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da realbet： Former Celtic defender Jackie McNamara reckons it’s fair to call Joe Worrall a flop Rangers signing, as reported by website Football Insider.
What’s he said?
Despite getting plenty of opportunities from manager Steven Gerrard, Worrall never really won over Ibrox supporters in his time at the club and will head back to parent club Nottingham Forest this summer without many fond memories.
Consistently shaky and unconvincing in possession, he clearly isn’t up to the standards Rangers require to compete for major honours.
McNamara reckons the reason for that could just be the failure to adapt to the mentality needed to be a success at one of the two big Glasgow sides.
Asked by Football Insider whether Worrall was a flop at Ibrox, the former Celtic captain said:
It’s fair to call him that, fans are entitled to their opinion. It is different because Rangers have to win to keep up with Celtic because if they don’t win second is no place for them.
When he signed at the start he looked good, like a few others at Rangers but he’s making a few mistakes and sometimes it can be quite unforgiving.
I think sometimes, you come into that environment of the Old Firm, there’s not a lot of room for error whereas down the road there’s that many good teams you can maybe get away with a few mistakes.
There’s other clubs where it’s highlighted more, it can be very tough in terms of how they handle it as an Old Firm player. Worrall will have learned a lot anyway about Scottish football. They think it’s quite simple when they come up to Scotland but the pressure and the demands on them to win every game is very, very high compared to what they’re used to.
I don’t mean the standard, I just mean the expectation.
Is he right?
There’s absolutely no doubt that half the battle when trying to become a success at a club like Rangers is mentality.
That’s not to say it’s a cakewalk playing for Nottingham Forest. Their supporters are likely as passionate about their club than fans are in Glasgow.
At Rangers or Celtic though there’s a constant need to win every match and that must be a shock to the system for some players who arrive in the city.
Players like Connor Goldson and Ryan Kent have dealt with that well, but it’s clear others such as Joe Worrall or Ovie Ejaria, who had his loan at the Gers cut short, couldn’t cope with it all that well.
Perhaps that’s why Gerrard is now pursuing players he knows can perform in Scotland, with moves completed for Jordan Jones, Jake Hastie and Glen Kamara in recent months.