An Interview With Alan McLaren

Alan McLaren was known for his tough tackling abilities on the pitch, his professional approach to the game and his never say die attitude. His career came to a sudden halt when he had been tipped to captain both club and country by many, however, sadly for him, problems with his cartilage left him unable to play and he had to retire early, over the weekend I was given the opportunity to interview the former Hearts, Rangers and Scotland defender.
Here, he talks about his early career at Hearts, his move to Rangers, his relationship with Walter Smith and his famous performance against Italy where he marked Roberto Baggio out of the game.

We'll start off with a few questions about your football career, you started your career at Hearts, which is obviously is filled with fond memories, what's your fondest moment while playing for Hearts?

AMCL: I have lot's of fond memories at Hearts, leaving school and going straight into Tynecastle where I met some great people that I'm still friends with over 25 years later, and obviously your debut is a very fond memory and that's got to be up there with my favorite moment at Hearts, but I was lucky enough to play against Bayern Munich when I was 18 years old, that was an incredible experience, we won the first leg 1-0 at Tynecastle but sadly lost 2-0 in Munich in the second leg, and I have to say that is definitely up there, but no I have lots of fond memories while playing for Hearts.

You made your Hearts debut on the 24th of April 1988 as a 17 year old, can you describe your feelings on that day or is it just a complete blur?

It was a pointless game for everyone. I think the reason I got the debut at that point was suspensions, it was the last game of the season, away to Dundee Utd, it was a drab 0-0 draw, not much to talk about football wise, but naturally was a memorable one, it was one you'll always remember because of your debut.

While we're discussing Hearts, what are your thoughts on the current situation?

It's not good, unfortunately. Football lives in it's own wee bubble and everything else outside it doesn't really matter, but in the present financial climate all over the world – it's now beginning to burst into the football bubble. Obviously, if managers and players are going without pay it's not good, it's a tough time for everyone, but the guys have done their month's work and deserve to be paid. I know they have got last months wages, but as of today, they have not received their wages for December, it's not good but in the current financial climate, it sadly is happening.

Do you agree with players handing in a complaint to the PFA?

Yeah, again if you do your work, if your employed to do a certain amount of hours, then you deserve to be paid, and if someone is saying oh we'll pay you next week, or the week after, it's not the way football should be run.

Romanov has put fortunes into the club, but, unfortunately lately it's been going a bit pear shaped so if he's falling out of love with the club then that's fine, you've got to accept that he has put a lot of money in so he is entitled to his view point but maybe it's time for him to move on and let the club rebuild itself.

You made an expensive move in those days to Rangers when you signed for £2m with Dave McPherson going the opposite way, was there any other options for you at that time or where you set on Rangers as soon as the bid came in?

Yes there was options, I had a couple of offers from agents who wanted to take me down south, and the other half of the Old Firm Celtic, also were very much looking for my signature, they had been going about it for a lot longer than Rangers, but didn't reach a financial settlement with Hearts so I didn't get to speak with anyone but again, it was a great move for me going to Ibrox.

Your debut for Rangers was quite spectacular, a 3-1 victory over Celtic at Hampden, was that what you'd call a dream debut?

Of course it is, as I said you always remember it, everyone was up for it, it was an Old Firm match, it was must win, everyone likes to play in these games, their highly charged matches and it was a great game for me to make my debut in. Everyone was up for it and thankfully we ran out 3-1 victors.

Life at Rangers for you was good trophy wise, you signed in 1994 and were there for 5 years, what was your favorite moment at the club?

I think probably I'd have to go to clinching 9 in a row at Tannadice, purely because it meant so much to so many people, there was players there who were there for the first title, Ian Durrant, Ian Ferguson, Ally McCoist, and of course Walter Smith. There was a lot of backroom staff like John Brown who had been there since the first title and it had been a goal to try reach and it was great to do it. It meant so much to so many people and obviously the fans, it meant so much to them as well and it was just great to equal the record.

You captained Rangers on the day the club won 9 in a row due to Richard Gough's injury I'm led to believe, that must have been sensational for you, can you even begin to describe having such an important role to play in such a huge moment for Rangers?

