Nicky Law is fresh enough in the door at Rangers to still be staring in wide-eyed wonder at his surroundings.
Yet not so long ago the Ibrox side were the subject of his ire.
Having spent a substantial sum to watch Manchester United face the Ibrox club in the Champions League three years ago, the midfielder was left seething when Walter Smith's side adopted a cautious approach. So much so, in fact, Law considered demanding his money back. Little could he have imagined not only being back at the Govan ground but one day calling it home.
"I remember going to Old Trafford and as a United fan I was quite angry with Rangers putting 10 men at the back," Law recalled. "They had about one shot and I was thinking 'this is rubbish'. The away game was when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal with a penalty late on. I was angry at them because I paid all that money and there were hardly any shots on target in that game. I wanted to get a refund. But to play in that would be the ultimate."
In many ways, and not just for Law who has come a considerable distance professionally since then, those glamour nights seem like a lifetime ago. The cut and thrust of a life competing for domestic honours and challenging against the cream of Europe has been replaced by a different kind of pace at Rangers.
The demands remain, the pressures associated with the club are still there, but the superstar names, the razzmatazz of the big occasions and the all-consuming ambition of the club has been replaced with more humble immediate goals.
For Law, though, the allure of Rangers and the potential they carry as a club remains as attractive a proposition as it always was. As such, there was little thought on his part when the possibility of the move arose, despite the drop from the Premier League to the Second Division and all that entails. Stuart McCall was effusive in his praise of his former club, Law's father was keen for him to go and the player himself believes that he has finally landed at a club from the big time.
"In his [McCall's] words he said he would find it difficult not to tell his son to sign for Rangers and that tells you everything you need to know," the midfielder said. "The only people who told me not to sign were the Motherwell fans and I think they still want to hunt me down.
"Seriously, it's unbelievable. I played at a lot of academies when I was a Sheffield United player. And barring Manchester United, this [Murray Park] is as good as anything I've seen. To be here every day is an amazing feeling. I'll be here all day, you don't really want to leave. The whole place is fantastic and it was one of the reasons why I signed when the manager showed me around. I've been hugely impressed by it. A couple of years ago I was at Rotherham and I could never have imagined I'd get here."
Law's career began promisingly enough with Sheffield United, only for injury and a change in manager to derail his journey. A shattered collarbone and broken shoulder in a reserve game against Wigan Athletic just as he was about to fly out with England for the European Under-20 Championships left him struggling in the treatment room and suddenly adrift career-wise. Then, when Neil Warnock was sacked at Bramall Lane, it spelled the beginning of the end for the player who spent time on loan at Yeovil Town and Bradford City before a permanent switch to Rotherham. From there he made the switch to Motherwell and, as McCall predicted when he signed at Fir Park, he has moved to Rangers.
Having had to get there the hard way, Law is keen to maximise every chance he can get to ensure he makes himself a key member of Ally McCoist's squad this season. "Anything you could want as a footballer is here waiting on you," he said. "They wait on you hand on foot; anything you need is there for you. We aren't leaving until 5pm anyway but once the season starts I'll be hanging about.
"At Motherwell I often stayed behind as well. Henrik [Ojamaa] was an obsessed fitness guru and I was close to Henrik so I used to stay behind with him and we'd do quite a bit but the facilities were nothing compared to what you get here. I'll be looking to continue that. What would be the point in signing here, having all this and not using it? I intend on using everything that is at my disposal and hopefully I'll improve myself as a player."
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