Was this January loss avoidable?

Regular readers will know Ibrox Noise has always been a big fan of Danny Wilson. Unfairly castigated under Warburton, Wilson was a major scapegoat in years gone by, and it was not until literally November and December of 2017 that he finally got a run in the team under Graeme Murty and started to show his true value to the team.

The problem unbeknown to fans though was that thanks to his fringe value under the Bread Man then Pedro, Wilson was looking for a move away, and rumours had persisted about him switching to the MLS for quite some time.

In short, essentially by Murty’s account, Wilson gave up on ever getting a regular starting berth, and when it finally arrived under the new manager, Colorado had already made their move to bring him to USA. By then it was too late and Wilson’s mind was set.

How do we feel about his loss?

Truth? We are very disappointed in how it all panned out. We are unclear if he was offered a contract at Ibrox, and if so, whether rumours of an alleged offer being too low are remotely true; but if Murty is to be believed, Wilson’s mind was already in America regardless and he was set on the switch.

Wilson was onto a game at Ibrox, and suddenly became the first-pick defender for many fans. He was arguably future captain material too, but this appears to be a circumstance where after having suffered from fringe status for well over two years, Wilson had simply had enough of it.

He was better than that and he knew it, then showed it.

Some fans do have a sense of anger over him – after all, this is twice he has ditched Rangers and both are arguably a touch ignominious.

But from his point of view he spent around 28 months not being first pick until suddenly he was – by which point he had already given up on it ever happening and worked his way to pastures new.

It appears he had spent so long working on leaving, thanks to his squad status, that when he finally was important, it was too late and he and his family were set on the arrangements they had already made.

The whole thing is a bit sad. He and David Bates or Russell Martin could have been a reliable partnership for years, but that ship has sailed. Indeed, there are murmurs Murty knew this was on the cards and hence signed a CB captain in the Norwich stopper to partner Bates.

Truth be told if we were to spin a positive on this one, Wilson’s departure thins CB down neatly to Bates, Martin, Cardoso and Alves with youngster Aidan Wilson available too. The Portuguese pair remained at Ibrox in January and will probably be squad options, as the junior one was last night for the trip to Fraserburgh.

But the Danny Wilson and Rangers story is surely over permanently. Mind you, we said that about Kenny Miller too (!)