Former Rangers midfielder and head of recruitment Neil Murray has lifted the lid on the mentality he believes players need to succeed at Ibrox.
Murray has experienced Rangers from both sides of the recruitment process. As a player he joined the club as a teenager in 1987 and made 78 appearances between 1989 and 1996, winning five league titles during the nine-in-a-row era and a domestic treble in 1992/93.
He later returned as a scout under Walter Smith in 2008 before becoming Rangers' head of recruitment from 2011 until 2013.
That experience has given Murray an insight into the demands placed on players at Ibrox and the importance of identifying footballers who can cope when the pressure increases.
For Murray, technical ability was only one part of the equation. The real test was what a player did when things went wrong.
The Rangers mentality test
Murray explained that scouts would look beyond a player's best moments and assess their reaction when they made mistakes or found themselves struggling during a match.
A player who continued to demand the ball and show personality could reveal more about their suitability for Rangers than someone who simply looked good when everything was going their way.
That mentality was regarded as particularly important at Ibrox, where players are expected to take responsibility rather than hide when performances deteriorate.
Why Rangers needed players who will not hide
The former Rangers midfielder believes that response to adversity is what can separate a player capable of performing at the highest level from one who struggles under pressure.
He explained: “Sometimes you go to a game, for example, and a player, maybe they didn’t play particularly well, or it was the reaction to them not playing well.
“You look at, did they hide and not make angles to receive the ball because they were scared to make a mistake or did, they just stick their chest out and keep going.
“Even when a player maybe wasn’t at his best, we still saw that personality of being a leader and not hiding.
“At Rangers that was big for us because sometimes if it doesn’t go well, you need people to turn up and keep taking the ball and keep moving, keep being a leader.”
Leadership was part of the recruitment process
Murray also revealed how highly Rangers valued players who had already demonstrated leadership elsewhere. A trait the club have targeted this summer with the recruitment of Hearts’ captain Lawrence Shankland and ex-Sunderland skipper Dan Neil.
The club targeted individuals who were accustomed to responsibility, including players who had captained their clubs or countries.
“We signed Carlos Bocanegra, he was Captain of America. We signed Doian Goian, he was also captaining Romania on occasion, we signed Lee Wallace, who ended up being the great captain for Rangers,” he explained.
“It was always part of our thinking that you want leaders, you want maybe captains of other clubs, you want people that are not afraid to make a mistake.”
For Murray, those qualities were not simply desirable characteristics. They were part of what Rangers expected from their players.
“It didn’t need to be said, it didn’t need to be spoken because it was what was expected.
“It was almost unspoken because it was a given.”
That culture, Murray believes, was also influenced by the standards established under managers such as Graeme Souness, who demanded physicality, aggression and a willingness to impose themselves on opponents.
'Earn the right to play'
The mentality Murray describes was not separated from the physical side of the game, Rangers players had to be prepared to compete before they could express their technical ability.
Murray believes that winning individual battles was a fundamental part of playing for the club.
“It was clear what it was. You have to impose yourself on the opposition, you have to be fitter, taller, stronger, quicker,” he revealed.
“You have to make sure that you dominate your individual battles, you have to make sure that you earn the right to play.”
“Pirlo, AC Milan, he was super technical, an excellent passer, but what allowed him to do that was Gattuso running about.
“There can be combinations of players and partnerships that can complement each other. It’s a choice of the coach, what he wants, how he sees the blend of the team.”
That blend is crucial at Rangers, where technical ability, physicality and mentality all have to fit together.
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