Craigie
Well-Known Member
“How come you are so good?”
The immortal Jim White line sums up the genius that was Brian Laudrup perfectly.
He was good enough to render a silver-tongued, super-slick presenter slack-jawed in wonderment.
The great Dane arrived at Rangers in the summer of 1994 from Fiorentina following a season spent on loan at the newly crowned European champions AC Milan.
He actually played seven times for I Rossoneri in the Champions League but never featured in the final when Fabio Capello’s side thumped Barcelona 4-0.
He was also a European Championship winner of course, and yes he could play a bit in Europe as Chick Young was ‘politely’ informed by Walter Smith.
His arrival in Govan wasn’t greeted in the same manner as Paul Gascoigne a year later but, in truth, it really should’ve been.
Scottish football was about to witness, arguably, the greatest ever player to grace these shores.
But what was it like to play against him? We tracked down five players who ran the gauntlet of the attacker's outstanding skillset.
JOHN PHILLIBEN - Ex-Motherwell
“My first recollection of Brian Laudrup was the opening day of the season 94/95 when we played at Ibrox and it was 1-1.
“We’d been playing for an hour with 10 men because Rab Shannon had got sent off early.
“We got a corner in the last minute of the game and Alex McLeish had sent everybody up to try and win the game.
“The ball got played into the box, it got headed clear to the edge of the box, Brian Laudrup picked it up and ran the full length of the field, slipped it into big Duncan Ferguson and he scored in the last minute to beat us 2-1.
“The other recollection was again at Ibrox and involved Jamie Dolan, God rest his soul.
“Brian Laudrup absolutely turned him inside out.
“He got to the byline went to cross, Jamie dived in to block the cross and Laudrup pulled it back, Jamie sprung up, Laudrup went to cross it again with his left foot, Jamie dived in, he pulled it back and then for the third time Laudrup went to cross it, Jamie’s dived in again and Laudrup then drifted past him.
“Honestly, Jamie got pelters for that after the game!
“The thing about Brian Laudrup is he was such a tall guy and the ability he had when he had the ball at his feet, running at you at pace, he was almost unplayable.
“He was an exceptional player.
“You knew you were going to be up against it when you played against him.
“When he signed for Rangers I think everybody knew he was a quality player having played in Italy.
“He was such an exceptional talent it was one of those things where on a Saturday morning if you knew you were playing and playing right-back and he was left-wing you were going to be in for a torrid time.
“Back in the day that would be the main aim to go and try and hit him early because you could tackle in those days.
“Go and give him a wee warning and say, ‘Look, if you’re going to give me a torrid time I’m going to try and catch you and make it a wee bit easier for myself.’ “But he was some player, he actually took a few hefty tackles but still got back up.”
BRIAN IRVINE - Ex-Aberdeen captain
“Thankfully he was never a through the middle guy, I was a centre back so it was more the full-backs like Stewart McKimmie who had to deal with him.
“But obviously he’d come into your area.
“It was a bit like Gascoigne, you just couldn’t get near him.
“You forget how good a player he was and how strong he made Rangers.
“When you played against someone like Laudrup you just knew it was going to be a tough game with his ability; it was almost as if the ball was stuck to his foot.
“People often use that as a cliche saying but it was so true with him.
“Wherever he moved the ball went with him and it was almost impossible to get the ball off him.
“If he tried to take you on there is a fair chance he was going to get by you.
“When you played against him you realised how special he was.
“Being as tall as he was, you didn’t expect that skill.
“If he moved from right to left without a ball that would be ok but he actually moved the ball with him and it stayed within his control.
“He didn’t knock the ball to the right or the left and you had to chase after it, it was literally stuck to his foot.
“In the winger positions you’d want a midfielder to go and help the full-back or one of the centre backs to double up to try and cover but invariably he’d just have two of you to beat so I don’t know what the answer was.
“If he was at his peak and at his best he basically was unstoppable.
“The only good thing was the last time I played against Brian was in the 9-in-a-row celebrations for Rangers in a Scottish League select or whatever it was in 2007.
“Thankfully most players you were up against like Mark Hateley for example, he wasn’t quite as dangerous as he had been in his day, obviously I wasn’t either because I’d retired but Brian was as good as he was when he was a player!
“He was a good down to earth opponent, he wasn’t somebody you thought was a big-headed guy at that, he was a nice guy."
COLIN MILLER - Ex-Hearts and Dunfermline
"Goodness me, for some reason, for every manager that I played for I had to do the man-marking jobs on him.
"You can imagine trying to pick Brian Laudrup up.
"In all the times that I played against him, he never shook my hand once.
"I went up to shake hands and he just walked past me.
"Maybe, because I tried to kick lumps out of him, I don't know.
"The first time I played against Laudrup was at Ibrox and I couldn't believe the size of him.
"He was possibly about six feet one but what a player he was for Rangers.
