Michael O’Halloran needs a fresh start after a poor spell at Rangers – and St Johnstone will give him it.
It’s no surprise that St Johnstone are planning to rescue Michael O’Halloran from his Rangers purgatory this summer.
The 26-year-old’s switch to Ibrox in February last year was sparked by a run of superb form at McDiarmid Park under Northern Irish manager Tommy Wright.
The fact that O’Halloran put in a superb individual performance in St Johnstone’s 3-1 win against Rangers in the Scottish Cup just a few weeks before he was snapped up by the Glasgow giants is little coincidence.
Michael O’Halloran made his name at St Johnstone
Therefore, with Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha making it abundantly clear that the one-time Bolton Wanderers prospect has no future at Ibrox, a return to his former club appears to be the best available solution for all parties.
According to The Scotsman, St Johnstone enquired about O’Halloran’s availability after he was left out of Rangers’ Europa League squad for Thursday’s clash with wonderfully named Luxembourg outfit Progres Niederkorn.
“Michael is one player that we’ve enquired about. Michael’s situation is one that’s very much in Rangers’ hands. It’s not in any other club’s hands. It’s up to what Rangers want to do with him,” Wright, who brought O’Halloran to the club from Bolton in 2014, said in quotes reported by The Scotsman.
“I was sad to see him go and, as I say, we have spoken to Rangers about him, about the possibility but that’s out with my control. At the minute the ball’s in Rangers’ court.”
Fresh start
After a disappointing 18 months at Ibrox, O’Halloran needs a fresh start. Wright got the best out of him at St Johnstone, inspiring the most impressive football of his career during that two-and-a-half year spell, and he appears to have the tools to help his former player kick-start a stuttering career.
O’Halloran will do well to remember that and jump at the chance of a return. One step back could equal two giant strides forward for a player whose talent should not be tainted by a difficult spell in a Rangers side locked in transition.
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