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Phil Neville on Rangers and Ibrox

OrangeBurn

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in Jimmy Bell's Kitroom

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OrangeBurn

OrangeBurn 57

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Phil Neville Talks Rangers and Ibrox

Really good read.

Back in March 2004 there was a bit of a Scottish soft shoe shuffle in the Premier League as Gordon Strachan and Paul Sturrock respectively quit Southampton (Strachan on March 2) and took over at Southampton (Sturrock on March 4).

During the intervening 24 hours another two men who had helped mastermind the rise of Dundee United and Aberdeen’s ‘New Firm’, Sir Alex Ferguson and Walter Smith, announced an equally surprising piece of business.

Ferguson had been up in Glasgow at a funeral and met his old sparring partner Smith, who as Jim McLean’s right hand man at Tannadice had provided the calm, urbane, laid-back part of the partnership. At least by comparison.

Although United had turned Rangers over both home and away in the Champions League a couple of months previously, things were going badly wrong. By the end of January, Ferguson’s team held a one-point lead over Arsenal but across the next eight weeks would allow that to become a 12-point (eventually 15-point) deficit. A footballing haemorrhage.

United lost in Porto to two stunning Benni McCarthy headers before bad refereeing (an incorrectly disallowed Paul Scholes goal), and Costinho’s last minute sickener dumped them out of the Champions League at the hands of some new kid called Jose Mourinho.

" The hairs on the back of my neck literally stood straight up and I have never, ever heard noise like that crowd made "

Phil Neville

While in Glasgow, Ferguson wasted little time in asking whether Smith would come in to help him and Mick Phelan salvage the season.

Phil Neville, who had scored the only goal for United at Ibrox a few months previously, on a night when the blues battered the reds without reward, very well recalls the impact of Ferguson’s decision. It was nothing like he had anticipated.

“I must admit that Walter totally surprised me when he joined us,” confides Everton’s current captain. “I had followed his career and so obviously held massive respect for his achievements at Rangers and the work at Everton. But I expected him to be totally fiery – another Fergie.

“Honestly I was blown away by the training ground experience. He came in and almost instantly lifted the group. We were in the midst of a ‘down’ spell and when the boss brought Walter in he took charge of training and helped win the FA Cup to rescue our season. OK, he had a hard edge like Fergie. But Walter used a slightly softer approach when it was appropriate, showed he could be a genuinely nice guy and the hard-nosed stuff only came out when needed.

“The biggest thing I learned is that he is a touch of class. Walter is a modern coach but an old-style football gent – good at his job, professional, stylish and funny with it. He’d dress with class, show wit in his humour, he’d be elegant in how he spoke, respectful but demanding.

“We beat Millwall in the FA Cup final and Walter won our respect well before that. It didn’t surprise me at all that he chose to go back up to Scotland for the national team and Rangers or that success followed him in everything he did.”

Neville played all but five minutes of the two Rangers contests, scoring that winner in Glasgow, and believes they stir an even more voracious hunger for victory in the United manager.

“He loved it at the time,” Neville recalls. “You could tell in the build up that it was a big, big game personally and he so didn’t want to lose. What we discovered and the lads who are still there now (Giggs, Scholes, Fletcher, Ferdinand, Gary Neville and John O’Shea) know is that Rangers just never, ever give up.

“Considering the two ties, ignoring what two clubs feel about one another or the fact that it is England v Scotland, you might argue that United have the better players.

“The group favours United to progress, but like the trip to the Mestalla in the second game it is all about attitude. Get it wrong and you can be embarrassed. Some lazy analysts will automatically have United as easy winners. But I know, whatever the scoreline, it’s not like that. This type of match is not dissimilar to a derby match against City. You have to handle the occasion, you have to handle the circus and if you get distracted and lose focus on what the real job is then you can be caught out. The occasion draws an extra 30 or 40% from the opposition players and you have to cope with that onslaught. Then, if you do, quality can win you the match.”

The scoreline in the corresponding fixture to Tuesday’s meeting at Old Trafford, seven years ago, owed everything to quality.

Goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan – just let those names trip off the tongue – gave Ferguson’s team a comfortable three points in what was his first competitive fixture against an SPL team at Old Trafford since taking over at United in 1986. But the hammer blow of having lost 1-0 at Ibrox on matchday three, particularly given the match-script, had badly undermined Alex McLeish’s Rangers side. It was Neville’s night.

