Why Lee Wallace must be made captain

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Why Lee Wallace must be made captain

When Lee Wallace made that
gesture yesterday at full time to the Rangers fans mocking the media, imploring
fans not to believe the press, before he kissed the badge with sheer passion,
it sent out a message.
No one is going to deny Lee
Wallace’s performance the past two seasons have not been stellar; despite the
fact he is our best and most valuable asset (formerly Lewis Macleod aside), he
has not been completely consistent and, possibly dragged down by incompetent management
under Ally McCoist then Kenny McDowall, has not shown the same appetite and
enthusiasm he did in Division 3.

It is hard to completely blame
him. Yes, we want our players to bleed blue for the cause, but it is worth
remembering Wallace truly did sacrifice his Scotland career for Rangers by
staying in 2012. This was a player on the cusp of establishing himself as the
national team’s first choice LB, and yet he ditched that in favour of joining
the fight to restore Rangers to where we belong.
Lee Wallace is a player who could
easily have left, who would, and still can, get a far better gig in England,
who could have done what they all did in 2012, what McGregor, Naismith, Davis
et al all opted for and left for nothing.
Instead he elected to TUPE his
deal over and stuck with us. Even despite interest over the past two years from
the likes of Nottingham
Forest.
It is why no one has earned the
Rangers captaincy more than he has. Wallace gave us the best years of his
career, and nothing meant more to him than Rangers beating Hibernian yesterday.
Indeed, his display itself was
absolutely superb. The odd incorrect passing decision aside, Wallace bombed up
and down the flanks like the Wallace of old, and the will to win was abundant.
His candour too in standing by
his decision is admirable:
“I’ve got to stand by my decision but I’m
not going to lie and say I’ve never rethought it, more so this season with how
bad it has been. It was a decision I made at the time, knowing I wanted to be
part of this journey coming back up. The guys who moved on had all been a
success at the club and they had won trophies and become full
internationals.”
I also recall someone I spoke too
a year or two ago mentioning how Wallace, outwith Rangers, was coaching his son’s
team voluntarily. I had no way of verifying it at the time but the man has
confirmed it:
“I’m a football man, I’ve taken my mate’s
amateur team on a Tuesday and Thursday night in pouring rain for the last four
years, going halfway across Scotland for midweek games.”
If anyone at Ibrox deserves
respect it is Wallace. Is he a vocal shouty sort of captain type? No. But all
the players need is someone they all admire and respect, and all the fans want
is someone who deserves to lead this colossal Club.
Wallace fits that bill. And given
the man is also an unsung hero in terms of coaching, he can clearly lead and
instruct, even if he does not go blue in the face while barking instructions.
There is no doubt Lee Wallace
should be installed as Club captain. If McCall wants to continue to take the
team forward, it is a no-brainer.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. I think you are blowing Lee up a bit ? although i have great respect for the guy as a player AND a man and i hope he is with us for a long time !. I dont think the guy wants to be cap ? you either are that type ( who gets among players ) or you are not ? and i think big Lee likes to concentrate on his own game …..fine by me .

  2. 1 simple reason why he hasn't shown that enthusiasm, the inept team coaching from the gardener and sour puss ! Rewind to div3 as you say and his left side understanding with Temps was the main reason his appetite was wetted.Hears hoping it remains so for the foreseeable with a workable formation and players who compliment his style of play !

  3. Steve Davies made sure that Rangers received a fee from Southampton. He is I diehard blue noise. Others you may be right about, but not Davies. He left because they were not told what the future held let alone where they would be playing(what league)….

  4. Lee mcculloch is captain and deserves to be so, when that comes to an end then Wallace would be the natural successor if he wants it.

  5. Wallace's gesture at the end was a perfect way to round off a much better performance by us. The skill-level across the squad might be short of what the Rangers shirt deserves but all that most of us ask (at this stage and till end of season) is the requisite passion and work-rate. The new gaffer seems to be instilling the right ethos among the team which is hugely encouraging. Wallace showed his old class yesterday and Miller looked sharper too. Be great if the return of team confidence enabled Boyd to rediscover his touch too! (Great article as ever btw!)

  6. Great win the other day and the performance from most of the players were hugely improved. Wallace + Murdoch + McGregor Earned top marks, even moshni managed a shift(minus that slip). Just to make a final point before I go on, I agree Stuart Mccall is the man to now take rangers forward. He is a better manager than his predecessors, Mccall is better tactically and has way more experience but most importantly he hasn't been at ibrox for the last 3 years and had the life sucked out of him. This is why the constant digs at McCoist + McDowal are getting old. I've saw people commenting on here the last few days who appear totally misinformed. So just a couple of points: 1. McDowal never wished to be rangers manager it was forced upon him by a board unwilling to put money into rangers to get another manager in and pay mcdowal and mccoist the money they were due. 2. The only reason rangers were linked with scott alan was that mccoist wanted to bring him to rangers, the board of rangers refused to put up the money. All i'm saying is they don't deserve so much hate, they gave their everything for rangers throughout the most turbulent time in the clubs history and some of the stuff is just ridiculous as its not based in fact.
    Just remember those guys actually had do deal with the scum that we've just got rid of in their day to day working environment.

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