The greatest Rangers manager & a title to treasure - Richard Foster

Richard Foster lived an Ibrox life less ordinary amidst the turbulent times in the recent history of the Light Blues.

Here in the first instalment of a two-part Rangers Review exclusive the now BBC Sportscene pundit, husband of Scottish singer Amy MacDonald, takes us back to 2010 when a whirlwind deadline day move saw him exit Aberdeen to become the Loan Ranger.

Walter Smith stormed into the gym at Murray Park as his Rangers stars warmed up for training on the exercise bikes and turned that icy glare on Allan McGregor and James Beattie.

Richard Foster can still picture the scene like it was yesterday.

The colour drained from the faces of keeper McGregor and English striker Beattie who knew the veteran manager’s wrath was coming their way.

Richard recalled: “I’ll never forget we were on the bikes in the gym that morning and Walter steamed in there raging.

“He said to Greegs and Beatts: ‘Were you two chucked out of Corinthian at 4am in the morning?’

“They went white but said: ‘Naw gaffer, not us.’

“We got off the bikes and went to the dressing room to get our boots on to go and train but the Gaffer called a meeting.

“He stood up in the dressing room and spoke about how he knew this was a small squad and he knew he was asking a lot of us.

“Then he stressed that this would be a relaxed ship but there were certain expectations and one of those was that if we had a midweek game then the players should be professional and not go out on a Saturday night.

“Then he said: ‘I have to apologise to Greegs and Beatts because I asked them if they had got chucked out of Corinthian at 4am.’

“He continued: ‘That was wrong of me, they did not get chucked out of Corinthian at 4am, they were just fucking going into Corinthian at 4am!’ “Everyone was trying not to laugh and Durranty was behind Walter silently shaking with laughter but afraid to make a noise.

“Walter turned around with one of those looks and he had dealt with what could have been a really volatile situation in a way that everyone knew the undertone.

“Yes, there was humour there but equally there was that message. It doesn’t happen again.”

At 37, the chapter of Richard Foster the footballer is over. After 644 games in British football and a season as a player-coach in the USL with Detroit City, the boots are hung up.

As he pondered the next steps of what he hopes will be a fruitful career in the technical area at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia he took time out to look back on two very different spells in light blue for the Rangers Review.

First time around came in 2010 with Gers heading into what would be Smith’s last season at the helm of his boyhood heroes.

Richard revealed: “There had been a little story in the papers mid-August that Rangers were interested but then my agent Allan Preston spoke to them and he said he didn’t think they wanted to do it.

“We’d started the league at Aberdeen but I had been suspended for opening day and Mark McGhee hadn’t played me.

“Then it came to August 31 and I came off the training field and I had nine missed calls then a voicemail from Allan saying: ‘Phone me now, you are going to Rangers on a season-long loan.’

“It was pending Andrius Velicka going the other way and that got sorted and the next thing I knew I was at Murray Park.

“It was an international break and Walter and the staff weren’t in and a lot of the players were away.

READ MORE: Tommy Wilson interview: Using Rangers lessons in America

“When Walter came back he spoke to me and explained he had tried to do a deal in the summer but Aberdeen wouldn’t deal with Rangers and he thought it was dead in the water.

“So I could have been there as a Rangers full-time player but instead there was this element of me being there on loan with Aberdeen still paying my wages.

“It worked out well for me, though, I’d had a few words with Mark McGhee and I felt they were trying to reinvent the wheel in training.

“Looking back, I was stuck in my ways and it went from me not being eligible for the first game to not being in contention with players who weren’t recognised full-backs playing in front of me.

“In the end, I think it was McGhee who prompted the deal because he wanted Velicka although he had struggled in Scottish football.

“There were questions over his attitude and I think Rangers and Walter were happy with the deal they got.”

BBC Sportscene pundit Foster was under no illusions about what his role would be at Ibrox.

His signing bore the echoes of the Smith capture of Alec Cleland in 1995, a deal many questioned yet the reliable full-back would go on to play more than 100 games in the 9-in-a-row era before following Walter to Everton.

Richard admitted: “Listen, I knew I was going to be a squad player but I was always going to give it everything.

“I had spoken to Ian Durrant previously but that was around the time of the takeover and he told me they liked me.

“Then he said if they got the right board in with money and had a war chest to spend they would be signing players for 1 million and not guys like me!

“That made me smile, but he got serious and said if they didn’t have the big money, they’d be in for me.

“The war chest didn’t materialise and I ended up coming in on loan, I guess that was my sliding doors moment.

“Within two weeks I went from losing to Cove Rangers in the Aberdeenshire Cup on penalties to sitting on the bench at Old Trafford in the Champions League. It was insane.”

One of those raucous Rangers Euro nights under the lights on October 20th 2010, against Valencia in the Champions League will always live with the former Dons and Ross County defender.

