Lee Wallace: Captains of Rangers past must not be forgotten

[ian1964 10,721]

LEE WALLACE is the Rangers player whose stock is arguably the highest, a sign of respect and appreciation earned during a maiden year as the club’s title-winning captain.

 

Yet, even at the peak of his powers, the man who now slings on a skipper’s armband over his light blue shirt insists he is simply standing on the shoulders of the giants who wore it before him and continue to have their legacy felt throughout the corridors of Murray Park and on the pitch at Ibrox.

 

Wallace may be the man that leads Rangers into the Ladbrokes Premiership in August, but the considered and level-headed 28-year-old is not content to live in the present. Instead, the left-back is only too happy to recognise the contribution of first-team coach and former captain Davie Weir, as well as his predecessor, Lee McCulloch.

 

Despite now being at Kilmarnock, the man affectionately referred to as ‘jig’ by his pals helped piece together a fragmented Ibrox side in the early days in League Two and One, steering them nearer to the surface of Scottish football.

 

His tenure as leader of the Rangers team of course ended in disappointment as Motherwell hammered his team 6-1 in the Premiership play-off, but Wallace will never forget the work put in by the man now at Kilmarnock that helped bring the Glasgow club to the brink of the top flight.

 

“I’ve learned in my years of being there that we’ve had great captains,” he said. “You have Davie, who is now on the coaching staff, so there’s no easier guy to go to if I’ve ever got any issues.

 

“Davie was exactly how I’ve just described, as he is as a coach now. He’ll always be thoughtful, he’ll always think things through and not have any shouting matches. It’s always well processed.

 

“Of course you have Lee McCulloch who I’ve learnt from in the past few years. He deserves full recognition of where we are now. Without Jig’s contribution as a player and a captain we probably wouldn’t be where we are.

 

“There are has to be a lot of thanks go to Lee McCulloch.

 

“I think the captaincy thing has helped and it has been that extra bit of responsibility that I feel I’ve took on and enjoyed.”

 

Wallace added: I think the fans do remember him and it’s important not to forget, now that we’re back up and in the top flight, Jig played his part, was loyal and played a number of positions in the earlier seasons in the lower divisions.

 

“He scored a number of goals playing up front, played in midfield and, in the latter period, went to centre-half. It was purely because he was trusted to play these positions and still had tremendous quality as a player.

 

“I know the fans will always hold him in high regard and everyone has to recognise that he played a massive part in where we are. That can’t be forgotten.”

 

Wallace was speaking after being nominated for the PFA Scotland Championship player of the year, a gong that team-mate Martyn Waghorn also finds himself in the running for.

 

It is a familiar position for the Rangers defender. Having already won the award for League Two and League One, it would represent a fitting hat-trick for a footballer that could have been operating at a much higher level.

 

He acknowledges and appreciates the satisfaction the personal accolade would bring but, as the captain of Rangers, he is understandably preoccupied with more collective matters.

 

“It would be [nice to win all three awards], albeit it would have been nicer doing it back to back,” said Wallace.

 

“Obviously it was a poor season last year so it wasn’t able to happen, but it might be nice when I look back on however many years’ time when I retire that the awards were there.

 

“I felt that I had the quality that was expected to do that. I don’t want to be disrespectful, but these are awards you want to try and do at the top level.

 

“When we are back it’s going to be one I’ll certainly try and get in the future.”

 

He added: “It’s a nice feeling of course. You’ll hear players say it every year that it’s great that your fellow players that you come up against who do the voting up to this point.

 

“It’s nice on an individual basis but we at Rangers have been more of a team mindset. Of course it’s nice to be nominated, I’ll be thinking about the success of the team so far.”

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/14448385.Lee_Wallace__Captains_of_Rangers_past_must_not_be_forgotten/

[barca72 440]

I agree with him about Jig. Maybe he lingered a year too long, but he did put in some really good shifts.

Once a bear, always a bear.

[MacK1950 2,376]

Jig put in blood,sweat, tears and a whole lot more in our journey so thanks for that and hope to compete with you in premier league,good luck on your survival bid.Hope you keep the team from Leith out if it's them you meet.

[pete 2,499]

I won't run Jig down he did his best and played his heart out for Rangers.I still think he should have stayed in attack as he was dangerous in both boxes.