Glasgow Rangers during the 1990s were an unstoppable force, winning nine out of the ten titles available to them during the decade, while also adding countless domestic trophies.
David Murray spent vast sums of money – at times, too much – in order to create a side that could not only dominate Scotland but also conquer Europe. Unfortunately, this idea didn’t exactly come to fruition.
Despite some wonderful players joining the club while Murray was chairman such as Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne, and Jorg Albertz, there were of course, many who didn’t quite live up to the exceedingly high expectations at the Ibrox side.
Was Stephane Guivarc’h David Murray’s biggest flop at Rangers?
Dick Advocaat took over from Walter Smith in the summer of 1998 following the club’s first trophyless season in 13 years and he was expected to succeed where the Scot had failed – in Europe.
Just before Christmas, the Dutchman signed Frenchman Stephane Guivarc’h from Newcastle United for a fee of £3.5m, and having won the World Cup just a few months before, playing in the final against Brazil, it initially looked like an excellent move.
His credentials were further enhanced with the fact he netted a staggering 46 goals during the 1997/1998 campaign for AJ Auxerre and this effectively sealed his spot in the French squad for the 1998 World Cup on home soil.
He failed to score during the tournament and a move to Newcastle following the event ended disastrously, scoring once in four matches before moving to the Gers in November of the same year.
Despite a solid enough start which saw him score in the League Cup final against St Johnstone as the club secured the first part of an eventual treble, the 14-cap striker scored just seven times in total before moving on at the end of the season.
He re-joined his former club Auxerre yet his brief spell at Rangers has gone down amongst the Ibrox faithful as one of the club’s worst-ever transfers, especially for the fee paid compared to goals scored.
Murray had a massive howler with Guivarc’h and although the treble was sealed at the end of the season, flops like the Frenchman won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
