Juan Alegria has joined Niko Katic and Cedric Itten in lashing out at his treatment at Ibrox as all three ex-Rangers men have now been vocal in the press about how badly they were treated in Govan.
The Colombian striker, who completely didn’t cut it at Ibrox, another name hyped by the fans but falling short, went to the press to slaughter the club and his management, just like Katic did, and Alegria’s comments echo the Croatian’s.
Both have spoken about being ignored, about being given no plan – and both mainly experiences this under ex-boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who, let’s face it, wasn’t a people person. Gio wasn’t a great man-manager and lacked the charisma to get players to run through walls for him, but it also seems his communication was poor.
When he wasn’t interested in a player, he cut that player off completely, and gave absolutely no interest in any approach they made.
Katic was vocal about this, about how he tried to ask the boss for advice on how he could please him better, and was met with silence. He was made to feel unimportant.
Cedric Itten too suffered a similar fate, being discarded somewhat by management that wasn’t interested in him at all. He kept his press comments a little more measured…
And now Alegria comes out with the following:
“When Rangers tried to sign me I had high expectations. When you look at the situation or management from the inside, it is very tough and something I never knew about. I never felt as if Rangers had a plan for Juan and that cost time. I learned from the situation and it made me stronger as a person. I don’t regret the move to Rangers but if I had the option to join again I would like to be advised on how everything works inside the club before moving. I never knew what was happening from the start and there was no plan. They [Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale] never told me anything about the situation and why I didn’t get the opportunity. When I joined Rangers I was playing first-team football in Finland and I was put into the B team – I thought I did well. The first time I asked Rangers if there was a possibility to go on loan. The second time they had an offer from Falkirk. When I came back from Falkirk, Rangers were very disrespectful. They never told me anything clear about the situation. Some people at Rangers made me feel as if I was never a part of the club and acted as if the move never happened. But these people don’t deserve a name.”
Now, in Rangers’ defence, Alegria was a no-mark with absolutely no redeeming features or qualities. He was signed as an experiment, to replicate the Colombian striker in Finland success of Morelos, but was just nothing more than a mediocre hitman who didn’t even excel in the B-team.
In short he’s rubbish.
That said though, Rangers DO have a bad habit of mistreating players, players who deserve better. There’s been a culture of this for a long time, and unless you’re a Goldson, Tavernier or otherwise favourite son, you may well find yourselves on the short end of silence.
So while Alegria’s comments reek of bitterness, he’s also not totally wrong.
“Absolutely no redeeming features or qualities” is harsh given the article already said he has a point. He’s a professional footballer, he clearly has ability otherwise he’d be working in a factory. Slating our former players isn’t a great look.
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