Another one bites the (wander)lust

Ross McCormack is away. Offski. Gone.

For six months.

To Doncaster Rovers.

He’s swapped Champions League glory for the anonimity of Belle Vue and one of Yorkshire’s least successful footballing names. Did he do it just because it’s easy to reach by train?

Nah. He did it because he is currently surplus to requirements at Ibrox. After all the ranting and raving we’ve been doing about Alex McLeish’s perceived inability to deploy his abundance of strikers properly on Sunday - Kris Boyd, Peter Lovenkrands, Thomas Buffel, Nacho Novo AND Dado Prso all got a chance at Fir Park but The Teds never convinced - there can now be no doubt of Ross’ extraneous status in the Ibrox pecking order.

He’s a player I never rated that greatly, Ross. But we saw him so rarely that I can only put this down to some sort of “hunch”. And a lot of Bluenoses disagree with me.

Just as Steven Thompson was under-valued because he wasn’t silky, so I think young Ross was over-valued by many Bears and Bearettes simply because he WAS flashy. Youth and a spikey haircut will buy you a lot of time with The Gers support as long as you don’t get involved in a game rather than get involved but make a mistake.

He is young, though. And I hope he is back, better than ever and - my god - how grateful will I ALWAYS be for that goal he scored in Oporto?! One of the highlights of my fekin LIFE, watching that move unfold before me in one of the most beautiful stadiums in one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been in. Ross got the move moving and he was there to slot home Burkey’s nod-back for the goal which REALLY put us through to the knock-out phase of the Champions League.

Doncaster is NOT Oporto but I hope he gets as much from this move as he gave me with THAT goal.

And, of course, the thing is, we were injury-ravaged that night in Portugal. This is probably why the wee fellah got his chance. In Yorkshire he’ll get a first team game, every game - this is worth so much more to him at this early stage of his career.

And, if we’re being honest, in terms of Britain-wide exposure, Doncaster’s exploits in the Carling and FA Cups have attracted more attention, principally via Sky, than anything Rangers have managed in the Champions League. While The Gers went through their worst ever domestic run - broken up by Champions League glory - Doncaster are actually enjoying the best league days of, I think, the last 50 years and are augmenting it with feats of cup brilliance.

A regular game in Coca-Cola League 1 is actually a million times better for Mr McCormack’s career than occassional bouts off the Ibrox bench.

By the time he comes back to Scotland, Alex McLeish will almost certainly be gone from the manager’s chair and Ross can start afresh with a new gaffer.

He never really got a chance but I wont be losing any sleep over Ross’ departure. Unless - like so many of our farmed-out and sold-on players these days, he starts doing a bit well. Obviously I hope that he does but it’ll be interesting to see the reaction of fans when that happens.

Steven Thompson scored two on his debut for Cardiff but I DARE half the Gers support to criticise McLeish for selling him. With all the bollox Steven got from the Ibrox crowd there can be no way anyone is feeling vindicated by what happened in the Coca-Cola Championship at the weekend (except me, of course - coz I’m always right - and Steven himself).

Steven McLean at Scunthorpe , Daryll Duffy at Falkirk and now Hull, Brian McLean at Motherwell and Charlie Adam at St Mirren: We used to have them and we can have some of them back - if they do well they become another reason to slag the gaffer. If they don’t do well - no-one mentions it.

And it looks as though Peter Lovenkrands is here til the end of the season anyway. He just wants his Champions League - winner’s medal and he’ll be off.

I hope he IS the mercenary bastard some of us suspect he is. Because when a mercenary bastard thinks your club is the best gig available then you must be doing something right.

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Published:
01.18.06 / 12am
Category:
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