Gareth McAuley and Clint Hill have their similarities, but the former should look up to the latter ahead of what will hopefully be a successful Rangers career.
In a way, Hill is the exact player McAuley should be aspiring to perform like at Ibrox. Whilst David Weir has been mentioned in the past as someone to look up to, Hill is the most relevant example.
For the former Queens Park Rangers defender was signed by Mark Warburton back in 2016, and was a cult-hero. His goal against Celtic was by far supporters’ most memorable moment of him, but Hill’s commanding performances at the back flew under the radar.
The veteran spent one year at Ibrox, making 32 appearances for Rangers. Added to that, he managed to notch three goals and keep 12 clean sheets during a dark period for the club.
The Pedro Caixinha arrival signaled the end of Hill’s time at Ibrox unceremoniously. The big centre-back deserved another year at least for his overall performances, but he was swiftly replaced by Bruno Alves.
McAuley can be the new Hill
McAuley should look at his international colleague with admiration. That’s exactly the kind of performances Rangers are looking for from him as he gets set to kick-start his Ibrox career.
The centre-back has yet to make a start for Rangers. He has made two appearances for the club, but only one saw him play a full half. He did, however, start and play the full 90 minutes for Northern Ireland against Austria yesterday.
Hill brought a wealth of English experience to Rangers at a time when it was needed. His departure saw genuine defensive quality be stripped out of the Rangers squad.
Whilst he was never the quickest – his composure, positional sense, and no-nonsense approach won him over. It’s exactly the kind of traits that can make centre-backs a big success in Scottish football.
McAuley can be compared with Hill in the sense that he also isn’t the quickest. He’s more of an aggressive, old-fashioned ball-winner. His job will be to simply snuff out the danger through his positional sense and play it forward.
With Connor Goldson alongside him, McAuley could strike up an incredibly efficient defensive partnership with him. He only needs to look at Hill for how to win fans over.
