Alex McLeish should rightfully go down in the Glasgow Rangers annals as one of the club’s finest-ever managers, especially considering the constraints he had to work with.
The Scot delivered seven major honours, including a sensational treble during the 2002/03 campaign while having to reduce the wage bill season after season and relying heavily on free transfers and loan moves, with the vast majority of these being abject failures.
With all the criticism he received with some of his signings, there was one player who arrived on a free transfer who proved to be one of the finest players to grace the Ibrox pitch during that period – Dado Prso.
Michael Beale could potentially lose Alfredo Morelos this summer as his contract expires in a few months and in a hypothetical world, the manager would dream of forming a duo between Prso and Antonio Colak who would terrorise defences in the Premiership.
Is Dada Prso a Rangers legend?
The term legend gets thrown about all too often these days, but Prso was arguably one of the club's finest forwards this century.
He joined in the summer of 2004 on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at AS Monaco, and he was well known on the continent, especially for scoring four goals against Deportivo La Coruna during a Champions League tie in November 2003.
He scored 20 times during his first term as the Gers won the league and League Cup, while adding another 12 in 2005/06, although no trophies were won during that campaign. He left the club in 2007 following a long-standing knee complaint but McLeish was full of praise for Prso when reminiscing, saying: “Dado was awesome, just awesome, and I’ve kept in touch with him over the years. He is just a wonderful human being.
“When we went up to Aberdeen and won during the Helicopter Sunday year, big Dado played in the Pittodrie wind and rain like an absolute trojan.”
How Beale could make use of his talents now, with Prso in his prime undoubtedly the ideal foil for Colak in this Rangers side. The former Gers striker wasn’t an out-and-out goalscorer, but he used his ability to read the game to get past defenders, making up for his lack of pace.
Prso could drag defenders all over the shop, creating plenty of space for his compatriot to nip in and have plenty of chances on goal and a duo of Prso and Colak, who has 17 goals this term, would surely be a hit amongst the fans.
McLeish had a few howlers during his spell in charge of the Glasgow side, but managing to lure Prso to the club definitely wasn’t one, and he would improve any Rangers team if he were still in his 'wonderful' prime years.
