Rangers have allowed a number of players to leave Ibrox this summer.
Former Rangers ace John MacDonald has told The Glasgow Evening Times that he doesn’t think Gers boss Pedro Caixinha will regret allowing Joe Dodoo, Joe Garner, Michael O’Halloran and Martyn Waghorn to leave Ibrox.
Caixinha oversaw a huge overhaul of his Rangers squad this past summer, with 11 new faces – Bruno Alves, Fabio Cardoso, Declan John, Ryan Jack, Graham Dorrans, Carlos Pena, Dalcio, Daniel Candeias, Aaron Nemane, Eduardo Herrera and Alfredo Morelos – all arriving at Ibrox.
To make room for those new signings, Rangers did have to allow a number of players to leave the club, with the likes of Clint Hill, Philippe Senderos, Rob Kiernan, Matt Crooks and Harry Forrester all moving on.
However, four other departures have sparked conversation amongst Rangers fans, not because their exits were controversial at the time, but more because of how they are performing for their new clubs.
After just 14 league goals between them for Rangers last season, forwards Joe Garner and Martyn Waghorn were both sold to Ipswich Town, but have scored seven goals between them already this term, excelling for the Tractor Boys.
Michael O’Halloran was completely frozen out by Caixinha after struggling at Ibrox, but has now hit four goals in five games since re-joining St Johnstone on loan, whilst the most recent attacking departure, Joe Dodoo, scored on his debut for Charlton Athletic in a 4-3 win over Oldham on Saturday.
The goalscoring form of all four players has left Rangers fans scratching their heads having seen the quarter flatter to deceive last season, but ex-Rangers striker John MacDonald has backed Caixinha’s decision to let them all leave.
MacDonald has suggested to The Glasgow Evening Times that whilst all four are scoring elsewhere, they didn’t do it for Rangers and may simply be unable to handle the pressure of playing for the Gers, and he reaffirmed his belief that Caixinha knows best having seen them all in training on a daily basis.
“The manager has obviously told the boys who he didn’t want to be there and there has been a lot of people saying he shouldn’t have said this or that about O’Halloran,” said MacDonald. “But he will have told O’Halloran that he wasn’t going to be involved in the squads and if he could get a move he should get a move. Because he scoring for St Johnstone, people are asking why we let him go. But they play a different way to Rangers and he, and the other guys, are going out to prove something.”
“I have seen people talking about Waghorn scoring, Garner scoring, Dodoo scoring, but they didn’t do it for Rangers. It is an entirely different ball game at Rangers. Some people find it hard to adjust to playing for Rangers. It is very difficult and not as easy as people think. You have got a crowd on you all the time. It is great when you doing well and they are on your side, but when they aren’t it is hard. Some fans love certain players and hate others. You can’t please them all.”
“The manager has watched them in training and in the matches and decided they aren’t going to do it for him. He can see their attitude, if they are working hard to improve. He has seen the ones he wanted rid of and he has done it. He has brought in players to replace them so he obviously thinks they are better than the ones we already had,” he added.
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