It’s an interesting time to be a Rangers fan. On the back of years in the lower leagues of Scottish football, we had a pretty disappointing season in the top flight. We’re being linked with what seems to be a much higher caliber of player this summer, but it’s fair to say that most wouldn’t have got near us in our bigger spending days. So much has happened over the past 6 years that it’s easy (and almost preferable) to think that things were never that bad in the past.
And they weren’t. But in the spirit of ruining all your memories and dreams (for what else does football do?), we’re starting a series to decide our Worst XI.
A few bits of housekeeping first. I’m 37 years old, so have pretty much no experience of Rangers before the Souness era. I’ll attempt to include players in this that I wouldn’t have seen but through others, I’m told they deserve this infamy. The team will be set up in a 4-4-2. To accommodate any sort of names I miss, we’ll ask for interaction via Twitter – if someone is mentioned more than the highest number of votes in the poll, they’ll “win”.
So let’s begin with the goalkeeper. A position where we’ve been spoiled for a long time, pulling together some names wasn’t entirely easy.
LIONEL LETIZI – 8 Appearances
Letizi signed in the summer of 2006, an experienced keeper with caps for France. He’d come from PSG, so surely he was going to be decent?
Early on we got signs of his level of performance for us. He cost us a goal against Dunfermline in a 1-1 draw. After missing a couple of months through injury, he took his spot back from Allan McGregor and cost us another goal, this time in a 1-0 home defeat to Inverness. In his eight games, he managed one clean sheet, and was promptly binned by Walter Smith in January.
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JESPER CHRISTIANSEN – 6 Appearances
In October 2000, we’d lost various keepers to injury, and had a Champions League campaign to worry about. We needed a keeper who could be signed quickly and would accept being a reserve once Stefan Klos was fit again. At a time when we just seemed able to throw money around, we signed Christiansen for £1.7m.
A big deal was made of the fact that he used to be a striker when he was younger and just tried playing in goals for fun at 17 before it stuck. We spent nigh-on £2m on a keeper who wasn’t even a natural in the position.
I still blame him for the goal Marco Simone scored for Monaco to knock us out of the Champions League. He should have saved that.
In six appearances, he kept one clean sheet, let in nine goals and was pretty poor. He ended up having a good career elsewhere after Rangers, mind you.
STEVE SIMONSEN – 31 Appearances
I honestly forgot that Simonsen signed in 2013, and was retained for the next season (after being released – a small example of how we just never done anything easily back then). I can only remember a great save against Forfar and a howler in the cup against Dundee United, both of which came in his first two games for us.
He was in goals for the 4-0 drubbing at Easter Road, one of the worst days of recent years. But as I said above, I’d forgotten he was such a big part of the squad that season. His time with us ended with a suspension for gambling, which just about summed up the team around then.
ALLY MAXWELL – 69 APPEARANCES
This one may be a bit harsh, because Maxwell showed he was decent at times. He was up against Andy Goram, however, and in comparison he didn’t come close. He also cost us a treble with a mistake in the cup final against Dundee United.
His 69 appearances came over the course of three seasons, and he would have made next to none had Goram not been suffering some injury issues at the time. For someone best remembered for winning Motherwell a League Cup with broken ribs and a ruptured spleen, he didn’t seem very confident or brave with us.
THEO SNELDERS – 18 APPEARANCES
When I was considering this article, I wasn’t going to include Snelders. It’s clear he had some issues with mental health and confidence whilst with Rangers. He went from a keeper who impressed loads for Aberdeen and played in many big matches, to someone who got so nervous for a game with Holland he pulled out just before kick-off, and did something similar with us for a game against Celtic.
The memories of him, and the names he’s called, are pretty symptomatic of how little we treat footballers as human beings, but the fact remains that even when he did play, he was poor for us. Again, he was up against Goram in the main, so had loads to live up to, but his issues were clearly there for more than just the games he withdrew from.
So, fellow Bears, who is it to be? Cast your vote below, or if you’d prefer to name someone else, tweet us @rangersnewsuk and we’ll ensure they’re considered!
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