Hearts winger Jamie Walker remains a target for Rangers – but Pedro Caixinha appears to have burned his bridges with St Johnstone loanee Michael O’Halloran.
Pedro Caixinha may be breathing a sigh of relief with Michael O’Halloran unavailable for St Johnstone ahead of Rangers’ trip to McDiarmid Park on Friday night.
The 26-year-old winger has done a great job in proving a point to Rangers’ ruthless manager since returning to his former club on loan until January. O’Halloran has five goals in five Scottish Premiership starts for Tommy Wright’s side and even won the top flight’s Player of the Month award for August.
It’s fair to say he’s made a mockery of Caixinha’s decision to cast him aside like a rotten piece of deadwood in the summer – meaning the manager is fortunate he is ineligible against his parent club.
The Portuguese coach famously quipped ‘He’s not the type of player Rangers needs’ back in August, per the Daily Record. Considering that The Gers are struggling to find a consistent option on the left-wing, it’s difficult not to look back on those comments with a great deal of scrutiny.
Walking all over Jamie
On current form, O’Halloran would walk into Rangers’ side. And to make things even more frustrating for supporters, the attacker signed by Mark Warburton in January 2016 has comfortably outperformed the man Caixinha wants in his place.
While O’Halloran is in the form of his life, however, Walker has failed to score or assist a single goal in the first nine games of the new season. It will now take a superhuman effort to match last season’s career best tally of 15 goals in all competitions.
O’Halloran for Walker, at the moment anyway, looks like a step down.
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