Ex-Rangers star to return to Ibrox

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Ex-Rangers star to return to Ibrox

This weekend sees more than a few subplots at Ibrox; Jamie Walker set to start against the side he wishes to join, manager-less Hearts trying to kick-start their season; but the one we will focus on today is the return home of one of Govan’s most controversial sons: Kyle Lafferty.

The guy sure gets Bears talking – a clear Bear himself, he had a reasonable time of it down south, following odd spells in both Switzerland with Sion and Italy’s Serie B with Palermo, which led to a prolonged period at Norwich.

However once it became evident his time in England was drawing to a close, the inevitable links to Rangers began.

Indeed, on more than one occasion it looked very possible Kyle Lafferty was headed back – a controversial notion in itself given the nature of his departure. Not only did his character divide fans, but his departure and ability did too.

For every clinical display like the title win at Killie, there was a dive in another. For every match he worked hard, there was the disappointing way he left.

No one quite symbolises ‘maelstrom’ quite like this lad.

Yet for all the baggage, all the controversy, there is a nagging feeling for this author of ‘what if’.

Ibrox Noise ran a poll and the majority actually seemed in favour of his return. Instead, it was Hearts who secured him after alleged talks at Ibrox failed. Instead, we got Dalcio and Candeias while losing McKay – would Lafferty have been an asset?

If we look at his best matches at Ibrox, they were always in the striking position. Fact is the guy could score. Former manager Ally McCoist (as assistant) said in 2009:

“In my opinion, he will be a centre-forward and a good one at that. We’ve probably been a little bit unfair on Kyle by playing him out on the left. Sometimes you just try to get all your goalscorers on the park so you can get more goals from all areas. Maybe that was a little unfair on him, although he did score at Tannadice. He looks more at home through the middle, with goals against Hamilton and Hearts, and I thought he played well in the game against Celtic through the middle in the second half.”

And while McCoist’s own managerial record at Ibrox remains a toxic subject to this day, on this point we have to agree.

With Rangers’ options up front a little shaky, and the doubt over whether Dalcio and Candeias will work out, a free signing like Lafferty could have been a pretty risk-free investment.

Yours truly hopes he gets a decent reception on Saturday. He is not a bad soul, just maybe a bit of a daft one. But that said naturally we hope he has an awful match, because a Lafferty on form could definitely do some damage.

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13 COMMENTS

  1. As I stated roughly 4weeks ago, were nowhere near Celtic or Aberdeen, and now looks like hibs as well.
    I said a draw at the well,nearly was, I said get beat of jobs, we did, I also said a draw against the hearts.
    We as blue noses really really need a reality check.
    Celtic will be 10 points ahead of us by the first old firm at ibrox, £25m better off for group stage qualifying, they will spend in January and cruise the spl again , rangers need at least £50m investment to stop 10 in a row, fact we no longer should truely believe we can win the league this nor next season, I will be looking closely as Celtic go for ten in a row to see if the board really mean business.
    We won't get champions league for at least another 4 years, so wise up RFC board and accept 3rd place and occasionally 2nd place.
    The only way to generate income is to use money wisely to the known fact that if you build ibrox bigger you will season after season fill it. And that my friends will be the only known income guaranteed, then and only then we might just get back to the famous Glasgow Rangers and start getting noticed again globally as the most successful club on the world ,until then I'm afraid there's no logic that we will challenge Celtic in the near future.
    Sad to say as a blue ��, but no one should be happy with second or third best.
    WATP.

    • sam,i've said it so many times before, the only man who could topple celtic's 10 is walter. DK should be begging him to give it one more go and stop this 10 in a row shit. once champions and stable he could pass it over to safer hands. better to do t now than panic 18 month from now. trust me when i predicted troubled times if murray left us before all the problems started.i hope i eat my words but ped won't topple them, and i've watched gers since 1976.

    • Do the maths, for every 10000 you stick on the capacity you would generate about 3 to 4 million, in big clubs incomes these days tickets generate a small fraction of their total income with TV and commercial deals generating the bulk, our country is too small and our league too cap to create any outside interest. Any Scottish club is never going to be nothing more than a bit player where it matters, we need a European league.

