If Rangers were to take their cue from Hollywood’s famous Walk of Fame, the streets around Ibrox Stadium would be littered with stars adorned with the names of Paul Gascoigne, Graeme Souness, Brian Laudrup, Terry Butcher, Ally McCoist and many other greats of the game.
Yet even among the players to never quite manage to secure such status for themselves, or even come close to leaving their mark on the club’s history, there are many more famous faces whose time playing for the Light Blues may have been forgotten.
Below are 12 former Bears of note, along with a few notable mentions to jog the memory.
Antti Niemi
Years with Gers: 1997-1999
Long before the Finnish shot-stopper became the inspiration behind one chuckle-raising phone call into talkSPORT, as an apoplectic Scotland fan demanded the Hearts of Midlothian ‘keeper finally receive a call-up to the Scottish national team, he donned the No.13 shirt at Ibrox.
Niemi never managed to break through to become a first-team regular for Rangers however and left in 1999, initially on loan to Charlton Athletic before moving to Hearts, followed by spells with Southampton, Fulham and Portsmouth in England.
Gennaro Gattuso
Years with Gers: 1997-1998
The midfield muscle that Andrea Pirlo depended on for protection at Milan, Gattuso – who would go on to become a two-time Champions League and World Cup winner – moved to Rangers from Perugia in 1997 and spent a season in Scotland before returning to Italy to join newly-promoted Serie A side Salernitana a year later.
He initially enjoyed success in midfield under Walter Smith, only to find himself out of favour and played out of position by Smith’s successor in the dugout, Dick Advocaat, expediting Gattuso’s retreat back to his homeland.
He’s now in charge at AC Milan and his press conferences are always good value.
Emerson
Years with Gers: 2003-2004
A 21st-century Brazilian journeyman, Rangers were Emerson’s ninth stop in an 18-year career spanning 14 clubs on both sides of the Atlantic.
He lasted just a year in Glasgow, making 14 league appearances, before back to his homeland to join Vasco da Gama in 2004.
The midfielder’s most famous spells in Europe came at Porto, where he won two titles in 1995 and 1996, and Middlesbrough, who apparently signed Emerson without the knowledge of their manager Bryan Robson.
Egil Ostenstad
Years with Gers: 2003-2004
Twice signed by former Rangers midfielder Souness during his stints as manager for Southampton and Blackburn Rovers, the Norwegian striker later moved north to cross the border and join the Bears himself, although he failed to make an impact under Alex McLeish and his spell was terminated before the end of his first season.
Despite winning just 18 caps, he remains one of the most efficient striker in Norway’s history, with a goal-scoring rate of a goal every 94 minutes.
The majority of his appearances for his country came under Egil Olsen, who famously took Norway to the 1998 World Cup and up to second in Fifa’s international rankings in the 1990s.
Tugay Kerimoğlu
Years with Gers: 2000-2001
Another player with an association with Souness who went on to sign with Rangers, Tugay played under the former Scottish midfielder at Galatasaray and later Blackburn Rovers, spending around 18 months at Ibrox in between.
Named the youngest-ever captain in the history of the Istanbul giants and remembered as a cult hero in Lancashire, his spell in Glasgow was a cameo by comparison.
Francis Jeffers
Years with Gers: 2005
Whether it was due to being oversold as a youngster with Everton or over-hyped by his move to Arsenal in 2001, Jeffers has become a byword for players who fail to live up to expectations; and that was the case for the striker in Scotland, too.
He was meant to spend six months out on loan at Ibrox but his disappointing form saw the deal terminated early by the Bears and he returned to parent club Charlton, who later released him at the end of the season.
Oleg Salenko
Years with Gers: 1995-1996
A year after winning the Golden Boot at the 1994 World Cup, the Russian-Ukrainian striker left Valencia for Rangers in 1995 but lasted just a single season before joining Istanbulspor in 1996, after retiring from international football two years previously due to health concerns caused by injuries.
Incredibly, he had never scored an international goal before USA 1994 and remains the only player to win the Golden Boot in spite of being knocked out in the group stages of the tournament.
Basile Boli
Years with Gers: 1994-1995
Marseille’s Champions League final hero in 1993, Boli fired home the only goal of the game to beat Milan and clinch the trophy for the French champions – although success would later be investigated for match-fixing after a domestic opponent was paid off to allow the team to focus on their European commitments.
Rangers were their opponents in the semi-finals and there remains some bitterness that the club missed out on making the final of UEFA’s most elite competition due to being defeated by a club caught out for cheating.
Boli (back row, right) lines up next to Rudi Voller ahead of the Champions League final.
