one of the most respected clubs in Europe and capable of taking many a
scalp. Indeed, it was his shackling of Barcelona¹s Ronaldo (at his peak,
incidentally) in the 96-97 European Cup-Winners Cup semi-final which alerted
Walter Smith to his presence.
He LOOKED like a player; the sunglasses lugubriously perched atop that mane
of black hair, designer clad as he sat at a press conference to announce his
£4.5m capture. We thought we had signed the real deal with this guy.
And six years later, I believe it is fair to say we did.
When Lorenzo Amoruso arrived at Ibrox in July 1997, few could have believed
the impact the giant defender could have made to the club. Whilst a figure
of fun to many (Spiers, Traynor et al made their minds up quickly and
wouldn¹t let anything as trivial as evidence get in the way of their
opinions) Amoruso is beloved to a support who do not tolerate fools gladly.
Only a cretin would attempt to portray his time in Glasgow as a smooth ride,
but like the Big Man himself, it was colourful, it was interesting and it
was fun.
He joined along with a batch of other Italians (Porini, Negri, Gattuso) and
a few others (Jonas Thern, Stale Stensaas, Tony Vidmar, Jonatan Johannson,
Anti Niemi) who were here to consolidate 10-in-a-row. Alas, he missed much
of his opening season due to a knee problem which required an operation. As
that dismal season saw a limited Celtic side clinch a title Rangers should
have had in the bag ticked along, there were few bright spots. Amo¹s debut
against Celtic in the 1998 Scottish Cup Semi Final was one of them.
I have never seen a player play like that on his debut, and I doubt I will
again. The story that he was on the bench after 8 months out only came out
on the morning of the match. I didn¹t see a paper and was thus left
bewildered when I saw this enormous man lined up to come on after Petric got
injured after 20 minutes. Then it hit me; Œbloody hell, it¹s Amoruso HE¹S
MASSIVE!¹ He held the defence together, mopped up wave after wave of Celtic
attacks and was the principal reason that Rangers won 2-1 to stop a Tim
Treble. When he did exactly the same against them in a league game (JONAS
THERN!) a week later, the Gers fans were licking their lips at the standard
of player we had purchased.
The up and down nature of what we would witness soon manifested itself. That
bumbling clown Willie Young ludicrously sent him off against the Sheep in a
match which would have disastrous consequences for the title pursuit. Worse
was to follow; in the 1998 Scottish Cup Final, Amo¹s short passback allowed
Adam in to score what proved to be the winner. The press hounded him; nobody in the Scottish media seemed to understand that after 8 months out, his
adrenaline had gotten him through big games, and when that short term burst
had gone, his lack of match fitness told. Some Muppets, like Jim Traynor
still smarting that his campaign to label Paul Gascoigne Œthe Manchild¹ long
after McNee had coined the phrase ŒNo. 8¹ for Rangers-haters to use had
failed due to the public being able to spot a bandwagon-jumping muppet when
they see one would cling to this image of Amo. Fools.
Dick Advocaat arrived in summer 1998 and at first it seemed that he would
enjoy a great relationship with Amoruso. He appointed Lorenzo Captain in a
move which surprised a few people. The responsibility to be Rangers first
Roman Catholic Captain sat easy on the big man¹s broad shoulders, and he
enjoyed the job deeply. Those first few months weren¹t easy, however;
sublime play was characterised by nervous schoolboy errors, such as the
handball against Parma and a sloppy backpass against Dundee Utd which cost a
goal. This is the game the press use when the quote the ŒRangers fans booed
Amo¹ line. I was there; a few neds in the Broomloan started it, and were
immediately told to shut the hell up by the rest of the stadium. Still,
no-one could deny a fair few among the support had questions over his
long-term suitability.
Questions he answered superbly. Amo led Rangers to the treble that season,
and was magnificent in the important matches. In the 1999 Scottish Cup
Final, Amo held the defence together as Celtic attempted to save their
season with a desperate last twenty minute salvo. He had picked up a treble
in his first season as Captain and was linked with a move to Juventus.
The next season was a strange one. Rangers cantered to a domestic double,
playing some great football along the way. Amoruso was good all season,
though an injury sustained against St. Johnstone meant he missed the closing
weeks of the season and the Cup Final. The Champions League provided many
big moments, with memorable matches against PSV Eindhoven, Bayern Munich and Valencia. Amo acquitted himself well throughout, though was involved in an
ugly incident involving Dortmund¹s Ikpeba in the UEFA Cup defeat.
2000 was a high water mark which would not be matched for three years. There
were dark days ahead both for player and club.
Historians will look back on Summer 2000 as the time when Dick Advocaat¹s
arrogance put Rangers in the doldrums. He tried to offload Amo to West Ham
and Sunderland. The Italian, who quite rightly considered those clubs
beneath him, told him to shove it. (Incidentally, Dick wanted to sell Amo
because he had bought a Dutch International defender; yup, Bert.)
The season was a shocker. Celtic would win the treble, but Rangers imploded
under the tyrannical reign of a bald Dutch shortarse with a Napoleon
complex. A second stage spot in the Champions league was thrown away against Monaco, and famously, it was the Italian¹s fault when instead of clearing a simple pass, he had one of his Beckenbauer moments and lost the ball in a
dangerous position. The whole campaign was ignored, as everybody and his dog put the blame firmly at the big man¹s door.
Worse was to come; Advocaat, feeling the situation was spinning away from
him (and not realising that it already had) panicked; he stripped Amoruso of
the Captaincy and handed it to Barry Ferguson, then only 22. It was a
shockingly public humiliation. I felt at the time that Amoruso had no choice
but to ask to go; he had been destroyed by his Coach at a critical time. In
hindsight, the decision made Ferguson, but that was down to his own
determination to succeed as a Rangers Captain rather than any foresight by
Dutch Dick.
Amo responded as he always did; by confounding his critics. His form
improved. He wasn¹t great, but he wasn¹t bad either. By Christmas 2001, the
league already gone as Advocaat stumbled from one failure to another, he was
playing as well as anyone in that Rangers team.
Which was why, when Alex McLeish arrived, he let the big man know that he
was a pivotal part of his side. And how he responded; as the team found it¹s
collective heart again, Amoruso scooped PFA Player of the Year 2001-2002 as
Rangers won both CIS and Scottish Cup¹s. This award from his fellow
professionals proved to the Scottish media once again that they could write
what the liked, but football fans know the truth.
So onto 2002-2003. More will be written, and history will tell it better
than I can, but as you may have heard, we won the treble. The Italian was
immense, as usual, when the chips were down. He had his moments he was
bloody awful in the 2-1 defeat by Celtic in April but his contribution was
enormous and he deserved his third League, third league Cup and third
Scottish Cup Final medals. To score the winner in the Cup Final was typical
Lorenzo.
So, it may well be all over. Lorenzo Amoruso made history at Rangers and he
has his faults; faults none of us have been blind to, but which we have
overlooked due to the man being such a wonderful player. He¹s made us howl,
he¹s made us laugh but by Christ has he entertained us, captivated us and
made sure there is a place in our hearts for Lorenzo Amoruso. And if this is
the end, he leaves with our best wishes and an invitation to come for a pint
in PRW which will never expire.
Ciao, Big Man; and thank you.
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