Marathon man Le Guen drove us too hard & couldn't go distance.. now Russell has a sinking feeling after Loch Lomond swimming trip

HUTTON: I wouldn't have fancied wild water adventure... it reminds me of ex-boss Paul

- BY ANDY NEWPORT

MARATHON man Paul Le Guen arrived at Ibrox hoping to push his team to new limits.

But it was no surprise to Alan Hutton the Frenchman's radical Rangers approach fell short in Scotland.

Super-fit Le Guen arrived in Glasgow in the summer of 2006 having just competed in the Marathon des Sables, a gruelling 150-mile, week-long race through the Sahara Desert.

The then 42-year-old certainly dealt with that brutal challenge comfortably, finishing 257th out of almost 600 finishers.

But in Glasgow, he failed to go anywhere near the distance after lasting just 31 games as Gers boss.

His 186-day run in charge at Ibrox remains the shortest of any permanent Rangers manager but that record is coming under serious threat from Russell Martin.

Former fullback Hutton was at Ibrox during the tumultuous period and remembers how Le Guen attempted to get his men onside by forcing them to sweat their way through three lung-bursting training sessions a day.

It was those memories that came flooding back this week as Hutton clicked onto images of Martin dragging his team up Conic Hill and into Loch Lomond's freezing shallows in a bid to foster some sense of team unity.

But just as his team were left dreading Le Guen's leg-sapping bonding sessions, Hutton imagines today's team won't have been too impressed with Monday's outdoor adventures.

"I wouldn't have been happy," admitted the 2005 SPL winner. "I'm not going to lie. I can't sit here and say I'd have enjoyed that. It's not really my thing.