RANGERS’ royalty spent last week touring the club’s training ground.
Sir Alex Ferguson, John Greig and Richard Gough all graced Russell Martin’s squad with their presence in the build up to the crunch Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos.
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Their collective desire to see Gers back on top has made Martin more determined than ever before to build an empire of his own – fuelled, of course, by the prestige of the past.
Sir Alex played for his boyhood heroes in the 1960s, while Greig and Gough delivered countless titles and trophies as captains.
And Martin believes their iconic status within Ibrox can help propel his players to greatness.
The Light Blues boss said: “We had two Rangers legends and a legend of the game this week who supports this club and they all had the same conversation with every single one about what this club means to them and we have to represent that as much as we can.
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“That’s to try and be, like I said, as dominant as we possibly can in every aspect of the game we can be.
“We had John Brown, Lee McCulloch, Ian Durrant at a game and it was great to see them.
“The door is open to people who have had success here, they know what it takes, they know what the club is about, they support the club, they feel what it means to be here and be part of it.
“Anyone that can impart some wisdom on that and some experience, and people who have had big success here as well, is hugely helpful to me, to the staff, to the players.
“It’s been great, it’s been really nice, the energy around the training ground, seeing some of the players are in awe of these people is brilliant.
“It just reminds you that the players are just human as well, the same as us, they have people they look up to and they aspire to be like and this group will have a chance to create their own history, their own legacy and that has to be the message all the time, we have a chance to come here and do something really special and bring things together and do that and that has to be the aim for us this year.”
While past legends can inspire, Martin knows his players must find their own way to follow in their footsteps.
With so much riding on the outcome of the Panathinaikos clash, it’s a baptism of fire for his new look squad.
Martin stressed: “They have to trust the work they’ve done.
“They have to trust each other, they have to trust the work that we’ve given them.
“And to do that, whatever the situation is, even if we’re having a tough moment in the game, even if we’re well on top and we’re having a good time, they have to trust the work and stick to the work.
“Otherwise, it’s pointless.
“I think we have a really clear framework to work in.
“There are certain non-negotiables and principles of our play that will remain the same, whatever the situation.
“And then they have to feel things and tomorrow night they’ll feel it for the first time properly.
“So they will hopefully, as much as they possibly can, help each other on the pitch.
“We’ll help as much as we can from the side. It’s not always easy, but we will.
“Then they just have to trust that we will support them for it, as long as the intention of the team is good.
“We can always accept when mistakes are made or whatever, but the reaction has to be good and the intention has to be good. So they’ll never get criticised if the intention is good and to be us.”
Like Gers, Panathinaikos finished distant runners-up last season – trailing Olympiacos by 16 points.
It’s 15 years since the Greeks last reached the Group stages of the Champions League.
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The last time the teams met, Rangers progressed on the old away goals rules to reach the last 16 of the Uefa Cup – Walter Smith’s side would go on to reach the final.
Martin said: “I’m excited about it.
“I said that to the players, they should, with the work they’ve put in over the last four weeks, they should be really excited about this game too, because it’s all been geared towards this.
“It could be hugely important for us. It will be.
“Whatever happens, the plan is to win it, to progress and to build from there.
“But whatever happens, we’ll have something to gauge where this group is at, for them to feel it, the players and what we’re asking them to do, to learn a lot about themselves, for us to learn a lot about them.
“It will not define us, but it is important.
“It needs to be patient, it needs to be quick and there will be times where it won’t require much patience and there will be times where it will.
“It’s not all going to be plain sailing, there will be some bumpy moments but we have to make sure that everyone can understand and see what we are trying to achieve and that the team has enough moments that people can feel excited about.
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“That will be the message, we’re going to need the supporters, they were amazing in the pre-season friendly second half, they’ve been brilliant whenever we’ve bumped into anyone around the city, they’ve been amazing.
“And they are the most important people and I hope they can feel the freshness and the energy in their team tomorrow night.”
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