When Gary Bowyer was sacked by Bradford City a matter of days after Glenn Middleton arrived from Rangers, the loanee must have cursed his luck.
The manager, who had presumably had a big say in his last-minute transfer, was gone before he’d even had a chance to don the club’s jersey.
It was a speeded-up version of what had happened at Hibernian earlier in the season.
Brought to Easter Road on loan by Paul Heckingbottom, Middleton was not a regular starter, but he featured in every matchday squad and made eight appearances.
When Heckingbottom was sacked after a dire run of results, it signalled the beginning of the end for the winger. He didn’t make a single squad under new boss, Jack Ross, and returned to Ibrox earlier than scheduled, in December.
This time around, with an Ibrox hero arriving as the new manager at Bradford, the Gers loanee will be hoping for better things.
Stuart McCall has returned for a third stint at Valley Parade [Bradfordcityfc.co.uk] and is extremely well placed to advise the 20-year-old on all things Rangers.
While McCall’s stint as Gers manager won’t be quite as fondly remembered, his time as a player was littered with success. He made close to 200 league appearances in midfield, winning five league titles, three Scottish Cups and two League Cups.
He should be exactly the type of figure who can inspire Middleton to get back to the heights he achieved during his breakthrough season at Ibrox.
During the first half of the 2018/19 campaign, he was a regular on the left flank, showing pace and trickery, and even scoring away at Spartak Moscow in the Europa League.
After falling out of favour, he made just three appearances in 2019 and now finds himself shipped off to the fourth tier in England.
It’s a level he should really be above and he’ll be hoping McCall’s words can help steer him back towards success at Ibrox.
