Billy Stark: Jason Holt's Ibrox renaissance is down to an eye for goal with Rangers

[pete 2,511]

Billy Stark: Jason Holt's Ibrox renaissance is down to an eye for goal with Rangers

 

HE WAS the hot prospect for whom it all went a little cold.

 

Jason Holt was tipped for great things as a teenager coming through the academy system at Hearts.

 

The Tynecastle club tied him down on a three-year contract at the age of 18. Mark Wotte, the former performance director at the Scottish Football Association, believed he was the brightest talent of his age group in the game.

 

Nottingham Forest did have two attempts to sign him turned down in the summer of 2013 following a steady period of first-team football under John McGlynn, but his star was already, you could argue, on the wane by then.

 

Robbie Neilson, the Hearts manager, made it clear early last term that he was not going to be given a regular game in the SPFL Championship and he was duly farmed out on loan to Sheffield United in the knowledge his contract would not be renewed.

 

In fairness, Holt did well at Bramall Lane, scoring five goals in the closing weeks of the campaign as the Blades made it to the League One play-offs, where they would lose at the semi-final stage on penalty kicks to Swindon Town.

 

United had negotiated the first option to sign him at the end of his loan agreement. They didn’t take it up. Instead, Holt pitched up at Rangers on trial.

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Let’s not over-egg the pudding. Performing well in the second tier of Scottish football cannot be taken as a sure sign of promise finally fulfilled, but Mark Warburton, the Ibrox manager, is looking justified in awarding the 22-year-old a three-year deal based on what he witnessed during the summer.

 

Holt has been improving as the season has developed. For Billy Stark, his former coach at Under-19 and Under-21 level with Scotland, it is the addition of goals to his game that has made such a discernible difference to his fortunes.

 

Stark was a midfielder with an uncanny ability to get into the right position during successful spells with St Mirren, Aberdeen and Celtic. He possessed the ability to finish his runs with clinical scoring and is delighted to see Holt do the same, with nine goals to his name this term.

 

“His ability to see space and run into goalscoring positions is something that you don’t see that often nowadays,” said Stark. “Play is very measured nowadays and it is about taking loads of passes. Rangers, in particular, play a very possession-based game, so the timing of the run is important.

 

“In my day, you normally had two strikers to play off and it was sometimes easier to get on the end of a lay-off or a flick-on from a centre-forward.

 

“It is different when you have one striker and two players wide. Jason has been the supporting player and it can be hard to get close enough to make runs. He has picked and chosen his runs and passes inside the final 30 yards well, though, with the most important part being the ability to get the ball past the keeper.

 

“Jason would always work his tail off for you. Goalscoring was always the one thing that you hoped he could improve upon, but he has managed to do that and his goalscoring ratio this season is first-class.

 

“He has proved himself to be a top player in that league this season and I am sure he will get his opportunity next term should Rangers go up.”

 

Holt is not the biggest player around. He is hardly likely to become the kind of midfield enforcer Rangers probably need. However, Stark believes he brings more than enough to the party to deserve that extended run he speaks of as the Ibrox side’s number 10.

 

“Jason is never going to be the tallest of players,” he said. “My assumption is that was maybe a factor at Sheffield United.

 

“It is a gamble for clubs in the likes of League One down there to take wee players.

 

“Of course, we always talk about Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Lionel Messi proving that smaller players can succeed. However, those who are not the biggest in terms of stature really do need to have something extra.

 

“By that, I mean they need to be really busy and a factor in the game. In Britain and Scotland, the wee guy will tend to be the one to be taken off if things are not going well and he is not influencing the play to any great degree.”

 

Stark still recalls the bemusement that existed within the SFA over the lack of opportunity Holt received at Tynecastle.

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“We were a wee bit surprised that he wasn’t getting a bit more action at Hearts back then,” said Stark. “He was outstanding for us at Under-19 level in what, to be honest, was not our strongest group.

 

“Fair play to Mark Warburton, who stuck with him even through that poor spell recently and got his reward when he scored twice against Hibs in the big game at the end of the year.”

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/14183580.Billy_Stark__Jason_Holt_s_Ibrox_renaissance_is_down_to_an_eye_for_goal_with_Rangers/

 

I am surprised that Hearts never saw anything in him but I suppose it is our gain.

[ian1964 10,826]

Is it any wonder that Scottish football is in such a bad way?,he harps on about his size!

[craig 5,199]

Is it any wonder that Scottish football is in such a bad way?,he harps on about his size!

 

The Sinclair syndrome too.....

 

Thankfully Mulholland has a very different way of thinking. Technical ability over brawn is his way - which bodes very well for us in the future.

[alexscottislegend 2,568]

Is it any wonder that Scottish football is in such a bad way?,he harps on about his size!

 

The modern game demands skilful players who are physically powerful too. Stark may have been a hopeless U21 coach but he is not wrong about small players having to be very good indeed to prosper. Look at England's young sensations, Barkley and Alli - they are not just skilful but good athletes as well. Where I differ from Stark is that if Holt is to be our no 10 can he and Law fit in the same team? Maybe one should be sacrificed for a defensive midfielder.