Rangers can’t be compared to Class of ’92 - Goram

RANGERS goalkeeping great Andy Goram has commended Ally McCoist’s current crop of Ibrox players for their record-breaking run of 19 consecutive victories but insists the achievement is “not comparable” with his class of ’92.

Alan Rough and Andy Goram with the Scottish Cup. Picture: Contributed

A thumping 6-1 win against Forfar this week set a new post-war record for Rangers as they continue to sweep aside all-comers in League One.

Goram was a member of Walter Smith’s side which set the original record in 1992, while combining their domestic dominance with European football and lofty cup expectations. While loath to belittle the 
impressive figure being racked up by his friend and former team-mate, McCoist, the former Scotland goalkeeper concedes the two sides were competing on wholly different levels.

“You can’t compare it because we were playing Champions League football and combining that with top-flight football, that is true,” said Goram. “We had a great run back in the ’92-’93 season – as well as the winning run we went 44 games unbeaten. So, obviously, when anyone makes the comparison, they will say, ‘It is only in that division’ and are only playing against teams in League One.

“However, I’m of the view that a record is a record and they should be congratulated. It has been decent stuff this year.

“You still have to beat the teams in front of you, and that wasn’t happening last season.

“Now Ally has all the players he has wanted and you can see the difference. It is still hard work at that level and you still have to earn the right to win. There are no easy games, especially when you are every other team’s cup final.

“People are sniffy about Rangers’ achievements, but that is irrelevant to the club. Rangers are blinkered about what is said outside the club and that is how it should be.”

Goram has dismissed suggestions that Rangers must win the Scottish Cup to be truly considered a success. He believes that, just like when he was a player in Govan, the league is all that should matter for the club – with a 100 per cent record still plausible in that competition – with cup tournaments a sideshow.

“The cups are a bonus, that’s all. When we played at Ibrox in the ’90s, the target was always winning the league and if you win the cup that is a bonus. Thankfully, nine out of ten times we did win the cup!” he added.

“It’s exactly the same this year. If a cup comes along, then fine, but it is not the be-all and end-all. We must get promotion this year and we must get promotion next year and get back to where we belong and if a cup comes along…then happy birthday.”

The 49-year-old happily admits, however, that if Rangers do rack up the “bonus” of a run to the Scottish Cup final, then there is only one fixture he wants to see and he believes a meeting between the Old Firm at Celtic Park in May is required to enliven a “drab” domestic scene.

“Hopefully it will be a Rangers-Celtic cup final,” he said. “What an end to the season that would be. Everyone wants to see the Old Firm game back and there would be no better way than in the cup final. The occasion would be mental – a full stadium and just like the old days.

“It is the best game in the world and I defy anyone to tell me they have not missed it. The top league in Scotland is drab. There is no interest in the other games because everyone knows the Premiership is a cakewalk for Celtic.”

• Andy Goram was speaking at the opening of the Day Today store in Wallyford, Musselburgh.