“Since the draw was made in August I’ve had plenty of people, including a few team-mates here at Goodison, watching the clip of that goal I scored at Ibrox,” he grins. “They all talk about the look on my face as the run takes me up to the edge of the Rangers’ penalty box and my expression apparently says: ‘what the hell am I doing here?’

“Things just opened up in front of me, Henning Berg kept dropping off and dropping off then when I shot, although it appeared just to trickle in I actually made a good connection. What happened next was eerie. The only time in the entire 90-plus minutes when there was total silence. Incredible.

“I must confess that despite my career having taken me to some unbelievable sporting arenas around the world and having savoured remarkable atmospheres, playing at Ibrox was one of the best experiences of my life. When the Champions League anthem played the hairs on the back of my neck literally stood straight up and I have never, ever heard noise like that crowd made. Probably the only occasion when something similar happened was when England came to Hampden in the Euro Championship play-offs and the fans sung Flower of Scotland.

“To a man the England boys on the bus that day said none of them had ever been hit by anything like that and I suffered the incredible experience of getting goosebumps for another country’s anthem.”

He recalls the Rangers game as something of a miscarriage of justice. “I cleared one off the line, Peter Lovenkrands should have scored, they just kept coming at us and the crowd roar never abated. They hit the post and, honestly, it was frantic. One of the highlights of my United career.”

A couple of years prior to those games Neville and United played Valencia four times in the space of 12 months. He’s such a student of the game, genuinely fascinated by tactics and statistics, that he can rattle off the Valencia starting 11 in all four matches. Despite the Davids – Silva and Villa – having been sold, Neville believes Valencia may still boast a depth and quality of squad to threaten both Ferguson’s and Smith’s teams.

As for Everton, things have to start taking shape quickly if his hopes for the current crop of players are to reach fulfilment. Neville reckons that the club have a trophy in them this season and that, in due course, David Moyes will emerge as a firm candidate to succeed Ferguson at Old Trafford.

“We have reached the point now where this group has been building for the last three or four seasons, the nucleus is English and the manager has established himself as one of the top coaches in the Premier. We always have to read about the great Howard Kendall teams, and Everton’s long list of ‘great’ strikers. I want to make sure that in the future people have to recall the moment that Phil Neville lifted Everton’s first trophy for years (since 1995), to read about the ‘great’ Moyes team. I really believe now is our time to make history.

“As for the manager, the pinnacle of jobs in the world must be Old Trafford. In my mind there is no shadow of doubt that when Sir Alex chooses to retire David Moyes is far from unimaginable as his successor. As yet he might not have won a trophy but he’s top three in this division. For Everton it would be no shame to have the manager offered the chance to take over at United – just so long as we’ve won that trophy first.”

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Bear

Bear 25

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I know the Neville's are not well liked, but you just need to look at thier trophy cabinets too see what they have achieved in their careers so when guys like that talk nicely about The Rangers it's nice to see.

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Gaffbear

Gaffbear 4,106

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One of ma mates was saying when we played Stuttgart at Ibrox 2 years ago and beat them Gary neville was in the sky studio and when Charlie Adam scored it went back to the studio and he was apparantly bouncin and cheering.

Heard along time ago Gary liked the Bears and that night confirmed it..

When he talks about the crowd that night he was right......the loudest i've ever heard the Billy Boys......and some on here greet that we shouldn't have it back......

Sing it this Champions league cos last years CL the atmosphere was the worst ever.

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mmrfc1873

mmrfc1873 48

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Loved Gary after the comments he made about the game against us at ibrox the last time they came and because he wanted his testimonial against us and genuinely just down to the fact he's a sheer wind-up merchant, especially towards Liverpool. Now I love Phill Neville as well :D.

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martyboy2009

martyboy2009 11

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I just think that the way we will set up will have us beat before we kick a ball. Miller will be chasing lost causes as there will be no width and davie weir will miss out the midfield to punt it up!

I'm starting to think that weiss won't start as he's "too attack minded" for smith!

If we line up without him we can forget about even having a shot on goal, never mind winning!

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Bear

Bear 25

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I just think that the way we will set up will have us beat before we kick a ball. Miller will be chasing lost causes as there will be no width and davie weir will miss out the midfield to punt it up!

I'm starting to think that weiss won't start as he's "too attack minded" for smith!

