Reported Rangers target Luis Palma, whose agent confirmed he wants the Premier League first and foremost, has dropped a hint he’s done at Thessaloniki and will leave this summer. Now the Honduran striker and his link intrigues us at Ibrox Noise.
In a recent article we were scathing of his immediate need to play in the PL, and how Rangers effectively is a steppingstone. We were heavily criticised by almost every response to this from fans pleased the boy has ambition and how he is like most other players who want the Premier League and are honest about it, and that Rangers have to ‘accept our place’.
With all due respect to the handwringers who replied to that articles, Andy Halliday put it best:
“It’s all downhill after you leave Rangers.“
Look, we are well aware players do want England’s top flight, we completely understand that, and we sure don’t begrudge it.
But the same fans slaughtering Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent for leaving Rangers, for ‘hearts not being in it’ are the ones praising Palma for his heart not being in it before he even gets here.
Alfredo Morelos spent years telling us he wanted to play in the Premier League, and maybe he’ll get that, we’ll see, but fans were split between the ones accepting that was his ambition and ‘fair enough’ while the others didn’t like his constant selfishness and lack of commitment to Rangers.
See, the thing is this – it’s bad enough when a player makes it clear that he wants to leave Rangers and ‘better’ himself in a better league. We respect their ambition but we don’t need to hear how much they don’t see themselves as a future Rangers player. Anyone comfortable with that isn’t a Rangers fan – they’re a handwringer who don’t prioritise our club’s interests over the player’s.
But it’s even worse if, even before they arrive, they’re already talking up a move to the Premier League, making it clear Rangers are just a pit stop. This means they’re a goner from the start. Now, the compensation is if they’re outstanding, if they’re so brilliant for us that it’s inevitable that they will attract interest down south. We can live with that. Todd Cantwell will surely go that way.
But to already talk up their post-Rangers career before they even sign a contract in Govan is not for us.
We’ve had 6 years of Morelos bigging up an exit to the Premier League, and look how uncommitted he’s ended up being, and how sour it’s turned. Look at the same with Kamara – spoke of his desire to leave about 18 months ago and hasn’t been seen since.
If their eye is already on the prize of ambition of the Premier League before they even get here, we can’t expect their hearts to give us it all.
If Palma already wants the PL, and is already vocal about it, he’s not for us. Join us, commit to us, and we’ll see how things go a year or two down the line.
We also know you’re thinking about Nicolas Raskin, who spoke of his future ambition to play for Chelsea. And you ask how that’s different? Well it’s different because all he’s done till 10 days ago is big us up, speak about how great we are, and he was directly asked what his future ambitions are – he did not offer them unprovoked. And he continued, during his answer, to talk of how great Rangers are and how big we are. He was honest, but he showed great respect to our club and there’s no question he’s committed to Rangers for a good few years till he’s ready to move on.
Or maybe you reading this are sticking by your guns and want half-assed players who think we’re small-time?
Not the Rangers support Ibrox Noise is familiar with.