Ex-Dundee United star John Rankin has revealed how a harsh lesson from David Beckham was the beginning of the end for his Manchester United dream.
Rankin spent three years on the books of the Red Devils as a teenager but failed to make a senior appearance for the English giants.
The veteran midfielder, who made seven appearances for Clyde in this year’s League One campaign, insists the penny dropped that he would not make the grade following a training session with Becks, Juan Sebastian Veron and Laurent Blanc, during which he couldn’t even get close enough to kick them.
Rankin returned north of the border in 2003 to star for the likes of Ross County, Inverness Caley Thistle, Hibs and United, and he can now look back on that bruising experience with a smile.
He recalled: “There was myself, Alan Tait and a boy called Paul Tierney for a reserves training session and (United coach) Mike Phelan said: ‘We’re doing three vs three’ and I said: ‘But there’s only three of us’.
“Then out walks David Beckham, Juan Sebastian Veron and Laurent Blanc.
“It was four minutes at a time and me, Tait and Tierney didn’t get a touch of the ball.
“The best of it was Laurent Blanc only touched it about five times too. It was just Veron and Beckham pinging it and passing it, wee sharp one-twos, round the corner.
“It was after that session that I thought ‘I might need to look at going out on loan or go somewhere else’.
“I saw the reality of it. I was 18 years old and was nowhere near that level. It was an eye-opener.”
Rankin – speaking to the Lower League Ramblings podcast – laughed: “I was thinking, ‘I’m going to kick him’ – but you couldn’t even get near them to lay one on them.”
Nevertheless, Rankin is adamant he will always cherish the nurturing influence of Sir Alex Ferguson, lifting the lid on the small gestures that made the legendary managers one of the greatest of all time.
He said: “We played away to Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup (February 2001) and we lost after extra-time.
“In the dressing room afterwards, the phone goes and it’s Fergie asking how we had got on.
“The first team had a Champions League game against Valencia at the Mestalla and I thought: ‘Wow, you are checking to ask how we got on?’
“He called me into his office the next day – I had missed a few chances – and I thought ‘oh no’. So he puts this video in – it’s black-and-white footage of someone scoring goals.
“He says: ‘That’s East End Park’. It turns out he’s showing me a video of himself scoring goals!
“The best manager ever is sitting taking the time to try to improve my game.
“That wasn’t really anything to do with his first-team – I was an under-18s player – but he was brilliant with me.”
That personal touch shone through again when Ferguson phoned him to offer his congratulations after Rankin bagged the winning goal for Inverness in a 2-1 triumph over Rangers in December 2006, more than three years after he left United.
Rankin added: “I got a phone call and he says ‘do you know who this is?’ I said ‘aye, it’s the boss’.
“I was startled. I didn’t know what to say.
“Then he gives it the line: ‘I’m proud, so proud’ and I was laughing away thinking ‘is this someone who can do voices?’ But I knew it wasn’t because of the number it came from.
“He said to me: ‘The pride I take from players going on to have a career – even if it’s not at Manchester United – is great’.
“That meant a lot to me and I wasn’t even a United player at the time.”
