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.''