"If he got past you, you were never getting back to get another bite at him.”
The immortal Jim White line sums up the genius that was Brian Laudrup perfectly.
He was good enough to render a silver-tongued, super-slick presenter slack-jawed in wonderment.
The great Dane arrived at Rangers in the summer of 1994 from Fiorentina following a season spent on loan at the newly crowned European champions AC Milan.
He actually played seven times for I Rossoneri in the Champions League but never featured in the final when Fabio Capello’s side thumped Barcelona 4-0.
He was also a European Championship winner of course, and yes he could play a bit in Europe as Chick Young was ‘politely’ informed by Walter Smith.
His arrival in Govan wasn’t greeted in the same manner as Paul Gascoigne a year later but, in truth, it really should’ve been.
Scottish football was about to witness, arguably, the greatest ever player to grace these shores.
But what was it like to play against him? We tracked down five players who ran the gauntlet of the attacker's outstanding skillset.
JOHN PHILLIBEN - Ex-Motherwell
“My first recollection of Brian Laudrup was the opening day of the season 94/95 when we played at Ibrox and it was 1-1.
“We’d been playing for an hour with 10 men because Rab Shannon had got sent off early.
“We got a corner in the last minute of the game and Alex McLeish had sent everybody up to try and win the game.
“The ball got played into the box, it got headed clear to the edge of the box, Brian Laudrup picked it up and ran the full length of the field, slipped it into big Duncan Ferguson and he scored in the last minute to beat us 2-1.
“The other recollection was again at Ibrox and involved Jamie Dolan, God rest his soul.
“Brian Laudrup absolutely turned him inside out.
“He got to the byline went to cross, Jamie dived in to block the cross and Laudrup pulled it back, Jamie sprung up, Laudrup went to cross it again with his left foot, Jamie dived in, he pulled it back and then for the third time Laudrup went to cross it, Jamie’s dived in again and Laudrup then drifted past him.
“Honestly, Jamie got pelters for that after the game!
“The thing about Brian Laudrup is he was such a tall guy and the ability he had when he had the ball at his feet, running at you at pace, he was almost unplayable.
“He was an exceptional player.
“You knew you were going to be up against it when you played against him.
“When he signed for Rangers I think everybody knew he was a quality player having played in Italy.
“He was such an exceptional talent it was one of those things where on a Saturday morning if you knew you were playing and playing right-back and he was left-wing you were going to be in for a torrid time.
“Back in the day that would be the main aim to go and try and hit him early because you could tackle in those days.
“Go and give him a wee warning and say, ‘Look, if you’re going to give me a torrid time I’m going to try and catch you and make it a wee bit easier for myself.’ “But he was some player, he actually took a few hefty tackles but still got back up.”
BRIAN IRVINE - Ex-Aberdeen captain
“Thankfully he was never a through the middle guy, I was a centre back so it was more the full-backs like Stewart McKimmie who had to deal with him.
“But obviously he’d come into your area.
“It was a bit like Gascoigne, you just couldn’t get near him.
“You forget how good a player he was and how strong he made Rangers.
“When you played against someone like Laudrup you just knew it was going to be a tough game with his ability; it was almost as if the ball was stuck to his foot.
“People often use that as a cliche saying but it was so true with him.
“Wherever he moved the ball went with him and it was almost impossible to get the ball off him.
“If he tried to take you on there is a fair chance he was going to get by you.
“When you played against him you realised how special he was.
“Being as tall as he was, you didn’t expect that skill.
“If he moved from right to left without a ball that would be ok but he actually moved the ball with him and it stayed within his control.
“He didn’t knock the ball to the right or the left and you had to chase after it, it was literally stuck to his foot.
“In the winger positions you’d want a midfielder to go and help the full-back or one of the centre backs to double up to try and cover but invariably he’d just have two of you to beat so I don’t know what the answer was.
“If he was at his peak and at his best he basically was unstoppable.
“The only good thing was the last time I played against Brian was in the 9-in-a-row celebrations for Rangers in a Scottish League select or whatever it was in 2007.
“Thankfully most players you were up against like Mark Hateley for example, he wasn’t quite as dangerous as he had been in his day, obviously I wasn’t either because I’d retired but Brian was as good as he was when he was a player!
“He was a good down to earth opponent, he wasn’t somebody you thought was a big-headed guy at that, he was a nice guy."
COLIN MILLER - Ex-Hearts and Dunfermline
"Goodness me, for some reason, for every manager that I played for I had to do the man-marking jobs on him.
"You can imagine trying to pick Brian Laudrup up.
"In all the times that I played against him, he never shook my hand once.
"I went up to shake hands and he just walked past me.
"Maybe, because I tried to kick lumps out of him, I don't know.
"The first time I played against Laudrup was at Ibrox and I couldn't believe the size of him.
"He was possibly about six feet one but what a player he was for Rangers.
"If he got past you, you were never getting back to get another bite at him.”