Nine things we spotted back at Rangers training

Rangers returned to training this week in the much-hyped restoration of Scottish football, following a long absence through the recent but now-abating crisis.

There were key aspects to discuss about the sessions, and Ibrox Noise takes you through the most prominent things we noticed back at Auchenhowie starting 18th June 2020.

• As we said this morning, no sign of Kent at all. His place was ready for him in the facilities, but we didn’t catch a sniff of him. Hopefully it means little and he’s ok.
• Morelos, who all sorts of conspiracy theories were swilling due to his absence on resumption day, was indeed back belatedly, having recently just become a father. He looked lean, and surprisingly fit.
• There was a heavy focus on four men in particular: Nikola Katic, Borna Barisic, James Tavernier (obviously) and strangely, Glenn Middleton. Whether this means the latter may actually feature this season is another matter. Probably not, in truth. But Katic may stand a chance.
• Jamie Murphy, despite being there, wasn’t even featured aside one publicity shot. He didn’t feature in any of the footage.
• Speaking of lacking footage, Connor Goldson was also there and accounted for but didn’t get a mention on the video feed, which is certainly puzzling. We also hope he is fit and available.
• Ross McCrorie, as mentioned earlier, was of course still in England – he will remain south till League One concludes, and they might even get a promotion, desiring to make his place at Fratton Park permanent. So he’s another one we didn’t see back.
• Social distancing was of course in place, with no contact permitted and keeping space between players, but still managing to get in what appeared a pretty productive few days’ work.
• Kai Kennedy and Nathan Patterson, not to mention Stephen Kelly were all there from the youth sections – we do hope these guys are part of the senior squad and match day activities on a permanent basis, it’s time we really used our own products.
• Greg Docherty was also back and training, and looked hungry. This is the third pre-season for him under Steven Gerrard and he’s clearly hoping it’s third time lucky. We can only ask he’s granted his wish.

There’s a few more bits and pieces to gather up but that’s your lot for now.