How does this joker stay in a job? Any self-respecting Sports Editor would have looked over his World Cup stuff and said: 'Hey that's not right'. But self-respecting Sports Editors are thin on the ground in Scotland. Without any real knowledge of the game, they probably can't even remember Rino's spell with the Gers and, paying Speirs a vastly inflated wedge, his gaffer is more inclined to accept his version of events. So let me put him right on a few points.
Rino Gattuso was a very well appreciated figure with the fans at Ibrox. Signed by Walter Smith with a view to eventually filling the Stuart McCall role, the wee man got stuck right in, he was a great believer in being first to the ball and, while his use of it may not always have been too clever, his willingness to play for the jersey got the thumbs-up from us and had his name echoing around the ground on a regular basis. It should go without saying, but I'd better say it anyway, his religion was not an issue.
With the shape of the team changing in the quest for ten-in-a-row, Rino pushed himself into the side and, while his combative style of play often made him a target for referees, he more than held his own. Gazza, Jonas Thern, Ian Durrant, Ian Ferguson, Jorg Albertz and Stuart McCall were all in the midfield mix, yet the young Gattuso still figured in 37 games during the 1997-98 season. Hardly a bit part player.
In just about every interview he does, Rino speaks highly of his time at Ibrox, praising the club, the fans and especially Walter Smith but, for his own twisted reasons, Britney has opted to overlook such comments and pour scorn on any suggestion that Rangers might have made some small contribution towards the player's rise to the top. Would Speirs have been equally dismissive if he had worn those horrible hoops? Methinks not.
Following Walter's departure from Ibrox and the break-up of the nine-in-a-row squad, Rino looked set to make a first team spot his own but his style of play didn't really fit in with Tricky Dicky's plans and, with the introduction of so many new players, he was edged out of the picture. It is worthy of note that he was only 20 when he left the club. Building a new team, the Caat Man needed established quality as opposed to potential in the midfield but Queersy's suggestion that his transfer to Salernitana passed without complaint from the fans is a blatant lie. The transfer and the Italian club's reluctance to stump up was raised at more than one Rangers AGM.
But of course that doesn't suit Speirs' agenda. He ain't interested in anything which might show Rangers in a positive light. A World Cup winner, arguably the player of the tournament, is pretty hard to ignore so, rather than brush over it, he opts to rewrite history, tell a few porky pies and feels pretty pleased with himself. After all, if 20 years from now somebody wants to check out Rino's time at Ibrox, they might stumble on the Herald piece, and accept his crap as gospel.
While he is allowed to get away with it, he will keep chipping away at our club. Everything and everybody with an Ibrox connection is fair game for his poison, he won't let insignificances like the truth stand between him and a smart-arsed line but, if Rino ever decides to come back to this country, maybe even when his career is over, I will certainly be drawing his attention to the dross written by Mr (or is it Mrs?) Pretty-In-Pink.
KILLIE BILLY