Impressive bluenose Greg Docherty has suggested that his move to Rangers from Hamilton may actually have been harmful for his career [Daily Record].
Docherty joined the Gers on a four-and-a-half-year contract in January 2018 but only went on to make 19 first-team appearances before leaving for Hull City last summer.
The industrious midfielder initially featured regularly under Graeme Murty but didn’t make a single league appearance after the arrival of Steven Gerrard, with impressive loans at Shrewsbury Town and Hibernian failing to bump him up the Ibrox pecking order.
He realised a dream by signing for the Gers but now feels as though he may have been better off elsewhere, particularly during the 2019/20 season.
“When I came in I was straight in at the deep end, which is what I wanted, and things were going great,” said Docherty [Daily Record]. “Then all of a sudden they turned a wee bit sour, with results, different people leaving the club, people not wanting to be there, and then it was a rebuild.”
“It was one I was really excited for, but I pushed for the decision that I wanted to go and get regular games, so I had a really positive loan [at Shrewsbury]. I was coming back to a team that was really starting to kick on again, but the midfield was probably the strongest bit of the club, so it was really hard to break down and that’s sometimes just football.
“It’s a tough one, because I’m grateful for the opportunity, but I feel that I’m now maybe playing a bit of catch-up, just because I spent six months trying to get into the team before I went to Hibs, and that was cut short by Covid. That has affected everyone, not just me, but I feel that maybe there is a bit of catch-up.”
Docherty has plenty of qualities but he wasn’t the type of midfielder Gerrard was after and the competition provided by established internationals like Steven Davis, Glen Kamara and Ryan Jack proved to be too much.
Given how little he featured after his first few months at Ibrox, it’s not a huge surprise that he feels as though he has some catching up to do in terms of his development.
His first season at Hull was an excellent start to that process, though, as he made 48 appearances and helped the Tigers to the EFL League One title.
He’s now preparing for a maiden campaign in the Championship, a higher profile league where there’ll be more eyes on his performances.
Meanwhile, a current Ibrox midfielder is reportedly the subject of ‘concrete interest’ from a Premier League club.
