Lee McCulloch: UEFA Cup run turned us into bigheads

Aug 10 2008 Scott Mcdermott

FURIOUS Lee McCulloch has blasted Rangers' Euro duds and accused them of believing their own hype after reaching the UEFA Cup Final.

The Ibrox star was devastated at Gers' shock Champions League exit at the hands of Lithuanian minnows Kaunas in midweek.

McCulloch admits Rangers are a different side to the one that went all the way to Manchester last season to compete in the club's first European final in 36 years.

The 30-year-old midfielder insists the squad aren't working as hard as they should and hinted their Euro success last term has gone to the players' heads.

McCulloch couldn't hide his dejection after Tuesday night's humiliating 2-1 defeat to Kaunas.

And the Scotland star now knows there is no more room for error and that Walter Smith's men must lift the SPL title and deny Celtic their fourth championship on the trot.

He said: "I can't quite put my frustration into words, maybe it's better to let the dust settle first.

"It's just so hard to explain and I can't sum up what it means to be out of Europe so early but something has obviously changed from last year.

"We're not working as hard as we did last season. Maybe as players we've picked up too many papers and believed what was written about us during the UEFA Cup run. That's everybody, not certain individuals.

"Just because you get to a European final doesn't mean you're some sort of world-class player.

"Last season we were successful through sheer hard work.

"We lacked a bit of flair but everyone was willing to pull in one direction and really go for it together.

It just seems different this time.

"I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong but last season we wouldn't have lost to Kaunas.

"At least the domestic season has only just started - that's the only positive we can take from it.

"We really need to win the league. That's the only thing we can think of right now.

"There will be a lot of pressure on us to come out and play now. We just need to pick ourselves up and ensure we don't have any more displays like the one against Kaunas.

"I know we're missing Barry Ferguson and Carlos Cuellar but we can't make excuses.

"We have enough players in our squad to be able to beat teams like Kaunas comfortably and we didn't."

McCulloch admits it will be painful viewing watching arch rivals Celtic go straight into the Champions League group stages while Rangers' Euro journey is over before it even really started.

And he can't believe Kaunas could be joining the Hoops if they see off Danish side Aalborg in the third qualifying round.

Lee said: "We started against Kaunas okay, went a goal up then took our foot off the pedal.

"We let them back into it and we deserved nothing from the game.

"They worked harder than us, covered more ground and at times passed the ball better than us. It just wasn't good enough.

"We'll have to wait and see where they end up in the competition but at the moment they're better than us because they put us out. Celtic are already in the Champions League because they won the league so they deserve to be there.

"But this has nothing to do with Celtic, it's all about us and we're bitterly disappointed.

"It will be torture watching the big Euro games on a Tuesday and Wednesday night. We'd rather be playing and it's not going to be nice.

"But we need to use that as motivation to get something out of the campaign and win the league.

"We're hurting but this is Glasgow Rangers and we need to get on with it."