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EXCLUSIVE Amoruso: ‘Rangers were unfairly relegated, but we’re back now!’
Talking exclusively to calciomercato.com, Amoruso expressed his joy at Rangers' return to the Scottish Premier League, four years after the club's preious corporate entity was declared bankrupt, and the new Rangers were admitted to the Fourth Tier of Scottish football.
“It was hard to see my club being relegated" Lorenzo told us "I think that was an unfair decision. However, we are back now.”
“The club will have to invest lot of money and put a lot of enthusiasm into the project, they’ll need to sign the right players to strengthen the team, but being promoted is quite a huge step already.”
“My thoughts are with all of Rangers’ fans. Players and managers can change, but the fanbase will stay forever. They’re the club's heart and soul, their love for Rangers is visceral. I went around the world wearing the Rangers’ shirt, and I found them everywhere.
CM.COM: Mr. Amoruso, you played many Old Firm derbies throughout your career, and next year Rengers will finally face Celtic again. What are your thoughts? “It’s a special game. The week before the Old Firm, nothing else matters. It’s more than just football, it’s an historic, social rivalry, even if the situation is much calmer now. Do well, and you're treated like a King. To be a part of this historic event is something extraordinary. When I was there we won the title at the Celtic Park for the first time in the club’s history. It’s a piece of history that no one will ever take away from us.”
You're the first Catholic to wear the captain's armband at Rangers. How did that feel?
“The first and only Catholic! That’s another thing I am really proud of. Winning is always amazing, and I don’t like to lose even at cards! Winning as the team’s captain was something special.”
Kenny Miller, 36, is one of the heroes of Rangers’ promotion. You played with him when he was only his twenties.
“Kenny’s story is peculiar. He has played both for Rangers and Celtic, but our fans have forgiven him. He’s a very quick striker, I almost convinced him to join Fiorentina back in 2011, but then he went to Turkey [Bursaspor] instead. Despite his past as a Celtic player, Kenny is a Rangers man.”
Today you coach a non professional team on an Italian TV program (alongside Chelsea legend Gianluca Vialli), but do you dream of coaching Rangers one day?
“No one has ever gave me a chance, you need to find someone who trusts you, but you also need to be lucky. I am working for Italian radio and TV stations at the moment, I talk about football and I try to explain the game in the simplest way possible, so that everyone can understand. No one has ever given me a chance, so they’d have to base their decision on what I did as a footballer. However if someone were to ask me to become a manager, especially the manager of a club I’ve already played for…why not?”
Angelo Taglieri, translated by Lorenzo Bettoni @lorebetto and @EdoDalmonte
