Alex McLeish explains how he improved fortunes at Rangers after taking over as manager

Scot took over from Dick Advocaat at Ibrox and quickly led side to cup double

Former Rangers manager Alex McLeish. Picture: SNS

When Alex McLeish became manager of Rangers in the 2001/02 season there was something of an immediate turnaround in the fortunes of the club.

Though they were too far away from rivals Celtic to seriously challenge them for the crown, with McLeish not replacing Dick Advocaat until December, they would win the cup double that season.

Those runs included a victory over Celtic in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park in one of McLeish’s first few games.

Speaking to Si Ferry on Open Goal, he explains how he was able to make such an immediate impact after arriving from Hibs.

“When I watched Rangers, what I felt, and this came from having to study them as manager of Hibs, keeping abreast of all the teams we’d be facing, and also a few tapes of them I got, was that they played very slowly.

“It was quicker in the final third, but that time teams had organised, got 10 men behind the ball and made it very difficult. They were trying to walk it in the net, basically.

“I told that to them, to pass it forward quicker, to get between the lines and exploit the space. And to get behind teams when they’re advancing.

“That was always a trait of Alex Ferguson’s. He always wanted us to play assertively, not to play square passes. He wanted us to probe and find the chink in the armour.

“I also empowered the players, got into their faces, and did one to ones.”

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