Without doubt the arrival of AZ Alkmaar and manager Dick Advocaat will create a bit of a stir ahead of tomorrow’s friendly with Celtic.
Advocaat will be portrayed as a great Rangers man who inflincted untold misery on Celtic alongside David Murray as the Ibrox side attempted to put Celtic to the sword with an unprecedented spending spree.
But what are the facts of Advocaat’s three and a half year reign at Ibrox?
*Was he in charge when a Lubo Moravcik inspired Celtic sank Rangers 5-1?
*After vowing ‘never again’ did he lose 6-2 in Martin O’Neill’s first derby less than three years later?
*Did he ‘move upstairs’ when the pressure got too much after losing five successive derbies?
*Who bought Tore Andre Flo, Daniel Prodan, Colin Hendry, Andrei Kanchelskis, Bert Konterman, and Michael Ball for £34m?
The Advocaat legacy is still being felt at Ibrox as Walter Smith battles to understand the politics of banking- a look at the list of players above gives a good indicator towards Rangers current debt levels and why Lloyds TSB won’t allow any spending despite the success that Smith has brought.
For two season’s Advocaat dominated Scottish football as Celtic floundered under Dr Jo Venglos then the disastrous partnership of Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes.
Despite his domestic success Advocaat was repeatedly caught out in Europe but that didn’t prevent rumours suggesting that he could be leaving Rangers to take charge at Manchester United.
The European failures however were a definate sign that Advocaat had his limilations with Parma, Borussia Dortmund and Kaiserlautern ending Rangers UEFA Cup hopes before Christmas.
Finally, in virtually his last act as Rangers manager Advocaat steered Rangers into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup thanks to a penalty shoot out win over Paris St Germain which saw the Dutchman sprinting onto the pitch to take part in the celebrations and virtual lap of honour.
Within a week of that result Cladio Reyna was sold to Sunderland and Advocaat moved aside for Alex McLeish in the first serious indication of Rangers future downsizing.
Ironically Advocaat did go on to enjoy success in the UEFA Cup helping Zenit St Petersburg to defeat Rangers 2-0 in the 2008 final.
Across the city the spending of Advocaat had implications at Celtic where the board realised that some serious investment was required if Celtic weren’t to be left on the sidelines looking in from the outside on the Champions League.
Fortunately for Celtic the appointment of Martin O’Neill and his spending proved to be a much more profitable gamble helping to bring six SPL titles out of eight and regular Champions League campaigns.
Despite the current positions in the SPL table I think that it’s fair to say that Advocaat’s arrival at Rangers has been of more benefit to Celtic.
Rangers are attempting to fight their way out of the financial disaster created by Murray sanctioning spending way beyond their means in an attempt to finally make an impact on Europe.
For all their difficulties and the missed opportunities of the last two seasons Celtic and the supporters now have realistic aspirations to dominate at home and be competitive in the Champions League although reaching the knock-out stages of the competition is the realistic extent of ambitions.
Like Graeme Souness before him Advocaat will milk whatever reception he gets at Celtic, with his career on the wane and his legacy hanging over Rangers the self-styled Little General has certainly played an important role in Celtic’s recent history.
