Speculation is building around Joe Aribo ’s future at Rangers with Crystal Palace keen on him. There were rumours surrounding him because of his performances for much of last season. In the first five months he was Rangers’ most consistent player.
Joe is now at a good age. If you profile him, he has everything a Premier League club would want. With a year left on his contract, teams won’t be stupid with potential bids. Rangers will have a valuation of what he’s worth and it’s about whether they can find that common ground with a buyer. Aribo, Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent are all going into their last year.
They’re all starting players so you don’t want constant speculation. It can sidetrack the player and become a sideshow for the manager who gets asked about it every week. So I’d like to see Aribo’s situation resolved quickly. Either re-sign him on a new deal or if the board are willing to sell, let’s bring in the most money we can.
London probably makes sense for Joe because it’s where he grew up. He will have ambitions of playing in the Premier League. And of those three players at Rangers, you have to think at least one will move on. Joe only signed for around £300k. If Rangers can get around £8million for him it’s good business.
That’s the model every club wants. You sign cheap – the same way Celtic did with Moussa Dembele – and sell big. Clubs need to balance the books and Rangers are no different. Right now, Aribo is still an asset. But if it gets to Christmas time and nothing’s happened, he’ll probably leave for nothing. It’s all about timing. If it’s right for the player and club, maybe now is a good time for him to go.
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Walking into the Rangers dressing-room for the first time as a new player is a daunting experience. In fact, it’s SCARY – but exciting at the same time.
I know that from experience and can still vividly remember my first day at the club back in the summer of 2000. For a 20-year-old boy signing from Hibs, it can be intimidating.
Especially when you look around and there are world-class players everywhere. Arthur Numan, Mikey Mols, Andrei Kanchelskis, Sergio Porrini, Lorenzo Amoruso, Jorg Albertz – they were all there.
And, of course, current gaffer Giovanni van Bronckhorst too. Thankfully for me, there was a big contingent of Scottish boys as well under Dick Advocaat, with Neil McCann, Paul Ritchie, Billy Dodds, Allan Johnston.
And, crucially, the top man was a Scot in Barry Ferguson. But it’s still a daunting feeling going in there. On Monday the club’s only new recruit so far, John Souttar, will experience it for himself.
And just like me he’ll have to prove he can handle it. When I think back to 2000, Advocaat was renowned for his discipline. But I liked Dick, he definitely had a softer side to him.
He was known as The Little General and was demanding. But he wasn’t too hard on me. He just expected players to uphold standards. I hear people talk now about how they have to work hard.
Under Advocaat at Rangers that was just a given, it was taken for granted. With that level of coach he didn’t feel he had to ask for effort. That was the bare minimum. And if you didn’t live up to the standards you just wouldn’t play. It was that simple.
What Dick demanded was that you improved your technique or your decision-making on the pitch every day. Remember, back then we were competing in the transfer market with the very best.
We took Tore Andre Flo for £12million from Chelsea and signed Ronald de Boer from Barcelona. These guys were world stars. So it was scary but exciting at the same time for me.
When I was a kid I used to watch the Super Ally McCoist video on VHS. There’s a scene when he walks into the dressing-room and goes straight to his own spot over in the corner. As a new boy, it’s not like that! It’s a special moment going in there.
But when you know the level of the player in that building – as a 20-year-old – it is frightening. There are a lot of emotions involved. But once you’re in, it’s great. Fergie was only a couple of years older than me but was a pivotal player in the team. That definitely helped me settle in.
Everyone has a different personality. It’s not about going in there and trying to stamp your authority. That’s not in every player’s nature. You have to be yourself and introduce your personality to the dressing-room. You earn the respect of your team-mates by how you work and showing that you’re capable.
Some people take a bit more time but I’ve never been that guy. I tended to get involved straight away. As much as it was daunting I felt quite comfortable there. Whether you’re outgoing or introverted you still need to have confidence in yourself.
You might not be a loud character but ultimately on the training pitch you need to show that you’re good enough. Peter Lovenkrands signed in the same summer and we were the same age.
When I walked in there I thought, “I need to take someone’s jersey off them’. That was my mindset, I was at Rangers to play, not make the numbers up. I wanted one of their shirts, whether that was Mols, Dodds or Rod Wallace.
Peter was a forward player so we were competing with each other right away. I wanted to play so I had to make my mark.
Souttar will have to do that too. He’s older than I was when I went into that dressing-room and he has established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the country. He’s involved in the national team and has played a lot of games for Hearts.
He has also overcome a lot of negative situations with regards to injuries. Rangers have signed him because it’s an area that needed to be improved. For me, he’s there to play alongside Connor Goldson this season.
As much as he’s going to have to earn his place, he has been signed to play. Now that Goldson has committed his future to the club, it’s brilliant for Rangers but also John as well. That he’s got a guy to lean on who has won a league and been to a European final.
Goldson is a great player for him to go in beside. He’ll have to show his team-mates that he’s capable of carrying the weight of that jersey. With the greatest of respect to Hearts, when you move to Rangers or Celtic, the levels must go up.
You do feel the difference, that step up. Being Scottish, he’ll have felt it a bit when he has gone to Ibrox as an opposition player. He’ll have sensed the demand and atmosphere put on the Rangers players. John has plenty of experience of being an opposition player at Ibrox and feeling that blue wave coming at him on the pitch and from the stands.
That will help him adapt but it’s one thing playing against it and another when the demand and expectation is on your head when you’ve got a Rangers shirt on. You need to perform every week to bring success to the club, which means winning leagues and cups.
It’s not just domestic stuff either. The fans have been accustomed to a certain amount of success in Europe over the last few years. So that’s another step up and layer of pressure.
No player at that club should be able to take their place for granted. So he’ll have to earn his place and respect of the fans. I’ve no doubt he’ll do that and take it in his stride. If Souttar adjusts to the demands of that club, he’ll be fine.
He’ll quickly learn that draws aren’t good enough. You have to be on it in every single game. There’s a standard he’ll have to set, maintain and at the same time get better. There will be a different expectation placed on him.
How he copes with that will determine how successful he is.
