McLeish out to take Firm control

Rangers v Celtic Ibrox, tomorrow, 12.30Alex McLeish never hides the fact he learned his trade at the feet of a master - Alex Ferguson. And now the pupil is on the verge of passing his biggest examination.

Victory for his Rangers team over Celtic tomorrow would all but secure the Premier League championship and edge his side closer to the treble. That would be a remarkable feat in his first full season in charge, mirroring the success of Martin O'Neill at Celtic in his inaugural term, and would, whisper it, raise a question as to who is the most talented manager in Glasgow.

"It's far too scary to even think about that right now," McLeish said with a hint of humour. After only one defeat in eight head-to-heads with O'Neill and Celtic, there is little doubt he has dominated this fixture.

The fact he knows what Glasgow rivalry is all about has helped and in his book, penned while an Aberdeen player, he revealed: "I followed in my father's footsteps as a Rangers fan although I could just as easily have started off as a Celtic supporter, for in different periods of my childhood my family lived near both grounds.

"I never took a blinkered attitude and the religious divide was a nonsense. I had pals from Catholic and Protestant households and played in a team specially created for youngsters who shared my liberal outlook. It was called Rantic."

The common-sense approach to Glasgow's great divide has served McLeish well but he has earned plaudits, too, for his dignity in defeat and, for that matter, when Celtic's paranoia ran wild over the controversial timing for this match, coming only 56 hours after they returned from their UEFA Cup semi-final win in Oporto. He has also said all the right things concerning that European run.

"Congratulations to Martin O'Neill, John Robertson and Steve Walford on their achievement. It is great," he added. "We tend to put European teams on a pedestal but Celtic have showed Scottish clubs can make an impact at that level."

If Rangers win the league, that Celtic achievement will also reflect well on McLeish, of course, and though the talk has been of O'Neill heading back to the Premiership there are covetous eyes being cast in the direction of Ibrox as well.

The 44-year-old McLeish learned in his apprenticeship, first at Motherwell and then Hibernian, the intricacies of management. Yet it was in his playing days at Pittodrie that the man known as "Big Eck" truly had his eyes opened as Ferguson broke the Old Firm monopoly and lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup after a memorable win against Real Madrid in 1983.

McLeish was an integral part of that team, along with his central defensive partner Willie Miller, picking up 77 Scotland caps along the way. "Alex was always great with people," said Miller. "The potential for man-management was always there. He always took a big interest, too, in European football and since then he's been very knowledgable about football matters outside of Scotland."

His own man-management skills strengthened Rangers after Dick Advocaat's tenure, when stories of a divided dressing-room were rife. The Scot is very much a players' man and has coaxed and cajoled the same squad the Dutchman worked with to such greater effect.

Yet he is no soft touch and last Saturday, with his side trailing 2-1 to Motherwell at half-time in the Scottish Cup semi-final, he was moved to remind his team of the kind of hunger and desire associated with the club. Rangers won 4-3.

"The manager said his bit during the interval and the walls were shaking," said Fernando Ricksen.

That kind of tantrum has been a rarity since he took over. But it evokes memories of Ferguson. And much like his old mentor, there is more to McLeish than the shouting.