‘Told all of the staff to’: 28-year-old shares how he reacted to ‘dark days’ at Rangers

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Connor Goldson has lifted the lid on how he reacted to the ‘dark days’ in Rangers’ Premiership title-winning season, via quotes by The Scottish Sun.

Steven Gerrard’s side ended Celtic’s dominance to win their 55th title in May, after a 4-0 win over Aberdeen. But the Gers did not enjoy a faultless season last term, with a shock League Cup exit to St Mirren.

Goldson admits the Rangers dressing room was in a bad place after the surprise result and feared the implications. The 28-year-old was well aware of the negative response players had given to previous setbacks when the situation was not addressed in a timely manner.

Goldson reacted to the St Mirren result by delivering a rallying speech in the dressing room to the Rangers squad. He and head coach Gerrard led the soul-searching after telling the club’s staff to leave the room.

“The St Mirren game was a big part of our season, one of the two dark days that we had,” Goldson said. “In the changing room after the game, we had a massive meeting and the gaffer spoke. We told all of the staff to go out of the room so the lads could speak.

“I remember saying to the boys that we were in a fantastic place, and we knew this was going to be a sore one. But we couldn’t let it manifest like we had in previous seasons. We knew we had to win the league and we were in a great position.

“So I was quite firm with the boys, especially the new boys, that we couldn’t let this linger and we had to move straight on to that Motherwell game and make sure we got the three points there.”

Goldson rally cry worked wonders for Rangers

Goldson’s words clearly worked, with Rangers going on to win the title and deny Celtic a famous ten-in-a-row. The £27,000-per-week defender’s rally cry did wonders for the team’s spirit after losing a mammoth unbeaten run.

Rangers could have suffered a mid-season collapse had they dwelled on the result and not addressed the concerns immediately. Goldson knew that and feared the implications having experienced just that in seasons past.

It could have had the opposite effect, though, as Rangers’ newer players that Goldson tore into may have questioned it. But, instead, they joined the soul-searching and would not lose again until March when eliminated from the Europa League.