How good was Michael Mols?

I was watching the FC Haka game with a bunch of Spoonburners which I think was our fist sight of Mols in a Rangers shirt.
They were a bit lippy to start with but after a while it all went a bit quiet from them.
After the second goal one of them just looked at me and said "Oh dear".
 
pre injury he averaged a goal a game and was the best striker I have ever saw in a Rangers shirt. The injury ruined him though and he was never prolific after it.
 
Michael Mols is a legend he also got to meet Colin McKenzie

mols.jpg
 
My first memory of Rangers was the team of 99. Had this man’s name on the back of the NTL home top. My absolute hero alongside Stefan Klos.

The injury against Bayern broke my heart (it wasn’t Kahn’s fault before anyone has a go) - how good do you think he would have been if that didn’t happen?

I was young at the time, but I reckon he would have been good enough to sign for a Champions League contender.

Spent my summer trying to mimic his famous turn (most of the time I fell on my arse).

He was electrifying to watch. Absolute class. He had 2 or 3 players round him in the box most of the time. Larsson on the other hand didn't receive the same.
 
My first memory of Rangers was the team of 99. Had this man’s name on the back of the NTL home top. My absolute hero alongside Stefan Klos.

The injury against Bayern broke my heart (it wasn’t Kahn’s fault before anyone has a go) - how good do you think he would have been if that didn’t happen?

I was young at the time, but I reckon he would have been good enough to sign for a Champions League contender.

Spent my summer trying to mimic his famous turn (most of the time I fell on my arse).

We were a Champions League contender with a fit Michael Mols in the side!
 
He was unbelievable during that period before his injury. Post-injury he was still good but nowhere near the same level. He still went on for several years after that injury though and was performing well for Feyenoord in his late 30's.
 
Bearing in mind he was 28 when he signed (and no one had heard of him prior), I still believe he wouldve been spoken of in the same breath as Laudrup, Gascoigne etc as one of the greats barring that injury.

He was phenomenal in that first 6 months.
The 4 goals against motherwell spring to mind. Remember them well from the copland rear. All types of finishes just pure class. And thinking who the f uck is this c unt wow.
 
Mikey Mols was a great player for RANGERS and should have contributed more only that prick Oliver Khan came so far out of his goal he would have been better sitting in the stand with his support, but mikey should have just fallen on that big bastard instead of trying to leap over him.

Thats how he got his injury. He should have done Khan.
 
Bearing in mind he was 28 when he signed (and no one had heard of him prior), I still believe he wouldve been spoken of in the same breath as Laudrup, Gascoigne etc as one of the greats barring that injury.

He was phenomenal in that first 6 months.
He was well known in Holland as a top player. Not a prolific goalscorer but fantastic link up man.
 
Mols was too nice.

Should of done Kahn instead of stepping over him.

And the rest they say is history.

Until then he was simply Unplayable.

Mols' tight turning was his big trademark cos at times he could so easily make defenders simply look stupid, he had to have had mega bendy parts in his knees, as for that bassa german keeper, he was an animal in that sad evil cowardly challenge.
Like our Durrant, Mols also came back from an evil injury and good at times but the Brilliance was then sadly missing a great bit..
 
My memory of Mols' injury was that 2 people were to blame and neither was Oliver Kahn. From my recollection, Rod Wallace was nearer the ball and should have went for it instead of Mols. The second person responsible for Mols' injury was Mols himself in that he tried to avoid catching Kahn and in doing so injured himself. Kahn is way out his box and has to make sure he wins the ball. If Mols had went into the tackle, rather than try to avoid Kahn, I don't think he would have suffered the way he did.
 
As with Durrant (my personal favourite) it's a case of how good he could of been.
Held the ball up well and could turn the defender inside out with his speed of feet.
 
I still think that before the injury he looked a better player than Larsson..blue tinted glasses maybe but what a player he was.
 
Before his injury, there were many games where was simply unplayable.

He turned defenders inside out.

An absolute tragedy that he got so badly injured. He was one of the best I ever saw.
 
I always remember, just after we signed Mols a mate of mine who supports the dark side, saying to me that Mols terrifies him. He was the most exciting player I had ever seen in a blue jersey before that injury, that turn he used to do was like something out of the Matrix.
 
When you watch that compilation, it's hard to believe that we got him from a lesser-known Dutch side.

Was he verging on world class, or did he just have a red-hot first few months, like Negri did in 97/98?
 
He was the greatest player I have ever seen at Ibrox, but sadly only for 4 months.

As a Souness child, my icons are as follows.

McCoist - scored nearly every week for about 7-8 years.

Laudrup - Just a genius

Gascoigne - Cult hero and genius, my hero

Albertz - Delivered in Europe where Laudrup and Gazza failed, so stands alongside them for me

Mols - Better than all of them for that 4 months. Absolutely ripped every team in Europe apart. Teams could not live with him and everything went through him. He should have been our greatest ever player. I honestly thought at that time, for those 4 months that only Ronaldo was better than him. He was explosive, tricky, creative, strong, had vision and an amazing touch. We were just watching something we had never seen before. As a poster has said above, I've never been so gutted to see us robbed of someone. He was of the highest calibre.

I've not been right through the thread, but there was a poster who used to talk about going with his dad, and how his dad would regale him with tales of Miller and Brand, Johnstone and Stein etc, but when he asked him who was the greatest Rangers centre forward he'd ever seen, he gave him a wink and said "You're watching him now son"
Used to give me goose pimples that story.........
 
