St. Johnstone visit Rangers this Saturday in a crunch Scottish Premiership match – but in Michael O’Halloran, some fans will also have their eye on the return of a controversial figure to Ibrox.
And he isn’t exactly the most popular man in Govan.
The striker/winger committed the cardinal sin of going to a Celtic cup-final at the end of last season – whilst he was a Rangers player. It’s something his agent said he “regrets”.
In an obvious wind-up to the supporters who pay his wages, it smacked of desperate unprofessionalism. As a result, like some kind of Victorian criminal, O’Halloran was carted off Down Under to think about what he’d done.
O’Halloran has struggled for form since Ibrox
Similarly to his time at Ibrox, he didn’t exactly set the heather, or the bush, alight in Australia. It wasn’t long till his purgatory was spent and he was on the long voyage back to Scotland. He was unceremoniously released by Melbourne City last month.
Now, he’s back where his career was at his peak. The Perthshire Saints have proved a welcome home for O’Halloran in his career so far, but he hasn’t hit the heights this season that convinced Mark Warburton to spend the better part of £500k on him back in 2016.
O’Halloran is a man devoid of form and a trip to Ibrox could be a daunting prospect for him. He might not even play. And if he does the reaction will undoubtedly be frosty.
Should he take to the pitch he could either seize up and hide – as we became accustomed to during his time here – or show flashes of why Warburton signed him.
The smart money is on the former.
