It is 22 years since Andy Goram left Easter Road to join Rangers.
He was already a Scotland international, but the adjustment to the demands of being an Old Firm player was still unsettling. He can still recall it now: "It was my first month, I put us out of the European Cup against Sparta Prague, put us out of the League Cup semi-final against Hibs and then had a nightmare against Scott Crabbe when he scored a 50-yarder at Tynecastle." Goram was recounting his experience because another goalkeeper will move from a provincial club to Ibrox this summer and face a similar period of readjustment.
Cammy Bell has agreed to join Rangers on September 1 as a free agent, with his contract at Kilmarnock expiring at the end of this season. With Neil Alexander not having reached any agreement with the Ibrox side over a contract extension, Bell is likely to take his place as the first-choice goalkeeper for the coming campaign in the second division.
The 26-year-old is fairly experienced after establishing himself as the Rugby Park side's No.1, but Goram ought to have been better prepared for his move to Glasgow and still suffered some early difficulties.
"It's not easy playing for the Old Firm, you've got to be a different animal to play for them," Goram said. "I'm glad my mistakes came early.
"The gaffer got me in the office and spelt out what it means, what he was expecting and the expectations of everybody else at the club. John Greig was another one who pulled me aside in the corridor one day after the three mistakes and passed on words of advice. After that first month everything was fine. You live and die by whether you can handle playing for the Old Firm, that's what separates the good and the great."
Goram also received advice from Pat Bonner, the Celtic goalkeeper, after appearing in his first Old Firm game, and has always valued the words of encouragement from a supposed rival.
Bell will not find himself thrust into the pressure and intensity of clashes with Celtic, but there is still a heightened expectation in playing for Rangers.
Supporters do not tolerate failure, and even this season's comfortable title win was accompanied by occasional grumbles among fans about the quality of some of the play.
"Cammy will be in the same situation I was in when I was at Hibs, when you are playing for other teams you are making eight or nine saves a game and if you make a mistake it's covered up by the saves you make because you've kept them in it," Goram said. "When you come to Rangers it's the other way around, you tend to get one save a game, but if you don't make it then you're panned. That's the biggest transition – concentration.
"From what I've seen, he's got everything: he's agile, he's a good build for a goalkeeper, he's decent with the ball at his feet, he makes a save to get you off your seat. I'm looking forward to seeing him at Rangers. Everybody I speak to says he's a great character.
"Cammy has been great against the Old Firm and that was the same as me when I was at Hibs. The difference for him is that he won't be getting any man-of-the-match awards because, hopefully, he won't have too much to do."
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