‘Culture shock’ has put Ally McCoist’s Rangers on back foot, says Alexander

THE last time Rangers welcomed Montrose to Ibrox, they did so as a Treble-winning side in 1976 in a League Cup tie watched by a crowd of less than 19,000. Tomorrow afternoon, as a Third Division club, Rangers can anticipate an 
attendance of more than double that figure for the Angus club’s visit.

It is another illustration of the almost surreal position Rangers find themselves in after their financial meltdown and subsequent banishment from the top flight of Scottish football. The notion that they would negotiate a rapid and straightforward route back up through the divisions has been shaken by a start to the campaign which has seen them drop six points in their first five games and then suffer a Ramsdens Cup quarter-final defeat at home to Queen of the South on Tuesday night.

Goalkeeper Neil Alexander is one of few players in the current Rangers squad with previous experience of life in the lower reaches of the Scottish game. He believes that may be a factor in their deeply unreliable form so far.

“It has possibly been a culture shock for some of the other boys,” said Alexander. “For those joining, they are seeing Murray Park and Ibrox and thinking ‘this is great’, but then they are turning up at some of the away grounds and thinking ‘What’s going on here, this isn’t right.’ I can’t answer for them, but possibly it’s a reason. I was at Stenhousemuir and Livingston in the lower leagues, so I know what it’s like when you play an SPL team. You’re up for it and you’re giving everything.

“You make it as hard as possible. I think teams are doing that, playing five in midfield and four at the back. We’re finding it hard to break teams down. But we do believe we have the quality in the dressing room that we’re going to overcome these problems. We’re working hard on the training ground to rectify this and, hopefully, it’s going to pay off.

“I don’t see in the long-term future we’re going to have any problems. It’s a short-term thing and I do think we’ll get to the bottom of it and get over it.

“The club is very much still in a transitional period. We lost a lot of first-team players, first-team regulars in the summer and we brought in a lot of new faces. That always takes time to gel.”

Alexander has gone from appearing in a Uefa Cup final four years ago to playing in the Third Division but insists he has no regrets about his decision to commit his future to Rangers. “I try and not think about that,” he added. “I just try and focus on the fact I’m the first-team goalkeeper for Rangers and Rangers are one of the biggest clubs in the world at a fantastic stadium. I’m trying to focus more on that than the reality of where I’m playing. That’s been the case since we were put in the Third Division. Obviously, you want to play at the top level in your career.

“But I love it here and my family are settled here. I think the club has been very good to me in my time here and I just want to give a bit back. A bit of loyalty which I feel they’ve given to me. It’s hard at times, but you’ve just got to get on with it.”