I wonder why we sold players like Brand and Wilson when they were only 28?
That is a good question, and my thoughts on it are that Symon believed we had better.
I think with Ralph Brand, he was no longer an automatic choice by the 64-65 season, making only 32 appearances (16 Goals), as opposed to the previous four seasons where he was averaging 55 games a season, with a return of 38 goals a season.
Jim Forrest was obviously the main man, having scored 57 Goals in 50 games in 64-65, and though George McLean was not the prolific goalscorer that Brand was, I think Symon saw the Forrest McLean partnership as the future.
Symon was right, if you look at the stats.
1965-66 season George McLean was our top scorer with 39 Goals in only 34 Games, which is an incredible return.
Despite this, the big Dandy one was never a favourite with the fans, and I can only put that down to the fact that he was replacing Ralph Brand who was much loved by the fans.
Forrest scored 35 Goals in 44 Games that same season, which meant the Forrest McLean partnership had combined to score 74 Goals between them.
The Millar Brand partnership had combined to score that many goals in a single season, only once, in the 62-63 season scoring 80 Goals between them, but they had played in 102 games combined, whereas Forrest and McLean scored 74 Goals in only 78 games between them.
I'm not sure that we have ever had a front two that combined to score so many goals in so few games, as Forrest and McLean did that 65-66 season.
Even the best season that we got from Hateley McCoist (92-93) where the combined to score 78 Goals, they needed 103 games combined to achieve that.
Sadly we shall never know how well that Forrest McLean partnership might well have done, as our Chairmen saw fit to dump them both, just six months after that record setting 65-66 season, whilst they were 22, and 23 years old.
As for Davy Wilson, it was obvious by 1967 that Willie Johnston was Symon's preferred Left Winger, as he was immediately reinstated to the team following his injury, at the expense of Davy Wilson, for those last 3 vital games of the 66-67 campaign, despite the fact that Wilson was doing well and scoring some vital goals.
Symon was desperate to add Orjan Persson to the ranks that summer, and offered Wilson to Dundee Utd as a sweetener to get his man.
Again, Persson was no Davy Wilson, but he was a good player, and unfortunately Symon only had him for 13 games, before he was sacked.
I think Persson scored 30 Goals in 100 games for Davie White, but when Waddell came in, he obviously did not rate the big Swede, giving him only 3 games in 6 months, before getting rid of him at the end of that 69-70 season.
Another player who should have remained at Ibrox a lot longer than he did.
Persson went on to play in two World Cups (70' and 74') after Waddell deemed him surplus to requirements!