McCulloch the ideal mentor for next generation

Sports writer

Sunday 30 September 2012

The renewal of Rangers still occasionally involves conventional episodes.

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Richard Wilson

In keeping with tradition, Barrie McKay, Lewis Macleod and Robbie Crawford had to perform a song in front of their team-mates at training last Friday, since all three teenagers had officially moved up from the youths to join the first-team squad. They chose Wonderwall, by Oasis, and the embarrassment was only briefly awkward, even if it emphasised the generation gap with the manager and his coaching staff.

"There's no Bruce Springsteen in there," said Ally McCoist. "That's the problem nowadays. They've got hip hop which doesn't really do it for me." The ritual is common at most clubs, and symbolises the players' acceptance into the senior ranks as much as the kitman moving their training gear to the first-team dressing room. A career becomes a series of these time-served routines, but the circumstances at Rangers are unique.Only Lee McCulloch and Neil Alexander are experienced figures who have played at the club for several years. Most of the team is still becoming accustomed to the demands of being at Rangers. McCulloch fell naturally into the role of guiding new arrivals, particularly the young players, and being appointed captain has only formalised his position as an elder statesman.When asked which individual had been most helpful as he moved up from the youth ranks, Crawford immediately said "Lee McCulloch". The manager, too, shares that appreciation, since forming this new team involves creating the bonds between players off the pitch. McCulloch has taken naturally to leadership, and has become a presence the squad can develop around."As pleasing as it is to see, I'm not surprised that he's relishing the father figure role," said McCoist. "Giving him the captaincy in our eyes was a no-brainer. That said, you still have to go and lead. In our team at the moment, the responsibility is probably a bit like being the England cricket captain. You've got a lot more on your plate than just your own game."In the team I played in, which was reasonably successful, we had great captains like Richard Gough and Terry Butcher. But a lot of work was done for them as we always had a lot of captain types spread through the team. The responsibility that's fallen on Lee, therefore, is probably as great as any Rangers captain has had in recent years."It is not an obligation that McCulloch takes lightly. He has served under celebrated Rangers captains like Barry Ferguson and David Weir, but he is also steeped in the history of the club and what it takes to succeed at Ibrox. McCoist brushes aside a question about whether or not McCulloch is still good enough to play for Scotland since the player is so integral to his own plans. "He probably could," the Rangers manager said, "but I would far happier if he watched them on television with his feet up and a glass of a beer."McCulloch does not rest easy, though, and McCoist was pleasantly surprised when the player asked his opinion about a chance he missed during the League Cup win over Motherwell last Wednesday night. McCulloch had looked to side-foot a cross into the net, but shot straight at the goalkeeper, and wanted to know what McCoist would have done in a similar situation. That kind of commitment to improvement is invaluable in the player who the rest of the squad will look up to, but just as valuable is McCulloch's sense of team spirit and the need to turn the squad into a unit rather than a group of individuals."It doesn't happen overnight and you have to generate characters, you have to allow spirit to form within the group," McCoist said. "Wee Robbie Crawford is an absolute gentleman and as you would expect he wouldn't say 'boo' to a goose. The same as Macleod, the same as McKay. [Fraser] Aird is a wee bit different, he's not so shy. They all have different qualities that won't come tomorrow or the next day, but they will come. That's why [McCulloch] is really important to helping them develop, even the new lads."Whether it is Emilson, Sebastien [Faure], you have to watch them and see how their personalities develop within the dressing-room as well, and of course we have to organise things for them to get to know each other away from the football park, which is extremely important. A happy team doesn't guarantee you success, but it certainly helps."

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McCulloch the ideal mentor for next generation

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