DEAN Furman has enjoyed a lengthy career in the game playing at numerous clubs but his short-lived Rangers stint is a memory he still cherishes to this day.
The South African joined the Ibrox giants from Chelsea as a fresh-faced 17-year-old in May 2006 and would skipper the Under 19s to league and cup success the following season.
The return of Walter Smith would see Furman become part of the senior side during one of the most memorable seasons in the modern era but his overall pitch involvement would amount to just 40 minutes.
Even still, Furman beams with pride when recounting his two years in Govan.
Prior to his move north, a teenage Furman learned his trade under the watchful eye of former Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.
He recalled: “My two years as a trainee at Chelsea were incredible. He's probably not flavour of the month with many Rangers fans but Brendan Rodgers was my youth team manager which was a great introduction to life as a young footballer.
“Not only did we have Brendan but Jose Mourinho had just taken over Chelsea on the back of winning the Champions League. Roman Abramovich had come in with the money and all the big stars were signing so to be a young 16-year-old dreaming of reaching the top, to be in those kinds of surroundings was just an incredible place to be.
“We were all kids so you’re like sponges, we wanted to learn.
“He was incredible, his attention to detail, his planning. We were driving in at 8 o’clock, we would all go for breakfast or whatever and he was out on the training pitch already setting up, putting the goals and putting the cones out.
“It was something we had never seen before but is probably quite common now in coaching but Brendan was ahead of the game.
“His attention to detail, the way he improved individuals, the way he helped us off the pitch as well (was significant) because a lot of us had moved away from home, there were guys from Manchester, from Bristol, from abroad.
“It was never a doubt, in my eyes, that he was going to go on and be a massive success as a manager, he really is one of the very best.”
Ironically, Furman could have followed a similar path to Rodgers and turned out for the Parkhead side instead.
He said: “The reality is I wasn’t going to make the Chelsea first team.
“The standard just got higher. Not only were they signing Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben for the first team, in the youth team they were signing the likes of Scott Sinclair, Ryan Bertrand. We were signing the best players from all over the country so unfortunately for me, my time came to an end and Brendan, who had a Celtic link long before he became manager, sent me up to there for a week’s trial.
“Rangers heard I was there and arranged for me to come up a couple of weeks later.
“So I went up to Rangers, had a week there and at the end of my week they put a contract on the table. They said to me, ‘Listen, here’s a contract, we know you’re talking to Celtic if you go back to Celtic, we’ll take our contract away.’
“I had a think about it, I enjoyed both my weeks. Rangers put an offer in and once I had a look around Murray Park and Ibrox, it was like going from one massive club to another incredible club.
“Normally you leave a place like Chelsea as a youngster, you don’t go somewhere just as big.
“I’m still not the biggest, but I was probably a late-developer so the good thing for me was that there was another year at under-19 level so it gave me another year to develop.
“I didn’t look back. I signed the contract and that was it.”
Furman’s arrival would coincide with the heralded appointment of Paul Le Guen from Lyon as Alex McLeish’s replacement.
However, the tag of PLG’s first signing was one that saw him fall foul of a dressing room ribbing from his fellow teammates in the under 19s.
He recalled: “I got a status that I didn’t quite warrant. I was apparently his first signing but I think that’s purely a timing thing. Le Guen maybe came in on the Monday and I signed on the Wednesday.
“I signed with Craig Mulholland and Jimmy Sinclair. I did not sign with Paul Le Guen.
“The press obviously put two and two together, they seen this player from Chelsea, Paul Le Guen’s just come in - there’s his first signing.
“All of a sudden, the lads in the youth team dressing room were like, ‘Who’s this we’re signing? This guy’s on the front page of the newspaper.’
“So I got a bit of status that maybe I didn’t quite deserve but I guess all press is good press.”
He may not have warranted back page headlines but Furman was highly-rated by Mulholland and Sinclair, so much so they made him captain of the under-19 side in what would turn out to be a trophy-laden season as they pipped Celtic to the league title and demolished the Parkhead club 5-0 in the Youth Cup final at Hampden.
Furman looks back on that year fondly, he said: “I remember my first Old Firm derby and there was just a different feel to it.
“People often ask me, ‘What’s it like?’ and the answer is, even at under-19 level, it’s like this mad rivalry that has a different feel to it than any other game.
“We went toe-to-toe with them in the league and had some great battles. I scored a volley in one of the derbies from outside the box in a 3-2 win and it still brings a smile to my face.
“The Youth Cup final at Hampden was amazing, I think the kick-off got delayed because there were over 10,000 people trying to get into the ground which was far more than they expected.
“It was just one of those nights when everything went our way, everyone was an eight or nine out of 10, every shot seemed to go into the top corner. Steven Lennon was ridiculous, he scored a hat-trick.
“I got on the scoresheet too which was good as my family were up from London so it was special memories.
“The Youth Cup is the first real opportunity to make a name for yourself so to go and win it and win it the way we did in such a memorable way and to then win the league a couple of weeks later, it was a real first taste of proper success which was amazing.”
It wouldn’t be long before Furman was promoted to the first team where he’d mix with the likes of Barry Ferguson, Kevin Thomson and Steven Davis during the famous run to Manchester in 2007-08.
As a teenager, Furman says training with players of that ilk was a dream come true: “At Murray Park, the youth team and reserves were on one side and the first team dressing room was on the other side.
“Sometimes you’d get a message saying you’re training with the first team today, there’d be a list up and you’d go check the list. That was the best feeling ever if your name was on the first team list and you were buzzing to train with the first team.
“I used to love it, training up against Barry Ferguson. If we were going into five-a-sides or whatever I loved not being on his team. That, for me, was a challenge. I wanted to show that I could go up against him and not be overshadowed by the captain and legend.
