A final word on Todd Cantwell & Rangers

0
A final word on Todd Cantwell & Rangers
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 30: Todd Cantwell of Rangers is substituted during the UEFA Europa League match between Rangers FC and Aris Limassol FC at Ibrox Stadium on November 30, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Ibrox Noise is going to offer our final word on Todd Cantwell and the mess surrounding him at the moment at Rangers.

ADVERTISEMENT

We’ve seen quite a few fans and outlets suggesting this is all on him, because he didn’t follow instructions and the manager’s word is final.

This is partially true, and factually it’s hard to oppose such sentiments.

But those same sentiments weren’t being expressed by the same fans when Mick Beale was spouting his drivel and doing ridiculous nonsense on the pitch.

ADVERTISEMENT

No one had a go at any player who didn’t quite follow his instructions or do exactly what he said…

Because no one liked Beale and no one was defending him.

Which gets to the nub of the matter – just because Philippe Clement’s CV was excellent when he arrived at Ibrox, doesn’t mean he cannot get things wrong. And he did so on Thursday as he did last weekend.

ADVERTISEMENT

Todd Cantwell, naturally, is a 10, a playmaker.

To blame him for migrating naturally to that position during the match rather than sticking to the discipline of playing out wide, which is cognitively dissonant to every single football urge Cantwell has is simply unfair.

The manager’s word might be ‘final’ but if that ‘word’ is stupid and tries to make players do things they simply can’t, that’s on the manager as much as the player. Cantwell can’t make sprint runs, he can’t overlap, he can’t cross for toffee either.

ADVERTISEMENT

As we say, no one defended Mick Beale for his nonsense, and thanks to the utter turds of performances we’ve seen in the last two matches, Philippe Clement has lost a bit of the goodwill and trust he’d earned in the opening 6 or so weeks.

Had that early sub and Cantwell ‘violation’ taken place during an otherwise good performance we’d gone onto win, Clement would have been justified in a sense despite his evident error towards Cantwell’s slot. He’d have had the faith on his side.

But it didn’t, and we didn’t – and there’s as much blame on Clement’s side as Cantwell’s.

We’re leaving this alone now.

Thursday is done, and we move onto St Mirren today.

No posts to display