It must be said the Todd Cantwell critics have gone stoically quiet today. After giving him dog’s abuse in the final (when he was completely misused), many Rangers fans have leapt on the fashionable bandwagon of attacking underserving players for absolutely no reason.
Finding a ‘I always knew he was rotten’ fictional argument to just have a go, and hope to find fellow handwringers among the ‘support’ who would back them up for likes and replies.
It’s a depressing trend we’ve seen on Ibrox Noise for years, but it got especially bad when Cantwell, Raskin and Souttar became victims, players who have been outstanding this calendar year but ‘get xxx tae f*ck’ has become a regular thing to say just for the heck of it.
There is nothing from these idiots today.
Cantwell, as well as the excellent Raskin and Souttar, was absolutely obliteratingly brilliant at Ibrox, demonstrating once again how top a player he is, how lucky Rangers are to have a talent this good, and how we might struggle to hold onto him.
You are looking, folks, at the £50M player Norwich expected Aston Villa to pay 18+ months ago for, an experienced Premier League-level player with almost 100 outings at that level – he ended up part of a relegated Norwich, but there’s no denying the quality that he has isn’t the usual Championship fodder we’re normally linked to.
This lad was a £50M move away from being an England cap. If you look at the talent they have in Southgate’s side, he’s not a gulf below it. Of course, we’ve not measured him in Europe, that’s the big barometer for Rangers, but Cantwell was absolutely comfortable in the Premier League for Norwich, averaging 6.6 out of 10. In a Norwich side being gubbed most weeks, that’s not bad.
This is why getting a player of this calibre was so key – this season was a lost cause, but building around guys like he, like Raskin, and yes, Souttar is the path forwards.
What we mostly have in this squad isn’t good enough – a good afternoon in Govan doesn’t change that. But there’s embers of stuff to work with, and a number of players we’d take forwards. Robby McCrorie is another.
But Cantwell really is a class apart – a top class Premier League player at the height of his powers and he’s bossing it. Today we finally got to see him used properly in a Rangers team against a top opponent, and he owned the pitch.
And the funny thing?
He’s still not at his best.
What a signing he has been.