Amoruso is back to lead Rangers' title challenge

He sat down and embraced the vacant chair beside him that only moments later would be occupied by Dick Advocaat, but judging by the look of relief on his face, the Italian would probably have hugged the manager, even if he had been present.

The Rangers captain will lead his team onto the field for the unfurling of the championship flag and savour the moment he thought he would never experience after a summer of discontent that seemed certain to result in the departure of the former Fiorentina defender.

The arrival of #5m Dutchman Bert Konterman was compounded by the agreement of a fee for his services between Ibrox chairman David Murray and his counterpart at Sunderland.

Amoruso took it as a clear indication he was no longer wanted by the club he has grown to love since he left Florence and Serie A in June, 1997 and, reluctantly, he agreed to an audience with Black Cats manager Peter Reid, who promised a lorry-full of lolly and a guarantee of regular first-team football.

Amoruso returned to Glasgow to make up his mind but there was no need for a wrestling of the conscience. Adulation from 50,000 fervent fans every other week, the top-class team-mates who have also become close friends, domination of the Scottish Premier League, and the thrill of the Champions League. No contest.

He swallowed his pride after making several ill-advised, heat of the moment comments and vowed to work even harder to prove to Advocaat he was worthy of a place in the team, irrespective of the competition he faced.

While the rest of the team were put through a rigorous, pre-season schedule in the manager's homeland, Amoruso had trained mostly on his own in Italy with the threat to his Ibrox future ample motivation.

Upon returning for club duties, an innocent-enough remark by Advocaat that he was looking sharp convinced him he made the right decision by turning down the opportunity of a move to England, and his return to favour was completed yesterday when he was called back into the first-team reckoning for the club's opening match of the new SPL campaign.

Inevitably, his chance arrived courtesy of another man's misfortune, with Craig Moore struggling to overcome a knee injury that was, ironically, sustained in an accidental collision with Amoruso at McDiarmid Park earlier this year.

The call-up was as surprising as it was welcome and as he smiled his way through yesterday's press conference, Amoruso admitted he has learned a harsh lesson in the last couple of months.

''I do not feel secure . . . in football you never feel secure because there are always problems behind the door, but now I feel I have to play and do my talking on the pitch,'' he said, attempting that at times his Latin temperament gets the better of him. He understands Advocaat's philosophy, that no- one at the club can take their position for granted, not even the captain.

''A lot has been said - that Lorenzo Amoruso is going to come back and go on the bench or go to Sunderland - but the manager has always been clear about Lorenzo's position. The manager wants to improve the squad, and with the injury problems we had last year, he brought in another good defender. It will be more competition but all the good teams in Europe have a big squad.

''Nothing has changed as far as I am concerned. I am still the captain of this club and I just want to get back playing and make a contribution. It has never been a problem for me. What happens in football happens, it's just part of the job. I came close to signing for Sunderland but we could not come to an agreement and my conscience is clear.

''My ambition is for Lorenzo to stay at Rangers, and although the chairman and manager have agreed that if something came up, I could go, I spoke to my agent this week and he said there has been no offers from anybody else, so I am happy to stay here.''

Amoruso is lacking in match fitness but along with Konterman, he will be expected to bring some stability to a defence that looked far from convincing in the 4-1 defeat of Zalgiris Kaunas on Wednesday. Advocaat has made sweeping changes to the side, with Paul Ritchie, Sergio Porrini, Allan Johnston, Jonatan Johansson, Dariusz Adamczuk, and Tugay banished from the 16-man squad.

Amoruso, Andrei Kanchelskis, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Andrei Kanchelskis, and Konterman will all start, while Robert Malcolm and Kenny Miller find places on the bench.

''I have had to leave some of the older players in the stand because we have to have two under-21 players on the bench,'' Advocaat lamented. ''The European rules are differenAmorusot, and the cup rules, too. We have tried everything and still no change so we will be sending no more letters to try to have it changed.''

St Johnstone received a pre-match boost when Alan Kernaghan signed a 12-month deal, and the centre back is looking to celebrate with his first start for 10 months.

The former Manchester City player, whose season was ruined by a groin surgery, proved to Sandy Clark during pre-season that his injury nightmare was behind him and the manager said last night: ''We're delighted to get Alan back on board before the season starts. We had an agreement to talk about an extended deal if he proved his fitness in our warm-up matches. He did that, the new contract has been signed and now he can concentrate on playing.''

''We missed his influence quite a bit last season and now that he's fit again and signed for another year, hopefully he can make a big contribution.

BOOKIES' VIEW: Rangers 2-9, St Johnstone 14-1, draw 9-2.