Scotty Arfield’s thinly-veiled barb at Fashion Sakala might have been portrayed by the media as a bit of cheek and ‘friendly’ but make no mistake – Scotty’s not meaning it quite in the sweetness and light the press are implying.
The departed Rangers midfield/attacker was giving his final Rangers TV interview when he made a telling quip about Sakala and the salute – the backstory being the Zambian has said he’ll take that celebration forward with him, and the ex-Canada captain was very quick to retort:
“Fashion Sakala says he’s going to take the salute and carry it on, but I don’t think that’s true. He needs to get a game, doesn’t he? And he needs to score more goals than that. So, if he scores more goals than me then he can keep it. But up until now it’s only me and Darcheville.”
Let’s not beat about the bush here, Arfield, several years Sakala’s senior, is a much wiser boy than his reputation would hint at, and these comments hint at a few things:
Firstly, a very gentle resentment that Sakala, an infinitely inferior player, effectively took his place and was completely favoured over him by Michael Beale. He’s absolutely right to feel that, Sakala is nowhere near the player Arfield is, and enjoyed preferential treatment.
Secondly, the ‘needs to get a game’ comment has two interpretations in itself:
One, that Sakala lacks ‘game’ aka isn’t good enough, or two, that the manager isn’t picking him enough for him to earn the salute. Neither is exactly overly positive towards the pretender.
Make no mistake, Scotty doesn’t want to leave – he was effectively told by ‘this manager’ (who he couldn’t even bring himself to name) that he was surplus and wasn’t part of the plans going forward, in a very unpopular move by Beale.
But was left with no option, and even admitted he believes he has plenty left to give this club, hinting that he could easily have played on for quite a while yet.
Sakala? Scotty’s comments on him were without any hint of mirth – there was no smile, aside a wry one, when referring to the attacker, and let’s face it, Sakala isn’t a patchy on Arfield.
Rangers, or specifically ‘this manager’, to quote Scotty, better hope letting him go doesn’t bite us on the behind, because Arfield is absolutely right – he’s got a tonne left to give.