Big-time Charlie

Michael Grant talks to Charlie Adam, one of Ibrox’s new Scottish stars, ahead of Rangers’ crucial Tynecastle tie

THERE was an unintentional sign of the times the other day when Charlie Adam described the satisfaction of breaking through to become a regular with Rangers. It’s enjoyable to perform in front of 50,000 fans at Ibrox, said Adam, “even when they are booing”.

Having appeared only once for Rangers in each of the past three seasons the 20-year-old finally graduated to become an established first-team presence only to discover that jeers and groans have become a frequent background noise from the Ibrox support these days. A decade ago a young Scottish player such as Adam would have found it difficult to emerge into the Rangers squad given the spending power and depth of superior talent the club had back then, and those who did play for the club experienced precious few occasions when they were booed off the park. Adam is already hardened enough to know that playing for Rangers today is not the freewheeling, trophy-strewn ride it was for most of the 1990s.

The instinctive loyalty of the travelling support will mean Adam and his team-mates at least can be sure that they will be cheered on to the field when they come out against Hearts at Tynecastle this afternoon. Notwithstanding the Edinburgh club’s self-inflicted wounds, the fixture has a formidable look for the visitors. Rangers have not won at Tynecastle for 20 months – Adam was an anonymous figure on loan at Ross County when it last happened – but they will reclaim second position in the table if they do so today. The significance of the SPL for Rangers was summed up by manager Paul Le Guen on Friday when he said Thursday’s Uefa Cup tie against Auxerre was “perhaps less important than the game against Hearts and perhaps even the one against Kilmarnock next weekend”. Adding: “My priority is to be focused on the championship.”

Another victory to follow the fragile 2-0 defeat of Dunfermline last weekend would also substantially reduce the heat on Le Guen. The Frenchman has been accused of undervaluing Scottish talent because he has not signed anyone from this country and he has seemed unconvinced by Allan McGregor and Kris Boyd. The verdict is unfair. It is under Le Guen that Steven Smith has blossomed into the side’s only ever-present so far and Adam has evolved from being a peripheral figure who Rangers were willing to send out on loan to County and, last season, St Mirren. While Hearts are finding excuses to keep senior Scottish players out of their team, Rangers had seven Scots starting or coming off the bench against Dunfermline.

Little wonder, then, that Adam is genuinely aggrieved when Le Guen is criticised for the mediocre start to his management at Rangers. He feels hugely indebted to the Frenchman, and not only because one of the club’s young goalkeepers, Grant Adam, is his wee brother. “It hurts me to see the pressure the manager is getting just now because I feel I owe a lot to him,” he said.

“Guys like myself feel a duty to pull the club out of this for him. Everybody is in it together, from the chairman right down. I think some of the criticism of him is not right. The players are pulling together for the manager because he’s been great with everybody and given us a fair chance, which is all we could ask for. He likes to have a laugh with the boys in training, he enjoys himself and I think is very happy at the club.

“We are delighted to have such a quality manager at the club and learning from him and [assistant manager] Yves Colleu is great,” said Adam.

“We’ve seen a lot of Scottish players getting picked for the team and, to be fair, I don’t think that would have happened in the past. He has given youth a chance and it’s great to see the boys from the youth side coming round to join us in training. It’s good for them to see the Scottish boys doing well in the team and see that they could get the opportunity, too, because the manager has shown he’s going to give youth a chance.

“At the moment we are going through a transitional period at Rangers with young players coming in. It’s going to be difficult but the manager is here for the long haul and so are we.”

Having felt that he developed “physically and mentally” during the highly rewarding loan period at St Mirren, Adam became prominent almost as soon as he returned to Ibrox for Le Guen’s arrival in the summer. He scored a hat-trick against Jono Cosmos Select during the pre-season tour of South Africa and showed enough in his energetic work-rate, movement and powerful left-footed shooting to convince the manager that he was worthy of regular inclusion. He has scored four times in seven appearances over the past month against Livorno, St Mirren, Maccabi Haifa and Dundee United, and held down a midfield place alongside Barry Ferguson and Jeremy Clement.

“I only had a year left on my contract so I went into pre-season thinking I had six weeks to prove to the new manager that I was good enough to be in his squad. He showed faith in me by starting me and I think my hat-trick in pre-season helped me. At the time I was talking to the manager about my weight and you’ve got to listen and learn from a guy like him. So I did lose a bit of weight and I’m seeing the benefits of it at the moment.

“I think my [lack of] pace is my biggest flaw. I’m not the quickest in the world and, while I make up for in other areas, like scoring goals from midfield, it’s something I am determined to work on. I have a powerful shot and, if you’ve got that kind of shot, it’s something you want to use to your advantage, although sometimes I’m a bit erratic.

“People have said to me that my shot is the same as Jorg Albertz’s was. To be mentioned in the same sentence as him is unbelievable because he’s a legend at the club. But it’s about me, not about how I could be this or that. I just want to be Charlie Adam and successful at Rangers. I always felt I was good enough to play for Rangers, it was just about getting the opportunity.”

Taken from the Sunday Herald