Smith gave him a vote of confidence against the Spanish giants in a 1-1 draw that saw American midfielder Maurice Edu score headers at both ends.

Richard Foster fires over the bar from close range in Rangers' Champions League clash with Valencia at Ibrox. (Image: SNS)

As is often the way in Glasgow many fans recall the late chance that fell to Foster after a Steven Naismith shot was blocked.

It’s described as an open goal, it’s not. The target is narrowing on his weaker left foot and the finish flashes high over the bar.

Dwelling on that missed chance often disguises the fact that Foster was named Man of the Match in such illustrious company.

Richard said: “Our Champions League group that year was Valencia, Manchester United and Bursaspor and we also played PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.

“It means a lot to me that Walter trusted me in Europe, I played in that 1-1 draw at Ibrox against Valencia and did well.

“Walter made me relax and feel I was good enough to play in the Champions League for Rangers.

“He put his arm round my shoulder on the way off training before that match and said: ‘Fancy a game tomorrow night? Ready to play?’

“I kind of stammered yes and he said: ‘Good’ and walked away!

“He had told me not to think I was a squad player but I had Sasa Papac, Steven Whittaker and Kirk Broadfoot ahead of me for the full-back roles and I knew that.

“My time at Rangers first time around would have been completely different, though, if I had not played in that Valencia game.

“I was fortunate that injuries meant I got a chance against Valencia and I had to show that I could play.”

I have always felt that Smith the understated defender at Dumbarton and Dundee United felt a special empathy for players like Cleland and Foster.

He valued their qualities, knew what they could bring to the table and perhaps even saw a little bit of his own playing DNA in them.

Walter knew how much playing just one game for Rangers would have meant to him and he had it in his power to grant the chance to them.

READ MORE: Kevin Thomson's dream Rangers midfield: Bite, power, class and skill

Richard knows the debt he owes the architect of The Nine and he stressed: “You see people in football and you know the reputation they carry but you don’t why until you meet them and work with them.

“I feel privileged to have worked with Walter because he is one of the best in the game.

“I’ve never met Sir Alex Ferguson but after him, it’s Walter for me.

“Yet as a man, he was so humble despite all that he had achieved. Everyone you meet, no one has a bad word for him, he crosses the divide.

“It’s like Tommy Burns from the Celtic side, he carries the same respect. Walter and Coisty carrying Tommy’s coffin is one of those pictures that will always stick in your mind.

“They should show that every time anyone gets caught up in all the emotion of the Old Firm. There are bigger things in life.

“I remember my wife got invited to a Scotland game and we ended up sitting next to Walter and Ethel and we were telling them about our holiday plans to go up through Yosemite and Death Valley.

“They’d been and Ethel was saying, ‘tell them what happened to us in Death Valley.’

(Image: NQ)

“He was reluctant but eventually he launches into this great tale about how there were loads of signs saying ‘Refuel now’ and he didn’t and he thought they’d be fine.

“Then they broke down, no fuel. Out of nowhere, the guys come over the hills on quad bikes with masks on and he thought he was in a horror movie!

“He thought they were going to kill him but they took him to the gas station and saved the day. It was such a great story and I will always remember that night.

“Look respect is earned in football but he had it from everyone. Coisty and Durranty were like little kids around him. He was like their dad, it was fun watching that dynamic.”

Foster’s first spell at Rangers saw him play 24 games, 15 in the league, seven European ties and two games in the Scottish Cup.

He emerged from it with one medal, Smith’s last title in charge in May 2011, the one that mattered most.

And he confessed: “I loved that season, I walked away with my league medal but I always felt a little sore that I didn’t have a League Cup one to go with it.

“We won that final when Nikica Jelavic scored in extra-time against Celtic but I had sat on the bench for Aberdeen against Alloa in the first round and I couldn’t play.

“They’ve changed the rule now and you have to go on the pitch for another team but back then it ruled me out which was ridiculous.

“I’ll never forget Coisty pulling me aside to give me that news, it was sickening. I would have loved to be a part of that.

“Mind you, I did go on to win the League Cup with Ross County a few years later so I guess I got some payback.

“In the Scottish Cup, we were 2-1 up against Celtic and they were down to ten men and Scott Brown scored and they won the replay.

“If we’d got through that we might have won that trophy as well.

“The one I did win, though, was the big one and I had some unbelievable experiences.

“I was used to scrutiny in Aberdeen, you shouldn’t underestimate the pressures there because it’s a big city club with media eyes on you all the time.

“Rangers, though, is next level. Every pass and every cross matters, the way the game is a lot of the play at Ibrox can start with the full-back.

“If you are not playing well you hear the collective sighs when you give it away.

“Yet up until Steven Gerrard’s side won the 55th title I was part of the last Rangers squad to win the league and that means so much to me.

“There were some tough times first time around but it was one of the greatest years of my life and no one can take it away from me.”