Ian Black not distracted by cash crisis at Rangers

ON THE day it was reported that Rangers could make ten members of their backroom staff redundant, midfielder Ian Black has explained how his experience of losing his job at Hearts has toughened him against the vagaries of life at a cash-strapped club.

Soufian El Hassnaouian and Ian Black preview the match. Picture: Malcolm Cochrane/BT Sport

He will return to Tynecastle for the first time as a Rangers player in Saturday’s crunch Championship clash, and in one sense his enforced departure from Hearts has been useful.

Asked if the recent spate of headlines about cash bail-outs and possible court cases had affected the players, Black was adamant.

“It doesn’t,” he said. “I have been through it at Hearts and the only time it affects you is when it gets to the stage I was at when I was at Hearts, when you weren’t getting paid and you can’t pay your bills.

Rangers Ian Black and Hearts striker Soufian El Hassnaoui prepare for Saturdays clash. Picture: SNS

“That’s the only time I think it will affect the players. So until then we don’t really pay attention to it.”

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Black was speaking before news emerged of the possible redundancies which are not expected to affect the players or coaching staff – yet. He said: “We just concentrate on what we are getting paid for, and going out and winning games and doing well for the club and the fans. But until it gets to a really bad stage, like Hearts were in when I was there, that’s the only time will affect us.

“What’s going on behind the scenes, we don’t know. That’s the board and they deal with all that, and the manager works with us on the training field and that’s what matters for us.”

Asked if his experience at Hearts had helped him cope with the saga of machinations at Ibrox, Black replied “totally”.

He added: “I wasn’t paid for two and a half months and that’s a long time for anybody. I have a family to support and that’s the main thing, so you have to go and do what you need to do to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

“So I got an offer to go and help one of my friends who has got his own (painting and decorating) business, so I went out for a day’s work.

“There’s a lot of footballers out there who wouldn’t want to be seen putting themselves in that bracket, there’s too much self-pride there, but I am certainly not one to shy away from getting my hands dirty and to supply for my family.”

Black emphasised his anger at the way Hearts players were treated under the failed Vladimir Romanov regime.

“The way the previous owner treated the club and ran the club,” said Black, “he destroyed a massive club and ripped it up, but credit to the fans, just like the Rangers fans, they have stood by them and pulled them back up.

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“It was disappointing, having worked under it and having the stress of not knowing if I was going to be able to pay my bills that week. You learn a lot from stuff like that and I certainly grew up a lot.”

All that being said, Black is looking forward to returning to Tynecastle, especially after his last match for the club was so memorable – the 2012 Scottish Cup final 5-1 victory over Hibs, which Black knew beforehand would be his last match in maroon.

“I knew a couple of weeks before,” said Black. “I was pulled in to be told that I wasn’t being kept on, so I knew it was my last game and I am just delighted to have left the club the way I did. It was a really enjoyable moment that will live with me forever. I loved it, and I enjoyed my time there.

“It will be my first time on the pitch since the cup final celebrations, I’m going to relish it and enjoy every moment, but also work hard for Rangers.

“If I get stick, I get stick – I’ll deal with it. I’m not really expecting it, I would not like to think I will get a bit of stick. If they choose to, they choose to and I’ll just have to deal with it.”

Their former player admitted to some admiration for Hearts this season: “They’ve been good, consistent, well-organised and they’re grinding out results here and there. Credit to them, they got off to a flyer and they’re keeping it going but we have to concentrate on ourselves rather than give credit to them.

“They are doing really well now and we just hope they go through a bad patch, but again we need to kick on and pick up as many points and as many wins as possible. If they have a bad spell, great, but if they don’t and go and win all their games from now to the end then credit to them.

“All we need to do is to concentrate on each game as it comes and hopefully pick up points. It’s going to be interesting on Saturday after we hopefully put on a show and get a win for ourselves and for our supporters. It will be interesting to see how they react to a defeat.”

• ‘Hearts v Rangers is exclusively live on BT Sport 1 from 12.00pm on Saturday 22nd November. BT Sport will bring fans live action of five SPFL games before the end of December, including Queen of the South v Rangers (12th December) and Dundee United v Celtic (21stDecember). Visit BT Sport.com for more info.’

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