Rangers completed a surprise move for Andy Firth on Friday.
Barrow boss Ian Evatt has told the North-West Evening Mail that he was surprised to see Rangers move for goalkeeper Andy Firth.
The Gers tied up a sixth signing of the January transfer window earlier today, landing utility man Matt Polster on a free transfer from Chicago Fire.
Jermain Defoe and Steven Davies were big-name loan signings, whilst Glen Kamara and Jordan Jones have penned pre-contract agreements to join in the summer.
The deal to fly somewhat under the radar saw goalkeeper Andy Firth join the club on Friday, penning an 18-month deal with the club.
Steven Gerrard made it clear that Firth is being brought in as additional cover having allowed Robby McCrorie to go out on loan, but the deal still raised eyebrows.
Firth, 22, was playing in non-league with Barrow, but worked with Gerrard at Liverpool, hence Rangers’ interest in signing him.
Rangers fans were left confused, as they were signing a player who didn’t even have a Wikipedia page – and as silly as that may sound, it does highlight what an unknown Firth is.
Now, Barrow boss Evatt has admitted his own surprise at the deal, but noted that Firth is a ‘very good’ young goalkeeper, who has had a tough time of late because Joel Dixon has been keeping him out of the Barrow side.
“It probably was a bit of a surprise, to be honest, but I said all along that in the summer we tried to recruit young assets,” said Evatt. “Andy has played in 19 or 20 games for us this season and done really well, but obviously Joel has come in and I think we’ve kept ten clean sheets in the time that Joel has been in.”
“It’s been tough for him, but he’s trained really well and he’s still a very good young ‘keeper. When Rangers came knocking at the door, it looked like the right deal for the club – obviously we are going to have to produce players to be sustainable moving forwards. It was a good deal, so we took it and we move on,” he added.
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