Re-visiting our 10 IAR season

To think we had the likes of Gazza, Albertz, Gattuso, Barry Ferguson (who would be running our midfield the very next season), Laudrup in that squad it is difficult to swallow not winning that league. You can accept that Goram, Gough, McCall, I Ferguson, McCoist etc were all getting on but the likes of Gazza and Laudrup should of has plenty left to offer. I also remember Laudrup being tremendous in the World Cup that summer in France.

When you compared the squads both teams had that season, it's pretty incredible that we didn't win the league that season.

A combination of different things conspired to stop us that year. There were a lot of injuries, too many players were off form and a few players who should have been quite frankly more professional in their approach.

Spent an absolute fortune that summer and to finish up with nothing was let's face was completely unacceptable. The only season where domestically, Walter failed. Even the best have their off days.
 
I think a big part is the lack of players leaving in the previous seasons. We all knew that this era of player was coming to an end from 7 onwards as our tactics became give it to Gazza/Laudrup. It feels odd to say, but our squad depth was gone with the likes of Durie, Durrant, Robertson, McCall, Goram getting on but the management of the squad allowing them to still be heavily relied on.

That and as has been said the intensity was gone. 9iar at Ibrox was sometimes not a pleasant place, you could feel the crowd anxious at close games. But 10 felt like an afterthought. It was a bigger deal that the era was coming to an end and what the future looked like.
 
I always find these discussions frustrating, mainly for claims that Laudrup chucked it and that selling an out of shape, completely unprofessional and woefully out of form Gascoigne was a mistake that somehow cost us 10.

For me it was down to Walter being told he was going, and that being made public to our ageing squad. Of course Laudrup’s persistent injury problems were a big factor two given that he’d more or less carried us to the 9th title the season prior.
 
Not quite accurate, he played in the first game , he gave the ball away straight to charnley who rattled ball in from 25yards on his debut n I thought to myself “ha ha they have signed an absolute clown with bad hair” ..... oh that thought came back to haunt me

I remember him giving the ball away and having a general mare that game. Did he not also score an own goal? Something is telling me he did but no doubt I'm wrong
 
When you compared the squads both teams had that season, it's pretty incredible that we didn't win the league that season.

A combination of different things conspired to stop us that year. There were a lot of injuries, too many players were off form and a few players who should have been quite frankly more professional in their approach.

Spent an absolute fortune that summer and to finish up with nothing was let's face was completely unacceptable. The only season where domestically, Walter failed. Even the best have their off days.

Celitc won it that season with less points than they picked up under Burns the previous 2 seasons.

Jansen won it with 74 points. Burns had won 83 and 75 points.

We had went from 87 to 83 and then 72. Truth is that Rangers team fell off a cliff.

I dont think selling Gazza was the issue, he was off the rails and of no use to us when we needed him most.

Spot on. We also picked up more points than Celtic did after Gazza was sold. 15 points out of 21 compared to their 12.
 
Naturally an extremely disappointing season however after how they have went about trying to win their 10 (9.75 in reality of course) I can't help but look back a feel a tiny bit better about season 97/98. Just feel our downfall was we let too many players grow old together. Even with this had Amo and Negri not got injured then I think we would have had a enough to do it. But at least we took it down to the wire and gave it everything until the end.
We threw it away, they were lucky. It went to the last couple of games. If we'd beaten Killie or Aberdeen then we'd have won the league.

Amo only played a handful of games that season and got sent off against Aberdeen in the aforementioned game.

It was a season too far and Walter had announced his departure fairly early in the season which never helps when a team needs a focus. We also weakened a declining team by bringing in the likes of Thern who were expensive and brought nothing to the team. Negri's downing of tools at Christmas was a disgrace and the way he's now regarded as something close to a legend is a disgrace. If he'd bothered his arse for 4 more months we'd likely have won the league.
 
Obviously our team got a lot older that year and that was part of downfall as well as Walter, Gazza & Laudrup. Then there was the Negri situation. I also wonder if certain players also let standards slip once 9 was secured.

What’s weird looking back is how good our summer transfer activity was:

Amoruso
Porrini
Negri
Gattuso
Thern
Niemi
Vidmar
Johansson
Stensaas

Most of those players were quality and would go on to do very well for Rangers (unfortunately not that season for all of them). Only Stensaas was a complete failure and Thern was very unlucky with injuries.
 
We threw it away, they were lucky. It went to the last couple of games. If we'd beaten Killie or Aberdeen then we'd have won the league.

Amo only played a handful of games that season and got sent off against Aberdeen in the aforementioned game.

It was a season too far and Walter had announced his departure fairly early in the season which never helps when a team needs a focus. We also weakened a declining team by bringing in the likes of Thern who were expensive and brought nothing to the team. Negri's downing of tools at Christmas was a disgrace and the way he's now regarded as something close to a legend is a disgrace. If he'd bothered his arse for 4 more months we'd likely have won the league.
The Negri love in now is annoying! Mental to think he was at Ibrox until 2001 I think? Did absolutely nothing bar a fantastic 1st 6 months.
 


