The manager was given funds to spend in the transfer market and added Kenny Miller, Pedro Mendes, Kyle Lafferty and Andrius Velicka. Steve Davis also made his loan move from Fulham permanent. We were sorry to lose Carlos Cuellar to Aston Villa for around £7 million as he was a brilliant player for us. But we replaced him with the charismatic and highly-capable Madjid Bougherra.
Before I go any further, I must tell a funny tale about Madjid. He got a good spell for Rangers. He was a confident player and the fans took to him. So did the players. But after a couple of years it appeared he wanted a move to try something different. He thought the 2010 World Cup in South Africa would be the perfect platform for him to show off his talents. Algeria’s opening game of the tournament was against England. He was to man-mark Wayne Rooney. A solid performance could have clubs lining up for him, but he was a little conscious about his weight so before the game I heard he wrapped his tummy and chest in cling film to make it look as though his physique was better than what it actually was!
On a more serious note … We were dealt a crushing blow in the Champions League qualifier when we lost to FBK Kaunas 2–1 on aggregate. We drew 0–0 in the first leg at Ibrox but we were still confident of completing the job in Lithuania a week later, on 5 August. We took the lead through Kevin Thomson in the first half but they levelled just before the interval and scored the winner in the 87th minute. It was a disaster for the club’s credibility and finances as we were all well aware at that stage the club was in a fragile financial state and Sir David Murray was willing to sell to the right buyer, a person capable of taking the club forward.
Walter Smith gave the players both barrels at full-time that night. I doubt the away dressing room at the rickety Darius and Girenas Stadium had ever seen such scenes before. As a manager, Walter had the fear factor in him, to the point you knew at any time he could go off his head. On a few occasions when I thought he was going to go off on one, I was ready to duck for cover, picking my spot in the dressing room that would have seen me out of harm’s way. That evening in Kaunas was the angriest I’ve ever witnessed him. It was our first tie in Europe after getting to the UEFA Cup Final and there’s a point of view that we were still physically tired from the sixty-eight games the previous season and also mentally gubbed after losing out on the SPL title. None of that mattered a jot to the manager and was all an excuse anyway.
After the game he was going off his head. His face was like a tomato, veins popping out of his neck. There was a teapot within his reach and a few plates of sandwiches. He picked up the teapot and, like in a discus-style technique, he threw it against a wall behind him. It just missed our kit man Jimmy Bell’s head by a matter of inches. Our masseur, big Davie Lavery, dived out the way, as if it was a hand-grenade ready to explode. It was strange to see a teapot bounce off a wall – not something that tends to happen every day in your kitchen! Walter went on to absolutely nail Kevin Thomson for his performance. He then gave a serious tongue-lashing to most players, one by one, and as he was getting closer and closer to me, I could feel my head drooping further and further, to the point it was buried into my knees. I had my eyes closed. I was scared. I got the verbals too.
On the flight home few words were spoken. I had to do the media after that game and I made it clear that the result wasn’t acceptable for a club the size of Rangers and we had to realise that very quickly. Second best is never good enough. I had to get my finger out. We all did.
We had to focus entirely on the domestic campaign and that wasn’t such a bad thing. After all, we had to win the title. It couldn’t be any other way. We had taken seven points from our opening three SPL games, which was acceptable, but we know we are judged on Old Firm games and we faced Celtic at Parkhead in game four on 31 August. We won 4–2. We battered Celtic that day. Daniel Cousin was brilliant and scored the opening goal. He terrorised the Celtic defence. Kenny Miller came back to haunt his old club and grabbed a double. Pedro Mendes scored our other goal with one of the finest Old Firm goals ever seen, a raker from twenty-five yards. At full-time that afternoon the message was loud and clear: we were taking the title back.
Cousin was sold that night – transfer deadline day – to Hull City for around £3 million. It was a wonderful farewell present from him. What a player he was, but he was also a complex character and an unpredictable professional. Some days at training he was brilliant, other days he didn’t give a toss. He was very frustrating to play with and, I’m sure, to manage. We just had to put up with it. He didn’t have a great work ethic but when he was in the mood, when he was angry, he was a top striker. His first touch, strength, pace and heading ability were outstanding. He was as good as any striker I’ve played with.
