Really bad time to have to face Rangers, admits Kenny Shiels

FOR Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels, having his team marginalised to the point of irrelevance in a match against Rangers is not a new experience.

It was just nine months ago that Shiels and his players felt like gate-crashers at a party in their own house when Rangers clinched a third consecutive SPL title with a 5-1 win at Rugby Park.

Kilmarnock will head to Ibrox tomorrow in a bit-part role once more, the attention this time focusing on Rangers’ reaction to their humiliating plunge into administration earlier this week.

Shiels, who believes Rangers can emerge as a “better” club from their current financial crisis, admits it will be difficult for Kilmarnock to have any telling impact on what he expects to be an emotional occasion for the home team tomorrow.

“We are extras in a film, just like we were last May when Rangers won the title at our place,” said Shiels. “We are such an insignificant part of the game. Looking back to that day in May, which was also Walter Smith’s last game in charge of Rangers, it is very vivid in our minds.

“There was a lot of triumphalism that day, a lot of happiness among the Rangers supporters and players. It was hard to witness on our patch. Sport is all about trying to make people feel good but disappointments come as well. It fluctuates between highs and lows.

“The example is what has happened to Rangers in those nine months. It’s amazing what has happened, when you look at the feeling around their club now. But in adversity, there is a galvanisation of energy and a siege mentality that should be quite prevalent on Saturday. If you use case-history examples with administration, there is Dundee, where it brought them together. With any club I have seen it happen to, there will be high adrenalin and high positive energy in the initial stages.

“Not only will it have a short-term positive impact on the players, it will also apply to the stands where the supporters will have a drive to go. They have had bad publicity this week, but if something happens to one of your family, you pull together and I’m sure that will be the case.

“If I am looking at it from a psychological perspective, then it will have an initial impetus to drive Rangers on. Despite all of that, we are focused on our job and we have motivation.

“We are the oldest club in Scotland and have been around longer than any of them. We are going to Ibrox looking to win home and away against Rangers in the same season for the first time in the SPL, that’s our motivational tool. Can we do it against all the stuff that is going on around the game?

“We are trying to deflect away all of the stuff which has been happening this week and focus on us. Who is to say our boys won’t perform? We have to rise above it if we can isolate the game from what is happening.

“But there will be a lot of energy coming from the stand and this will bring a lot of people together. It’s probably a really bad time to play Rangers.”

Shiels insists there is no prospect of Rangers not remaining a long-term presence in the SPL, regardless of the manner in which they come out of the current administration process.

“Lots has been said about what should happen,” he said, “but I’m not privy to the laws and the rules within the game. All I know is that Rangers are an institution and a massive club, as are Celtic.

“To lose one of those would have a major impact on the game. I don’t think there is any way Rangers will not be in the SPL. I can’t see that ever happening. The league needs Rangers and Celtic, just as it needs Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts. We need these major city clubs.

“Everyone is panicking now about what is going to happen but I think common-sense will prevail and that Rangers can come out of this better than they are. The good thing about Rangers Football Club is you have 50,000 customers. In any industry, if a business has 50,000 customers, it’s a great starting point. If that is managed well in a business sense, it is a very viable business.”

Shiels has consistently talked up the standard of the SPL since taking charge of Kilmarnock and he does not believe developments at Rangers have damaged the overall standing of football in Scotland.

“If you look at the amount of clubs going into administration in England, it supercedes anything happening here,” he added. “The product has been excellent here this season and problems like this, unfortunately, deter people’s thoughts from that.

“Celtic were magnificent at Tynecastle last week and what a product. Rangers have turned a corner on the pitch and there was a big improvement from them at Dunfermline last weekend. Dundee United have been magnificent and performing out of their skins as well as producing entertainment. The core of our business is football, although other things have to be managed too.

“As I say, I can’t let it have an effect on Kilmarnock. We have been unfortunate since the turn of the year with results not matching performances.

“We’ve had 11 draws and feel as though we need to start picking up three-pointers. We are taking our product to Ibrox and it’s a good product that we have.”