Barry Ferguson has given his thoughts on the immediate future of Lee Wallace at Rangers, in his Daily Record column.
The former club captain is out of contract in a matter of weeks and therefore, set to leave Ibrox.
It will signal the end to a bizarre set of circumstances. Despite being a full international and just 31-years-old, Wallace has been relegated to fourth-choice left-back at the club.
Therefore, he’s appeared just twice all season, with both instances coming in away matches as a substitute. His last appearance at Ibrox was in September 2017.
“There’s been a bit of debate over the last few days about what kind of send-off he should be given and suggestions that
Steven Gerrard ought to get him back in the team for one last goodbye,” wrote Ferguson, in the Record.
“But I’m not into all that and, more importantly, I’m not sure how comfortable Lee would feel with being given some kind of public sympathy vote from the manager.
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“As far as I’m concerned he’s already kicked his last ball in a Rangers shirt and, as painful as that will be, it’s now about where he goes next and how he rebuilds the rest of his career.”
Verdict
Despite calls from some Rangers fans to give him a final farewell on the pitch, Ferguson has a point.
Wallace is deserving of significant recognition for sticking with the club through thick and thin. He played a major role in helping the Gers back to the top flight before controversy struck.
However, given how frozen out he has been, bringing him in again before the end of the season, would be a clear sympathy vote which may well be not what Wallace himself wants.
Bizarrely, he’s been almost totally discounted as an option for the majority of Gerrard’s reign. Makeshift left-backs in Andy Halliday and Jon Flanagan have been preferred to a 10-cap international.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see where the former club captain ends up and how he performs next season.
Particularly if he was to end up starring for another SPL team, questions would need to be asked.
