Just seen this article by the Rangers Observer, a new low for them. What a disgrace. Not posting the link so they don't get the hits.
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Danny Wilson's never ending journey to mediocrity turns to MLS
January 27, 2018
Seems a tad bitter to me!
So, Danny Wilson is likely for the off again. And again, perhaps at the period he's performing his best in a Rangers' shirt during a particular spell.
This time, he's allegedly setting off for America and the MLS: football's retirement village. And at age 26, no less. What should be the peak years of a footballer's life.
We needn't spend much time recapping Wilson's career missteps. He left too soon for Liverpool the first time, just as he had a chance to be an integral part of a trophy-winning side. But the glory and prestige of an EPL contract came to his door, and Wilson rebuffed Rangers for a shot at glory.™
The deal could've been decent enough for Rangers had Wilson shown any of the talent he'd displayed as a 17-year-old replacement for an injured Majid Bougherra. The team that made him its youngest-ever Champions League participant stood to make £5 million off the deal—£2 million reported up front and £300,000 for each of his first 10 appearances—if Wilson could ever stay on the park.
He didn't. And then he didn't get on the pitch during a pair of loan deals to Blackpool and then Bristol City, who, at the time, were mired in an English Championship relegation battle. Wilson pulled on the glorious No. 40 shirt for the Robins only once.
Cue a 2013 return to Scotland via a loan to Hearts, where he would eventually land on a permanent deal and be named captain at just 21-years-old. Wilson would make 85 total appearances for the Edinburgh side as he began to show glimpses of the skill he'd apparently left behind at Murray Park when he moved south.
And then the return to Ibrox, which has been, we could say, an up and down show in an up and down team for the still-young central defender. Yet now, just as he appears to have a role in Graeme Murty's resurgent side, Wilson again wants out, this time for the glamour transfer to Denver and a Colorado Rapids side that finished second-bottom in MLS last season. A league with viewership numbers that would make Neil Doncaster cringe and a market cap solely tied to franchises' expansion fees.
Talent has never been the question with Danny Wilson. Or, at least, it didn't use to be. Years of toiling on the bench in what should have been his prime development stage certainly stunted his growth as a footballer. And what would have become of him in the fallout of 2012 can never be known.
But what is clear, certainly now, is that this has never been a player suited for the spotlight that comes when one pulls on the light blue. Wilson once said he hoped to model his career on the AC Milan great Paolo Maldini, who similarly broke into the senior side at age 17. Maldini's run had a slightly different trajectory, of course: more than 900 appearances, 7 Serie A titles, 5 Champions Leagues, 25 years in a Milan shirt. Wilson, as he prepares to exit Ibrox a second time, surely must look back now and wonder what could have been. If he looks back for guidance and self-reflection at all.
And that, perhaps, will be the memory of Wilson's career, whenever and wherever it stops. Maybe this move to America is for the sake of his personal life, and maybe there is something noble in that pursuit. But this was a young man who could have and perhaps should have reached the heights of the sport. Instead, he was forever in pursuit of something that seems impossible for the average supporter to understand. A "success" that seems so intangible. Whatever that is, it will always feel like a missed opportunity, for both him and Rangers.
—Shane Nicholson, @ofvoid
Tagged: Transfers
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Older PostRangers' January dealings could be the turning point
Copyright 2017 • The Rangers Observer
How much cash though?
I just couldn't stomach yet another Rangers player who's coming onto a bit of form leaving for peanuts!
Just seen this article by the Rangers Observer, a new low for them. What a disgrace. Not posting the link so they don't get the hits.
HOME
NEWS
VIEWS
INFO
Danny Wilson's never ending journey to mediocrity turns to MLS
January 27, 2018
So, Danny Wilson is likely for the off again. And again, perhaps at the period he's performing his best in a Rangers' shirt during a particular spell.
This time, he's allegedly setting off for America and the MLS: football's retirement village. And at age 26, no less. What should be the peak years of a footballer's life.
We needn't spend much time recapping Wilson's career missteps. He left too soon for Liverpool the first time, just as he had a chance to be an integral part of a trophy-winning side. But the glory and prestige of an EPL contract came to his door, and Wilson rebuffed Rangers for a shot at glory.™
The deal could've been decent enough for Rangers had Wilson shown any of the talent he'd displayed as a 17-year-old replacement for an injured Majid Bougherra. The team that made him its youngest-ever Champions League participant stood to make £5 million off the deal—£2 million reported up front and £300,000 for each of his first 10 appearances—if Wilson could ever stay on the park.
He didn't. And then he didn't get on the pitch during a pair of loan deals to Blackpool and then Bristol City, who, at the time, were mired in an English Championship relegation battle. Wilson pulled on the glorious No. 40 shirt for the Robins only once.
Cue a 2013 return to Scotland via a loan to Hearts, where he would eventually land on a permanent deal and be named captain at just 21-years-old. Wilson would make 85 total appearances for the Edinburgh side as he began to show glimpses of the skill he'd apparently left behind at Murray Park when he moved south.
And then the return to Ibrox, which has been, we could say, an up and down show in an up and down team for the still-young central defender. Yet now, just as he appears to have a role in Graeme Murty's resurgent side, Wilson again wants out, this time for the glamour transfer to Denver and a Colorado Rapids side that finished second-bottom in MLS last season. A league with viewership numbers that would make Neil Doncaster cringe and a market cap solely tied to franchises' expansion fees.
Talent has never been the question with Danny Wilson. Or, at least, it didn't use to be. Years of toiling on the bench in what should have been his prime development stage certainly stunted his growth as a footballer. And what would have become of him in the fallout of 2012 can never be known.
But what is clear, certainly now, is that this has never been a player suited for the spotlight that comes when one pulls on the light blue. Wilson once said he hoped to model his career on the AC Milan great Paolo Maldini, who similarly broke into the senior side at age 17. Maldini's run had a slightly different trajectory, of course: more than 900 appearances, 7 Serie A titles, 5 Champions Leagues, 25 years in a Milan shirt. Wilson, as he prepares to exit Ibrox a second time, surely must look back now and wonder what could have been. If he looks back for guidance and self-reflection at all.
And that, perhaps, will be the memory of Wilson's career, whenever and wherever it stops. Maybe this move to America is for the sake of his personal life, and maybe there is something noble in that pursuit. But this was a young man who could have and perhaps should have reached the heights of the sport. Instead, he was forever in pursuit of something that seems impossible for the average supporter to understand. A "success" that seems so intangible. Whatever that is, it will always feel like a missed opportunity, for both him and Rangers.
—Shane Nicholson, @ofvoid
Tagged: Transfers
7 Likes
Share
Older PostRangers' January dealings could be the turning point
Copyright 2017 • The Rangers Observer
