I broke into Rangers team beside Fergie and Albertz – now I'm hearing something from Clement that makes me very happy
It's not easy for a kid to break into Rangers’ first-team. And no one knows that better than Barry Nicholson.
When he attempted it almost 30 years ago, he was competing with club legends Barry Ferguson, Jorg Albertz and Gio van Bronckhorst. It might not be quite as tough now. And maybe that’s why Nicholson hopes the current crop of Ibrox youngsters can make the grade under Philippe Clement.
The Belgian has vowed to give youth a chance due to a lack of finance, with the likes of Bailey Rice, Findlay Curtis and Clinton Nsiala staking a claim. Queen’s Park assistant boss Nicholson – who will be in the away dugout at Ibrox today for their Scottish Cup tie –knows what they’re going through having come through the ranks under Walter Smith then Dick Advocaat. He didn’t manage to become a first-team regular. But he’s adamant that if the Gers youngsters are good enough for Clement’s side they should be given an opportunity to shine.
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As long as they don’t impress too much against the Spiders this afternoon. Nicholson, who is Callum Davidson’s right-hand man, said: “It was so difficult for me and it’s still difficult now. I know there has been a clamour for Rangers to give the young ones more of a chance. Obviously, the manager has said they have to earn that right. But the academy at Rangers needs to be bringing through more players.
“Timing-wise, maybe this is their opportunity. It hasn’t really been a club that’s done that. And from my own personal experience I know how tough it is. So it’s nice to hear it. It will be beneficial for Rangers as a club and for Scottish football as a whole. In young players like Rice, Curtis and Nsiala, there’s talent there.
“These boys have to be patient and be put in at the right time so they stay there instead of just doing well for a few games then no one sees them again. They have to be good enough to get in the team and stay there.
“It feels like a million years ago I was at Rangers as a young player. My first pre-season was 1995 which was the year Paul Gascoigne signed. I was a scholar then but even when I became a pro I was trying to get into a midfield with Ferguson, Van Bronckhorst, Albertz, Claudio Reyna and Andrei Kanchelskis. It was so tough but a brilliant learning experience.”
Nicholson will be at Ibrox as a coach for the first time today, which will be a surreal experience for the 46-year-old. Having been in England as a player since 2008 then at Fleetwood Town as a coach he returned to Scotland in the summer as Davidson’s No.2.
All his mates will be in the home end supporting Clement’s men but his Rangers-daft son Noah will be a Spider for the day. Nicholson said: “It’s my first time going back as a coach and it will be really strange going into the away dugout. But it’s an occasion myself and my family are looking forward to. I’ve loads of mates who will unfortunately be in the Rangers end.
“My boy will be in the Queen’s Park end though. He’s been told! He’s absolutely raging. He actually asked me the question and I just looked at him. So he knows!
“We’ll go with a plan. Rangers have better players so we have to be at our top level and hope they have an off day. Callum beat them with St Johnstone in the cup a few years ago and we’ll have a similar plan. We must think we have a chance to win or there’s no point. We have to make the players believe they can cause an upset – but we know it’s going to be difficult.”
Nicholson loves working alongside Davidson, who won the League Cup and Scottish Cup with Saints in 2021. He said: “It was an amazing achievement. And with our Challenge Cup Final coming up he’s an opportunity to be the first guy to win all three.
“That would be incredible if we could win that game against Livingston. We’ve been close friends since I moved to Preston as a player and he was already there. We’ve tried to work together in the past but it just hasn’t been the right timing. But in the summer it felt right and we’re really enjoying it.”