The title race with Celtic was neck and neck, and it was vital to beat them in Old Firm games. They came to our place on 27 December and we expected to win. We lost 1–0 to a Scott McDonald goal. That put us seven points behind Celtic. It wasn’t a good position to be in. It was important to win our next game and we went to Inverness and defeated them 3–0. By the time we next played Celtic we got a 0–0 draw at Parkhead and they were only two points clear. They were in our sights. We racked up six wins in a row in the league during April and early May to leave us just a point behind them. They were starting to crumble; we could sense it. We knew it and we had to take advantage.
We beat them 1–0 on 9 May. Steve Davis got our goal. We were now two points ahead with three games to go. In our next game we drew 1–1 at Hibs and Nacho Novo scored, but we’d lost our place at the top of the table on goal difference as Celtic had won twenty-four hours earlier against Dundee United. But when you get down to the nitty-gritty you need to have the mental strength to cope and we beat Aberdeen 2–1 at Ibrox on the penultimate weekend of the season. Celtic drew 0–0 at Hibs. We were back on top, two points in front.
The final game was at Dundee United and we knew a win would see us crowned champions for the first time since 2007. We were nervous but confident. Kyle Lafferty gave us an early lead. Mendes put us 2–0 ahead by half-time. Boydy wrapped it up with a third. We were the Champions, and deservedly so. I came on as a sub that day, as did Barry Ferguson, and it felt great to be a part of it all. When I was fit, Walter always made sure I was involved in all the big games, and that meant a lot to me. Considering what I had been through the previous season, with my crash in confidence and form, I felt great being a part of a title winning side. I felt a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Needless to say, we partied for a few days to celebrate our title success.
We then won the Scottish Cup to make it a Double. It was brilliant. Another Cup success at Hampden. We didn’t play particularly well against Falkirk but we got the win we needed, thanks to a Nacho Novo goal. It was a brilliant strike from twenty-five yards just after half-time. That success also sticks out for Kris Boyd. The season before he hogged the headlines for his goals and his moustache and it was the same this time, but for different reasons.
Boydy got whipped off at half-time. It was almost 100 degrees on the pitch that afternoon and, as far as Boydy was concerned, far too hot to play football. He sat in the dressing room at the interval and the sweat was lashing off him. His face was beetroot. We were shocking in the first half. Walter stormed in, and without a second of hesitation, pointed at Boydy and said, ‘Right, you’re off.’ Boydy walked straight into the shower and stuck his head on a bag of ice to cool down. We were all pissing ourselves laughing. We managed to win the Cup and I was delighted. After the game, back at Ibrox for the party, we all had a laugh about what happened at half-time. Walter took a bit of stick and so did Boydy. The banter was flying. I told Boydy he only wanted to come off because he was hungry!
Personally, it felt good to end the season that way. I was much happier with myself than I was a year earlier. I felt I made a good contribution and was playing the way I should have been playing. To get my first Championship medal with Rangers made it all worthwhile. The full coaching staff were amazing.
We had some really good players at Rangers that year and we had to withstand stiff opposition from Celtic, but we were a better team than them and we deserved the title.
I really enjoyed playing with Pedro Mendes. Pedro was the type of player that would let me have the ball in a deep position and he would find a dangerous area to operate in in the opposition half. He liked to link with the strikers and also thread an eye-of-the-needle pass in the final third. He’d allow me to break up the opposition play and then play a forward pass, whether it was to a wide player or through the middle to him. He had exceptional ability. The downside to Pedro’s game was that he hardly ever put in a tackle. He wouldn’t go in where it hurt, that was for sure. If I played alongside Barry Ferguson or Kevin Thomson in the central midfield area then they wanted to drop really deep and it meant the partnership wasn’t as effective although they were two quality players.
