As Rangers trio depart, we ask a big question

With Jamie Murphy’s departure to Hibs on loan (with obligation to buy) confirmed, the former Scotland winger’s exit follows Greg Docherty to Hull, and Ross McCrorie to Aberdeen.

This is a succession on from the early summer exodus which saw a host of players freed.

But the most pertinent issue on the table is not the fact these players were rejected by Steven Gerrard, but the nature of the clubs they’ve ended up at.

This is reality sinking in.

Players many of us thought were good enough to play for Rangers ended up at Hull, Hibs and Aberdeen.

It tells you everything about the quality of these players that despite Greg Docherty, for example, and Jamie Murphy’s excellent spells in League One in England, the best either could do was the same division or a diddy SPL team.

Ross McCrorie, to be fair to him, managed to get Aberdeen, but they’re still a nothing club and any young player aspiring to a good career would be looking for a modest Championship team at worst.

No, instead the three of them got Hibs, Hull and Sheep.

We can argue all day about whether Steven Gerrard made an error letting these guys go, but that none of them could get the Championship probably tells its own story.

Meanwhile, Rangers’ first team these days is made up of:

McGregor (PL, Championship, SPL, Champions League, UEL)
McLaughlin (Championship, SPL, League One)
Tavernier (Championship, PL, SPL, UEL)
Goldson (PL)
Helander (Swedish PL, Serie A, UCL)
Barisic (Croatian PL, UEL, SPL)
Davis (PL, SPL, UCL, UEL)
Jack (SPL, UEL)
Kent (PL, Championship, UEL, Bundesliga)
Roofe (Championship, Jupiler Pro)
Barker (SPL, Jupiler)
Hagi (SPL, Jupiler Pro, Serie A)

The point is the CV of those guys who have come to Rangers is strong.

But McCrorie, Murphy and Docherty couldn’t manage anything as good as any of these.

Now, you might argue they were surplus, so bigger clubs didn’t want to move for fringe players. But equally in Docherty and Murphy’s cases they’d spent vast swathes of times proving themselves at League One level so it’s not like Championship clubs wouldn’t have noticed.

But they weren’t interested, not at all.

We liked all three of them, we did, and maybe they’ll all prove us wrong for concluding this, but players who can only aspire to Hull, Hibs and Aberdeen in life after Rangers probably aren’t good enough to be here.