Italian teenager could be the biggest star of them all at Ibrox Young Rino is in full charge

That is not such a ridiculous proposition as it might have seemed when the Amorusos, Negris, and Therns were being paraded at Ibrox while the Italian teenager was trying to prove his worth to manager Walter Smith.

Smith liked what he saw and exercised his right to sign the amateur, much to the chagrin of Perugia, who saw their prodigy kidnapped before their very eyes.

Gattuso is 19, has excellent technique and pace, neither of which would be a surprise, but the fact that he is a little dynamo perhaps is unusual among the continental immigrants.

Tough, aggressive, and perpetually on the move, Rino is more Bremner than Maldini, and has no difficulty at all with the hectic, macho style that is the Scottish premier division.

Last season, Gattuso no doubt helped clean the boots of the star turn in Perugia, Marco Negri, who cost Rangers #3.5m, but already he is pushing hard for a

regular place in the Ibrox side alongside the great man.

Certainly, the little Italian looks to be enjoying himself in the blue corner of

Glasgow.

He gave a short interview afterwards, full of smiles and broken English, declaring: ''I am very grateful to get a chance with Rangers and be included in the team. Gazza is a legend.

''I am happy to play in midfield. That is my best

position and it was good to get a victory today. This was an important match for the club.''

His countryman, Negri, scored both goals at

McDiarmid Park and should have had a hat trick - he missed a penalty - but for me, the top Rangers player was unquestionably the non-stop Gattuso.

He and Stuart McCall, who now has a rival in the energy department, were the players who drove the Ibrox team on when others appeared to be cruising along in second gear.

The fact that they scored inside seven minutes of the first half and one minute of the second maybe had much to do with the general approach and Rangers did only what was necessary to keep a much-weakened St Johnstone side under

control.

Negri, who managed to raise a gallop outside the penalty area occasionally, did his bit at the business end twice but, like all greedy strikers (they would not be the real thing unless they were selfish), was angry with himself for the penalty miss, albeit he was defied by a good save from Alan Main.

Brian Laudrup didn't have one of his finest games, but even at that he still was involved in most of the good things that did happen, including the goals.

However, it was the midfield double act of McCall and Gattuso that made sure that the engine kept running.

The latest recruit to the league, Alan Kernaghan, secured by St Johnstone from Manchester City on a three-month loan, did well enough considering his lack of first-team football this

season.

''It was good to play on a Saturday again,'' he said. ''It was quite hectic and I felt tired in the last 10 minutes. Obviously, we were up against the best team in the league. They have so many good players, but we gave the ball away very easily and made it difficult for ourselves.''

The Republic of Ireland internationalist played twice this season for the City first team but was sent off in the second game and has been out of the side since.

He heard of Saints interest on Thursday and ''jumped at the chance to play in the top league in Scotland.''

The future is uncertain, but he hopes to do well enough to attract a more permanent move to Saints or anybody else.

Rangers manager Smith was satisfied with the day's work, especially the victory after four successive matches without success.

''I felt we controlled the match,'' he said, ''and we could have scored more than two goals.

''Apart from the penalty, we created other good chances. St Johnstone are short of players and are not having an easy time at the moment.

''McCall did particularly well considering the length of time he has been out and Gattuso played very well.''

Smith started without Paul Gascoigne, although he did come on for a short stint late on, because he had a slight groin strain.

''We have a busy spell coming up and we thought it best to give him a rest,'' said the manager.

Hamburg general manager Bernd Wehmeyer confirmed at the weekend that his club failed in a #3.5m bid for their former player, Jorg Albertz, who played from the start yesterday.

That is hardly surprising as Rangers have enough injury problems to handle without letting anybody head for the exit door. Albertz, in fact, was very much involved in the opening goal, feeding Laudrup with a superb pass.

The classy Dane then laid the ball in front of Negri, who almost fumbled the chance, but recovered to squeeze the ball over the line.

The Italian slid in to steer the ball into the net for his second after Laudrup laid on the pass for Sergio Porrini to cross low into goal.

Saints manager Paul

Sturrock has far more

problems than Smith. As many as eight first-team candidates were queuing up for treatment last week, but although the side is badly depleted, the manager still felt there was real cause for concern at the performance.

''I was angry at the midfeld display,'' he said, ''and it is something we will have to address.

''In the past, it was an area I never needed to worry about, but whatever per-mutations we have had this

season there have been problems. There has been a lack of fight in that area for the last three or four games.''

Certainly, Saints were com- pletely outplayed in that department, which left them with the task of keeping Rangers out rather than offering them serious problems themselves.

Most would have bet on a higher total than two goals but, to be fair, Rangers never looked in any danger and, after all, collecting three points was the name of the exercise.

Next league games: St Johnstone - Hibs (a). Rangers - Kilmarnock (a).