Rangers display against Aris Limassol was pathetic, it lacked courage and it was missing any sort of leadership, the sort of performance Kevin Muscat wouldn’t let a team away with.
Known for his aggressive playing style, the Aussie manager doesn’t suffer fools and has his players running through brick walls for him.
Fear might be a reason for this, as explained by Peter Crouch on his podcast in 2020, who claimed that the Rangers managerial contender Kevin Muscat has a fearsome reputation.
Rangers managerial contender Kevin Muscat and Crouch fear
Muscat’s disciplinary record is the stuff of legend, and not in a good way.
Even at Rangers his time involved Alex McLeish being careful with what games Kevin Muscat did and didn’t play.
Peter Crouch, when asked who the dirtiest and hardest player he ever faced was, he said:
“Kevin Muscat scared me.
“You know people would say ‘I’m going to break your legs’ – when he would say it, you genuinely believed him.”
We mature as we get older, but there is always an ingrained mentality that remains.
Muscat’s attitude wasn’t born out of sheer thuggery but from a will to win and it’s no wonder players like Peter Crouch were intimidated.
Every fan knows that we need exactly that sort of attitude either on, or of the pitch.
Rangers wouldn’t want Kevin Muscat threatening players but they would be fully aware of his reputation were he to replace Michael Beale.
Walter Smith had that aura, Kevin Thomson has spoken about it before.
The great Gers boss just had to look at players to let them know what he was thinking.
After what we saw against Limassol, perhaps the threat of broken limbs might be what we need.
