Numan backs old boss to win promotion with Birmingham City

May 3 2009 by Andy Walker, Sunday Mercury

EX-RANGERS star Arthur Numan believes the cool head of Alex McLeish will help guide Blues through the heat of today’s promotion decider.

Numan experienced first hand the way in which Big Eck deals with the pressure of final day drama during their time together at Ibrox.

The Dutchman was part of McLeish’s Rangers squad that pipped Martin O’Neill’s Celtic to the 2003 SPL title after a nerve-jangling finale.

Rangers went into their final fixture level on points but having scored 95 goals compared to their Glasgow rivals’ haul of 94. A day of twists and turns saw the silverware flitter between both sides of Glasgow with Rangers at home to Dunfermline and Celtic at Kilmarnock.

However it was McLeish’s men who came out on top with a 6-1 victory at Ibrox after Celtic had only managed to hammer four unanswered goals past Killie at Rugby Park.

“We knew what we had to get from the game and with it being the final game of the season you can imagine what the atmosphere was like especially as we knew we could win the league,” recalled Numan, currently working as manager of the Netherlands ‘B’ team.

“The thing I remember was throughout the 90 minutes, we knew whether it was us or Celtic winning the league from the reaction of the crowd, it was a very strange feeling.

“It was just huge relief when we found out we had done it and of course then there was a big party after.”