SPL rival manager has begged Gerrard to leave his player alone

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SPL rival manager has begged Gerrard to leave his player alone


Steven Gerrard may be at odds with Livi manager Gary Holt after confirming intention of bringing striker Ryan Hardie back to Ibrox this month.

The Auchenhowie youth graduate has been in fine form over at Almondvale and Holt suggested last month there was no way he was letting Hardie leave.

He said:

“I think Rangers will be delighted that he is scoring goals. You can’t forget that he has been out for eight months and although we are reaping the rewards of having him, we are also giving him a platform to play. It’s four goals in three games and he is playing games. We won’t be sending him back.”

However Gerrard has today admitted Hardie’s future may be coming back to Ibrox:

“What it will depend on is if we’re able to add someone to the squad. If we do that, we’ll probably leave him where he is. But if we can’t make that happen, it’s an option. He’s a player I like. I haven’t seen too much of him because he’s had a lot of injuries at Rangers. But I’ve been really impressed watching his performances for Livingston. We won’t bring Ryan back not to use him. I’ve got respect for the player and his development. I know he’s enjoying his football at Livingston. If the decision is to bring him back, it would only be with an eye to using him. It’s one that we’re discussing in-house at the moment but haven’t made a final decision on.”

That all said, Holt softened his stance following dialogue between Rangers and Livi after it emerged Rangers have every right to recall him this month if desired:

“I’d like to say no. We’re delighted with Ryan but he has been out for eight months and only started two of the last three games. He’s still getting up to speed, we’ve three games he’ll hopefully be involved in and then we’ll assess it from there. We can do nothing about it, we’ll enjoy him whilst he is here, however long that may be.”

Hardie could well add some much-needed depth to the front line, giving Gerrard further options to call upon.

We wouldn’t strictly advocate him as a replacement for Alfredo Morelos by any means, but having quality depth in the squad can only be a good thing for a club like Rangers.

We’ll see how this one pans out.

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Bring him back and also sign Steven Naismith. We are going to need a striker as Morellos is likely to be suspended but don’t sign Davis he is 34 years old.

    • Eh? Davis is 34 and hasn't had any long term injuries in his career. Naismith is 32 and his knees are made of glass

    • So were McGregor and Lafferty, SWH!!I didn’t hear you moaning about traitors on Saturday when we humped Celtic . That’s right isn’t it?Nobody will give a sh•t if Davis comes back and scores the winner in the next OF game. END OF.

    • BigJim,

      I believe my feelings have been made clear on multiple occassions, on multiple threads. But I will summarise.

      I never felt bad about McGregor. Don't know why, put it down to the fact that he was great for us. Whereas we defended Lafferty for his antics and nursed Naismith through 2 potentially career ending injuries. Davis and Lafferty both left, but neither of them claimed our club was dead in a press conference. Whittaker I forgive because he was never a Rangers fan, so owed us nothing. But for the self proclaimed Rangers fans to fail to show the integrity of foreigners like Goian and Bocanegra sticks in the throat.

      You will never hear me moaning about traitors in reference to any serving Rangers player, whether we win, lose or draw. I don't believe Davis has signed yet, so happy to state I would rather we prioritised younger players with a future. The minute Davis signs, he will be entitled to my full support, as a Rangers player. So would Naismith be, if he signed. Until he left. The same deal as Lafferty.

      I have nothing bad to say about any Rangers player. Not my style. You want to know what I think of Lafferty? Email me 30 seconds after his contract ends.

  2. Being Hardie back and give him his shot and if it doesn't work …fair enough
    …We Sell Him

    OR
    We go and get Shankland and we have Him and Hardie in a Swap Deal

    (I hope we sign Shankland but I'd also love to see Hardie get a chance)

    From Livy, I would also bring back Halkett 👌

    • Stevo
      Agree. I too would like to see us bring Shankland in and Hardie back. Now or in the summer, SG's call. Hardie needs a contract extension, so we can play or sell him. Shankland could be left at Ayr until summer. I feel a lot depends on whether we can get a loan striker in. Also think we should target Halkett on a pre-contract rather than spend millions in England on players who may or may not cope with SPL.

    • Exactly why wouldn't we bring Halkett back as we already know he is A Good Quality Powerful CB that can Handle the Brutality of Scottish Football and Hes still young 😄👍🏻

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