Steven Gerrard has wasted no time in trimming the fat to his squad to make way for his own acquisitions, and here we’ll take a look at why there’s no future for these on-loan Rangers players back at Ibrox.
Joe Dodoo has never been a success at the club, and no doubt never will be. The striker made several appearances for Rangers in his debut campaign under Mark Warburton, but failed to make any form of impression as he lacked that bit of spark in the final third to excite supporters.
A brace against Partick Thistle in the league over a year ago provided the 23-year-old with a platform to build on under then-boss Graeme Murty. However, subsequent appearances seen him fall back into his shell and create nothing in a forward sense.
A failed loan at Charlton Athletic yielded just five appearances in his final chance to impress the Ibrox faithful. That’s now led to another loan spell at Blackpool, but you feel now that Dodoo’s chances have ran out and the only reason he’s out on loan is that nobody would buy him outright. A successful loan spell could give Rangers fans hope of finally getting rid of the forward.
With Alfredo Morelos, Umar Sadiq, and a potential third striker all ahead of him in the pecking order, the situation seems to have always remained the same for young Ryan Hardie.
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The 21-year-old has made 13 appearances in his five years of being eligible to play for the first team, and Hardie has consistently had several forwards ahead of him in the pecking order.
Hardie has the advantage of coming from the youth system at the club, and as such has always been loved by the supporters who want him to make an impression.
However, despite loan spells at Raith Rovers, St Mirren, and Livingston where he operates for the year once again – Hardie has failed to make that breakthrough into the Rangers first team.
The step-up to first-team level has been a difficult one for the prodigy, who now needs to have regular games and jumped at the chance to head back along the M8 to Livingston.
A one-year contract was signed by the youth academy graduate last year, extending his stay to 2019. However, if Rangers want to be challenging Celtic for the title, then relying on Hardie just isn’t appropriate, and his time may very well be up next summer when his contract runs out.
The big-money move and the media attention certainly didn’t help when it comes to Carlos Pena. The midfielder certainly hasn’t had his troubles to seek since joining the Ibrox club, and found solace in a six-month loan move to Necaxa.
The midfielder arrived with a lot of hype from both the media and Pedro Caixinha, who initially looked to build his team around him. However, it quickly became clear that Pena had extremely limited ability and was too slow for the Scottish game.
Despite having an eye for goal on occasion, Pena’s weak midfield displays often resulted in games passing him by, and supporters started to resent him for it.
A loan move to Cruz Azul last year ended up with the Mexican having to check in to rehab to fight his alcohol demons. His deal was then torn up before checking out and searching for a new club.
He now finds himself spending the final six months of his loan deal at Necaxa, and Rangers will be praying he makes an impact there. Despite showing his ability to net on occasion, the Rangers supporters have had it with Pena, and want him out of the club at the first possible stage.
Gerrard also appears to have no interest in the midfielder, and with a plethora of options at his disposal, Pena’s chances of staying in any capacity look bleak.