Rangers legend Graeme Souness admits live on talkSPORT he had never heard of Union Saint-Gilloise
Rangers face being dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers by a side that club legend Graeme Souness had never heard of.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side are trailing 2-0 against Union Saint-Gilloise after a dreadful away leg, and need a special Ibrox night on Tuesday (9 August) to rescue the situation.
Former player-manager Souness, in his new role as a regular pundit on talkSPORT, believes it is going to be a difficult assignment, and admits he didn’t even know of the Belgians before they faced each other in the previous leg.
Speaking live on the station on Monday morning (8 August), he said, via the Scottish Express: “It’s a tricky game, I hadn’t heard of the side until last week.”
Opposite number Simon Jordan concurred, but admitted he now understands their quality, saying: “I was in the same position as Graeme, asking, ‘who are these guys’?
“You look back though and see they haven’t been beaten in months and they’re no mugs. Rangers probably needed to address the message on the day.”
Humbled
The Gers could have escaped with just a 1-0 deficit to overturn if it wasn’t for a fairly outrageous interpretation of the handball rule leading to a penalty concession, but the positive side is that it wasn’t even worse.
Well below their best, they have had a shock to the system, and with the manager looking like he is welcoming back some key attacking options it is not a scoreline that cannot be reversed.
It is fortunate that the return leg is at Ibrox, so if the squad were anything like Souness and Jordan in taking USG lightly before, they now know what they are up against and can attack the return in front of their home fans.
Alfredo Morelos made his long awaited return, and scored, in the victory over Kilmarnock on Saturday (6 August), and his presence could well be a psychological boost to his teammates as much as a functional boost himself.
Ryan Kent is facing a race against time to feature but is at least in the squad along with Fashion Sakala, van Bronckhorst has confirmed.
And with Antonio Colak breaking his duck at the weekend as well it appears that in an attacking sense a number of factors have come together to give the home side a chance in Glasgow.
In other Rangers news, another former Ibrox hero has predicted two key attacking changes for the game.