When Cedric Kipre was linked with a move to Rangers back in May, via the Birmingham Mail, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s backline was starting to look like a supermarket poultry section on Christmas Eve. Once stacked with options, now worryingly bare.
Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun were entering the final few weeks of their contracts. Calvin Bassey was expected to go. And Danilho Doekhi, the Dutch U21 international who had confirmed Rangers’ interest a couple of months earlier, had just joined Bundesliga overachievers Union Berlin on a free-transfer.
Flash forward to mid-July and Van Bronckhorst’s shelves have been re-stocked.
Balogun did go but Goldson surprised everyone by signing a new deal. Bassey, meanwhile, looks set to stay after Aston Villa turned their attention to Sevilla’s Ludwig Augustinsson. Filip Helander is on his way back to full fitness too.
And that’s without mentioning the rising star Leon King or Nikola Katic, the returning £2 million misfit with a point to prove after an impressive loan spell at Hajduk Split. This is a big pre-season for Katic, who started against Sunderland over the weekend before floodlight failure brought an early end to proceedings.
Do Rangers still need Cedric Kipre?
The same goes for Kipre.
The former Motherwell man – who first caught Rangers’ eye all the way back in 2018 when Steven Gerrard was still getting comfortable in the Ibrox dugout – barely kicked a ball in anger after Steve Bruce replaced Valerien Ismael at West Brom.
But barring a calamitous error against Leyton Orient – one that Bruce himself admitted would not look out of place in one of those stocking filler ‘Own Goals and Gaffes’ DVDs – Kipre’s performances in the early weeks of pre-season paint the picture of a man desperate to prove that he is deserving of a fresh start and a clean slate.
“We gave a hideous own-goal away. But, up until then, I thought Cedric played very well,” Bruce told the Express and Star last week.
“It was first time I’ve seen him play and he reminded me what a good player he is. I was pleased with the way he played.”
Few would have imagined back in May that Kipre could be handed a second chance at West Brom. Or Katic at Rangers, for that matter.
But isn’t this what pre-season is for? Giving forgotten men the chance to fight for their future and prove the doubters wrong?
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