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A World Cup winner with France in 1998, Stephane Guivarc'h arrived at
Ibrox in November of that year boasting an excellent pedigree. Top
goal-scorer in France's Ligue 1 in 1996/97 and 1997/98, Guivarc'h had
played in all of France's matches at the 1998 World Cup, including the
Final against Brazil. Although he failed to find the net in any of the
matches he played in, Stephane was still regarded as a proven
goal-scorer, and he was earmarked by Dick Advocaat as someone that would
thrive in the SPL.
However, the Frenchman initially rejected Rangers' overtures,
preferring instead to try his luck in The English Premiership, but his
short spell with Newcastle United was a disappointment. He was not
helped when the manager who signed him, Kenny Dalglish, was sacked just
two matches into the new season, and when it soon became apparent that
he was not part of new manager Ruud Guillit's plans, Guivarc'h moved to
Glasgow when Dick Advocaat paid £3.5 million for his services. Advocaat
was delighted to finally capture the signature of the 28-year-old and
the Dutchman had high hopes that Stephane would prove that his spell in
England had just been a blip by firing Rangers to glory.
Initially it seemed that that would be the case. Guivarc'h netted
twice on his debut when he came off the bench during a 7-0 thrashing of
St Johnstone in the SPL, and although his Old Firm debut turned sour
when Rangers were mauled 5-1 by Celtic two weeks later, his first month
at the club ended on a high, as Rangers claimed the first leg of what
would be a domestic Treble. They defeated St Johnstone by two goals to
one in the Final of the Scottish League Cup, with Guivarc'h scoring the
opening goal (the photo above is during the game).
Further goals followed in December, with a brace against Hearts at
Tynecastle sealing a 3-2 win, but the initial spate of goals soon slowed
to a trickle, and Guivarc'h only scored another two goals in a Rangers
jersey. A combination of injury and an abrupt loss of form meant that he
only made fleeting appearances in the closing months of the season, as
Rangers stormed to the domestic Treble.
Despite his early flood of goals, Guivarc'h failed to ingratiate
himself with the Rangers supporters. He was a rather lazy player and his
languid style of play was ill-suited to the game in the British Isles.
His lack of application on the field only fuelled the feeling that he
had simply signed for Rangers to line his pockets with a reputed weekly
salary of £20,000.
With the sullen Italian Marco Negri also on the books, Rangers were
therefore keen to ensure that they did not have another high earner
draining the Club's financial resources whilst languishing in the
reserves, so Stephane was sold back to Auxerre in June of 1999. Despite
his poor record over the course of the season - he made only eighteen
first-team appearances and scored seven goals - Rangers managed to
recoup most of their initial outlay, with Guivarc'h returning to France
for a fee of £3.4 million.
He played out the rest of his career in his homeland, spending two
seasons with Auxerre and an injury-plagued year with Guingamp, before
being forced to retire due to the effects of a knee injury in 2002.
(Alistair Aird, Author of Ally McCoist - Portrait of a Hero)
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