Yes, we had been hampered with injuries all year so I had managed I think a couple of captaincy's prior to it and I think it was a lack of bodies fortunately for me that led to me getting the chance to lead them out in what turned out to be a very historic match for the club.

Sadly, you retired at such a young age, can you explain to me exactly went wrong?

I effectively retired at 26, it was my cartilage, the cartilage is like a sponge in between your bones, which obviously softens blows to your knee, these things break down and unfortunately for me it had broken down so much there was nothing left, and I had been through 3 operations to drill the bones, which is pretty high tech. There was no stone unturned, I had been to Germany, I'd been to Harley street, and it didn't quite work, after the 3rd time there was more chance of my bones breaking than me playing again so that was the end of my career which was sad.

You played with Ally McCoist at Rangers, did you think, of all the players you played with at Rangers, he would be the first to manage the side?

Looking back, I'd say everyone would have thought Richard Gough, but it wouldn't surprise me, nothing would surprise me with Alastair, whatever he turns his hand too he's good at. He done a good apprenticeship under Walter Smith at both Scotland and Rangers and I'm delighted for him, he has the best intentions for the club, he's a dyed in the wool bluenose, and I don't think there is anyone better to come in after Walter Smith and he's done a great job so far.

McCoist took a bit of stick during his early managerial career, but has since began to turn it around, do you think he can go on to become a huge success after following in the footsteps of a legend such as Walter Smith?

Yes, there's no reason why he can't be. Like I said, he's got the clubs best interests at heart and f he wasn't managing the club he'd probably be there as a supporter. With regards to Europe, things are at a different level now because of finance. The bigger clubs are getting bigger and their getting more wealthy and obviously their able to buy the best of players which means Rangers, Celtic, and even clubs down south can't afford to go out and buy these players which would obviously help for any push on in Europe. Again if we go into the Europa League, we got a run to the final not that long ago and I think that's the best we can hope for now a days. It would be great to get to the Champions League and it would be great to get through to the knock out stages and with the financial problems we have like a lot of teams, we can't afford the big players.

I can't interview without asking you about Walter Smith, the man who brought you to Rangers and helped you win trophies, did you have a good relationship with “the Gaffer”?

Yes, everyone got on well with Walter, he was hands on with the players and he made sure everyone was looked after. If he had his favourites it didn't stick out like a sore thumb and he treated everyone with the respect that he received. When it came to kicking peoples butt's he was pretty good at that as well. I wouldn't say a bad word about him and I think you'd have to search long and hard to find anyone who would or could say a bad word about him either. He was exceptionally good at man management, he's a lovely guy.

I also have to ask you about Paul Gascgoine, what was he like as a guy? Was he a massive part of the dressing room with his practical jokes, and did he ever play any of you?

Not really, I think he was a bit scared of me to be honest. I had a good relationship with Paul, a lot of people said we were polar opposites, but he managed to pull a few pranks over the years and lots of them can't be repeated but they were good. He was a joker, that's all you can say about him, big heart, he would give anybody anything, always there to help. There was plenty of practical jokes, there was a few played on everyone. The old cutting off of trouser legs of suits was one of his favorites. It's not the best thing when you've spent £200-£300 for a suit and Gazza's cutting the legs out of them. I wasn't best pleased with that one.

Who is the best player you have ever played with? And why?

Best player would be Paul Gascgoine, for talent – World Class. Great lad to have in the dressing room, great lad to have on the training ground, and when the going got tough and some of the tough got going, he was always one that would battle it out for you. I was very fortunate to play with some great players. A lot of them were at Rangers, I had some great pro's at Hearts when I was a 16 year old coming through. Walter Kidd was one, Walter Kidd wouldn't grace anybody's greatest ever Scottish XI's but when your coming through you need to know what to do and what not to do and guy's like Walter and Eamonn Bannon, John Robertson, I had all these guys to look after me. Craig Levein was another one, I went from polishing Craig's boots to eventually playing alongside both for Scotland and Hearts and it's great to see him go onto bigger and better things. At Rangers you had McCoist, Durrant, Laudrup, Stuart McCall, Andy Goram and I could go on and on all day. The majority of them are really nice guys as well and that's always nice. The talent's obviously for the field but away from the pitch they were really nice lads as well.

