5 days ago
Davide Ancelotti is a Rangers gamble but Italian with Ibrox intel isn't writing him off
From the Allianz to the Bernabeu but is Glasgow next
Davide Ancelotti has just about seen it all as part of his dad Carlo's coaching staff.
From Paris to Munich, Naples to Madrid.
From the Allianz to the Bernabeu - with all the other top stadiums in Europe in between.
But if he ends up in Govan as the new Rangers manager, the 35-year-old Italian might be in for a culture shock.
One of his countrymen - and former Ibrox defender - Sergio Porrini should know.
When he arrived in Glasgow in 1997, he'd won two Serie A titles and a UEFA Cup with Juventus.
He'd grown up as a youth player at AC Milan idolising Carlo Ancelotti, who was part of a star-studded San Siro line-up.
So when he turned up as a Rangers player to Fir Park in Motherwell - and discovered there was a SLOPE on the pitch - it was a whole new ball game.
Irrespective of the surroundings, Porrini knew he had to win.
And if Ancelotti gets the gig as new gaffer at Ibrox he'll quickly find that out for himself.
Porrini has warned the Italian that going to Rangers for his first ever managerial role will be a huge challenge.
But he's adamant that if becomes boss, the most important quality he'll have to show is humility - because his glamorous past will mean NOTHING.
In an exclusive interview with Record Sport, he said: 'Scottish football will be different for Davide.
'The first thing he'll have to do is cancel his past. This will be a new experience.
'Even if you're the son of Ancelotti, a great coach, don't be presumptuous.
'He has to be humble, that's the most important thing if he goes to Rangers.
'Because he'll need everybody with him. The players, staff, the board. He'll need everything rounded.
'That's different compared to Italy and Spain.
'He has to know that in Glasgow, he'll be at a great club with so many followers who go crazy for Rangers.
'Also, the lifestyle is different away from the pitch in Scotland. The mentality is completely different.
'The football style also. So he has to erase everything and start again.
'He almost has to be like a computer without any information if he goes to Scotland.
'Davide has experienced a lot and been at big stadiums like the Bernabeu or Allianz in Munich.
'But Scotland is different and he has to be ready for it.
'You won't be playing every game at Parkhead or Ibrox.
'You're going to be going to Motherwell and Kilmarnock, places like that.
'I'll always remember going to Motherwell for the first time and the pitch wasn't level. There was a slope!
'As a young coach in your first job, nothing really prepares you for that. It's another kind of football.
'He can't be surprised by it. If he is, he's going to have a lot of problems there.'
Porrini was a young player in awe of Carlo Ancelotti when they were together at AC Milan.
He was convinced the midfielder would go on to become a top coach.
But if his son Davide is Rangers' next gaffer, Porrini fears there will be constant comparisons to his old man.
He said: 'It won't be easy for Davide because in the beginning, everybody will be waiting for him.
'They'll be waiting for him to live up to his father as a coach.
'Of course, Davide could be as good as Carlo. But at the start? That won't be easy.
'That's why it's such a big gamble from Rangers.
'I'm really curious to see what Davide has learnt and what he could bring to Rangers. I'm excited by it.
'But it's never easy when you have such a famous name.
'When you're the son of Carlo, they will always compare. It happens all the time.
'I remember it happened with Paolo Maldini. His father Cesare was a great player with the Italian national team.
'Paolo had to live up to that - although I think Paolo did a good job!
'I see it now with Lilian Thuram's two sons, Marcus and Kephrehn. They're great players at Inter and Juventus.
'But at the beginning, they were always compared to their father.
'That's what will happen with Davide when he becomes a manager. I'm sure of it.'
Porrini spent four years at Ibrox, winning two titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup.
Under Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat, Rangers had a multi-national squad full of players from Italy, Germany, Holland and South America.
Ancelotti will inherit a similarly eclectic group of players if he takes the job - even if the quality isn't as high as it was during Porrini's time.
But the former Juve full-back has urged his compatriot to keep a Scottish spine within the Ibrox dressing-room - especially with an intense Old Firm rivalry in Glasgow.
He said: 'It will be important for Davide to keep a Scottish core in the Rangers dressing-room. You need that there.
'I remember in my first year at Ibrox, a lot of foreign players came in from Italy and other parts of Europe.
'But there was a core of Scottish players. Andy Goram, Ian Durrant, Ally McCoist, Gordon Durie, even Barry Ferguson.
'You need that kind of mix to succeed in Scotland, definitely.
'I wasn't surprised about the Rangers support or how big the club was.
'I had played at Ibrox before with Juventus so I knew what it was all about.
'But I didn't know anything about the rivalry with Celtic.
'I knew one side was Protestant and the other was Catholic but I had no idea about how intense it was.
'On a Monday at the start of Old Firm week, you know it's coming. You feel it. It's not like any week you've had before.
'Day by day, you start to sense that you're going to play in a unique atmosphere and one of the best derby games in the world.
'So you have to know that and be ready for it.'