Fortunately, Boli’s one-season stay with the Bears helped to send them on to win their 45th Scottish Premier League title before he left to wind down his career with Monaco and Urawa Reds in Japan.
A solid and dependable defender for France, he is also remembered on the other side of the channel for planting a headbutt on English left-back Stuart Pearce at Euro 1992.
Jeremy Clement
Years with Gers: 2006-2007
Signed by Paul Le Guen in 2006, who became the first Rangers manager to ever leave his post without completing a full season when he departed by mutual consent in January 2007, Clement’s stay at Ibrox didn’t last much longer than his former coach at Lyon.
After taking charge of Paris Saint-Germain, Le Guen came calling to take the midfielder back to Ligue 1 to link up once again in the French capital. In 2011, he struck out on his own to join Saint-Etienne and is currently at AS Nancy.
Jerome Rothen
Years with Gers: 2009
A Champions League finalist with Monaco in 2004, the French midfielder was sent to Ibrox on loan for a year from Paris Saint-Germain in September 2009 but was deemed surplus to requirements midway through his spell and left to join Turkish club Ankaragücü to see out the remainder of the season.
Despite his dismal spell in Scotland, he compiled a formidable list of medals and achievements in France, winning the League Cup on two occasions, the Coupe de France in 2008 and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003 for his country. In his final season as a player, he lifted the Ligue 2 title with Bastia in 2012.
Roy Carroll
Years with Gers: 2007
The Northern Irish goalkeeper played just a single game for Rangers in a short stay at Ibrox after being released by West Ham in 2007 and signed by Derby County in January 2008.
After starting out with Hull City and moving to Wigan Athletic, much was hoped of the shot-stopper at Manchester United but he failed to break into the starting line-up as a first-team regular.
Carroll rebuilt his career in Europe after undergoing rehabilitation for an addiction to alcohol to enjoy success in Greece with Crete and Olympiacos before returning to the international scene after a six-year absence in 2012 to become Northern Ireland’s first-choice goalkeeper for a time.
He was named Northern Ireland International Personality of the Year in 2013. The veteran is now turning out for NIFL Premiership side Linfield.
Olivier Bernard
Years with Gers: 2005-2006
A cult hero for Newcastle United under Sir Bobby Robson, the French defender was cut from the squad by former Rangers midfielder Souness after he was appointed to replace the ex-England manager.
Bernard first moved to Southampton for the second half of the 2004/05 season before crossing the border to join Rangers in the summer.
However, despite turning down other suitors in the Premier League for the chance to play Champions League football for the Bears, he failed to force his way into the team and was again let go after another managerial appointment, with Le Guen deeming Bernard surplus to requirements.
Honourable mentions
Marcus Gayle – The former Wimbledon striker moved to Rangers in 2001 but played only four games in Scotland before being sold to Watford after just two months of football in Glasgow.
Claudio Caniggia – Signed from Dundee in 2001, the Argentinian forward spent two seasons at Ibrox before leaving for Qatar to wind up his career in 2003.
Stephane Guivarc’h – A World Cup winner for France in 1998, Guivarc’h moved to Newcastle in 1998 only to leave for Rangers mid-way through the season before returning to former club Auxerre in 1999.
Andrei Kanchelskis – The former Manchester United and Everton winger returned to the UK in 1998 for four years with Rangers, broken up by a loan spell to send him back south of the border to play for Manchester City in 2001.
Gabriel Amato – Another South American journeyman to come through Ibrox, the striker arrived from Mallorca in 1998 for two seasons prior to moving on to Gremio of Brazil, only for him to return to Europe a few months later to join Real Betis in Spain.
Jonatan Johansson – The Old Firm have a great association with talent from the Nordic countries and it was at Rangers where Johansson caught the eyes of Charlton Athletic who he joined to become a big hit in the English Premier League in 2000 after three years with Rangers.
Mikel Arteta – Another footballer who traded Rangers for Everton, the Spanish midfielder left Barcelona for Glasgow in 2002 after a loan spell with Paris Saint-Germain, and would spend two seasons with Rangers before leaving for Real Sociedad in Spain prior to his move to Goodison Park.
Paul Rideout – A January signing in 1992, the former Aston Villa and Southampton striker played just one league game for Gers, with his job to provide cover for Mark Hately and Ally McCoist as a squad player during the run-in as the club won a league and SFA Cup double. Rideout left for Everton in the summer of 1992, where he would spend four seasons playing for the Toffees.
The post From Gennaro Gattuso to Francis Jeffers: 12 players you probably forgot played for Rangers appeared first on Squawka News.
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