Rangers players can become legends if they win all four leaguesBy Mark Hateley on Jul 16, 12 08:25 AM in rangers DUST yourself down. Draw up a battle plan. Set the goal you want to achieve. That's what you do when you've been knocked from pillar to post and it's what The Rangers FC will do now. They will start life in the Scottish Third Division this season - with a massive point to prove. They will also have a target in mind - to become the first club in history to win all four leagues on the trot and get back to where they belong. I'm not saying four in a row would be a similar feat to the famous nine in a row I was part of alongside Rangers boss Alistair McCoist. But, believe me, if Alistair's side can win the Third, Second and First Divisions followed by the SPL, it will feel just as good as Walter Smith's remarkable achievement in the 90s. As players back then, we set ourselves goals to aim for all the time. To be honest, with that side, our target was to win every game in every competition we played in. That was the secret of our success. We simply didn't care what had gone on before, it was all about what was ahead of us. It's the sign of a top-class team. But, as we closed in on the nine, perhaps two or three years before we achieved the feat, it was definitely in our heads as something we were desperate to go for. The nearer you get to your object point the harder you work. And this season's Rangers squad, whoever they may be, will need that kind of focus. In our eyes back in the 90s it was all about identifying an achievable target. And what a feeling it was when we pulled it off. It will be the same for the Rangers boys, who are preparing for at least one season in Scotland's bottom tier. Of course, it's the lower leagues we're talking about. But if they could win four titles on the spin and take the club back to the summit of Scottish football it would be an incredible feat. It's never been done before and it's something new to the Ibrox club. The whole club will also have been completely restructured. They'll want to do it ASAP and that means rapidly going through the leagues. By the time they reach the top, other clubs in Scotland could be in turmoil. Alistair will want to build a side now that will be ready for the SPL in three years. But that's if there is an SPL, which is another story altogether. The way things are going, with clubs set to go into administration due to the cash crisis, Rangers could be in the top flight in two years. It could be like the TV show QI where you start on -7 points. The majority of the SPL clubs could begin the season like that - it's crazy. But that's not Alistair's concern. His job is to rebuild the squad and that means having an experienced spine with talented, promising players around them. He'll want a keeper, centre-half, central midfielder and a striker he can rely on. That's where he'll need a bit of wisdom. Certainly, Lee McCulloch is an ideal captain for him as he has been there and done it. He has nothing to prove but it's great that, at this stage in his career, he has a brand new challenge. That will give him a freshness and he'll relish it. Guys in the lower leagues will be keen to prove themselves against Rangers in every game but that's where pros like Lee will come in extremely handy. Kids can get bullied at the lowest level so Rangers will rely on the experience of the likes of McCulloch. This is a chance for the young players to find their feet in the game, learn about football from the bottom and ensure they're ready when they reach the top. They could be legends through this turmoil. They will be remembered by supporters as the players who took the club back to where belongs. It's also a great chance to find out what playing for Rangers is all about, without the spotlight of being thrown in at the highest level. Everyone has to pull together at Ibrox, from Charles Green all the way down. Now that he knows what league they're in, Green must reveal his plans and his vision because the supporters have still to be convinced. The fans are ready for this journey but he has to get them on side and prove there is investment there. Because, incredibly, the club could emerge from this carnage in a few years far better off. They could be debt-free, cash-rich through season tickets and in a better physical condition than most of the SPL clubs. In four years' time, I don't think the SPL will exist. In fact, it could be disbanded within a year if half of its clubs go to the wall. The whole of Scottish football needs a total revamp, like the English FA embarked on in 1993 when the Premiership was formed. They got rid of all the old guard at Lancaster Gate and brought in young, upwardly-thinking, ambitious professionals. They looked at the game from a different angle and look at English football now. That's what is needed in Scotland, and as quickly as possible. We have two bodies with completely different agendas and outlooks - but claiming they're both trying to do good for Scottish football. It's ridiculous and if it doesn't change soon, to get everyone pulling in the same direction under the same umbrella, the game is screwed for good. ==================================================== Everythingâs rosy in the garden as far as Atilla is concerned, strangely enough thatâs not what he was suggesting only last week. Ally McCoist must forget Division ThreeBy Mark Hateley on Jul 7, 12 07:30 AM in NEVER in my lifetime did I think I'd ever see Rangers absent from Scottish football's top league. I'm sure anyone who has played for the club in the past 25 years would feel the same. But that's the reality now after the SPL clubs booted them out on Wednesday at Hampden. It's now up to the SFL to dictate which league the Ibrox club will play in. It's either the First or Third Division. Ally McCoist admitted yesterday that he'd be willing to drop down three levels. The Ibrox supporters have also made it clear to Charles Green they want to start in the bottom tier of the game. And you know what? After years of supporting other clubs in Scotland by visiting away grounds in their thousands, they deserve to be listened to. But ultimately? Their views, as well as Ally's, won't matter a jot and they'll have to go where they're told at next week's SFL summit. I can totally understand why the fans want to start in the Third Division. They've accepted their club was in the wrong and want to take their medicine. Remember, the fans are the innocent party in all of this - they have done nothing wrong. And after everything that's gone on in the past couple of weeks, they'll feel everyone in Scottish football has been lining up to have a pop at them. They've even had their pre-season trips cancelled. Supporters will feel angry at how they've been treated by their own club and others. They will feel they owe the game in this country nothing. But I would urge Coisty and the supporters to cast their resentment aside and help SAVE the game before it's too late. I believe the SFL chairmen will buckle under pressure from the SFA and SPL and accept proposals to parachute Rangers into the First Division. If they don't? I agree with Stewart Regan that Scottish football faces a slow death. I know it's not what the Rangers fans want. But the game will face Armageddon if Rangers are in the Third Division and that's why they must be allowed entry into the First. The standard of football in this country has declined massively since I stopped playing at Ibrox. But if the club faces three years out of the top flight it will go down rapidly again. Even if they win the three SFL divisions on the trot, the level of quality will have dropped by another 20 per cent in that time. If Scottish football had been buoyant and in a fiscally sound position, of course, Rangers should have had to start again in the Third Division. But it's not. It's all about pounds, shillings and pence. There is a severe lack of investment and the last thing we need is the standard of football to drop even further. By the letter of the law, it should be the Third Division but this isn't an ordinary case. Rangers and Celtic ARE Scottish football. If Rangers drop to the Third Division, that drip will become a flood of young Scots leaving the game up here. Surely that can't be good for anyone? What I would say to Regan and Doncaster is this - is this not the ideal time to restructure the game and have three leagues under one umbrella? That would help solve the problem. Rangers would be demoted to the middle tier as punishment and no-one would complain. That has to be the way forward.
They will start life in the Scottish Third Division this season..." Oh dear, that's a bit of an optimistic opening statement, is it not?
"The standard of football in this country has declined massively since I stopped playing at Ibrox ..." So it's all his fault then?
But Scottish football will implode with rangers in division 3, so by the time they'd be due back in the spl, there won't be one surely???
