THE EXCITEMENT and anticipation among Rangers supporters who have gleefully become disciples of Mark Warburton’s new regime has reminded Dave McPherson of the last seismic change at Ibrox nearly 30 years ago.
McPherson, who had two spells at Ibrox, feels there are many parallels now to the summer of 1986 when Graeme Souness was brought in to revive a club that had been sleep-walking in mediocrity.
The circumstances are entirely different because Souness, with the help of astute chief executive David Holmes, re-awoke a sleeping giant while now Rangers are cleansing themselves of gross mismanagement and are building the club once more in all aspects.
However, McPherson believes that the vibe is very much the same. A huge feel-good factor has developed among the supporters who seem completely united once more.
They are excited about what they see on the field and existing players have been reinvigorated by the new regime – just as they were in the mid-80s.
“It’s a complete change and a fresh start and I think everyone has bought into it because that’s what they craved," McPherson said. “It’s certainly like 1986 when everyone started to look forward instead of backwards and it’s good to see.
“The club desperately needed change both on and off the park at that time. The whole club just went from strength to strength and that’s what you can see happening now.
“I think there was a change of attitude in the mid-80s. It had been a bit stale and a bit old-fashioned and David Holmes came in and shook it all up.
“He had some very good business ideas, but, of course, it was the notion to bring in higher profile players, starting with Souness himself, which really made the big difference.
“That really helped the younger players who were there – me included – because we had been unsure where the club was going. We were young players learning the game but there were a lot of changes with older players coming to the end of their careers and leaving.
“All of sudden big names were coming in and that’s what you want when you want to develop as a player. There was stability in the team and you knew it was going to get better and better.
“Okay there might not be the same level of player coming in now as Terry Butcher or Chris Woods but that stability is there and you can see the players who have come in are of a good standard – and can get better.
“These guys have come from the Championship so they should be able to play well here and bring on those around them. You can see there has been a reaction from players like Nicky Law, Lee Wallace, Barrie McKay and David Templeton.
“And it was the same in 1986/87 when players like Davie Cooper, Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant and myself embraced what was happening and it brought out the best in us.”
In 1986, unlike the present day, there was no corporate carnage to deal with and Souness in tandem with – and then succeeded by – Walter Smith created arguably the greatest period in the club’s history.
They won the title for the first time in nine years in 1987 and then from 1988/89 promptly won it nine times in succession.
The Dave King takeover came too late to save last season but with the slate virtually wiped clean, McPherson feels there is another great era about to begin at Ibrox.
The former central defender, who won the treble in 1992/93, is perturbed, however, that his former team-mate McCoist is being roundly disparaged for what happened on the pitch in the last four years.
“I don’t think people should be talking badly about Ally the way some people have," McPherson said. “I think we have all under-estimated what he had to go through for effectively four years.
“I don’t think anyone can really understand how difficult it was for him to handle the terrible things that were happening off the field. He was spending more time dealing with all of these very serious issues and there was never a period of stability during his time as manager.
“There was always something going on and while that was happening he had to run the football side of things. I have huge sympathy for Ally because his time as manager was the toughest time for any Rangers manager – it was so, so difficult.
“Ally will go back into management and he will do really well because he is a top guy and a top manager. I think the stick and the criticism aimed at him has been unfair and unjustified. He was the manager the lowest point in the club’s history and I don’t think it’s fair to judge him as a manager on that basis.”
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