Jorg ALBERTZ

Nicknamed 'The Hammer' because of the ferocious shot that he could unload from his left foot, Jorg Albertz arrived at Ibrox in the summer of 1996, with Rangers paying the German side SV Hamburg £4 million for his services. Capped twice for Germany prior to his arrival in Glasgow, Albertz quickly established himself as a favourite with the Rangers supporters and the love affair was mutual, with the German taking the club to his heart during his five-season stay at Ibrox.

Although originally deployed at left-back in the absence of David Robertson, Albertz was a midfielder by trade, and he soon developed a reputation for scoring spectacular and vital goals as Rangers won the Premier Division title for a record-equalling ninth successive season at the end of his first year with the club. His first goal in Rangers colours, a thundering left foot shot from the edge of the penalty area, came against Ayr United in a Scottish League Cup tie at Ibrox, and he scored his first league goal against Hibernian in a 2-1 defeat at Easter Road in October. Two weeks prior to that match, the German demonstrated that he had other strings to his bow when he created goals for Richard Gough and Paul Gascoigne as Rangers won the season's first Old Firm game by two goals to nil. He was the scourge of Celtic again in January when his raking twenty-five yard free-kick broke the deadlock in the traditional New Year Old Firm clash at Ibrox, and at the end of the season, Albertz had chalked up thirteen goals in forty-seven appearances.

In the following campaign, 1997/98, Albertz scored fifteen times, a haul that included a late double that rescued a point against Hearts at Ibrox in February and two Old Firm goals, the winner in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Parkhead and the second goal in a 2-0 league victory seven days later. However, despite Jorg's impressive return, Rangers failed to claim the title for a tenth straight season. They finished as runners-up to Celtic and also lost out to Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final, a match that Albertz missed through suspension after he had been ordered off in the final league match against Dundee United at Tannadice.

The 1997/98 season heralded the end of one of the most successful eras in Rangers' history when Walter Smith stepped down as manager. Many legendary figures such as Ally McCoist, Brian Laudrup, Stuart McCall and Andy Goram also departed, but Albertz remained at the club and was hugely influential as Smith's successor, the Dutchman Dick Advocaat, steered Rangers to a domestic 'Treble' in the 1998/99 season. The German powerhouse was a mainstay in the side, missing just two of the forty-five matches Rangers played in Scotland over the course of the season, and he posted yet another impressive goal-scoring return, netting no less than nineteen times. The highlights of his goalscoring haul were the winning goal against St Johnstone in the Scottish League Cup Final, a hat-trick against Dundee in a 6-1 win at Ibrox, and a penalty kick in the dramatic 3-0 victory over Celtic at Parkhead that clinched the SPL title.

Alistair Aird, Author of Ally McCoist - Portrait of a Hero.

Jorg Albertz continued his scintillating run of form in the 1999/2000 season. After recovering from a spell on the substitutes bench in the early months of the season, Jorg chalked up twenty goals in fifty-three appearances, as Rangers retained the title and won the Scottish Cup. He was the club's joint top goal-scorer - Rod Wallace also hit the 20 mark - and his propensity to net vital goals was once again apparent, with Jorg grabbing the winning goal in games against Kilmarnock and Hearts in addition to supplementing his Old Firm goal tally with another three strikes against Celtic. He became a talisman in the European arena too, netting for Rangers in their Champions League group matches against Bayern Munich and PSV Eindhoven.

Appearances in light blue became more sporadic during the 2000/2001 season, though, as Albertz found himself out of the side on a regular basis. A perceived lack of work rate appeared to be Advocaat's reasoning for overlooking the German, and whilst it is true that Jorg never looked to be overly fond of the physical side of the game, his other attributes far outweighed the negative aspects of his game. Despite his lack of action, he still managed to weigh in with fifteen goals, but Rangers relinquished their grip on the Championship trophy, as Martin O'Neill led Celtic to the 'Treble' in his first season in charge of the Parkhead side.

One of Albertz's strikes came in the final league match of the season, a 4-0 home win over Hibernian, and after the final whistle, Jorg said Auf Weidersien to his adoring public for the last time. After scoring eighty-two goals in 229 appearances, Albertz was transferred back to Hamburg for a fee of £4 million, somewhat prematurely in the eyes of many Rangers fans who felt that Advocaat had been foolish in letting Jorg leave the club. It is true that for a man of his stature - he stood 6'2" tall and weighed in at just over thirteen stone - he should perhaps have made more of a contribution in the defensive aspects of the game, but his extensive range of passing and powerful striking made him a constant threat, especially from set-pieces in and around the penalty area. His goal-scoring ratio in a Rangers jersey of a goal every three games was also a hugely impressive return for a midfield player.

Jorg spent just one season with Hamburg before trying his luck with Shanghai Shenhua in China. He returned to his homeland in 2004 to play for Greuther Furth, and in the 2006/2007 season he was on the books of Fortuna Dusseldorf, the team with whom he started his career in 1990. Still thought of fondly amongst the Rangers community, Albertz was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2003. (