|
Marco Negri was plucked from Perugia in the summer of 1997 as Walter
Smith fortified an already formidable squad in a bid to win the Scottish
League title for the tenth successive season. A sharp goalscorer who
could instinctively manoeuvre himself into dangerous goal-scoring
positions, Negri had scored fifteen goals in Serie A during 1996/97, but
his contribution failed to save Perugia from relegation to Serie B and
he moved to Scotland for a fee of £3.75 million, despite a late attempt
form Napoli to keep him in his homeland.
Regarded as one of the best strikers in Italy at that time, Negri
certainly lived up to his reputation as he blazed a trail during a
phenomenal first six months at Ibrox. He netted twice on his league
debut against Hearts at Ibrox - his second goal was a sublime chip - and
proceeded to score in each of the first ten Premier Division fixtures.
This shattered the record for scoring in successive top flight matches
that was held by Ally McLeod of Hibernian, who had scored in eight
successive matches in the 1970s.
During that run, Negri became the first Rangers player since Derek
Parlane to net five goals in one match, completing a nap hand against
Dundee United at Ibrox at the end of August. One goal in particular
stood out, a wonderful individual effort that saw the Italian lob the
ball over the heads of three United defenders before chipping Sieb
Dykstra in the United goal. His expression after such a terrific piece
of skill, though, was typical of his demeanour during his time in
Glasgow, he barely raised a smile! Indeed, despite his success on the
field, Negri often looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else in the
world other than Glasgow, and his sullen expression was almost as
constant as his flood of goals.
By Christmas, Marco had netted thirty-three times and his goals
looked set to propel Rangers to the title, but his season, and
effectively his Rangers career, was ended after he sustained an eye
injury whilst playing squash with Italian team-mate Sergio Porrini early
in 1998. The injury seemed to rob him of his sharpness in front of
goal, and he scored just twice after he returned to the team in the
closing months of the campaign. Starved of his goals, Rangers finished
as runners-up to Celtic in the league and lost in the Scottish Cup Final
against Hearts.
Thereafter a series of attitude problems surfaced and Negri played
just three more first-team games for Rangers. Dick Advocaat tried to
coax the reluctant Italian into a top team return when he replaced
Walter Smith ahead of the 1998/99 season, but Negri seemed to be quite
content to see out the remaining years of his contract whilst appearing
in the reserves.
In 2000, Marco was voted as one of the ten worst foreign signings in
British football in an article published in The Guardian newspaper.
After a brief loan spell with Vicenza, he eventually severed his ties
with Rangers in February 2001 when he moved to Bologna, and thereafter
he drifted around the Italian soccer scene before retiring. (Alistair Aird, Author of Ally McCoist - Portrait of a Hero)
Senior career
1994–1995 Cosenza 34 (19)
1995–1997 Perugia 60 (33)
1997–2001 Rangers 30 (32)
1999–2000 Vicenza (loan) 9 (1)
2001–2002 Bologna 3 (0)
2002 Cagliari 5 (2)
2002–2003 Livorno 10 (8)
2004–2005 Perugia 3 (0)
|