Derek Johnstone: Rangers fans shouldn't mourn the departed....

[ian1964 10,721]

...the shirt was too heavy for them.

 

You can go through anyone who has left Rangers and gone on to do well and argue that they should have kept them, but not for me.

 

There’s a difference playing up here with a club like Rangers where there is pressure on you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

 

Barrie McKay is a fantastic talent, don’t get me wrong, but one of the reasons he left Rangers is that he wasn’t consistent enough.

 

On his day he was unplayable and he scored some fantastic goals, but one good game out of four or five is not good enough at this club, and that was his problem.

 

Martyn Waghorn and Joe Garner are scoring freely for Ipswich, but that’s under no pressure. Could they handle the pressure in the top league up here? You’d have to say no.

 

There’s not the same scrutiny on them down south when they are playing for these clubs, and as a result they are more relaxed, and maybe that suits them better.

 

That’s not the type of players that Rangers want, or need, though. They need players who have a bit of bottle in them, and can handle a bit of bad press. They can come out fighting when things are against them, that’s the people Rangers need.

 

It’s great to see these players doing well down south, but they are with clubs now who are inferior to Rangers in my opinion and under less pressure than they experienced up here in Scotland.

 

Good luck to them, I wish them well, but I would never say that the club shouldn’t have sold them or it was a mistake to let them go. The weight of the shirt just proved too much.

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/15495264.Derek_Johnstone__Rangers_fans_shouldn__39_t_mourn_the_departed__the_shirt_was_too_heavy_for_them/?ref=twtrec

[union 0]

No argument from me DJ, you worr the shirt as it should be worn, with pride and endeavour.

[Frankie 8,562]

DJ is correct for once.

 

Playing for RFC is entirely different from playing for 'smaller' teams. McKay is a sore one to lose but Waggy and Garner struggled too often to really consider themselves reliable.

[Davie P 4]

I do agree with DJ, and always thought it was bizarre that our transfer targets under the previous regime were for players from the third and fourth tier of English Football. The idea that players who are used to crowds of 2 000 and limited scrutiny from the public off the field, could all of a sudden adapt to playing in front of 50 000 and living in the Glasgow goldfish bowl, was just insanity to me.

 

I think it was Bill Struth who said, " I know you can play son, but can you play for Rangers?" It's a heavy shirt and not everyone has the mentality to wear it as it should be worn.

[Devil's advocaat 1,541]

It's no often big Derek talks sense, but he's bang on the money there.

[MacK1950 2,376]

Excellent piece from DJ but still feel Garner might have fitted in with the long ball tactics we seem to be using.

[Tannochsidebear 2,405]

The only bit i disagree with is on McKay. His "inconsistency" which to my mind is overblown as he was one of our best players last season and the only one with any creativity at all, was nothing to do with his departure, which was completely a financial decision.

 

I agree with the tone of the article, and the weight of the shirt is something I go on about a lot, but I think he is misplaced in targetting the players he has used as examples. He could just as easily have used a lot of others like Kiernan, Crooks, Dodoo who achieved absolutely nothing than Waghorn and Garner who contributed as much as anyone (not a lot granted!) last season.