Terry Butcher has sent Derek McInnes a text message telling him what he must do at Ibrox and has a Celtic message planned for Martin O'Neill. The former Rangers skipper has high hopes for the season ahead under his old pal McInnes.
Butcher, a former boss at Motherwell, Inverness and Easter Road, has already wished his old touchline rival the best after landing his dream job at Ibrox. He's hoping it brings McInnes better fortune than he enjoyed when embarking on his ill-fated spell in Leith - an appointment that ended in the club's humiliating relegation in 2014.
Butcher's message to McInnes
"I came up against Derek many times," recalled the former England captain. "I'll tell you what, when I was manager of Hibs many years ago — I try to forget about that - I was going through a hard time. Mind you, that was virtually all the time I was there! Derek called me up and we had a chat and he sent me some messages saying 'good luck' and that sort of thing. It didn't work!"
"But it was really nice to get a message from someone. I have still got his number and I sent him a message when he became manager of Rangers just to wish him good luck. I really hope he will do well, which I am sure he will do."
If Butcher has one message to send to the Rangers manager, it's this: keep on winning. And if McInnes can carry out that instruction, then Butcher is looking forward to picking up the phone to offer some words of commiseration to his old friend Martin O'Neill.
Momentum and winning runs
Butcher drew on his experience with O'Neill at Euro 2000, recalling: "I remember speaking to Martin O'Neill at Euro 2000 when he took over at Celtic. I know Martin very well because he was an ex-Norwich player and we had some good times against each other. We were doing some radio work for 5Live and he asked 'have I done the right thing?' I told him, 'Yeah, you have done the right thing'. I said it would be like a snowball. You start with momentum, you win some games and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger the more that you win. I saw him a couple of years later and he said 'you were exactly right, that is what happened.' It is getting that momentum."
"That's what Derek has to do. He has got a win, but he has got to win and improve on that. You build up the season with unbeaten runs—maybe one, maybe two, maybe three. The more you become unbeaten, the more strength you get, the more camaraderie you get with players, the more understanding you get with the players and the more confidence you get. That would be the thing for me to say to Derek. I did wish him luck. Maybe it is the kiss of death from me!"
Rangers' recovery under McInnes
McInnes has shaken off a nightmare first month in the job to piece together seven straight wins. That was enough to briefly nudge Rangers back to the top of the table on Saturday before O'Neill's Celtic side eased some of the pressure building on their 74-year-old gaffer by winning at Motherwell. Rangers will have the chance to strike first again this weekend coming as they head to Dundee ahead of Sunday's showdown between the Hoops and Hearts at Parkhead.
Were it not for bad luck, McInnes would have had none at all during a torrid first four weeks in the job. Spilled points against Dundee United and Hibs in his first two league games were bad enough but suffering a double European exit - combined with injuries to star strikers Yussef Chermiti and Lawrence Shankland - left fans wondering if the former nine-in-a-row hero was cut out for the top job at Ibrox. Well the punters are well and truly square behind the boss now after a rampant run of wins - including back-to-back triumphs over O'Neill's champions.
Helicopter Sunday hope
Butcher, who lifted three league titles and two cups after becoming the first major signing of the Graeme Souness revolution at Ibrox, said: "Winning certainly helps that environment. A lot of people say they don't care how you win, as long you do actually win the games. But with Rangers in particular and Celtic and all the top teams in the English Premier League, they expect quality of performance. They expect players to play really, really well and it should be a 3-0 or 4-0 easy, comfortable victory. But, you know, you know it's not going to be like that. Every game that the opponents play against Old Firm, it's their cup final. And the more success they have against Rangers and Celtic, the more confident they're going to feel about going into that next game against them. So you've got to win games. How you get that team spirit? That's up to Derek and his team and it's up to the players. But, you've got to have strong leaders, guys who have that experience of winning."
"There has to be a determination from players to really make it work because there's nothing like winning games for Rangers. There's nothing like climbing the league. There's nothing like winning the league or winning cups. You just can't buy that. It's just something that's priceless and I treasure my trophies. I treasure my medals. I treasure my time at Rangers so much. That's why we all feel, having been a Rangers player, a lot of love and respect for the club. And we hurt as well when Rangers lose - but we certainly enjoy it when they win, particularly against the Old Firm."
Butcher admits he'd love to see a repeat of the 2005 campaign play out, when his Motherwell side stunned Celtic on the final day to send the league title swooping to Rangers. He grinned: "I'll wish Martin good luck - I hope he finishes second! It's funny. Martin is one of the nicest people I've ever met, he really is. He is funny. He's unfortunately at the wrong club but there we are. It's his choice. He's a lovely man. I do wish him well. I hope that there's another Helicopter Sunday on the way for Rangers. That would be good."
Butcher is patron for Combat2Coffee, a mental health advocacy group supporting the armed forces community.