  2. For Goodness SAke is EVERYONE missing the BIG PICTURE here…. We went down to TEN MEN and Pedro PANICKED…. His changes in personnel and tactics made us look as if we were playing Hibs with SEVEN MEN…. Pedro is STRUGGLING….

  3. Well reasoned Sam.

    Full disclosure: I am not a Rangers supporter.

    That said, a bigger stadium is probably the #1 thing Rangers can do to close the financial gap with Celtic. That's probably worth more than Europa League group stage money.

    The #2 item on the list is signing and developing younger players and flipping them for a profit – this has long been a staple for several clubs around Europe to supplement their income, including Celtic. In that regard, Graeme Murty is probably the most important man at the club right now, and if the board has any sense they would name him to be the next permanant manager if/when Pedro is released. He's also very underrated as a tactician. But again, I'm not a Rangers supporter, so disregard as you please.

  4. Think we would all agree that Walter coming back in would make us all so much more confident, comfortable and positive. Those vibes would transfer to the players. Those foreigners struggling to settle can go and find a club that matches their coping capability. I'm sick of hearing Pedro talk gash, struggle in big games when it doesn't go to plan. Ask yourselves "how many times has he actually managed to turn round a game that was going against us" we all know the answer. He's not suddenly going to get better and start outsmarting other managers. I said that he should be given until the first old firm game. Should he pick up a credible result against the scum and be within single figures of them then he should continue. Should they give us a beating then he must go. Should he receive a stay of execution after a credible result then he needs to stay within touching distance of them and be clear of the third place side. Should he not achieve that after the backing from the board and the understanding from the fans after the turmoil he has put us through during his short tenure at the helm of our amazing club then he needs to get to f"@k. Seriously all this "calm down, early days" patter gets us nowhere. There is a time for Cool heads granted but you need to earn respect and he has done very little to convince me that he has it in him. I sincerely hope I'm proved to wrong and everyone can give me it stinking for how wrong I was but let's be honest we all know it's not going to work out with him. It's that gut instinct and based on what we have experienced so far under his stewardship.

  5. I feel the author of this article is being a tad disrespectful to our very own players, Dalcio and Candeias.
    Kyle Lafferty is a Hearts player, therefore, let Hearts related blogs and websites brag how good he is!!
    I take exception to publicly disrespect our players who have only played a had handful of games, to a mediocre player who was endorsed by the worst ever Rangers manager!!
    I couldn't give a monkeys about Lafferty, but I will support my own players and concentrate on my own team. Therefore, why don't we talk about players in our own team?!
    As for Jamie Walker,, give it a rest Ibrox Noise!!!

  6. We should have signed Lafferty and Naismith for that matter,look at what we did sign up front…an absolute joke. Why the **** did we sign these guys who have come in and contributed nothing. A manager is only as good as his signings and for this reason alone, and putting aside the complete ***** that comes out his mouth almost every time he opens it, he has to go…we are waisting time we don't have.

  7. I wish Uncle Walter would come back home, only then could we stop the mhanky unwashed mob winning ten in a row, would even give Mcleish or Murty the job, Ped is nothing short of useless, l fear a hammering first Old Firm game get rid now before any more damage is done, cant stand listening to Ped and the constant drivel he comes out with

  8. I was just thinking about this yesterday. Trying to think of a manager who had developed the great combination of being able to take players under his wing, but also give them the full hairdryer when needed. Uncle Walter is the only one I could think of.

    Fair enough, Ped being a hard-nose, but the other side is needed too.

    We have to put on a performance on Saturday. Actually, every Saturday. 🙂

  9. The reason i raised this is for the points u have made, it probably won't happen although it would lift the whole place. u could imagine the media coverage all over ibrox.I'm sick of hearing about 50m to topple them, walter or big eck would do it in one full season with a tenth of that figure,in fact murty would have had a right go with the funds given to ped. our 1-1 under murty is as good a result as any over the period especially under the circumstances. If we suffer more embarresment at the hands of celtic in our upcoming fixture,then i beleive the fans have to rally for any 2 of the 3 mentioned or they will get ther wish of 10. can't even bare to think how we as fans and as a club could live with that. anyone old enough will remember stopping 10 @ easter road when colin stein scored, we can't let it get that near again bears.

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