He had grown up as a Rangers fan, but Billy Dodds twice came close to signing for Celtic.
What the Old Firm had in common at the time was an injury crisis. Within a few weeks in the autumn of 1999, Henrik Larsson broke his leg in Lyon and Michael Mols suffered a serious knee injury in Munich. Both clubs put Dundee United and Scottish striker Dodds at the top of their list.
‘I was playing the best football of my life,’ says Dodds, ‘and I was about to finish my career at United. I was 30 at the time and (manager) Paul Sturrock had offered me a pay rise and a five-year contract extension.
‘The length of the deal, I thought it was a flashback to Jim McLean’s days! I was so happy there, I had a perfect routine and I really enjoyed my football.
‘As a young boy you dream of playing for a big club and playing for Scotland. My childhood heroes were Rangers but I was on the verge of signing for Celtic twice. Henrik Larsson was injured, it came down to me or Ian Wright and they chose him!
Billy Dodds scored 29 goals in 76 games for Rangers during an impressive spell at Ibrox
Dodds scores in a 6-2 defeat at Celtic Park but he could have played the other way
Celtic called on Ian Wright in place of Dodds when they needed a replacement for Henrik Larsson
“There was another time when Celtic showed interest in signing me. If they had gone ahead with it, I would have grabbed the opportunity with both hands. But as soon as Michael Mols got injured, Rangers made their move. It came out of nowhere and it was strange how it worked out.
‘It was clear that it was later in my career, it was my last chance for financial security and my last chance to play for a big club, so I was very keen to work on it, as you can imagine.
‘I felt like I had been working my whole life for the opportunity. And it probably helped that I had a habit of scoring for United against Rangers.
‘It was (former Rangers chairman) David Murray who pushed it through. (Manager) Dick Advocaat had made it clear to him who he wanted as Mols’ replacement.’
The transfer fee was £1.3m and Dodds signed a life-changing three-and-a-half year contract, doubling his salary. On the pitch he continued the momentum he had built up at United and made an immediate impact.
“It’s so important to start well at Rangers. You only have to look at how difficult it has been for Cyriel Dessers to win over the supporters recently. I joined them mid-season (in December 1999), kept up my good form and scored the two goals in Perth that secured the league title. We won by 20-and-a-half points.
Dodds scored regularly but struggled to establish himself as first choice under Dick Advocaat
‘Then, at the start of the next season, I didn’t start a single game in pre-season and I thought, “What’s going on here?” I came off the bench in a Champions League qualifier when we were struggling against Kaunas and scored twice in ten minutes. Then, out of nowhere, I started the first game of the season and I thought, “This is strange.”
‘I scored eight goals in the first seven games. I couldn’t have done more. Then Sturm Graz come into the Champions League and boom, I’m left out. Wow. I come off the bench and score one of my best goals ever, so that’s 11 in 12 (games) and I’m still not in the starting line-up.
‘So there you have it. That was the quality I fought with in that Rangers team. Scoring goals for fun but constantly competing, and often struggling, to win a starting place.’
Dodds scored a crucial goal against Sturm Graz, but was back on the bench last weekend
Dodds has spent almost as much time on the bench at Rangers as he has in the starting line-up, despite his astonishing strike rate. He has made 46 starts and scored 34 goals. The contrast between that hugely competitive squad and the team of 2024 is stark.
Dodds said: ‘There is still quality in the team but not enough. Guys are getting a game that probably should have been sidelined because they are not performing.
‘I go back to Todd Cantwell (pictured right). I don’t want to make it personal but he hasn’t kicked a ball, for me, in big games particularly. Then he comes out, attacks people, attacks the club, attacks the management style and then he’s gone without doing anything for Rangers. That lack of class and quality is unacceptable and it tells a story about falling standards.
‘If you look at the first game of the season against the Old Firm, how Celtic have expanded their squad and how big the difference was that day, you would think they would win the league by a long way.
‘If you look at Rangers’ recruitment, it’s like a supermarket sweep. They’re trying to bring in quality but they don’t seem confident until they get the players on the pitch. Celtic seem to have a plan and know what they’re doing. They haven’t done much wrong.’
Todd Cantwell’s short stay at Rangers encapsulates much of what is wrong with the club at the moment
Rangers have had to lick their wounds for two weeks since their 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park and will undoubtedly need to produce a convincing response when they face Dundee United at Tannadice today.
Manager Philippe Clement told Rangers fans in a Q&A session this week that his team can still win the title. Never in his 11 months at the club have his words been scrutinised so closely following a series of questionable post-match interviews.
“He has to be careful that it doesn’t come across as being desperate because things aren’t going well and then you come across as making excuses,” Dodds warns.
“This is the real test for Clement and it seems like there is a bit of panic. His post-match interviews have changed a bit.
‘I don’t try to tell him what to do – he did it at Monaco and Bruges, I did it at Inverness – but I always tried to keep the message the same and not show that I was under pressure or panicking.’
Philippe Clement is under immense pressure after the defeat to Celtic in the match against the Old Firm
Playing home games at Hampden, due to delays in the construction of the Copland Stand at Ibrox, has not helped Rangers’ stuttering start to the campaign. They have won three of their four games at the National Stadium, but losing to Dynamo Kiev in front of thousands of empty seats was costly and ended their hopes of Champions League football.
Dodds added: ‘It’s a bigger issue if they don’t win games. If they’d beaten Hearts in their first game of the season and drawn with Celtic, for example, then domestically everything’s fine and maybe Europe will sort itself out. But it’s a much bigger story if Ibrox isn’t ready, they’re out of the Champions League and they’re chasing Celtic, who are already five points behind them. That’s going to be massive.’
The former Scotland striker, who made 26 appearances for the side, played twice for Dundee United in addition to his spell at Rangers, and still has a soft spot for the Tangerines, who have made an unbeaten start to their return to the Premier League.
‘You look at teams that come out of the Championship and where they are now. Dundee won it two seasons ago and they’re now a top six Premiership team. Kilmarnock won the year before that and they’ve played in Europe.
Dodds battles with Andriy Kanchelskis and was a regular nuisance during the game against Rangers
‘Like them, United didn’t do it by overspending to get back up, they did it in stages, well done. People say they just got by last season, but it was a job well done and on a realistic budget. And once you’re up, you build the squad for the Premiership and that’s what they did.
‘Jim Goodwin was probably under a bit of pressure, even though they got promoted. They’ve brought in some quality. (David) Babunski, (Kristijan) Trapanovski and (Jort) van der Sande are a completely new front line in a 3-4-3 formation that looks comfortable.
‘We didn’t have high expectations of United this season but look at how they performed in their last game when they won at Tynecastle.’
This looks a dangerous game for Rangers today against opponents who are a point better off after their opening four league games. That means, says Dodds, that United can play with a bit of freedom — a term you can’t apply to Clement’s team at the moment.
Dodds, now a BBC pundit, will be a keen observer as two of his former teams return to Tannadice
‘Sometimes I put my players’ head on it, then I switch to my manager’s head. And I think as a United player and as a manager I would say, “Lads, the pressure is off because we’ve had a good start. Go out there, loosen up, go play,”‘ Dodds said.
‘If I was Rangers manager I would have to think positively and believe I am good enough to win this game, but the reality is they MUST win.
‘After what I saw at Parkhead two weeks ago, they are currently on the brink of the abyss with their fans.
‘If things aren’t going well at Tannadice, there can be a bit of anarchy. That’s the feeling you get.’
