New book set to reveal 'uncanny similarities' between Rangers' 'Invincibles' of 1899 and Steven Gerrard's side

But could he also find he is the first man in over a century, in 122 years to be exact, to skipper the Glasgow giants in an unbeaten top flight campaign this weekend? There is a very good chance.

If Tavernier and his fellow players avoid defeat against Livingston away tomorrow evening and Aberdeen at home on Saturday afternoon they will emulate the achievement of some fabled predecessors.

Not since William Wilton’s charges won all 18 of their Division One matches way back in the 1898/99 season and became ‘Invincibles’ has a team clad in light blue pulled off the accomplishment.

Steven Gerrard’s men are, of course, not able to emulate that “perfect season” having drawn six of their 30 fixtures to date this term.

However, no club from these shores has ever equalled what remains a unique feat in British football history all these decades later.

There are, though, many remarkable parallels between Wilton’s all-conquering side and Gerrard’s dominant team.

Jeff Holmes, the author who has penned as many books about his beloved Rangers as Connor Goldson has played games for the Ibrox club since August, is currently writing a new tome about the ‘Invincibles’.

He has been struck by how forward-thinking match secretary Wilton – he was only made the Ibrox outfit’s first manager when they became a limited company in 1899 – and his associates were.

The lifelong supporter believes the current regime have achieved an historic success in exactly the same painstaking and patient manner.  

“The similarities between the team that had the perfect season and the team which is currently unbeaten in the league are uncanny,” said Holmes, whose latest publication Just Champion: The Stories Behind Rangers’ 2020/21 Title Triumph, will be out next month.

“Clubs in the late 19th century were always changing their personnel, always chasing success. But they were doing it the wrong way. They were buying five, six, seven players at a time and trying to get them to gel quickly. There wasn’t a lot of harmony in their camps, not a lot of team spirit.

“Rangers decided they were going to really try to sign players who fitted into a system. It was way ahead of their time. An internal report I read from 1899 outlined how they went about it.

“They would pick a player, watch him a number of times and then decide they were going to buy him. The Invincibles side was probably three years in the making, just like this team.

“They had guys like John McPherson and David Mitchell, who had been there for some time. But by and large the players were signed three and four years before the success.”

He continued: “William Wilton was so instrumental behind the scenes. They didn’t have a manager then as such. They had an executive, a small committee made up of Wilton and some directors. They took all these decisions collectively, not as individuals.

“For me, that is what they are doing now. Everybody knows Steven Gerrard is the manager of the club. But you also have to look at Ross Wilson, Gary McAllister and Michael Beale. It is the same sort of co-operative they had before.”

Gerrard and his coaches favour a 4-3-3 formation, usually play with Allan McGregor in goals, Goldson at centre half and Tavernier and Borna Barisic in the full-back berths.

Ahead of them, Scott Arfield, Steven Davis, Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara populate the midfield slots, Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi play out wide and Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe start up front.

It has served them well at home and abroad this season. They are currently 23 points ahead of second-placed Celtic in the Premiership and reached the last 16 of the Europa League for the second year running.

So what system did Wilton deploy? How did they approach the games they were involved in? And who were his standout performers?    

“They played in the old 2-3-5 formation,” said Holmes. “You had two full-backs, three midfield players and five forwards.

“The goalkeeper, Matt Dickie, was one of the best of his era. He hailed from Rhu. Very few of the team came from Glasgow. In fact, I think only Bobby Neil and John Campbell did.

“Two of the main men, Alex Smith and Nicol Smith, came from Darvel. But they were not related. Nicol was probably the best right back in Scotland at that time. Alex was the outside left and spent 21 years at Rangers.

“Then you had RC Hamilton. Robert Cumming Hamilton, who came from Elgin and later became the mayor of the Moray town, was top scorer. He scored 21 goals in their 18 games.”

Holmes continued: “A lot of teams at that time went for brawn over brain. The Ibrox hierarchy were one of the first who picked players for their footballing ability rather than their size. The Rangers team at that time wasn’t very big or heavy. 

“Jock Drummond, who was one of the last players to play wearing a cup, would have played more at left back that season had he not got lumbago. David Mitchell, the former St Mirren player, came in and played in 17 of the 18 games instead of him.

“He was a completely different player. Mitchell liked to get the ball and his feet and drive forward, Drummond would kick you up in the air if you tried to get by him.

“Their mindset changed. They went from being hooligans to football players. But they could do both. Neilly Gibson could really look after himself in the middle of the park. But the team’s preference was for nice football.

“There was a lot of kick and rush in those days. But Rangers broke the mould. A lot of that was down to William Wilton. As I say, he was ahead of his time.

“There were 10 teams and they played each other home and away. Celtic, Hearts and Hibernian were their main rivals and were good teams. Celtic had gone unbeaten the season before. But Rangers won all 18 of their games.

“They have shown the same level of performance this season. Look at Rangers and look at how they have come through games. The one that sticks out for me is the Motherwell match at Ibrox in December. They were 1-0 down with 15 minutes remaining and came back and won 3-1.

“They have obviously bee told to keep playing the same way and it will come. That is a hallmark of the 1898/99 side. Every single match report I have read mentions that they refused to panic and stuck to their football philosophy.

“It is almost as if Steven Gerrard read all the matches reports from 1898/99 and thought: ‘We’ll go out and do the same thing’. When you consider how long ago it was, the similarities are quite frightening.”

Jeff Holes is the author of Just Champion: The Stories Behind Rangers’ 2020/21 Title Triumph, which will be published by Pitch Publishing on Monday, June 7. The book, priced £16.99, is available direct from the author by emailing jeff.holmes4@btinternet.com