Rangers player/coach Jermain Defoe appeared to settle confusion surrounding a spell working with broadcaster Sky Sports by coming on as a late sub in the 3-1 victory over Livingston.
The late appearance was only Jermain’s second game of the season with the legendary 39-year-old striker’s only other match coming in August, in the 1-0 defeat to Dundee United.
Since then Defoe’s time on the pitch has been limited with the veteran forward given a coaching role at Ibrox which will see him get a flavour for working in the backroom team.
But the forward is also contracted to play for the club and fans were asking the question regarding his situation after months out of the team.
The situation was compounded even further when Defoe appeared on a Sky Sports Premier League broadcast of West Ham v Tottenham Hotspur in mid-October.
Jermain’s appearance on the panel for the match came whilst Rangers were playing St Mirren in Paisley, in a match that the Gers won 2-1.
The Ibrox club would then release a tweet praising Defoe’s appearance on the panel in an indirect response to rumours circulating regarding the striker’s future.
“Great to see one of our coaches on punditry duty today,” read a Rangers tweet.
“Looking forward to having JD back at our training centre to continue his development as a coach whilst playing a key role within our squad.”
However, the striker would then appear on Sky Sports once again a week later as he took in Man United’s 3-0 hammering at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.
Still unclear why Rangers star Jermain Defoe was with Sky Sports but he’s back at Ibrox
Whilst Rangers weren’t clear as to precisely why Defoe has swapped the dugout for the press box, they were clear the entire thing is above board and was sanctioned by the club
Whilst we can only speculate, perhaps the situation pertains to Defoe’s future where he is balancing potentially moving into coaching or punditry when he retires.
The striker’s contract at Ibrox expires come the end of the season.
A court case surrounding the striker also revealed that Defoe was at some stage self-isolating for Covid-19 reasons, and this may explain why the forward hasn’t been seen since the 1-0 defeat to Dundee United in August.
Whatever the case, it’s good to see Jermain back in action for Rangers and let’s see if he can get amongst the goals with Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side.
But whilst Jermain Defoe was involved in the 3-1 win over Livingston, there was one notable absentee from the side.
