Former Rangers youngster Mateusz Zukowski is finally being hailed back home in Poland as he looks to make a success of his post-Ibrox career.
This was the performance Jacek Magiera had been waiting for.
The Slask Wroclaw coach has not been shy in coming forward about his disappointment with Mateusz Zukowski’s early-season performances, warning the one-time Rangers prospect that he was in danger of squandering all that potential if he continued in the same vein.
Magiera’s stick-over-carrot approach, however, appears to be reaping rewards at last.
Former Rangers youngster bounces back
Zukowski, labelled the ‘worst winger’ in Poland’s top flight by one particularly brutal critic not so long ago, produced his best performance of the entire Ekstraklasa campaign as Slask Wroclaw defeated Radomiak 1-0 away from home on Monday, the 22-year-old wreaking havoc in transition.
“We knew we would have opportunities on the counter-attack,” the former Legia Warsaw boss tells Weszlo. “Mateusz Zukowski had such opportunities, and I will say that he was one of our best players.
“He caused bloodshed to his opponents.
“The most important thing is that we won. Another step towards getting a very good result this season.”
Zukowski was a right-back when he joined Rangers from Legia Gdansk in a £400,000 deal nearly two years ago. Now plying his trade further forward and on the opposite flank to boot – a left winger these days – one wonders how differently things would have turned out for Zukowski at Ibrox had he not faced competition from one James Tavernier.
Bad timing
“Yes, today we can say that it was not a successful transfer,” Piotr Kasprzak, a Rangers scout based in Poland, tells Goal.
“However, I remember (Zukowski’s) first months at the club. The feedback was very positive, from the staff and the players. Physical tests? Top three, maybe top five, in each category.
“But we reached the final of the Europa League that season, James Tavernier played in Mateusz’s position. And how he played… He became the top scorer in the Europa League and played as right-back.
“When I look at this transfer today, the conclusion is that the enthusiasm resulting from the transfer too quickly turned into discouragement caused by the lack of playing time. Tavernier played almost every game.
“We were chasing Celtic in the league. There weren’t many options for rotation. Tavernier was the captain.”
