Rangers have had a stormy summer with problems on and off the pitch, Philippe Clement hoping to put it all behind and build some serious momentum.
Other than the job list that John Bennett should be working through, the manager still has to solve the dilemma of what to do with Ianis Hagi.
One problem that Clement eventually saw a resolution to was the exit of Todd Cantwell after deciding that he wanted to end his Rangers career.
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Todd Cantwell makes bizarre Rangers maturity claim
Despite only being away for less than two weeks, the 26-year old has already given his version of events but has again reflected on his final weeks training on his own at Auchenhowie, as told to the Lancashire Telegraph:
“It was difficult (training away), it’s not a situation you ever want to be in as a player.
“I got on with all the players in the changing room and when you’re sat watching that happen, they go out to train, you wonder if you’ve made the decision or if you’re doing the right thing.
“It’s difficult as a player but at 26, you get some maturity that there is a bigger picture. That’s what I kept telling myself in the hard days. I’m ready to step forward now, get back on the pitch and show where I’m at.”
“I definitely think I can be ready to go. I’ve had some tough sessions and if I can get through that, I can get through games. The management here will be very important here with how I’m integrated back into consistent games in the Championship.
“We know what it’s like, there are a lot of games in quick succession. We will have to be sensible with not trying to do too much, too early. I am desperate to play so if you ask me I’m ready to go but that’s why we have medical advisors and management to make those decisions.”
Cantwell needs to let his football do the talking from now on
If ever a statement summed up Cantwell, it’s that he considers his actions to have been mature.
All he had to do was look around the training ground and see Ianis Hagi running himself into the ground with the academy kids and playing B team bounce games after playing in the European Championships.
If anyone had the right to down tools, it was the player with a league title and 40 caps in his back pocket not the one who had been signed on a free transfer during the season despite once being valued at £50m.
Cantwell might have decided that he saw his future elsewhere, but he could easily have kept playing and training with the first team squad, if he had said the right things to Philippe Clement.
Deciding to train on his own isn’t mature, neither is refusing to play for the B team – if he had, he might have played for Blackburn by now.
