Being captain of public
relations continues
a dream come true.
GRANTED his impossible dream, John Greig would have stuck at 28 years
old and played for Rangers forever. Granted his possible dream, he would
have spent all his playing career with Rangers and then discovered a way
of working for the club for the rest of his life. He has come as close
as any human being has a right to expect in achieving his ideal.
Apart from a six-year stint away from his natural base, Greig has been
a Ranger all his adult life and, if his career leads elsewhere again, it
will come as a great surprise to him.
Any man who, at 51, can say with patent sincerity that ''even now,
when I drive down that road outside Ibrox I get a buzz, and when I walk
in the front door I still feel a sense of pride,'' deserves to be in
with the bricks that make up that impressive facade.
But Greig has not made the journey from football-daft kid to public
relations executive without the odd hiccup. He will tell you today that
he still feels privileged to have been the club manager after he stopped
playing, but the latter days of that chapter were tough indeed. ''I
consider it an honour to have been manager and enjoyed a good deal of
success, but it is true it was not nice at times.''
Those who can remember the strained expression and the disappearance
of that natural humour in the months before he quit after almost five
years in charge would testify to the wisdom of his decision.
For six years, he worked as a radio and TV pundit as well as a travel
consultant, but when Graeme Souness and then David Murray sounded him
out about returning to the fold, there was never much chance of a
refusal.
His appreciation of what had happened inside Ibrox in those
half-a-dozen years is unstinting. ''Gigantic steps had been taken on and
off the field. Off the park it is all there to be seen, particularly in
the time since David Murray took over. It has been quite astonishing.
What struck me most was the professionalism and organisation.''
Greig finds it quite mind boggling to see the financing of the great
stadium being accompanied by huge improvements on the field. ''I feel it
has been accepted too readily, but it is a tremendous feat to do both at
the same time.''
He might reasonably be expected to wish, at least privately, that he
had been given the kind of multi-million pound backing as a manager that
Souness, and now Walter Smith have had, but he denies any such envy.
''They are two different situations. When I was manager the old wage
structure was in place, where the top team players were paid the same.
That is how it had always been. And the thought that top players from
England and Europe would come here never entered our heads.
''When I wanted to buy a player I was given the money, even if it was
a limited market.''
Yet he confesses that in his final year as manager he told the board
that they would need to be prepared to change the old salary structure
and pay stars more than others. ''I don't know what happened after I
left and Jock (Wallace) took over, but I did see that it had to come.''
He also believes that the banning of English clubs in Europe, which
coincided with the new wage policy of Souness, was a major factor in
paving the way for the likes of Terry Butcher and Chris Woods to be
brought north.
Neither of them was ever likely to challenge Greig's astonishing
longevity as an Ibrox player, a time span that covered 18 years and
included 857 games. And that vast experience -- he was captain for 13
years -- entitles us to respect his opinions about the current
domination of the club, the state of the Old Firm games, and the health
of the game in Scotland.
He is not short of viewpoints on any of the topics which exercise the
minds of most Saturday afternoon pundits. He can remember vividly, if
reluctantly, people saying in the late 60s that Celtic's superiority
would never end. ''But nothing is forever,'' he says, ''and we would be
naive to think that. And I believe it is not going to get any easier to
continue this kind of success. In fact, I expect it got get a lot
harder.''
But even if it does go on, Greig would not accept the perceived view
that Rangers' total supremacy is bad for the game in general. This may
not come as a surprise from such a committed Rangers man, but Greig
argues that it forces other clubs to raise their own standards and in
the end should produce better players and therefore more entertainment.
''I understand why people say Rangers being ahead like the last few
years is a bad thing, but I don't agree. It has always been difficult
for clubs to compete with the Old Firm because of the support they have
in Scottish football. Occasionally, Aberdeen, Dundee United, or Hearts
have had good enough squads to intervene, but generally that is how it
has been.''
He would acknowledge that commercially and otherwise Rangers, since
the advent of Murray, have set new standards, but he points out that a
club of their size has to get itself into a position to challenge beyond
the Scottish boundaries. ''The fact that we have been trying to attain
that level has been influential in what has happened in Scotland.''
If you detect a hint of European horizons in sight, you would be
right, and wrong too. ''Personally, I think Rangers will always be aware
of their Scottish heritage and what it means to their supporters to play
in Scotland. But in saying that I also think that, maybe not in my
lifetime, some day the obvious continuation would be with a
European-type league.''
Few, if any, players can boast as much Old Firm derby experience as
Greig, who might well be the most successful Rangers player of all, and
he will get a tingle in his spine when he takes his place at Parkhead
for the opening chapter of this season's confrontation series.
But he might confess to you, if pushed, that most Rangers and Celtic
players loved the derbies once they were over. ''I loved the
competitiveness of them and the pride both sets of players had in their
clubs. But the truth is that every Old Firm player sent out for these
derbies would walk off delighted as long as he didn't lose.''
Walter Smith and Liam Brady might echo his sentiments when he says
with some feeling that the worst experience of all is to manage the
teams in the great clash. ''Having to sit and watch it from the dug-out
was the worst feeling you can imagine.''
Greig expects this afternoon's latest meeting to be as hard fought as
ever, but believes that the advent of the minimum four meetings a season
has removed a tiny proportion of the overwhelming tension that is the
norm for these occasions.
''I think players play just as hard and are just as competitive, but
there is more attempt at good football. Maybe because of the influx of
foreigners and English players it is not quite at 120mph all the time.
They seem to me to be trying to be a bit more constructive. I have been
impressed by the attitude of the players in these games.
''Maybe in the old days of 80,000 crowds, when we were aware of the
possibility of trouble off the field, the atmosphere was different. But
the fact that it is not such a rare occasion is maybe the most important
change.''
Greig would have more cause than most to suggest that football of the
'90s is inferior to the '60s or '70s but is not inclined that way. ''Of
course it is different and tactics are more involved. The way the game
is played has changed, preparations have changed. But it is swings and
roundabouts as far as standards are concerned.
''What has happened recently is that some less publicised clubs have
been forced into bringing in foreign players to help them to compete.
Motherwell and Dundee have done it, and others have been encouraged to
try that sort of thing.
''I hate comparing players of one era with another. Full backs play as
wingers now, for example, but I still think the game throws up
personality players. Nobody could say that guys like McCoist and
Hateley, McStay and Collins, are not good players.''
Enthusiastic as ever, it would have been a surprise to hear anything
different from a man who was stunned to realise recently that he has now
been 15 years retired from playing, only three short of his active
career. But he loves the day job. ''I think that as a captain of the
club for so long, I unconsciously was getting the experience which
prepared me in a way for the PR job.''
He sits behind his desk on the first floor of the right-hand twin
tower busily absorbing paperwork, answering calls, preparing for
meetings. Life is different in some senses and much the same in others.
''I have said it often before: I have been a very fortunate man to
have been paid for what I loved doing. And that still applies.''
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article