Rangers derby hero singles out ‘quiet leader’ who embodies key reason for Ibrox turnaround under Derek McInnes
Dan Neil has hailed Rangers dressing room personalities after their back-to-back wins over Celtic.
Rangers vice-captain Dan Neil believes the personalities within the Ibrox dressing room are the key reason behind the turnaround that saw them record back-to-back victories Old Firm victories over Celtic.
Neil, 24, was one of 14 new arrivals at Rangers when he signed on a Bosman free transfer from Sunderland this summer, with new manager Derek McInnes looking to overhaul a squad that had finished in an underwhelming third position last season following an end of season collapse under former head Danny Rohl.
However, a difficult opening period at Ibrox had many questioning if the Rangers boss had identified the right characters in the transfer market, with the club knocked out of the Conference League qualifiers by unfancied Czech outfit Jablonec on penalties, while they struggled to pick up wins domestically in the opening weeks of the campaign.
After being able to stitch together a run of wins earlier this month though, Rangers put down a real marker for the season by beating rivals Celtic 3-0 in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox, with Neil bagging an stunning brace, before they repeated the trick just a week later with a 1-0 victory in the league at Celtic Park on Sunday.
"Leadership is a massive word within the team,” said Neil. “I believe that everybody has a form of leadership within them. Not all leadership is just shouting and balling at the top of your lungs. You've got lads that are vocal, lads that take the game by the scruff of the neck with a bit of individual brilliance, you've got lads that are just really good blokes off the pitch and do things right every single day.
"For me everybody's got something, they just need to realise what they've got and do it to the best of their ability. That's why I keep saying in interviews, it's a team of leaders. Yeah one person has the armband, one person is named the club captain, but I think every successful club has leaders throughout the squad. I just want to keep stressing that every player has a form of leadership, and they just have to figure out what it is, and do it to the best of their ability.
Neil has been wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of club captain Lawrence Shankland, who is currently out of action with a hamstring issue, but believes one of his fellow summer signings is an even better example of the variety of leadership roles he sees within the team than himself.
“My biggest example would be Maka (Olwethu Makhanya),” said Neil. “He's not the biggest shouter. He's not the most verbal with his hand movements. He's not the most verbal on the pitch, but he looks by example. If he plays like he has been for the last couple of weeks, then he doesn't have to say another word for the rest of the season.
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