20 YEARS OF MURRAY; RANGERS CHAIRMAN OPENS HIS HEART TO THE RECORD What did pal Souness get me into back in 1988? I won't buy to beat Celts, I've spent enough I wish I'd taken us to a new level PLG had cash but didn't use it I'll safeguard future of Gers.

Byline: BY JAMES TRAYNOR

REGRETS? He has a few. Mistakes? Yes, he's made them but after 20 years at the centre of the Old Firm maelstrom David Murray is still there.

And he's still fighting his club's corner, insisting the highs and lows of two turbulent decades haven't left him drained of will or pride.

It is no secret Murray, who bought Rangers for pounds 6million in 1988, recognises that even he has a shelf life but until the right buyers, people more concerned with the club's interests rather than their own, step forward he will tough it out.

More than that, he believes the time has come when he has to stand up for his club which he insists has taken too much of the rap for all the things that are bad about the Scottish game and society in general.

The years and the knocks have made Murray rethink his strategy and although he's no longer the brash young buck who shook the entire Scottish set-up that bullish streak is always close to the surface. These days, though, he chooses his fight times more carefully and if need be he'll stand toe to toe with anyone he believes is out to harm his club.

This, of course, might come as a surprise to those Rangers fans who reckon their chairman has mellowed too much and is desperate to get out but he made it clear he remains a driven man.

His 20 years will be clocked officially tomorrow but last night he felt moved to put doubters straight about his commitment.

Fielding questions about his enthusiasm for the cut and thrust at the sharp end of the game he said: "I am probably more motivated than any of you because of my circumstances. Every morning I have to face things that none of you ever have to deal with. So no one needs to worry about my motivation."

Each morning since his legs had to be amputated after his car hit a tree in 1976 Murray has hauled himself up through the ranks of big business and football, attacking his goals with an energy which defies belief.

And that is probably why Rangers' need for him right now is greater than his for them.

As the country sinks deeper into recession it's a hard business mind the club require. Murray, though, has always had his critics and they argue it was he who drove the club into massive debt as he pursued a European dream. But it is precisely that dire experience which makes Murray the man for today.

With maturity has come a much greater sense of reality. He knows neither he nor his club are invincible and although ambition still burns within he acknowledges caution has a part to play.

He said: "I didn't know what I was coming into when, through my friendship with Graeme Souness, I bought the club. It has become so much a part of my life and I am Rangers' longest-serving chairman.

"Actually, I've been here 15 per cent of the club's history and that is an awful long time.

"I've had a rollercoaster life. I've known good fortune and I've known bad fortune. But I have enjoyed it and I have tried to keep a firm hand on the tiller.

"I've never hidden. I have tried to be honest and retain integrity but to last this long has been difficult.

"In the beginning we could buy the biggest players in England. We could afford a John Terry or a Frank Lampard then but that's all gone now. It's behind us.

"We are in a difficult financial time the likes of which we probably won't see again and if I'm being asked if I will buy players to meet a stronger Celtic challenge all I can say is that I've invested enough.

"There is no buying our way out of any trouble. Besides, this is not the year to be throwing money at problems."

Although Murray has delivered about 30 per cent of the club's trophy haul he admits his biggest regret is not having taken the club to a higher level.

The Murray years are littered with stories of the Old Firm joining the Premiership or a Northern European league but these were nothing more than hopeless dreams and Murray said: "The Premiership isn't open to the Old Firm and why would they want us any way?

"So yes, my biggest frustration is that I didn't take the club on to that other level."

It could have been worse. After all, not long ago Rangers appeared to be heading for the rocks when a bold experiment was blown off course.

Although he had gone foreign before - Dick Advocaat's Ibrox reign started with a bang before fizzling out - after Alex McLeish peaked Murray turned to a sought-after Frenchman, Paul Le Guen. His arrival was supposed to launch Rangers into a new and more cultured future but it didn't work.

Murray said: "I tried to change the menu. Paul had all the credentials, the sparkling cv. He was wanted by other clubs but I don't think he was prepared for what he got into.

"He was offered money and he didn't spend it and, you know, when things were going wrong he sent me a text saying 'thanks for your support'.

"That was three weeks before he left. I was in France, enjoying a glass of wine, and I discover he's dropped Ferguson. They weren't speaking so I went back, met Paul and asked him what he wanted to do.

"He said he wanted out but I suppose alarm bells started ringing when he wouldn't spend the money. Then when I suggested he sign Steven Pressley he said no.

"I didn't say anything because I've never told any manager who he should sign. It was Paul's call to go and he made it easier for everyone by falling on his sword.

"We were rudderless and I asked Walter Smith to come back. He's steadied the ship and although Celtic are doing well right now we have to deal with that.

"Celtic are probably much better now than they were when I started out. They've done very well and you can't take that away from them.

"The future is that Celtic and Rangers will continue to fight it out for the title. Not much else will change although we will have to reduce the size of our squad and bring in more young Scots.

"Financial reality means that has to be the way and if we didn't do that there would be no point in having Murray Park.

"Walter and I reckon the Old Firm are operating with players worth two to three million, with one or two exceptions. Now, unless that changes and one of the clubs starts buying much more expensive players it'll be 50-50 between us."

There is one other way it might change and that would be if someone with millions to spare bought Rangers. He will sell, of that there is no doubt, but only to the right type.

He said: "I will leave here when the time is right. I have invested well over pounds 100m through the rights issue, losses and Murray Group's investment.

"There is no point in selling to someone who can only afford the entry fee but not the stake to play the game."

But finding a buyer in this financial climate might be impossible and Murray added: "I might still be here in two years' time. I've always run it my way and you could say financially it was wrong at one stage, but I won't sell to anyone. I want the next person to have Rangers' interests a heart but right now I am still ambitious."

Murray doesn't even have to think to come up with his best moment of the past 20 years. "Hateley against Aberdeen," he said.

"Graeme Souness had said he was going but wanted to stay on to see the season through. I said no and Walter took over. We had to beat Aberdeen that day to win the title and we did."

And best signing would be?

"Boumsong," he says and it isn't difficult to understand why.

Signed on a Bosman the defender was sold to Newcastle six months later for pounds 8m. "And not an agent in sight."

Murray's desire to keep Rangers at the top remains undiminished. He doesn't want 20 more years but he will make the most of the time left.

CAPTION(S):

20-20 VISION: Murray recovers from losing both legs and, clockwise, launches a new Ibrox era with Souness, sees Hateley's double clinch the title in1991 and Smith lead Rangers to last year's UEFA Cup Final after the failure of the Le Guen experiment