If we line up without him we can forget about even having a shot on goal, never mind winning!

If Weiss doesn't start i will be annoyed because he didn't get a sniff on saturday, so it's only natural for us to think he was being saved for the MU game

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EcosseBear

EcosseBear 614

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Some quotes from opposition players on the Ibrox Atmosphere:

Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

"All I can say when I try to imagine what it will be like at Ibrox is Ooh la la!' I played against Rangers at Ibrox with Chelsea in the summer and we lost 2-0, I have told Perrin that the atmosphere at Ibrox is absolutely magical. To my way of appreciating football, its truly really beautiful. That's how to support your team!"

Drogba goes on "Lyon played at Celtic a couple of seasons ago but Ibrox will be completely different!"

Thierry Henry (FC Barcelona)

"I know the atmosphere that's generated here and that makes it tough for any team. I thought the fans were unbelievable again.

"They were not swearing or shouting stupid things, they pushed their team forward and that's great to see."

Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

"The Rangers fans were awesome, all the lads were talking about it," said Lampard.

"The reception I got when I went to take corners during the game, and after when we were going off, was really nice.

"They certainly love their own team, but it was very special to get that welcome. It was amazing really, and a very good game to play in for us, certainly the best friendly we've had.

"With that kind of backing from their crowd, they will be hard to beat. And I expect to see Rangers in the Champions League.

Hernan Crespo (AC Milan)

"I've played at Ibrox --the atmosphere in Scottish stadiums is sensational."

Lionel Letizi (PSG)

"I'd been told about the incredible atmosphere but could not believe how loud it was.

"When we arrived and walked out on to the pitch, the stadium was empty because we were early.

"We went back inside to change and when we walked into the tunnel we could hear a rumbling noise.

"And when we went back on to the pitch I could not believe my ears. The sound was terrifying and the game had not even started yet.

"I then had to walk to my goal and when the referee blew his whistle to start the match the sound which came from the stand at my back almost knocked me over.

"It was amazing and I am really looking forward to experiencing this again - as a Rangers player."

Henning Berg (When at Rangers)

"The atmosphere was better than anything I experienced at Old Trafford, even better than playing Juventus there. I will never forget this night.

Dado Prso (Monaco)

"The atmosphere was incomparable, and I had goosebumps throughout the match," he said of the 2-2 draw, despite spending the first 56 minutes on the bench.

Since then, I have never experienced anything as intense in any of the other European stadia I've played football in. Rangers are the club I needed to join. They are a club in my own image, and their ambitions are on the same level as my own."

Gary Neville (Manchester United)

"This was the loudest atmosphere that I have known, compared to any English ground away from home.

"There have been certain nights at Old Trafford in European games - the ones against Juventus comes to mind - when the atmosphere was incredible.

"But this was definitely up there with the best. It was fantastic.

"When we came out at the start I was looking around me and I saw people in the directors? box jumping up singing and I was wondering what was happening. It is not usually like that.

"The crowd beating us was never going to happen - but thank goodness they didn?t score."

Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)

"I'll never forget that night we played there. The atmosphere was unbelievable, very hostile.

Villarreal will think they've experienced a lot of good atmospheres but I really think the Rangers support could startle them.

Marcos Senna (Villarreal)

"Usually players don't even hear supporters when we play but it was impossible to ignore the crowd in Glasgow.

"When they scored, the noise was amazing, incredible. It was a very beautiful spectacle.

"I could almost say I was not totally sad when they scored - that crowd deserved it.

"It seems there will be 6000 Rangers fans here but only 4000 will get into the stadium. Well, it's going to be noisy inside and out.

"Their fans are great and it will help them but it was a lot noisier at Ibrox than it will be at our ground. The Madrigal fans support us a lot but in a different way."

Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona)

"It is not just made up that players can suffer from an intimidating atmosphere when they play at visiting grounds.

"I know from Ruud (Ruud van Nistelrooy) that when we beat PSV at Ibrox in the Champions League he thought it was very frightening. He said it was one of the most atmospheric matches he had ever experienced - and now he has to face it again. For him to come back to Ibrox it will be the same experience.

"I know that Manchester United's players face all the biggest games and full stadiums everywhere, but I think most of them will find this Wednesday night at Ibrox a really different atmosphere.

"I've played in England and I don't think that any stadium in the Premiership can compare with Ibrox for its intimidating atmosphere - it is far above them."

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