Greig spent his life with the club and even though he was no where near as technically or mentally gifted as Baxter he was a consistent performer (on and off pitch) I can't really say much as I'm no where near old enough to have watched the games properly going by what people said of him, the time he spent with us and the achievements he had I think that entitles him to the title.
He was a stoic, kick it if it moves, anti-footballer. I would have thought that you guys would want to celebrate some of your great wingers (Johnstone, Henderson, Baxter, Cooper to name but a few) or famous strikers (Stein, McCoist for example). Surely it's better to be associated with a player rather than a guy who stopped others playing. For what it's worth, I reckon Greig gets the vote for sentimental reasons - Ibrox disaster/Barcelona 72. No doubt McNeill would win a similar "Greatest Celtic Captain" vote for similar reasons but, even if Bobby Moore played for Celtic, I suspect we would still vote Jinky/Dalgleish/Larsson/Lennox/Gallagher ahead of him. If you vote John Greig your greatest ever player, you can't really complain if people suggest that your team has always had a stoic "anti-football" culture Willie Waddell
Md / I am old enough to remember Greig but not old enough to remember to Baxter , that makes me a fanny !!!!How can I respect a player I never seen play ??? I used to go to a lot of old firm reserves and youth games , that was when you saw the difference bringing players through , Celtic small quick ,skilful players , Rangers big strong and powerful players with little football ability
Strangely enough Greig was not voted Rangers greatest "Player", he was voted "Greatest ever Ranger". From that dubious honour one must assume that he was voted such because he typified what it meant to be a "Rangers man" by your average Gers fan. I grew up watching John Greig play for Rangers, a journeyman player of limited ability with a propensity for clattering anyone who dared try and dribble past him. He was certainly not alone in that regard, as many players at that time followed that code of practice, so he should not be judged too harshly as he certainly was not the dirtiest player ever to wear royal blue. I have no axe to grind with John Greig as I have heard firsthand accounts from someone I know (A Hearts fan) who worked with him a few years back, by my mate's account John Greig was an absolute gentleman and was certainly no bigot or even a diehard, just a man like most of us. However what is telling is that such a limited player (Notwithstanding his other redeeming features) could be voted as "Greatest ever Ranger". As a Celtic fan I am pleased our fans voted for skill in the shape of Jinky and not for some lackaday player who was simply a man of his time or a throwback to the way it used to be, back in the day.
"Journeyman" has more than one meaning, I did not mean that he was a player who travelled from club to club, I meant he was "average". Journeyman - A worker or sports player who is reliable but not outstanding.
Greig was a dirty so and so on the pitch. Responsible for more injuries than McCullagh. Voting him as the greatest Ranger ever had to be a joke, also putting Gazza on the list shows how few good Rangers players they have been over the last 50/60 years. I deal wit Gazza first, simply not long enough at Rangers to make a top ten list. Greig however, was there for what must have seemed a life time for the Rangers supporters of the time. He captained Rangers through probably there worse ever spell in Scottish football. Rangers finished 2nd/3rd to Celtic for nine years in a row. In those years Rangers had "their" refs, tiny Warburtin and Davidson to mention only 2. Greig' temper got the better of him and I saw him draw out and punch the goalie. Aye the Rangers goalie for not taking a cross from Murdoch that Gemill practically knelt down to score. He was never a legend. I saw Jim Baxter I think once before he went to Sunderland, a very slim, neat passer of the ball and could hold the ball well. I don't remember how long he stayed down south but he came back twice the man, well twice the size, he had ballooned up and half the footballer. I thought McCoy and Goram were good keepers and out the field A Conn was a tidy wee footballer but he did wrong, he got engaged to a Roman Catholic and had to go. I thought he could have been a legend.
anyone who doubts paul gascoigne's footballing abilty is clearly deranged and should be ignored forever more
The Rangers players I would say that were better than average , Goram , gough Butcher Wilkins and Mols ( before injury) how would Gazza get on with those flying elbows with the football laws in 2012 ??
Because at the very least a certain "Billy McNeill" gave him enough respect, so much so that they went to the pub with each other on a regular basis. Pipe down you auld ****.
Md 20/20. Have little bit of respect for people like Harry who has forgotten more about football than you will ever learn. At least Celtic followers actually see football played not some game with the referee interrupting the flow of the Game to help one side the f..ing blue side. Gazza was a good footballer, because of his injuries and his boozing and wife beating his best football days were Over before he came to Rangers. Because of that and his relatively short career at Rangers he should not have Made a list of legends. I would put second rate players like Willie Henderson because of his longevity before him.
I've not read all this thread, frankly I can't be arsed but I read a few posts about John Greig, basically telling us he wasn't much of a footballer and just clattered people. That reminds me of a wee guy who used to play in the hoops, he liked a tackle and got in peoples faces, he wasn't very technically gifted but all that mattered to the fans was that he got stuck in and especially against Rangers. He's probably even considered a legend among some people. That wee guy is now the Celtic manager so I don't go for all this stuff about how Rangers have a history of having dirty players in their team but Celtic only go for skillful players. A load of pish
Seen as he has 90 years on me i wouldn't say that was a lie, you wanna slag off a player though you better know what the **** your talking about. And by that i mean the pair of you barely know what day it is so hoping for you 2 to know the difference between different rangers players is like hoping for world peace. You're a pair of boring old bastards if i had a pound for every conspiracy you 2 touted I'd have enough money to pay the rangers tax bill.
I'm just going by what yous say, maybe not the best idea but hey at least I'm agreeing with yous for once
