Fly away Peter?; Rangers no longer keep players sweet with lavish

EVEN if the prospect of completing the signing was fanciful, it was a sign of Rangers' ambition that five-and-a-half years ago the club went to the bother of constructing a financial package to bring Ronaldo from Barcelona. The deal would have cost (pounds) 37 million, with Ronaldo on (pounds) 7m a year and enjoying a clause enabling him to pick and choose which domestic games he would grace with his presence.

Fantasy figures, but symbolic of a period in which Rangers regarded themselves as main players in the European transfer market. Their self-confidence was bred not only on their monopoly of the Scottish championship, but on the stability the club enjoyed under Graeme Souness and, over a longer period, Walter Smith. But times change. For supporters, the subsequent departure of Giovanni van Bronckhorst to Arsenal was discon-certing because it reacquainted them with a sensation with which they had been immune to for years: the feeling of helplessness that descends when a richer, more powerful club appears as a predator with a cheque book.

For years Rangers got it their own way in every respect. While dominant on the playing field in a domestic sense, they enjoyed enduring loyalty and a sense of permanence from a series of big-name signings. Hosing them with money, the guarantee of annual silverware and the glamour of the European Cup acted as the adhesive between the club and players. Rangers' ability to fulfil those criteria liberated them from the usual stresses of worrying about their most effective or popular players leaving for Europe or England. The club sold as they bought - on their own terms. Names such as Ally McCoist, Terry Butcher, Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne had no shortage of heavyweight admirers, but there was rarely the prospect of a rival club bullying Rangers in the transfer market or flexing more financial muscle than owner David Murray.

As far as agents taking liberties with them, that extended only as far as touting damaged goods to Ibrox which Rangers were all-too- often suckered into accepting. Once on the Ibrox payroll, though, few agents felt inclined to put a gun to the club's head in order to secure improved terms for their clients. Rangers never had problems with a player's agent making demands.

It has not reached that point yet with Peter Lovenkrands' agent but Ivan Benes must be about the best propagandist the business has had since Bernie Mandic, who had Mark Viduka's name in the papers for what seemed like every day of his Celtic career. Over the past year Lovenkrands has been linked with Roma, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool and, persistently, Inter Milan. Whenever these reports emerge Benes' name is there too, a sentence or two later. During the World Cup Benes predicted that Loven-krands' one-minute appearance against Senegal would be followed by a place in the starting 11 against France. He did not even make it off the bench against the French nor in Denmark's next and final tie against England.

The familiar signs of a player, or his agent, or both, working their ticket for improved terms or a transfer seemed evident in a Lovenkrands interview in the current Rangers News. The piece began with a broadside at journalists for "ill-informed speculation, scurrilous rumour and fantasy stories" about Lovenkrands, before the player himself trotted out platitudes about not being in it for the money, never having demanded more cash or having threatened to leave, and being prepared to stay at Rangers for the rest of his career.

It would be a pity if Lovenkrands becomes, or allows Benes to become, an irritant to Rangers. At only 22 years old - not 21, as the Rangers News reported - Lovenkrands would be better served by reaffirming his commitment to Rangers and listening to their coaches who might help broaden his game. His exceptional record in Old Firm matches eclipses his overall contribution to the club. He has scored five times in his last six matches against Celtic, but until August had not scored a single league goal for Rangers against anyone else. Denmark, let alone Inter Milan, have still to find him irresistible. Lovenkrands has appeared seven times for his country, often as a late substitute. He has never scored.

No skill is valued more highly by Serie A clubs than the ability to retain possession so Lovenkrands would need to work extensively on his final ball and his finishing. Inter are watching him - their chief scout has been at several Rangers matches, most recently the Viktoria Zizkov game at Ibrox - but the club is looking for a left- sided midfielder as they feel the supremely- talented Uruguayan, Alvaro Recoba, can't fulfil the defensive aspects of that role. At the moment only Benes would claim Lovenkrands could do better.

Lovenkrands is under contract and has improved and emerged sufficiently, as manager Alex McLeish has intimated, to deserve an improved deal. But Rangers are entitled to have sensible discussions with a young player and his agent without their intelligence being insulted by the notion of Europe's superclubs forming a queue to prise him away. "I've made it public that Lovenkrands' contract situation won't be discussed again publicly until we have something to tell," was all McLeish would say on the matter on Friday. Having never been used to it through their glory years, though, Rangers will be quick to take offence if they feel that someone is attempting to hold them to ransom.

Today the league leaders attempt to maintain their advantage over the team against which Lovenkrands made his reputation, second- placed Celtic. Kilmarnock arrive at Ibrox as the only other club to have taken league points off Rangers this season, following the 1-1 draw at Rugby Park on the opening day of the season. That immediately put Rangers at a disadvantage in the championship race, but McLeish found the afternoon instructive.

"We have tweaked things a little since then and never looked back in the league since," he said. "You need bad results as well to improve and progress. That game was good for us from a learning point of view. Bad results can be helpful because you analyse things more. When we dropped those two points it was paranoia time. The league was over. There was that kind of hysteria. We watched the video over and over again and had discussions about who were our best players for certain positions."

Rangers' resurgence since Rugby Park even prompted a question to McLeish about whether he thought it possible Rangers could remain unbeaten through the entire league season. "I'm not going to make those statements. You saw Arsene Wenger make them recently and for a man of Arsene's experience he must have had a very good reason for saying that. Possibly it was a bit tongue in cheek. I'm certainly not going to start talking about that kind of statistic."

Lorenzo Amoruso and Mikel Arteta are doubtful but Craig Moore will return today after missing the CIS Insurance Cup tie against Hibs on Thursday because of an ankle strain. On Friday, Christian Nerlinger took a step out of the wilderness when he resumed training with the rest of the first-team squad. The German midfielder had been out with bruising on his knee and then a torn calf muscle. Those injuries are not directly linked to the foot problem which kept him out for much of last season although his general fitness has deteriorated because of the cumulative setbacks. Nerlinger has not played for the first team since May and has started only 10 matches in his 16 months with Rangers.

"It's all about the ball and playing games now for Christian," said McLeish. "He's miles behind in terms of fitness. But he's in with the squad again and that's a big bonus. I would love to have him available because we really have a depleted squad at the moment."

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.