Mysterious Marco Negri in Maryhill - still smiling at his Rangers memories 20 years on

There are many grounds just like it throughout junior football. Still, it is easy to understand why Maryhill’s 135 year existence was threatened this summer due to a shortage of funds and a lack of committee members. There are no Louis Vuitton wash bags or Prada trainers here. The San Siro it most definitely isn’t.

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The presence of Negri in such surroundings on Monday evening was incongruous. But the one-time Udinese, Perugia, Rangers and Livorno striker clearly loved it. His eyes lit up the second he walked in and a broad smile spread across his tanned face as he stood on a terrace and soaked in the sight that greeted him. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “This is amazing! This is history!”

The Italian is part of the folklore of the game in this country himself. He became an instant sensation after signing for the Ibrox club for a £3.5 million transfer fee back in 1997. He plundered 23 goals in his opening 10 league games, including five in a single match against Dundee United, and had netted on no fewer than 33 occasions by the turn of the year to help his side into a four point lead.

After that? His fall from prominence was as sudden and spectacular as his rise. He may have topped the scoring charts at the end of his debut campaign with 36 goals. But he was only on target three times in the second half of that term. Would Walter Smith’s men have won a record-breaking tenth consecutive title if he had remained fit and in favour? Many fans are still certain of it.

An eye injury, suffered playing squash with his team mate and countryman Sergio Porrini in March, was the start of a catalogue of off-field problems that would see him make just three appearances in the following three seasons before returning to his homeland. To describe the Milanese centre forward as an enigma doesn’t quite do him justice.

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Rocking up in Maryhill quite out of the blue would seem to be in keeping with the cult hero’s legend. But Negri, now 48 and looking every bit as lean as his heyday, is making quite a name for himself as a specialist striker coach these days. Hence his impromptu visit. He was helping out the SJFA West League One outfit’s manager Alan Kelly with training for the night as a favour for a friend.

He was invited along by Jeff Holmes - the lifelong Rangers fan, passionate Maryhill stalwart, retired journalist and prolific author who ghosted his revealing autobiography Moody Blue: The Story of Mysterious Marco a few years ago - to offer some expert advice to The Hill squad on how to convert their chances with greater regularity.

He donned a red and black Maryhill strip at the request of Jeff and our photographer Robert and began to lay out cones and poles in front of one of the penalty boxes. It became immediately apparent he has worked at a far higher level as his session got underway and he started to issue instructions to his transfixed pupils.

“I was involved at the Serie A club Udinese,” he said later. “My role was taking care of the strikers. There are goalkeeping coaches who take the goalkeepers. I firmly believe having a specific coach for a striker is something that can give a lot to a club. Strikers are supposed to score goals. If you score goals then you can probably win the game.

“A coach to work with strikers one-to-one is important. You can work on their weaknesses and improve them. You can also work with them together depending on how the manager is setting his team out, with three up front, with two up front and another man in behind. There must be a relationship with your job and the system the team plays.

“I worked under Massimo Oddo (the former AC Milan, Lazio and Italy right back who won the Champions League and World Cup during his illustrious playing career and who is currently managing Perugia) at Udinese. It was a great, great experience. The team had very good strikers. I worked with Kevin Lasagna, who is now a national team player.”

Negri continued: “The best thing was the feedback I had from the players. They love when you are helping them with development and with the details. I like to work with videos. I used to show them the movement of, I don’t know, Gonzalo Higuain. If you show them the best strikers in the world they can learn every day. Even if you are a Serie A player or a top player you can always learn from another striker day after day.

“I could score. The most important thing for a striker is the confidence. This is the secret of being a striker. If you’ve got the confidence you keep scoring. You build confidence through the week doing special work. Then when the game comes on Saturday or Sunday you are ready and can make a difference.”

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By the sound of things, more clubs in this country should seriously consider introducing forward coaches. The options available to Steve Clarke in attack since he was appointed Scotland manager back in May have been limited to say the least. Negri recommends going down that route.

“Like I said before, details make the difference,” he said. “If you can work specifically with strikers it helps. You also need the talent. But you can start with kids, when players are very young. That will help with their development. You must trust in a way to work. Then the results will come time, 10 years or so later.”

Why does Negri, who played alongside both Gordon Durie and Ally McCoist during his spell at Rangers, feel the national side are struggling so badly for proven finishers now? “I don’t know,” he said. “In Italy we used to have great players. But last year we didn’t qualify for the World Cup. Success at all countries and clubs is cyclical.”

Negri’s outgoing personality is at odds with the public misconception, borne out of his disappearance from view in his final three seasons in Govan, of him. Moody Blue? Don’t you believe it.

He happily chatted with club officials and obligingly posed for selfies with onlookers before heading out onto the pitch. He is taking his first tentative steps as a coach. But he appears to have every chance of making a success of his new vocation. He is certainly determined to reach the top.

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That was the case last weekend when he and his former club mate Michael Mols climbed Ben Nevis together to raise funds for the Rangers Charity Foundation. “It was tough,” he said. “It took over 43,000 steps. It was tiring. But it was worth it because it was for charity. It was very satisfying when we got to the summit.”

Negri has fond recollections of his time in Scotland and is touched that he is still remembered here with affection despite how it all fizzled out and ended. “Rangers fans are the best in the world,” he said. “They say ‘once a Ranger, always a Ranger’. That means something. It is true. It is absolutely fantastic. Whenever I meet a supporter they treat me like I’m still playing. They always tell me something about my games or my goals which I have forgotten. It is more than 20 years ago now! It is incredible. I appreciate it.”

Maryhill were certainly grateful for Marco Negri taking the time to put them through their paces too. If they bang in a few goals against Forfar West End in their Scottish Junior Cup second round tie at Lochburn this afternoon it will be no great mystery why.