FOR Steven Gerrard’s Rangers revolution to be compared to the one undertaken by Tommy Burns at Celtic in the 90s is undoubtedly a compliment, but the Ibrox supporters will be hoping to avoid the same heartbreak that eventually befell one of their great rivals.
Burns remoulded Celtic into a swashbuckling outfit that fell short of halting Walter Smith’s side’s march towards nine-in-a-row in season 1995/96 despite only losing one match over the course of the campaign, leading the late Burns to famously lament that Andy Goram broke his heart.
As one of Celtic’s centre-halfs during that period, the parallels between that era and now are slowly revealing themselves to John Hughes, not only through Allan McGregor’s own heroics at Celtic Park in Rangers’ victory over Celtic prior to the winter break, but in the way Gerrard is restoring confidence to his players that they can challenge their rivals for the top prize once more just as Burns once did on the other side of the city.
“You could feel a revolution starting under Tommy Burns,” Hughes said. “Celtic had won the Scottish Cup, beating Airdrie.
“He brought in the likes of Paolo Di Canio, Jorge Cadete, Andy Thom and Pierre van Hooijdonk.
“Gerrard has been a huge factor in the Rangers revival. He has come in, after what he has done as a player, yes he is learning as a manager, but you see he sets the standards.
“I have spoken to Scotty Arfield a few times and asked him about Steven’s training and things, and he raves about it.
“Steven has a level and he is trying to drag his players up there with him.
“He won’t settle for second best, or just reaching Europe, every week he wants them at it. He has set a standard and the players are trying to reach that.
“Tommy Burns had something similar at Celtic and you just wanted to play for him. You want to win for that guy and Steven is the same at Rangers.
“Tommy conducted himself so well and on the training pitch, and the standards he set there were unbelievable.
“He joined in at training and he was one of the best players. If things weren’t going right, he could cause a fight in an empty room.
“We played young against old and the games were feisty. You had to keep playing until Tommy’s team won!
“Sometimes Billy Stark had to stop the matches they were that competitive. We sometimes played harder in those games than we had to on a Saturday.
“I went to Celtic when I was 31 and I thought I had learned everything about the game but when I got to Celtic you thought ‘what have I been doing all these years?’
“Guys like Frank Connor kept up the standards behind the scenes. He always said you represent this club and you have to conduct yourself correctly and dress right.
“The reason Tommy never won the league was Andy Goram. Now Rangers have Allan McGregor and he was outstanding at Parkhead.
“Some of the saves he makes, as well as the penalty. The big players do something special on the big games and McGregor did that."
*John Hughes was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.
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