Dick Advocaat and the infamous Rangers substitution that left star 'raging' but 23 minute embarrassment built Ibrox bond

If he didn’t laugh about it he’d probably cry. But time has been a heeler where Craig Moore is concerned. Time and trophies, of course. Lots and lots of trophies.

And yet, to this day, there’s an undeniable irony where the Aussie’s silver-lined love affair with Rangers is concerned. Having packed his bags as a teenager to try his luck on the other side of the planet, Moore spent the first six years of his career at Ibrox banging his head off the brick wall outside Walter Smith’s office.

Desperate to prove he could cut it as a first team regular throughout the club’s run to nine in a row, he never quite convinced the man who mattered. In the latest episode of our Off the Ball podcast, Moore tells why he chose to quit the club, lured to the bright lights of London by former Australia boss Terry Venables just as Smith was standing down to make way for Dick Advocaat. Only to end up back where he always knew he belonged within six months because a financially stricken Crystal Palace couldn’t cobble together enough cash to cover his transfer instalments.

Moore picks up the story: “It felt like an end of an era at the club when Walter was leaving. Gascoigne had left, Laudrup had left, Goughie had left. A mass clear-out.

“I just felt because I hadn’t been a starting XI player, that I was probably part of that clear out. My connection with Terry being the national team coach and having the experience of working with him meant that opportunity came along. It just felt right and I started the season very well.

“So things were going well at Palace but financially they hit trouble. They couldn’t keep up.

“I remember seeing Ewan Chester, Rangers’ chief scout, at one of my games and I thought that was a bit odd. But Rangers, doing