“If you didn’t pass the ball to Barry, he would let you know about it. You’re like, ‘I’ve just played a great pass but because I didn’t pass to you, what’s the problem?’
“But that’s how he was, very demanding and some people couldn’t deal with that. I’ve played with similar players in my career who’ve been like that and I’ve seen guys crumble under that kind of pressure.
“But, for me, it was like, ‘Right, I’ll show you I can deal with it, I’ll show you I can play against you, I’ll show you I’m good enough to be here.’
“I wanted to go up against him, I wanted to go up against Kevin Thomson, I wanted to go up against Charlie Adam. That was my challenge, I loved it.
“With Walter, Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall coming in, there was a massive uplift in the club, in the mood and results and, for me, it was more chance to be with the first team. I think, at the time, there was an under 21 rule, you had to have three under 21s in the squad which, I know full well, bless him, Walter wasn’t particularly fond of.
“But what an experience, you’re 19 and travelling with Rangers, you’re seeing how things work, you’re helping Jimmy Bell with the kit, you’re involved in the culture, you’re staying overnight, you’re seeing how players look after themselves the night before a game, you see what they do on a matchday and you’re just properly involved. So whether it was by default or by a mixture of both... but as a 19-year-old, to be involved in that first team was very special.”
It wasn’t just Ferguson that Furman would pit his wit against in training. Ally McCoist would often prove he still hadn’t lost that Midas touch in front of goal. He recalled: “He trained in most of the training sessions.
“I couldn’t believe he was still just the most natural goalscorer. The only two that I’ve seen similar to him are Boydy, of course, and Billy Sharp at Sheffield United who I played with at Doncaster.
“Billy was just one of those guys that scores amazing goals but the ball just drops to him and he just taps it in. It could drop to anyone but it drops to Billy, and Coisty was the same in the training.
“He didn’t have to move, he won’t forgive me for saying this, he wasn’t the fittest out of everyone but he was still so effective, you’re like, ‘How are you scoring goals here? How does the ball always drop to you?’
“He was a larger than life character, the club means so much to him and I count myself very lucky to be in his, Walter’s and Kenny McDowall’s presence, I really learned an awful lot.”
Furman would make his Rangers debut as the 2007-08 season was reaching a crescendo when he replaced an injured Kevin Thomson in the 3-1 win over Dundee United at Ibrox.
It would turn out to be his only first-team appearance but it’s one he remembers vividly almost 14 years on: “I didn’t have a clue I was going to play.
“I remember Kevin Thomson going down injured and I went out to warm up, probably just because I was a midfielder. I never thought I’d have a chance of getting on.
“Next thing, it was Coisty who called me down, I didn’t even have time to get nervous because Thommo had already walked off the pitch.
“So I was like, ‘I’m going on here, shit! Then I was on, this is happening, wow!’
“I always remember the ball that first came into me, Willo Flood came and pressed me, I took this unbelievable touch around him and I just heard this huge roar from the crowd and I was like, ‘Whoa, this is what it’s all about!’
“I came on at 2-0, they scored to make it 2-1 and I’m thinking, ‘Oh no!’ The last thing you want to do is come on and we end up drawing or losing the game but thankfully we won 3-1 in the end.
“What an experience, I remember going home that night thinking, ‘I need more of this, that is what I want my Saturday’s to be like.’ It was a feeling that I couldn’t ever have enough of, I had to have more of that.
“It wasn’t like three or four minutes at the end, it was pretty much the whole second half so I had a really good run. The club gave me my shirt, I got it signed by all the players and I’ve still got it, it’s nicely framed so it’s an amazing memory.”
Unfortunately for Furman, despite making the breakthrough, his days at Ibrox were numbered as he explained: “I went away with the first-team to Holland or Belgium, I had a brilliant pre-season. I came back and played in the Liverpool game and played 45 minutes. we got a bit of a hiding but I was hoping this would be my breakthrough season having already made my debut and been away with the first team.
“I thought I had an opportunity to go and play 10-15 games.
“Unfortunately for me but fortunately for the club they signed Pedro Mendes and Steve Davis to go alongside Barry, Charlie Adam and Kevin Thomson so I thought, ‘I’m never going to play here.’
“I was gutted. The reality was I had finished with the youth team, we had done what we needed to do, I had a season at reserve level, I needed more.
“I couldn’t carry on playing on a Tuesday in the reserves, it just wasn’t enough for me.”
It would be a former Rangers midfielder that would come to Furman’s aid when Stuart McCall brought him to Bradford City on loan. It was a move the South African needed to kickstart his career.
He said: “Stuart spoke to Walter and Coisty and the club were pretty comfortable with me going on loan to Bradford under his leadership and management.
“It was probably one of my favourite seasons in my career playing for him. He’s an amazing character, he loves Bradford. He was the heart and soul of the club as a player and he’s had three runs of it as a manager.
“For me, yes I was involved in the first team at Rangers but now I’ve come to Bradford and I’m playing every week and yes, it’s League Two but Bradford’s massive. We were getting 14-15,000 every week.
“So you’ve got the pressure from fans who expect you to be in a much better league, you’re playing in a fantastic stadium and you’re playing every week.
“It was almost a different ball game. You’re playing with players who are not on thousands of pounds a week that I saw at Rangers, it’s now players who are on a more modest salary, who are fighting for their lives. I learnt so much, it really was a great season for me.”
Spells at Oldham, Doncaster, SuperSport United, Carlisle and Altrincham would follow and nowadays Furman is plying his trade with English-seventh tier side Warrington Rylands as well as undertaking his coaching badges, however, he still keeps a keen eye on events at Ibrox.
He said: “I do follow them, I know it’s particularly tight at the top and to see a proper title race is great.
“It’s going to go to the wire and it’ll be an exciting one to the finish.”
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