RANKED: Every Dick Advocaat Rangers Signing From Worst To Best – Part 1

By Scott McPike

After winning 9 In A Row and coming up short in the quest to make it 10, Rangers announced that Walter Smith would be replaced in the Summer of 1998 and PSV Manager Dick Advocaat would take charge of Ibrox. Advocaat completely revamped the squad in his three and a half seasons at the club making 38 signings and in this article I will rank every single Dick Advocaat signing at Rangers. Here is Part 1.

38. Paul Reid – £600,000 From Carlisle United

An exciting youth prospect at Carlisle in the Football League, Rangers signed defender Paul Reid in 2000 for a fee of £600,000. Reid never managed to break into the first team at Ibrox and went on loan to Preston and Northampton where he played occasionally. The youngster never managed to play a single first team game for Rangers and Northampton signed Reid permanently in 2003.

37. Lee Feeney – £100,000 From Linfield

A young and exciting prospect from Northern Ireland, Rangers snapped up Lee Feeney from Linfield in December 1998. Feeney joined the club at the same time Rangers were breaking the bank with big money signings so it was always going to be touch for him to break in to the first team. Only making one first team appearance, Feeney returned to Linfield in 2002 and spent the majority of his later career in his native Northern Ireland.

36. Daniel Prodan – £2.2 Million From Atletico Madrid

A standout for Steaua Bucharest and his native Romania at the 1994 World Cup, Rangers signed Daniel Prodan in the Summer of 1998 and his talent wasn’t to be questioned. The issue was his fitness and the Rangers medical staff knew that he wasn’t going to pass a medical due to his knee problems but owner David Murray done the deal anyway to prevent Prodan from joining Tottenham. Prodan’s injuries prevented him from playing a game for Rangers first team before being released in 2001 and Daniel Prodan deserves no blame for any part of this, the deal is all down to Rangers negligence and if you ask about the early stages of hubris, look no further.

35. Paul Ritchie – Free Transfer From Hearts

Paul Ritchie was a promising Scottish Defender who Rangers had been interested in for a few years and after his contract expired at Hearts, Ritchie moved to Ibrox in the Summer of 2000. Only 24, Ritchie looked to be competition for Craig Moore and Lorenzo Amoruso but bizarrely two months later, Dick Advocaat sold Ritchie to Man City for £500,000. Ritchie has said since that he feels he was signed to make the club money and although Ritchie went on to do well in England, it is a puzzling move that in hindsight was better off for Ritchie not to happen at all.

34. Thomas Myhre – Loan From Everton

After a goalkeeping crisis in November 1999, Rangers signed Thomas Myhre from former Manager Walter Smith’s Everton. Myhre played six times at Ibrox and never really looked convincing between the sticks with a poor performance in a 2-1 defeat to Dundee at home being a particularly low point in his Ibrox spell. Myhre wasn’t retained at Rangers and returned to Everton later on in the year.

33. Marcus Gayle – £900,000 From Wimbledon

After a dismal run in the 2000-01 season, Dick Advocaat turned to Jamaican international striker Marcus Gayle in March 2001 to improve the side’s goals. It was a puzzling signing as Rangers needed more defensive options but Gayle came in and only made four appearances for the club. Gayle left in the Summer and joined Watford where he went on to have a decent spell when converted to a centre back.

32. Jesper Christiansen – £1.7 Million From Odense

Despite Dick Advocaat admitting he had never seen him play, Rangers spent £1.7 Million to sign Goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen from Danish club Odense in October 2000. It was another puzzling signing considering there would have have been a cheaper and more established alternative playing in the SPL but Christiansen was chosen. Christiansen was actually a striker who had been converted to a goalkeeper and had only 19 games in nets before joining Rangers and Christiansen made only six appearances for the club before moving to Viborg in his native Denmark in 2003.

31. Tero Penttila – £300,000 From Haka

Playing against Rangers for Finnish side Haka in a Champions League Qualifier, Dick Advocaat was impressed by Tero Penttila and signed him in November 1999. Penttila never established himself as a first team regular making only four appearances in the side before returning to his native Finland with HJK Helsinki in 2002 and in 2005, Penttila quit Football to study medicine.

30. Jani Kauppila – Free Transfer From Tervarit

Impressing on a trial in the Summer of 2000, Dick Advocaat signed another young Finnish player in Jani Kauppila. Kauppila made his debut against Hearts in March 2001 replacing an injured Giovanni Van Bronckhorst early in the first half but was replaced at half time for tactical reasons. Kauppila only made three more appearances for Rangers before returning to Finland to join Haka in 2003.

29. Dariusz Adamczuk – Free Transfer From Dundee

A standout at Dundee in the 1998-99 season, Rangers signed Polish right back Dariusz Adamczuk in the Summer of 1999 with a view to replacing Sergio Porrini. Adamczuk started off as a regular in the first team making 16 appearances that season before disappearing from the first team that season and Adamczuk only made three more appearances for Rangers before leaving the club in 2002 and retiring altogether. Adamczuk has since revealed after that he was suffering from depression in his time at Ibrox which led to him being signed off sick which is a real shame and it would have been interesting to see how his career would have turned out in better circumstances.

28. Stephane Guivarc’h – £3.5 Million From Newcastle

The starting striker for France in the 1998 World Cup Final, Stephane Guivarc’h was linked with Rangers in the Summer of 1998 but joined Newcastle instead. It didn’t work out for Guivarc’h at Newcastle and he joined Rangers in November 1998. Guivarc’h scored a double on his debut in a 7-0 win at St Johnstone and also scored in the League Cup Final win against St Johnstone but that was as good as it got for the Frenchman. Guivarc’h moved back to his former club Auxerre in 1999 and the World Cup winner will go down as a disappointing signing of the Advocaat Years.

27. Colin Hendry – £4 Million From Blackburn

The Scotland Captain and the heart and soul of the national team, Rangers signed 32-year old Colin Hendry in the Summer of 1998 from Blackburn for £4 Million. There was a big problem with this signing, Dick Advocaat didn’t rate Hendry and it is widely known that this was a David Murray idea. Hendry just didn’t suit the way that Rangers played Football and Hendry was dropped in favour of Craig Moore and Lorenzo Amoruso. After nearly two years at Ibrox, Hendry was sold to Coventry in 2000 for £750,000 and Colin Hendry was a terrific defender but not suited to this type of team and it was another David Murray deal – HUBRIS.