I also enjoyed playing with DaMarcus Beasley, who always stayed out wide and offered himself to receive a pass. And Steve Davis made things happen. He is a top, top player. He has the lot in his locker. Stevie Naismith was brilliant too. He arrived for £2 million from Kilmarnock and it took him a while to settle. Trying to find him a position in the team that suited him most was the biggest problem. He was also very unlucky with injury. He wasn’t the tallest but he was fantastic in the air. He has a lovely spring and could out-jump players five or six inches taller than him.
Boydy was also brilliant for us. For all the stick he received, he scored when it mattered and bagged thirty-four goals for us in 2008-09 to finish top scorer. Sure, Boydy was a complete enigma. I’d do twice the running I’d usually do because he was in the team, but I didn’t mind because I knew if the ball dropped in the box then he would score. Boydy had been targeted by a few clubs during that season, Alex McLeish’s Birmingham City being the leading contenders, and they were willing to pay £3 million for him. Rangers found that to be an acceptable fee. Boydy, however, couldn’t agree personal terms.
The club were keen to cash in on him. Rangers needed to bring in funds. The players were aware that was the case but it became clear during the 2009-10 season when we were defending our title. The manager was firefighting against the bank. The bank wanted the debt reduced and that meant there was pressure to reduce the wage bill and get players out the door. As the months wore on, the financial situation was well documented, albeit I never felt worried in any way when Sir David Murray was owner that the club would fold or go into administration.
Lloyds Bank had a huge say in the running of the club and it was clear to all that they wanted to reduce the club debt by millions of pounds to make it a more attractive proposition to any potential buyer. But, most of the time, everything seemed calm and normal. Walter was involved in a lot of it and it must have been hard for him to try and deal with all the stuff behind the scenes. But he hid it well from the players and protected us from all the off-field financial matters.
During the summer of 2009 a number of players were sold and moved on to help reduce the debt. We lost the likes of Barry Ferguson, Brahim Hemdani and Charlie Adam. The manager only had the funds to bring in one player, Jerome Rothen on loan from Paris Saint Germain. It wasn’t ideal but we never felt sorry for ourselves. Towards the end of August, Sir David Murray stepped down as chairman and was replaced by the highly respected businessman Alastair Johnston. He made it clear his priority was to find a buyer for Murray’s shares. But the club struggled with its finances and in November a debt of around £31 million was announced. It was a matter of concern for Lloyds Bank and they had the books under close scrutiny. During that period it led Walter to go public on the financial situation we were embroiled in and say that the bank was ‘effectively running the club’.
The club at least had the knowledge it was going to bank a minimum of £10 million from the Champions League campaign. We were drawn against Seville, Stuttgart and Unirea Urziceni. We had a shocking campaign, though, and finished bottom of our section with just two points from the six matches. That particular campaign and losing to Kaunas in 2008 are real low points from my career. I wish I could erase them from my mind completely. Unfortunately, the lows seem to have stayed and haunted me. But the priority every year is to win the League Championship and we wanted to retain the title. Across the city, our rivals Celtic replaced Gordon Strachan with Tony Mowbray.
Our first league game was at home to Falkirk and we celebrated the unfurling of the flag with a 4–1 win. I scored our opening goal. The following week we went to Hearts and won 2–1. I scored our equaliser and Boydy got the winner from the penalty spot. We beat Hamilton the next weekend and followed that up with three consecutive 0–0 draws. It was then Old Firm time and we beat Celtic 2–1 at Ibrox. Kenny Miller got a double. We were in control at the top of the table and Celtic weren’t proving to be serious challengers. Under Mowbray they talked a good game but they failed to produce when it mattered. We knew we were more than capable of brushing them aside.
On 30 December we beat Dundee United 7–1 at Ibrox. Boydy scored five goals that day. It was a brilliant achievement. The win also set us up nicely for going to Parkhead on 3 January. We were seven points ahead of them in the table and we knew that as long as we avoided defeat we’d be fine. Celtic dominated possession, without hurting us, but they took the lead through Scott McDonald in the 79th minute. I then equalised two minutes later with a header from a Steve Davis corner. I felt brilliant. It was a really important goal and I was delighted. Job done. When I felt I had played well, I used to like to go home and give myself a wee treat of a glass of red wine and a Cadbury’s Caramel! I used to say to big Davie Weir that I couldn’t wait to get home to get wired in. He’d just laugh and ask if I dunked the chocolate in my vino!
