‘I am never happier than when the outside world has us beaten before a ball is kicked - for then I know the true greatness of our club will be revealed.’
The words of Mr Struth resonate with the Rangers support. The meanings behind the messages motivate Jack Butland.
Many will have Rangers beaten before a ball is kicked against PSV Eindhoven next week. In Butland’s mind, that is when the class and quality of Michael Beale’s side will come to the fore.
For the second successive season, Rangers will head to Holland with their Champions League fate in their own hands. If history is repeated, the achievement will be just as cherished as it was first time around as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side followed up a 2-2 draw at Ibrox with a 1-0 victory at the Philips Stadion.
The goals from Abdallah Sima and Rabbi Matondo that twice gave Rangers the lead were ultimately not enough to secure an advantage and an Ibrahim Sangare strike and Luuk de Jong header have Peter Bosz’s side as favourites to reach the group stage.
Rangers must overcome the odds as well as the Eredivisie giants. Butland knows those chances cannot be dismissed out of hand.
“People like to write Rangers off,” Butland said. “The great Mr Struth said that himself. People write us off, they forget we’re Rangers.
“If people want to write us off, if they want to call them favourites, so be it. But we’re looking forward to the tie.
“We walk past [the Struth quote] every day at the training ground, we walk past it at the stadium.
“I’ve looked into it. Of course, when I signed I looked into the history but this is a quote we walk past every day.
“The manager showed it to us again on Tuesday. It’s something people expect of us, but people also like to write us off. So do that if you will.”
Butland may still be in the early stages of his Rangers career but he is appreciative of the history of the club and fully cognisant of the demands and standards of the Ibrox crowd.
The PSV fixture was his first taste of an outing that truly had that spine-tingling big game feel around it. It will be the first of many as the visit of Celtic looms large and Rangers prepare for a group stage campaign on the continent.
Butland has been there and done it for club and country. Life in Glasgow is unique in so many ways, though, and the new experiences are continually absorbed and cherished.
“You can’t get away from it here,” Butland said when asked about the history around Ibrox. “No matter where you walk in the building, at the training ground, there are pictures of cup final wins, league wins, European nights. The Trophy Room.
“You can’t get away from winning at Rangers so for us it’s a constant with the club.
“The point of being here, and why I want to be here, is to be a part of that history and to win as well.
“You can’t get away from it. And you feel it. The reason why the atmosphere is like it was on Tuesday night is because they have been there and done it before.
“They know what it’s like and they know how special it is to get in the Champions League and to get to European finals. Hopefully we can do just that.”
Rangers are now just 90 minutes away from the group stage and Butland stands on the brink of achieving the first ambition that Beale’s side set their sights on this season.
It was not a perfect performance or a resounding result on Tuesday night but there were enough positives in both factors to give Rangers belief. Once again, the Ibrox crowd played its part.
“It was an incredible experience,” Butland said. “A special night. Would we have liked to have won? Yeah, but it is a two-legged tie.
“For me, it was one of the best atmospheres I have ever played in. I maybe expected it to a point having experienced a European night but that was special. I really enjoyed it.
“For sure [it whets the appetite for group stage football]. Look, we’ve got an important game in the meantime. We’ve got to go to Ross County at the weekend and then we’ve got to go and get the job done next Wednesday.
“There’s a lot to think about. But as a player these are the sorts of nights you want to be involved in and that was enjoyable.”
The prospect of another three occasions just like the last one will surely motivate every member of Beale’s newly assembled squad as they seek to finish what they have started next Wednesday evening. The rewards are as big as the challenge.
Several members of the group will still have the win last term – earned thanks to an Antonio Colak strike – fresh in their minds as they return to Holland. That knowledge of what is require and what is possible will certainly stand Rangers in good stead.
“I think so,” Butland said when asked if it would help having players that were victorious in Eindhoven previously. “But I don’t think you can just expect things to go the same.
“We’ve got to go there and do the right job. We’ve put ourselves in a good position to do so. It could have been a little bit better, it could have been worse.
“But we go there off a confident performance. I think we can be pretty pleased with it. First, we have to go to Ross County at the weekend, get a win and then take that confidence into next Wednesday.
“But, for us, it’s what we want to be doing – winning games – so we’ll try and do that next week.”
The equation is simple for Rangers and Beale’s side will stride out at the Philips Stadion knowing that a victory will see them qualify and secure all the football and financial benefits that come with a place in the Champions League.
It was a case of what might have been in many ways but ultimately a draw as a fair result from the first leg. Now, it is all about the win.
“I think in the second half we were a little bit more front-foot,” Butland said. “We got up the pitch a bit higher and caused them a lot more problems defensively.
“Yes, there might be things we can take from the game, positives we did and see if we can do them more. There are also areas where they gave us a few problems.
“We have an opportunity to look at that over the next week and get it right. Hopefully we can take positives and also look at the negatives and put it all into effect next Wednesday.”
