Wednesday 1 April 2015 15:21, UK
Former Rangers winger Neil McCann says his old club are in the driving seat in the race for second place in the Scottish Championship and praised Stuart McCall for instilling confidence and a more tactical approach to the Ibrox side’s play.
McCann told the Morning View on Sky Sports News HQ that this weekend’s clash with champions Hearts will provide McCall with his biggest test yet as Rangers manager but believes his ability and willingness to change the team’s style of play in their recent win over Hibs should give supporters cause for optimism.
Rangers sit third in the Championship, level on points with Hibs with a game in hand, but McCann regards final positions as ultimately “immaterial” as he believes both sides will eventually meet in the play-offs.
He said: “They’ve got Hearts at the weekend – we’ll see how far they’ve come under Stuart McCall. They are in the driving seat and after a victory against Hibernian it was something they needed, because Hibernian were playing such a beautiful brand of football under Alan Stubbs.
Stuart matched the team up against the team they were playing, changed the formation and nullified Hibs and that’s not been done this season by Rangers.
"They chopped and changed formations to go against different opposition so there was a bit of fluidity within the team. Rangers dealt with it because Stuart McCall used those tactics. He didn’t just go 4-4-2 and expected ‘that’s good enough because we’ve got Rangers players and guys who have got experience’.
'Immaterial'
“He matched the team up against the team they were playing, changed the formation and nullified Hibs and that’s not been done this season by Rangers so that was a big hurdle.
“Whether they get second position in the table is immaterial because there is something building there. They are going to have to play Hibs anyway, in my opinion, to get out the division. Whether that’s from third to second or second to third, it doesn’t really matter to me.
“But they are in a good position now under Stuart McCall and I do believe they are in a place now where suddenly there is confidence there that they can look ahead, the supporters can look at the club and say ‘we can get promoted’.”
McCann, who won three Scottish Premier League titles and four Scottish Cups with Rangers, thinks that McCall has asserted himself well after drawing his first two games in charge, and said he deserves credit for building a bit of momentum at Ibrox.
He also believes McCall will get the job beyond the end of the season if he leads the club into the Premiership.
“If he gets them promoted I think he has to,” McCann said. “If he doesn’t then that’s down to the club whether they’ll look at Stuart and the impact he’s had and feel that he deserves a full season within the Championship.
“There is momentum getting built at Rangers - Stuart knows the club inside out. He’s a legend at the club himself as a player, he knows how it works, he knows the expectation levels, and he knows what it’s like to play for Rangers. And I’m not just talking about putting on the jersey; there is a mental pressure you have to deal with when you’re playing with Rangers.
“That is, you are everyone’s property because of social media and Rangers are such a huge club, everyone wants to pick at you. Why are you not winning games? Why are you not playing well? There’s a pressure that comes with playing with an Old Firm side in Scotland that you won’t find in an awful lot of other places and Stuart knows that.
“And if he can get into the minds of those players, which I feel as though he’s already done to a few of them, to tell them what’s expected of them, then I have absolute belief that Rangers can still come out of that division."
Rangers interim chairman Paul Murray said this week that the new board wants to take the club to the “very top” by 2022. Former Scotland winger McCann said that means looking to qualify for the Champions League and to start challenging Celtic should they gain top-flight status.
However, McCann knows there is a lot of work to do for Rangers to catch up with the Scottish champions.
“The top of the top for me is going to be Champions League football,” McCann said. “I think they are talking about competing in it and getting to group stages, possibly.
Celtic are miles ahead of Rangers at the minute in terms of finance, where they are within the Scottish game and where they are viewed within football.
“The size of the brand Rangers are, I think it is achievable if the right guys are in control of the club, if it is run properly from top to bottom. Money will start to come in. They have to start competing first of all. Well, first and foremost they have to get out of the Championship. Secondly after that they have to get into a place where they can start compete with Celtic.
'Opportunity'
“Celtic are miles ahead of Rangers at the minute in terms of finance, where they are within the Scottish game, where they are viewed within football and Rangers must earn the right to get back into that field.
“I still believe they can do that. Stuart McCall is making an impact just now to get Rangers out of the Championship - that is the first hurdle. But once they are there and once the guys who are in control, Dave King, Paul Murray, whoever it may be, are running the club then I do believe that Rangers have an opportunity to get into the Champions League positions.
"Whether they can attract the guys who want to come and play in Scotland is a different question. I don’t know if Rangers are in that position. Dick Advocaat, when I was there, was attracting some of the biggest names in European football and that is why we were making an impact and playing against Bayern Munich and all these clubs and doing very well.
"Not qualifying, but almost on the brink. I don’t know if Rangers can get to the place within that time that can attract the quality of player that will see them make the Champions League group stages.”