See for all the goal are excellent, it was the sheer fear he put into defenders when he was moving and turning them inside out that stood out for me.

We've had lots of goalscorers. I've never seen anyone at his level for skill at speed including Laudrup and Gascoigne.

Like Thuram says of R9 for defenders, the ball was there and then it wasnt. That's what Mols was doing to Parma and Munich levels of opposition.

This in spades mate. Defenders couldn't get too close, and they couldn't give him space. He could burst away from them in an instant. The sheer power and pace at which he executed that turn.......
Even with Gazza and Laudrup, I never had my breath taken away by anyone we've had quite like Mols. He was world class at that point. Even the best of defenders just couldn't contain him.
 
Absolutely loved the guy...a unique player who could make a fool of his opponents with one twist or turn
If he had not got injured in the Bayern game then I honestly think he would have became our best ever centre forward
He could beat a man with ease and he could score with ease
We were defo short changed when he injured himself
As a team we were fantastic that night in Germany, ran over the top of Bayern, yes we lost but what a performance against one of the best teams in the world away from home, even their left back Lizazaru said he had not seen any team do that to Bayern at home
Oh the memories
Watched a documentary on sky on Oliver Kahn few years back...and his outstanding career and trophies he had won. They talked with him of his career highlights ... he spoke of a list of honours....like Bundesliga titles, Champions league, World cups , all the medals over the years and they asked him to pick his own personal best performance.....thats right.... he said a group game against Glasgow Rangers..... was the best game of his trophy laden career.... shows your our luck that night .... we were outstanding too
 
He was superb.

That turn should be used by coaches in this country to try to teach youngsters about skill and awareness.

He had more than that though - he would battle for a lost cause - when you thought he had lost the ball, he would fight to win it back.
 
The guy could turn on a sixpence, he was amazing, sat next to him at Ibrox against the manky mob, it was a pleasure, such a gent
 
Watched a documentary on sky on Oliver Kahn few years back...and his outstanding career and trophies he had won. They talked with him of his career highlights ... he spoke of a list of honours....like Bundesliga titles, Champions league, World cups , all the medals over the years and they asked him to pick his own personal best performance.....thats right.... he said a group game against Glasgow Rangers..... was the best game of his trophy laden career.... shows your our luck that night .... we were outstanding too
He tipped a rod wallace effort on to the crossbar, outstanding reaction save. We were brilliant that night, and really shouldn't ever have lost the game.
 
We still had Negri on the books as well when we signed Mols at his peak. If Negri didn't have that ''squash accident'' we could potentially have had one of the greatest front pairings in our whole history with those two at their peak.

What an era that was. The Advocaat team was the best team I have seen in my lifetime for us by a mile.
 
He was outstanding, I’d the injury doesn’t happen he’s in the conversation when talking about best foreign player the country has ever seen.
 
He wasnt playing at a great level before he arrived and neither was he young. At their peaks McCoist was a far superior player. Mols was very very good but git better the longer he was retired.
McCoist couldn't lace his boots as a football player. I love McCoist, as a player he is a legend and one of the best in the box strikers. Mols was more than that.

He was 28 when he arrived. Not exactly old either, some players can take longer to get discovered or hit their best. We could have gotten 3 or 4 years of pure bliss from him. or we could have gotten a year and someone else may have swooped in for him.
 
Incredibly skillful, not actually the best finisher when clean through but still scored some absolute crackers. Was a pity what happened to him but he still played a big part in our treble success of 02/03
 
I was at the game against Motherwell when he scored the 4(?) goals. He was phenomenal. We got back to the pub (Halt Bar on Woodlands Road) after the game and a wee Tim mate, who was always pretty bitter about us, took me aside and said he hated to admit it but Mols was some player and he was jealous that we had him. That summed Mols up for me. He absolutely terrified that lot.
 
He was absolutely world class against Motherwell at home in one of his early games for us, think he scored 3 or 4 that day.
 
I would go as far as to say he is the best striker we have ever had. He was head and shoulders above Larsson for them at that point.

That injury in Munich prevented him going on to sign for the likes of Man United, Barca or Madrid in my opinion. He was the sharpest striker I have ever seen.
 
He would have been an absolute legend but for that injury in Munich. Looked the best signing ever prior to that.
 
Oh, and from all accounts he is an absolute gentleman. Saw him in the town years ago with his wife and kid and was tempted to say hello but feel that can be a bit cringe, so let him get on with his life without that dubious honour!
 
McCoist couldn't lace his boots as a football player. I love McCoist, as a player he is a legend and one of the best in the box strikers. Mols was more than that.

He was 28 when he arrived. Not exactly old either, some players can take longer to get discovered or hit their best. We could have gotten 3 or 4 years of pure bliss from him. or we could have gotten a year and someone else may have swooped in for him.
Mmmm. From 91 to 94 McCoist was one if the best forwards not just strikers in the UK if not Europe. Only my opinion.
 
I would go as far as to say he is the best striker we have ever had. He was head and shoulders above Larsson for them at that point.

That injury in Munich prevented him going on to sign for the likes of Man United, Barca or Madrid in my opinion. He was the sharpest striker I have ever seen.

The question that raises is why didn't these sides go for him when he was in Holland?
 
Oh, and from all accounts he is an absolute gentleman. Saw him in the town years ago with his wife and kid and was tempted to say hello but feel that can be a bit cringe, so let him get on with his life without that dubious honour!
I'dve bear hugged him, wife & kids or not!
 
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