We were on our way to the title and wrapped it up with three league games to spare on 25 April with a 1–0 at Hibs. Kyle Lafferty scored our goal. I played at centre-half that afternoon and it was new to me but I enjoyed the experience and it was nice to keep a clean sheet.
We kept up our proud record of two trophies per season by winning the League Cup again. We faced St Mirren at Hampden in the final. I was always excited about Cup finals. It was similar to an Old Firm game in terms of the level of expectation. As soon as I woke up, that was me, bang at it, and kick-off couldn’t come quickly enough. But there was also that extra pressure that came with a showpiece game at Hampden. We knew we were expected to win and if we did there wouldn’t be too many plaudits handed out. In contrast, we had it all to lose and there was no doubt we’d get it in the neck from all angles if we lost the game. I knew St Mirren were going into the match with nothing to lose. They would be legends if they won and it would only be a quick pat on the back for us if we won.
We didn’t play well in the first half. We were well off it. Even the St Mirren lads appeared off the boil. Referee Craig Thomson sent off Kevin Thomson in the first half to leave us down to ten men.
Walter wasn’t happy with our performance. As had become the norm at the national stadium, Walter was ready to give us both barrels at half-time. Walter didn’t mess about. He ripped into us. In two stages. He told us we were a disgrace and questioned our desire to win the trophy. He then said, or more like screamed at us, ‘Listen, I’m not sure how many medals I’ve won with Rangers, it might be nineteen, but don’t dare come back in this fucking door unless another one is added to the total.’ He then disappeared and came back in two minutes later. He started again and a few players were left in no doubt what he thought of them. He then said, ‘I’ve got eighteen medals with Rangers and I want it to be nineteen. Now, the lot of you, fuck off. Get out there and win the Cup.’ He must have left the dressing room to count his winners’ total or get someone to verify it for him! Either way, brilliant.
Due to us being a man down, Walter pulled me aside and told me we were going to a back three and I was to drop back in there and play in defence.
It went from bad to worse out on the pitch. Danny Wilson then got sent off. We w
ere down to nine men. In a Cup final. It was a case of defending for our lives and trying to buy time. We’d have been happy with penalties, under the circumstances. With a two-man advantage the expectation levels were now with St Mirren. It was a role-reversal. St Mirren had it in their grasp to win the Cup. They had to come and break us down though, and they didn’t manage it. They didn’t play as well as they could have and should have. I think they froze and didn’t have the necessary togetherness and belief on the pitch to take advantage. Perhaps that scenario highlights the point I have made about the mentality required to cope with the demands of being a Rangers player. You have to deliver. Failure isn’t an option.
So, it flashed through my mind that we were going to have to face one angry manager at full-time. I thought having to beat a team in a Cup final when we only had nine men was probably going to be too much for us, although I hadn’t thrown in the towel. As long as it stayed 0–0 and we didn’t take any chances at the back. And then we scored. Davie Weir passed to Stevie Naismith. His cross was met by Kenny Miller and he headed past Paul Gallacher. We didn’t really celebrate. We wanted to save our energy to keep a clean sheet.
Saints had Michael Higdon and Billy Mehmet up front and both were powerful players. They loved a battle and loved attacking a high ball. It was left to me and big Davie Weir to try and stop them. It wasn’t an easy shift. St Mirren had the bulk of possession but couldn’t break us down. They ended up launching the ball but we held out and won the game over ninety minutes. It was an incredible feeling to win against the odds. Outwith beating Celtic and lifting an SPL title, that Cup win was as satisfied as I’ve ever felt as a Rangers player.
To win another Double was impressive and to do it with a tight squad made it all the better. We had to do without Pedro Mendes in the second half of the season as he was sold to Sporting Lisbon during the January transfer window. We had many heroes that season but special mention to the strike partnership of Boyd and Miller. They notched forty-four between them the previous season and followed it up with forty-seven in the 2009-10 campaign. Boydy was top scorer yet again with twenty-six.
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