The other Alex

IN THE hope of creating a wall of sound that echoes down the years, every Rangers fan who funnels through the turnstile tonight will be issued with a card, on the back of which are printed the lyrics to an old song.

The Blue Sea of Ibrox, a forgotten favourite from another era, is intended to create a wave of nostalgia on what should be a historic night for the club.

Never in a meaningful match have Rangers welcomed to their Govan ground such a glamorous English side so close to the peak of their powers.

This, after all, is Manchester United, twice the European champions, Sir Alex Ferguson, he of Rangers descent, as well as Keane and Van Nistelrooy, all here to lap up no less a feast than the Champions League, for heaven’s sake. Even the good old days weren’t as good as this.

Such an unlikely turn of events, a dream sequence Dali would have died for, is the product of Alex McLeish’s continued ability to confound expectation.

After a win against VFB Stuttgart, and a draw in Athens that felt like a defeat, he has somehow managed to cast doubt on the outcome of a Group E fixture that was supposed to be a formality.

Not bad for the manager of an impoverished side whose season was all but over two months ago when they drew with Copenhagen in a Champions League qualifier.

McLeish has galvanised Rangers in the same way Ferguson did when the two were player and manager at Aberdeen a couple of decades back.

He has unified the dressing room, enabled the team to compete with those of richer clubs and, in so doing, won round the supporters who have long reserved their most intimidating postures for nights like these.

After the 2-1 defeat of Stuttgart at Ibrox, Henning Berg said he had never heard anything like it, even in his time at Manchester United.

“They will still be the favourites, but in front of our own crowd at Ibrox, if we can play the way we are capable of playing, we always have a chance,” says McLeish.

“As Henning Berg said, the crowd can be quite inspirational. It will not intimidate Manchester United, who have seen and done it all, but it should be an extra shot of adrenaline for our players.”

Rangers, as if to emphasise the point, can boast a home record in Europe that will persuade the English champions to treat them with respect.

In recent years, and perhaps more particularly since McLeish became the manager in December of 2001, Ibrox has assumed once again a few of the fortress-like qualities for which it was renowned in the 1960s.

McLeish has lost none of his four European matches at Ibrox, against Stuttgart, Copenhagen, Viktoria Zizkov and Feyenoord.

More pertinently, in a 24-match sequence that stretches back to the autumn of 1997, Rangers have permitted only one foreign team to escape with a victory. That was Valencia, who triumphed 2-1 in the Champions League four years ago.

There has, of course, been plenty of cannon fodder along the way, from Herfolge to FBK Kaunas and Beitar Jerusalem, but a few big names also have found the going tough.

Parma (twice), Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray and Monaco are among those who could not win at Ibrox during that period. Manchester United will be no more encouraged by a reminder that they have not won any of their last three away matches in Europe.

McLeish, though, is not fool enough to pretend that a side he describes as one of the best four in Europe will somehow succumb to the power of statistics.

Rangers would be unbeaten at home in all competitions since March of 2001 had it not been for the audacity with which Celtic have made off with a victory on four separate occasions.

The most recent of those, a 1-0 reversal just a fortnight ago, was inflicted on a Rangers side who seemed unable to raise their game, an art that has been mastered by United.

“Their European nights are special,” says McLeish. “They treat them as that, and they certainly look as if they up a gear.”

Andy Watson, McLeish’s assistant, was at Elland Road on Saturday to see them play Leeds United. The Rangers management team claim there is nothing they do not know about Ferguson’s side, which is not to say that it makes things any easier.

It is safe, for instance, to assume that United will not be unduly worried by the return from injury of Craig Moore, Paolo Vanoli and Fernando Ricksen.

Ronald de Boer, meanwhile, is still recovering from a calf injury and, despite his claims to the contrary, will not be considered for the Manchester United match. “We only want Ronald at his best,” says McLeish. “The team have been doing well in his absence.”

Rangers’ prospects of snatching even a draw tonight will hinge on nothing so much as their ability to concentrate.

It is a quality that eluded McLeish’s side in Athens, just as it did the youngsters of Stuttgart at Ibrox. “One mistake and you are dead, such is the quality,” explains the manager.

“It comes down to experience, quality and a little bit of luck sometimes. That is what United have over us, experience.”

They also have the incomparable Ferguson. This has been a tiresome few days for McLeish, the “sorcerer’s apprentice” who is already heartily sick of suggestions that he is incapable of functioning without a daily call to the great man.

Any more of this and he will be forced, like Rio Ferdinand, to produce an itemised phone bill in evidence.

“You’ll need to stop going on about this relationship,” he sighed the other day.

“People are going to talk. Sometimes a month goes by, or two months, before we speak. I think the phones will be fairly silent over the next few days. It is Felix Magath (the Stuttgart coach) I should be phoning.”

Magath, at least, has experience of steering a side into battle against Manchester United. Rangers have played only four English opponents in European competition: Wolves, Spurs, Leeds United (twice) and Newcastle United. Their latest manager has engaged in cross-border combat only as a player.

“It is amazing that we have never crossed swords before. I thought, over the years, we might have played a friendly game or a testimonial, but we haven’t. Now I am facing him for the first time, after being in the managerial game for about nine years, in probably the greatest club competition in the world.”

McLeish has taken full advantage of Ferguson’s generosity down the years, making frequent trips south to attend training, and soak up some of United’s biggest matches. The task now, as his mentor heads in the opposite direction, is to deny him the same hospitality.