I Tried To Sign Kris Boyd For Hearts

Rangers host Osasuna tonight in the 1st leg of their last-16 match against in the UEFA Cup and Dundee United manager Craig Levein is certain that Kris Boyd will be an important factor in how the match turns out.

Spanish side Osasuna are currently 13th out of 20 clubs in the Primera Liga, but have players who are most than capable of knocking Rangers out of the competition over 2 legs.

However, Levein is confident Kris Boyd has the talent to help Rangers progressing to the later stages of this seasons UEFA Cup, because he tried to sign the striker when he was manager of Hearts.

"KRIS BOYD has his critics and in many ways a lot of the things that people say about his workrate are true, but you cannot hide the fact he scores goals for fun and that's why Osasuna will be extremely wary of his presence at Ibrox," admitted Levein in his weekly column for the Daily Record.

"Incidentally, that's why I looked into the possibility of taking him to Hearts a few years ago and could certainly do with him myself just now."

"I was interested in bringing him to Tynecastle but back then he was under contract at Kilmarnock and I was at the point where I never had enough money to buy players and always had to bring guys in who were out of contract for financial reasons."

"To have somebody like him who puts the ball in the back of the net as much as he does is worth their weight in gold in the modern-day game."

"I've always been a big admirer of Boydy and hopefully he does the business against Osasuna in the UEFA Cup."

"Osasuna are not as good as AC Milan in my eyes, which makes you think Rangers have a slightly easier opportunity to go further in Europe than Celtic, but right now Rangers are not as good as Celtic so there might be a similar task required for them to get through."

"One thing I would say in Rangers' favour is if they can get in front in the first leg they're much better equipped to hold on than before - by that I mean the partnership of Davie Weir and Ugo Ehiogu at the centre of their defence."

"If you had asked me could they defend a lead over in Spain before Walter Smith came back to Ibrox the answer would have been no, but he's basically brought in two players who understand what's required to win football matches once you're in front."

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