Rangers linked with 8 in 16 £5M hitman for January move
MILTON KEYNES, ENGLAND - MARCH 09: Jerry Yates of Blackpool during the Sky Bet League One match between Milton Keynes Dons and Blackpool at Stadium mk on March 09, 2021 in Milton Keynes, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
We’re all seeing the reports today linking Rangers with a January move for Blackpool striker Jerry Yates, the 25-year old forward said to be worth around £5M. It’s not the most exciting story in truth, his overall league record is far from impressive and he’s another one to spend his whole career in the lower divisions.
His stats? 39 goals in 112 appearances. That’s right, nowhere near one in two in a combination of League One and the Championship.
There’s some hype that he’s got 8 in 16 this season with 2 assists and sure, it’s not the worst return, but he screams of average, of the same market that we spent the whole summer in, searching out rather underwhelming players hoping we’d stumbled upon a gem.
We won’t lie, we hadn’t heard of this guy either, but someone with a CV of Rotherham and Swindon is probably why – this is a return to the Rob Kiernan and Wes Foderingham market which punctuated Mark Warburton’s reign. Good at the time for the Championship but a mile below the level needed in the SPL, and that was duly exposed.
As you may have guessed, we’re not overly excited by this one. We no longer trust Rangers’ scouts, we don’t think trusting Gio is relevant because he clearly has nothing to do with signings, and we’re not just going to blindly have faith in Rab McGlinchie who we’ve never heard of before just because the club is said to be interested.
This one looks yet another underwhelming name, and we as fans have earned the right to question the decisions, players and choices our club makes. When it’s great on the pitch, we shut up and follow on, when it’s bad, we follow on still but now make our voices heard.
And if John Park thinks Jerry Yates is good enough for Rangers, we’d respectfully disagree. Only one, arguably two summer signings worked out, and one of them is out till next year, so the notion of just taking what the club gives us is hardly valid these days.
No, we’re not just going to say ‘give him a chance’ because most of you lot did that with Jon McLaughlin and look at the fine mess that one made of it!