Maurice Ross urges Rangers to think like successful teams of the past
Former Rangers ace Maurice Ross has urged the current Ibrox players to be more like the stars from the past as they face Borussia Dortmund on Thursday (February 24).
The Gers welcome the German giants for the Europa League second leg tie after taking a 4-2 advantage at the Signal Iduna Park.
Ross told the players to believe in their own abilities rather than focusing on the opposition.
“My biggest night in Europe was beating a star-studded PSG side on penalties,” said Ross as per Daily Record.
“But honestly, after the game – and this sounds stupid – we weren’t that fussed. We were like, ‘Good result, who’s next?’
“That culture has to be in the building anyway.
“So when you come back into the dressing room, you’ve not got the vuvuzelas out celebrating. We immediately just started thinking about who was next up on Sunday.
“At clubs like Rangers, you’re not programmed to think of your opponent. You’re taught to think, ‘We’re some side ourselves’.”
Go time
He is spot-on in terms of putting the positive result behind you and simply looking at the game ahead.
That is what all great teams do but maybe something the Bears need reminding after their 1-1 draw with Dundee United on the weekend.
There is surely a phycological explanation to it because almost every time a team enjoys a huge victory, they always face a hangover in their next game, something Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his players can certainly vouch for.
They won’t need to be reminded about worrying about the opposition though. The Gers ran riot in Germany. They didn’t look as if they cared about the occasion at all and in all honesty, made the game look easy.
This week’s second leg is hugely important, the players need to play with the same confidence and conviction they did in the first leg to finish the job.
As Ross said, they then can’t afford to get too ahead of themselves with the task of overtaking Celtic in the league even more important.
In other Rangers news, the Bears have received a boost with Giovanni Reyna a ‘severe doubt’ for the Ibrox clash