You played for Scotland on 24 occasions, what was your best moment in a Scotland jersey?

Best moment in a Scotland jersey? We had a 0-0 draw with Italy at Ibrox and I marked a player called Roberto Baggio who at that time was the darling of Italy. He was World Player of the Year, European Player of the Year. Somehow, I managed to subdue him but sadly we only got a draw but it was a great feeling doing so well against someone so well respected in the world of football. Euro 92 was lovely, I went along but I didn't manage to get a game. I had just been moved up from the under 21's and went all the way there but didn't get on. Euro 96 was a big disappointment, I played 9 out of 10 qualifiers only to be hammered by an injury which obviously was then to end my career so I didn't get to take part in the championships down in England which would have been nice but again I take satisfaction in guiding my country to a major finals. The Italy game, I got the plaudits for it, I got Man of the Match and all the credit but at the end of the day it's a team game and if the other 10 lads aren't doing their job then you can't either. It's one of these things, everyone remembers that I was captain the day Rangers won 9 in a row and everyone remembers that I marked Roberto Baggio out off the Italy game. It's nice people remember but yeah they were good times.

Have you ever had any chances to go into coaching and managing? Or have you ever considered it?

I've never considered it and I've had a couple of enquiries to see if I would consider going back into the game. Although recently I've taken an U14 side, my local side in Edinburgh, Spartans, with my child. I've got a 13 year old boy and I've started helping out with their team which it has it's ups and a lot of downs and I can imagine the big boys being a bit too much for me. But no, I've never really thought about it, I've got three young kids so full time coaching or full time management is not a 40 hour it's closer to an 80 hour week when you take in all the time they plan things and games they watch and I don't have the drive to do that so I'll continue to play the lotto like everyone else.

You're an ambassador for the Football Aid charity, can you explain exactly what the charity does?

The Football Aid is a charity that was the brainchild of a guy called Craig Paterson who was a solicitor in Edinburgh. His child suffers from diabetes, and I know there's obviously several different stages. Now, Craig's son got to the point were he took a near fatal seizure where he almost lost his life and Craig took it upon himself to phone clubs and managed to get a lot of things for free.

The shirts go on sale on a website www.footballaid.com. You go online, you put a bid in, the bids start with the goalkeeper and carry on throughout the team from there in home and away strips.

At the end of each season your given a date when you go along to your chosen venue where you play on the field of dreams which is another part of the charity and you can run out at Ibrox to the Champions League music if that is what you wish and hopefully you will have a couple of players there. You will have a playing player, so someone who will play in the side with you and another player who will manage the side. It's just to try give you the full experience of what happens on a match day and how the pro's approach things.

I think Football Aid has been going for about 10 years now. I've been fortunate to have ambassador roles at Hearts, at Rangers and at Scotland also. Now they have done exceptionally well, they have the English Premiership, the Scottish Premier League and now they do have Barcelona which was a huge one for them. These shirts can cost anything from a tenner to anything. I know someone paid £7,000 to wear the number seven shirt at Celtic Park and that was the very first year. It's opened to everyone. If you've got a spare couple of quid and want to play at Easter Road, Tynecastle, Ibrox, Parkhead then go online and bid.

It's a good day out and it's well worth it, it's for a good charity. Football Aid take half the money and the other half go to the clubs chosen charity as well so the money is spread out amongst everyone which is good.

And finally, I'd like to thank you for your time today, let's have a prediction, who's winning the SPL this season?

The SPL will go down to the wire but I'm not going to go against Rangers, I just couldn't. Well I don't think it will be clear cut but come May I think Ally will be celebrating his first one and Rangers 4 in a row. So again, Scottish Cup would be nice as well but the league's the main one and I'd expect us to take it back to Ibrox again.

Despite retiring early in his career, McLaren had a full career, winning trophies, and captaining his club being the most any player would ask for. Since retiring from football, McLaren has taken a vital role in the football charity Football Aid, having ambassador roles with Rangers, Hearts and Scotland. He has stated he has no intentions of going into coaching or management at a high level but has taken up a role at Spartans managing his son's under 14 side, maybe that will ignite a desire to re-enter the football world. Who knows?