Rangers tried, and failed, on numerous occasions to replace Ally McCoist with only a few players ever coming close.
Maurice Johnston was the most controversial, but he ended up forming a formidable partnership with McCoist that should have starred in Italia ‘90 before Mark Hateley arrived at the club.
Walter Smith scoured the globe in signing Danish and Dutch strikers, as well as World Cup winners, when he got his man in injury-jinxed Sebastian Rozental, luck and a bad surgeon cost him a player tipped for the top.
There was of course the attempt to sign Ronaldo, the original one, but Serie A and Inter Milan won that battle.
Ironically, in 1997, this was the league where Rangers found a player who wouldn’t just challenge McCoist, but one who would surpass him, with 10-in-a-row looking like a formality.
When Marco Negri explained Rangers form and what went wrong
The goalscoring exploits of Marco Negri are well known; five goals at Ibrox against Dundee United, 23 in 10 games, 36 before Christmas Day, the list is endless.
In what was an ageing squad, Smith looked to refresh it and Italians had been signed to add a European quality and flair.
Lorenzo Amoruso, Rino Gattuso, Sergio Porrini and Negri were the ones who made the biggest impact, but it was an impact of a different nature that derailed the league campaign.
Speaking to Talksport in 2022, Negri explained just how high his stock was after an impressive season in his homeland outscoring some all-time greats:
“It was Serie A with a capital ‘A’. Every great player was in Italy, so the standard was high,” boasted the former Gers striker.
“I scored 15 goals with no penalties, so it was a great achievement. Don’t forget it also had some of the best goalkeepers like [Angelo[ Peruzzi, [Gianluca] Pagliuca and [Luca] Marchegiani. It makes me proud.”
It also had some of the best strikers too with Negri outscoring George Weah, Gabriel Batistuta, Roberto Mancini and Giuseppe Signori.
Rangers weren’t as fluent as they had been in previous seasons with Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup at their peak.
The latter was persuaded to stay, against his will, for another season, whilst Gazza started on form, only for injury to see him lapse into bad habits and incur the wrath of outgoing manager Smith.
It was also a squad that relied heavily on players like McCoist, who were all in their mid-thirties and showing signs of wear and tear.
What was the injury that cost Rangers the title?
With Negri on fire and the squad just about good enough to get over the line most weeks, Rangers were still favourites, until an injury that cost a player the best years of his career, and the club a record-breaking title.
“Then in January, the most bizarre injury in Scottish football happened to me,” Negri said recalling a game of squash with teammate Porrini that detached his retina.
“The squash shot was so powerful and landed with such ferocity it had thrown my eye back into my head until it bounced off the membrane that separated it from the brain. The retina had become dislodged and attached itself to the membranous gel.”
With Gazza sold, Laudrup with one eye (sorry) on a move to Chelsea, Negri’s form nosediving and weary legs growing even more weary, the door was open for Celtic and the chance of 10-in-a-row disappeared.
All because of a game of squash.
