It never quite happened at Rangers for Matt Crooks but the midfielder has found himself at the centre of a Middlesbrough Premier League promotion charge.
Signed alongside ex-Accrington Stanley teammate Josh Windass, Rangers got on the wrong side of Stanley chairman Andy Holt when they took advantage of cross-border compensation rules to sign the duo in 2016.
But whilst Windass did have an impact on Rangers during his two years at the club, Matt Crooks’ spell was interrupted by injury and some nights to forget.
The versatile defensive midfielder’s first start was a horror show in a woeful 2-0 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle five months after he joined and from January 2019 Crooks was sent back to the EFL.
But whilst Josh Windass has enjoyed sporadic success between Wigan Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday since leaving Ibrox, Matt Crooks is now excelling at Middlesbrough.
Ex-Rangers midfielder Matt Crooks nets in 4-1 Middlesbrough win
Battling through issues with epilepsy, the now 28-year-old has been on fine form at the Riverside since joining the club in the summer and scored once again as Boro dumped Derby 4-1.
Matt Crooks tapped in the third goal for Chris Wilder’s side after appearing in the six-yard box in injury time to send Middlesbrough 3-1 up right before halftime.
The midfielder could also have been off earlier in the half but was only booked for lunging into a tackle on Derby scorer Max Bird.
The result has Boro in 6th place in the English Championship, with two games in hand on Huddersfield above and the club very much in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League and the £170m that reportedly comes with it [BBC Sport].
That’s in no small part down to the contribution of ex-Rangers star Matt Crooks – once likened to Man City legend Yaya Toure by ex-Gers kid Kal Naismith – who has emerged as a key player for Middlesbrough.
That goal was Matt Crooks’ 8th of the season in 31 games with Middlesbrough losing only one of their last 11 league games, winning eight of them.
Crooks’ isn’t the only Rangers connection impressing at the Riverside either with Marcus Tavernier – the brother of Ibrox skipper James – also a key part of the Boro side.
Speaking of the English Championship, one ex-Rangers star who left Ibrox in January has just opened his account for his new club.
