doubt Hemdani even remembers who Gavin Rae is- whereas Rae seems the type who thinks about old grudges every single day.

I took a strong dislike to Rae when he paraded around Ibrox as Dado and Klos did their farewells. He didn’t deserve to have his name uttered in the same breath as those two.
 
It was a perfect sign that Le Guen had lost the plot when he appointed Rae as captain,jeezo Rae wasn't even a regular in the team up to that point!.
The writing was on the wall from that incident..
 
I doubt Hemdani even remembers who Gavin Rae is- whereas Rae seems the type who thinks about old grudges every single day.

I took a strong dislike to Rae when he paraded around Ibrox as Dado and Klos did their farewells. He didn’t deserve to have his name uttered in the same breath as those two.
Tbf, he does try to take a backseat during all of that. He looks a bit sheepish during it. I think he is quite self aware.
 
It was a perfect sign that Le Guen had lost the plot when he appointed Rae as captain,jeezo Rae wasn't even a regular in the team up to that point!.
The writing was on the wall from that incident..
PLG was trolling at that point and basically begging to get the sack.

Rae was just an average player but I've no ill will towards him, although his comments about Hemdani do strike you as that classic Scottish mentality which regardless of Le Guen being hopeless, was clearly an issue at Ibrox at the time.
 
It’s not a bad podcast, depends who the guest is. Not always the superstars so their stories tend to more down to earth and can be really funny.
 
Hemdani was a good footballer and the fact we couldn’t get him to fit into our domestic line-up represented a major challenge which we continue to face to this day. The Scottish game is so blood and thunder and full of hammer throwers it’s difficult to really advance as a purely ball-playing team. We’re caught between a rock and a hard place. If we place too much emphasis on skill we get bullied domestically, if we place emphasis on physicality we get blown away in Europe. We really need a fundamental change in Scotland that will allow skillful players to flourish, not the brutes. There is no quick fix solution to this but it starts with a fundamental change in attitude amongst the clubs and smashing the status quo.

Until then we’re riding on a paper plane :cool:
(I’ll get ma coat...)
 
Never minded Rae. However the fact that anyone thought him even slightly qualified to be Rangers captain shows you all you need to know about PLG. Either he was a clueless twat, or else his lack of professionalism and character shone through with trying to get himself the sack and a pay off.
 
This could have been total gold. The guy was in an FA Cup Final, played under Bonnetti at Dundee and PLG at Rangers. He was also part of that Cardiff side that threw away promotion by losing their last 4 games when only needing a point.

A very generic overview. Maybe nerves.
 
Encapsulated almost everything wrong with some Scottish footballers there.

Forget your ability, glittering career in European football.
You’re a bit of a fanny for not being one of “the lads” in your second language.

I expect Brahim was also a “bit of a poof” for not rattling twelve pints at the Xmas do aswell.

They’re world’s apart in footballing terms that’s for sure. Hemdani being a Ferrari, Rae being a Fiat Punto.
 
If you listen through til the end he picks his 5 a side drinking team

Thompson sounded a lunatic on the sauce, his party piece either throwing glasses or smashing them over his head!

Everyone's entitled to their opinions obviously but this is why I typically dont listen to anything regarding Scottish Football outwith H+H.

Stories about the lads and getting shit faced, no wonder so many other countries have flown past us over the past 20 years on the international level
 
Walter would have got shot of Hemdani by hook or crook immediately if there was a real issue there.

He was probably just scunnered at having to play alongside garbage like Gavin Rae.
 
They’re world’s apart in footballing terms that’s for sure. Hemdani being a Ferrari, Rae being a Fiat Punto.
Wish he had turned his Ferrari around at Calais, a total imposter. Remember Eck practically had to drag him away from the treatment room when he arrived before he made his debut. Then a man short at Manchester and should have been replaced at the interval. Suffice to say I was never a fan of him.
Nor of Gavin Rae.
 
Wish he had turned his Ferrari around at Calais, a total imposter. Remember Eck practically had to drag him away from the treatment room when he arrived before he made his debut. Then a man short at Manchester and should have been replaced at the interval. Suffice to say I was never a fan of him.
Nor of Gavin Rae.

Never heard about Eck having to drag him off the treatment table so I’m dubious on that.

One thing’s for sure, we wouldn’t have made it to Manchester without him, he was brilliant in that run to the final, he was also one of the very few players who could come away from that PLG mess with his head held high. Didn’t thunder into tackles and shit though.
 
Wish he had turned his Ferrari around at Calais, a total imposter. Remember Eck practically had to drag him away from the treatment room when he arrived before he made his debut. Then a man short at Manchester and should have been replaced at the interval. Suffice to say I was never a fan of him.
Nor of Gavin Rae.

There were certainly rumours at the time that Hemdani wasn't exactly busting a gut to get into the side. That he was at Rangers for four years and is (mostly) remembered for a string of games in one European campaign kind of speaks volumes.
 
Gavin Rae was totally used by PLG in the sense that PLG thought we emphasise the role of captain to much. So by giving it to a squad player he’s demonstrating his ideology. I honestly have no memories of Gavin Rae other than that due to my age. Hemdani has played in 2 European finals (captain in one) however as a previous poster has mentioned, 4 seasons and he is generally only remembered for some games in Europe and a POTY in the le Guen year, there’s a reason Walter basically sent him to Siberia and he retired aged 31. Would be keen to listen to this pod though as I generally have no memory of Gavin Rae except at Cardiff and Aberdeen. P.S can anyone advice why the Marseille captain who then joined rangers only got 2 caps for Algeria ?. Was he holding out for a France cap that never came ?.
 
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Wish he had turned his Ferrari around at Calais, a total imposter. Remember Eck practically had to drag him away from the treatment room when he arrived before he made his debut. Then a man short at Manchester and should have been replaced at the interval. Suffice to say I was never a fan of him.
Nor of Gavin Rae.
Hemdani was a good player, you clearly have no clue about football.
 
If you listen through til the end he picks his 5 a side drinking team

Thompson sounded a lunatic on the sauce, his party piece either throwing glasses or smashing them over his head!
My Grandson was in St Mirren U20 team and he said Stevie Thompson was an absolute lunatic, but was a good guy and he was great with the younger players, but he did take things too far ie "javelin" in Mallan's thigh a carry on that was completely an accident but stupid
 
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