While few Rangers supporters expected Umar Sadiq to blossom into one of Spain’s most feared marksmen after a loan spell best remembered for a desperate dive against Aberdeen, there was no doubting the potential of another talented young forward who struggled to live up to early expectations at Ibrox.
“I am a fan of Ryan Hardie,” Gers legend Lee McCulloch told the Glasgow Times in 2018.
“He’s a guy I know really well. I’m not saying he would be the answer to all (Rangers’) problems but he’s something different in he just wants to run in behind defenders.”
A regular goalscorer at youth level, Hardie found the transition from academy football to the senior game difficult.
And, despite a promising loan spell at Livingston in 2018/19, Rangers decided not to stand in the youngster’s way when Blackpool came calling two years ago.
Now, under the stewardship of former goal-poacher Ryan Lowe at Plymouth Argyle, Hardie is finally starting to make good on his early promise, taking his tally to eight goals in ten games this season with a clinical brace in last night’s 2-2 draw at Portsmouth.
And McCulloch won’t be surprised by the nature of his two strikes at Fratton Park.
Timing those forward runs to perfection, Hardie raced in behind the Pompey back line before finishing with the ice-cool composure of a man born to score goals.
Ryan Hardie reveals what Rangers are missing at Plymouth
“He’s been different class,” Lowe said earlier in the season, via the BBC.
“When he’s running at defenders or goalkeepers he’s immense – and the work rate in him is fantastic.
“If he keeps working his socks off the way he does, he’s bound to score goals.”
He has taken his time but, playing regularly for a manager who trusts in his talent, Hardie is seizing an opportunity to remind everyone why he was once seen as a future number nine on the blue half of Glasgow.
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