McLeish's judgment day nears

Published on Saturday 3 December 2005 02:07

AS THE saga over his apparently inevitable departure from Rangers reaches epic proportions, it was somehow appropriate that Alex McLeish yesterday compared it all to Leo Tolstoy's most famous piece of work.

Navigating War and Peace from the opening page to the last, however, may well be considered by some as less demanding than making sense of the painfully drawn out ending of McLeish's four years in charge of Rangers.

He steadfastly declined to discuss his future at the club, looking no further than today's SPL fixture against Falkirk and next Tuesday night's potentially epoch-making Champions League game against Inter Milan. Whether the two home matches are also the final two of his reign remains to be seen with chairman David Murray scheduled to "revisit" his manager's situation in the wake of the Inter test.

Should Rangers become the first Scottish club to progress beyond the group stage of the Champions League, the opportunity would also exist for McLeish to pre-empt receipt of his P45 and leave of his own volition as he hinted after last week's 1-1 draw at Porto.

He was unwilling to offer any clearer indications yesterday, also refusing to comment on Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric's thus far unrequited desire to speak to him about the Fratton Park vacancy. McLeish insisted his only concern is in ending the longest winless run in Rangers' history this afternoon to provide some positive momentum ahead of the Inter assignment.

"God knows, there has been enough about me in the papers and media over the last ten weeks," said McLeish. "It probably eclipses War and Peace.

"I really don't want to answer questions (on whether it is my last league game). I'm here to speak about the Falkirk game, which is quickly followed by the Inter Milan game, so my real focus is on that. I'd rather not be distracted by other things. I've nothing to say on Portsmouth, nothing to say on any speculation.

"Obviously you can't avoid it, but I have tended to stay away from as much of it as possible. That helps. Working with the players on the training ground, all those things help keep your mind away from any other things that would make you lose focus. The players have a chance to make an impression against Falkirk first of all and maybe give me selection problems for the Inter Milan [game], if I can afford to say that given the amount of players who are out injured. It is up to the players to show they want to get a good result for Rangers first and foremost and a good performance for themselves. I'm sure every one of them will want to play in the Inter Milan game."

McLeish did reveal that Dado Prso, so often a talismanic figure for Rangers, has an outside chance of returning to the side in time to face Inter. The Croatian striker damaged a hamstring against Celtic just two weeks ago.

"We will leave it up to Dado," said McLeish, "but he is desperate to play against Inter. It is a long shot."

With midfielders Alex Rae and Brahim Hemdani added to McLeish's lengthy injury list, the return today of Belgian playmaker Thomas Buffel provides some encouragement to a team so dismally lacking in creativity during their recent wretched run.

"Thomas is a major player for us," said McLeish, "although it is doubtful he will play the full 90 minutes against Falkirk. We have missed him. He has a bit of guile, a bit of speed and he has a goalscoring touch."

Fernando Ricksen will also return to captain the team in the absence of Barry Ferguson, automatically suspended for his dismissal against Hibs last Sunday, which McLeish now accepts was a correct decision by referee Stuart Dougal.

"I've seen it again and Stuart had no option," said McLeish. "I thought it was harsh at the time but under the rules he had no choice. Barry misses out against Falkirk and, ironically, it's probably good for him to get a rest. He has been playing with niggling injuries pretty much since the start of the season. We have other players capable of doing well and excelling against Falkirk."

With Ian Murray pushed into midfield to cover Ferguson's absence, 20-year-old Stevie Smith is likely to play at left-back. Two other youngsters, 17-year-old defender Alan Lowing and 18-year-old French midfielder Dany N'Guessan, are also in McLeish's squad.