Quick swatch at the results tells you all you need to know. Our best winning run in the league was 4 games. That's a shocker right there.

From August to December 1997 we only lost once, but drew six.

January to May 1998 the wheels pretty much came off in January/February as the filth & Hearts caught us.
 
To think we had the likes of Gazza, Albertz, Gattuso, Barry Ferguson (who would be running our midfield the very next season), Laudrup in that squad it is difficult to swallow not winning that league. You can accept that Goram, Gough, McCall, I Ferguson, McCoist etc were all getting on but the likes of Gazza and Laudrup should of has plenty left to offer. I also remember Laudrup being tremendous in the World Cup that summer in France.
I think in hindsight B Ferguson would have been blooded that season to a much higher degree. I think Gattuso was the right player, wrong time just too soon and probably conflicted Smith in playing Ferguson. Thern was a bit of a 'trophy' signing i make out, that again just hindered the progress of B Ferguson and Advocaat still got a good season out of Iain Ferguson

You look how Sir Alex Ferguson moulded teams from players you wouldn't have said were the best players per se and perhaps the 9IAR team needed tweaking not the type of wholesale changes they went through.
 
Gothenburg
They weren't a bad side, they'd appeared in the champions league groups. However being out of the tie in the first leg was shocking. After spending 15 million in the summer it was impossible for Walter to stay. Possibly letting him go then & taking in an Advocaat type would have ssved it.
 
Murray & Walter made the right call, we got most of our money back on him at that point.

Had we kept him, he doesn’t go to the WC & his decline continues we get absolutely nothing back in terms of performance or transfer fee.
Advocaat had a say in it too, he had no interest in keeping him.
 
I can remember coming out of the piggery after the lady's front bottom Stubbs score a late equalise and saying to the old man, that could come back and bite us,
It did.
They were on their knees at the time of that game.
For me that game was the turning point with Gazza’s sending off, we were in good form then
 
True. I remember the Gazza chant. However, there wasn't the relentless and obsessed paranoid craziness which has infested the Piggery hordes this season. If anything, I recall hearing on Radio Clyde and BBC Radio Scotland of the potential for civil disorder in Glasgow and Lanarkshire if we did win 10 back then.

Remember the street party up the Garngad that GCC sanctioned for "stopping the ten" Unbelievable !

True. I the Gazza chant. However, there wasn't the relentless and obsessed paranoid craziness which has infested the Piggery hordes this season. If anything, I recall hearing on Radio Clyde and BBC Radio Scotland of the potential for civil disorder in Glasgow and Lanarkshire if we did win 10 back then.
 
Remember the street party up the Garngad that GCC sanctioned for "stopping the ten" Unbelievable !

I do, mate. GCC were providing cherry-pickers to put up flags and bunting. Protestants still voted in the same bigots at George Square, even after that scandal.
 
No matter how it’s dressed up we should have won it that season the tims didn’t even fancy themselves at the outset, keeping au unhappy Laudrup back fired even though we all wanted him to stay
selling Gazza was totally the right call as he looked done by that point
the most galling thing is that celtic team were so fucking average it was unreal
 
The team simply got old and Walter couldn’t clear them out after everything they had done for him. It just came to a natural end. I only ever felt pride and privilege to have witnessed that as a kid growing up. There’s never really been a sense of regret at not making it to 10. It was what it was and it provided the most memorable childhood memories. Those who lived through that era were so fortunate to witness a truly great team and incredible leader. It’ll never be forgotten, those players will be forever synonymous with the greats of our club. When you think of Rangers in the last 50 years that’s your team/era.

On paper, they have achieved a lot in the last decade, particularly the last 5 years. However, when you look back on history, they will never be remembered as a truly great team. Brown doesn’t stack up against any of their top captains and players despite his honours. Rodgers team achieved a lot and were their best team by a mile of that period but would you have any of them up there with their greats? I think you’d struggle. They don’t come close to the side who got to Seville. Deep down I think they know that and it makes their pain so much harder to deal with.

I loved 9 in a row because I love Rangers. They wanted 10 in a row because they hate Rangers and we define them. Same as this season for me, it’s never been about stopping them doing anything, it’s about the recovery of our football club and it’s restoration to being the standard bearer in this country. I’ll celebrate and maybe shed a wee tear because it’s the end of a painful journey and the start of a new one. They are irrelevant to me. It’s all about the Rangers.
 
Walter should have been sacked after the Gothenburg shambles. For him to survive that and then Strasbourg was a disgrace .

Two teams with a fraction of our resource but were simply fitter, better organised and wanted it more.

I dread to think what was going on behind the scenes. The Negri situation is repeatedly brought up, but it should be said Goram was a disgrace that season. Heavily overweight and his form had went off a cliff.

We lost the title that season due to our own failings. That Celtic team was dogshit. They ended up with less points than they had acquired the previous two years under Burns
 
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