Ryan Jack’s love affair with Rangers will never die

0
Ryan Jack’s love affair with Rangers will never die
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 21: Scorer of Rangers first goal, Ryan Jack holds the trophy during the Scottish Cup Final match between Rangers and Heart of Midlothian at Hampden Park on May 21, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

In what is the final part of our ‘five part’ series on Rangers’ exiting quintet, we bring a close to the departures by turning our attention to Ryan Jack, who left this summer having been the second-longest-serving Rangers player behind James Tavernier.

ADVERTISEMENT

‘Jacko’, as he’s known, was, quite simply, the reason Rangers won 55.

Forget Michael Beale and his ‘secret systems’, forget the lack of crowds, forget everything else, Ryan Jack and his staggering work in defensive midfield, covering for the entire backline especially Tavernier himself, was the reason that Rangers conceded next-to-no goals until late February, and his season-ending injury.

One only has to look at the stats to realise his impact.

ADVERTISEMENT

Between August and December, when he was fit, Rangers conceded NO goals. Not a single one. He missed two matches in that run, and guess what, we conceded 3.

Once he was sidelined in December the wins continued but the goals started leaking a bit and by then, the league was more or less already in the bag.

It was Jacko’s stunning work which gave Rangers the foundation to win 55 from, and once he suffered first that February injury then the second one on international duty with Scotland, he sadly was never the same again.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jacko was utterly what might have been – we would never have said he was a Rangers captain, but at peak he was a total machine, and the most effective defensive midfielder we’ve seen at the club in a generation – his covering Tav constantly kept the captain able to fly forward and score boatloads, secure in the knowledge Jack was keeping the door shut at the back.

Once that was gone, Tav’s goals dried up that season and the goals did start leaking, funnily enough, from Jacko’s February injury onwards – Rangers did still win the league, but the form in March was definitely ‘dropping’ and there were a few draws in that run onwards.

Jacko could have been so much more for Rangers. Not Kemar Roofe levels of injury, he did at least manage 210 appearances, which is decent, but for 7 years he’d have hoped for more.

ADVERTISEMENT

He’s a boyhood fan, Rangers was his dream move, and he got to live a lot of dreams with the club.

It just could have been even more.

We wish him the best in his future.

No posts to display