Ex-Rangers boss Alex McLeish reflects on Euro agony vs Panathinaikos and offers Walter Smith advice to Russell Martin

Scottish Sun

20-07-2025

He's shared some memories of his early days at Ibrox
GREEK TRAGEDY Ex-Rangers boss Alex McLeish reflects on Euro agony vs Panathinaikos and offers Walter Smith advice to Russell Martin
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ALEX McLEISH saw his European dreams crushed the last time Rangers faced Panathinaikos in the Champions League.
Now he hopes Russell Martin's side make amends on Tuesday night.
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Michael Mols' goal wasn't enough to stop Rangers going down to Panathinaikos
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Alex McLeish's men needed to win at Ibrox to drop into the UEFA Cup
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But the 3-1 defeat saw McLeish's charges crash out of Europe
Eck was in charge at Ibrox when they hosted the Greeks in the group stages in December 2003.
Back-to-back away defeats to Manchester United and Stuttgart, after a home loss to the Old Trafford side, had killed their knockout stage hopes.
Gers had a solid start, beating the Germans in Govan and drawing away in Athens.
Still, a win against the Greeks on matchday six would have seen Rangers into the Uefa Cup.
But a 3-1 loss saw them finish bottom of Group E on goal difference.
Michael Mols put Gers ahead, but goals from Raimondas Zutautas, Angelos Basinas and Michalis Konstantinou stunned Ibrox.
McLeish said: 'We'd got past FC Copenhagen in the qualifying round then started the group well against Stuttgart.
'We could actually have won in Greece too — they scored right at the end to get a draw.
'But 1-1 was a good result, and four points out of six was a good start.
'We were a bit limp in the two United games, and went into the last game at Ibrox knowing a Uefa Cup place was the best we could get.
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'Mols put us ahead but they equalised straight away, went in front, and hit us with a third on the break when we were pushing forward.
'It was a poor performance, and I just hope Rangers can make amends for it on Tuesday night.
'After the Treble in 2002-03 we'd made a lot of changes to the squad and we were in the middle of a rebuild.
'Barry Ferguson and Lorenzo Amoruso had joined Blackburn, Neil McCann went to Southampton, Arthur Numan had left.
'The squad was definitely weaker and it showed in the European games.
'It was still pretty close against Panathinaikos, but we weren't at the level of previous seasons.'
McLeish knows the pressure is on new Gers boss Martin going into Tuesday's clash — but thought back to his first Old Firm game as manager, the CIS Cup semi-final in 2002, for inspiration.
Eck added: 'I was staying in a hotel and I was stomping around my room the night before with all those thoughts in my head.
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'There had been a bit of scepticism about my appointment, and we were going into my first Old Firm game with Celtic going for back-to-back Trebles.
'I'd the wee devil on one side going, 'What if you never beat Celtic? You'll go down in history as a dumpling'.
"And the wee angel was going, 'But what if you win? How good would it be?'.
'I rang Sir Alex Ferguson that night and had a chat, told him how we were going into the game as underdogs.
'He said to make sure my defence was locked tight, but also to make sure I'd one or two in the team with the X-factor.
'Being honest, I wasn't envisaging Bert Konterman as my X-factor guy!
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"But he was the hero of the hour with his flash of inspiration to win the game.
'I get the fans' concern about whether there's been enough preparation for this.
'But it would be a fantastic boost if Russell got his tactics right and got a result. It would silence the doubters.
'For me, that Celtic game lit the touchpaper and we went on to win trophies. So it just takes one result.
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Alex McLeish hopes Russell Martin fares better against the Greeks than he did
"But Russell will know it's going to be tough. Greece's international team were really good against Scotland in the Nations League play-off in March.
'It's not going be a walkover and I don't think people are thinking that way.
'It might be that Rangers need that underdog mentality. Make sure they are absolutely watertight but still have a bit of flair, with match winners in the side.
'Russell had a very difficult job at Southampton and he knows the demands at Rangers.
'I think back to going to dinner with Walter Smith and our wives when I took over.
"I asked if he had any tips for me, and he looked furtively over his shoulder and leaned forward towards me.
'I thought, 'Brilliant, I'm going to get some penetrating insight, the benefit of all his experience'.
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'And he said, 'Just f****** win, that's all there is to it!'. I carried that into every single game.
'Russell has been at Rangers, he knows there are critics everywhere and that expectation of winning every week.
'It would be nice to go to Greece with a 2-0 lead. But it will be difficult.'
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