With their self-belief soaring at sky-high levels, Graham Dorrans remembers being convinced both Todd Cantwell and James Maddison were destined for a place among the stars.
But while Maddison’s career has rocketed to stratospheric levels with Leicester and England, his old Norwich pal has struggled to follow the same lofty trajectory. Former Rangers ace Dorrans was still on the Carrow Road payroll when the talented academy kids were first invited to join Alex Neil’s squad and recalls a cocky combo who had the talent to back-up their swagger.
Maddison lit the fuse on his rise to the top after a productive loan stint at Aberdeen but it wasn’t long before Cantwell appeared to have performed a successful liftoff of his own as he helped propel Norwich to the Premier League in 2019. However, despite an encouraging debut campaign among England’s big-hitters, his early thrust wasn’t enough to save Norwich and the Canaries soon crashed and burned their way back to the Championship after just one season.
Since then, Cantwell’s star has faded and he now looks set to be jettisoned by Norwich when his contract expires this summer. Yet the 24-year-old may now be setting a new course for Ibrox with Light Blues gaffer Michael Beale keen to make the midfielder his first Rangers recruit.
And former Gers ace Dorrans reckons his old club might just be the perfect launchpad for Cantwell to finally hit the heights. He told Record Sport: “Todd was a lot younger obviously when I was at Norwich, he’d have been about 18 or so by the time I left to come back up to Glasgow.
“He was just breaking through at that point but you could see he was a very good player. He didn’t play too much at that point but was in training with the first team and you could see the talent he had.
“He was a very confident kid then. I remember at that time it was him and James Maddison who were the young guys emerging from the academy. Both of them had this confidence in their ability. Sometimes you looked at it as arrogance. But both of them went on and backed it up.
“Obviously James has gone on to make an England World Cup squad with that unbelievable talent of his. But I agree with what Michael Beale was saying at the weekend. He was once a really exciting prospect but it looks like his career has stalled a wee bit since over the last couple of years.
“Todd has the same ability as James but his career hasn’t followed the same trajectory. Maybe that’s because his confidence has suffered a wee bit.
“He probably needs a new challenge so I’m sure the chance to join a club like Rangers would be of massive interest to him. Coming up to play in front of 50,000 fans every week is an exciting prospect and should get him back on track.
“He’s got that great ability on the ball and I’m sure he could come up here and provide a spark for Rangers, definitely. It’s just about rediscovering that belief in himself he once had. He’s a confidence player and just needs a bit of love.
“Listening to the way Michael Beale has spoken about him, I think he’s the man to help him get going again. If he can get back to his earlier levels then I’ve got no doubts that he can come and be successful, certainly from what I saw of him at Norwich.”
Rangers have seen their midfield options reduced by Steven Davis’ season-ending knee injury. But Dorrans does not see Cantwell slotting into the Northern Ireland skipper’s old role if he does make the move north.
“If I’m honest, I’m not sure I’d earmark him for one of the deeper midfield slots,” he said. He’s capable of playing there but it’s not where I think he will play if he comes up or even where I think his best position is.
“His best season at Norwich was the year they were in the Premier League where he got seven goals. At that time, he was mostly playing off the left-hand side and I think that’s where he’s at his most effective, coming in off the wing, getting into pockets and creating things.
“He’s got great awareness that allows him to slip into these wee spaces where he can hurt teams, so even playing as a No.10 suits him. I still think that’s something Rangers are missing. They’ve got Ryan Kent playing wide and looking to get into those little gaps but he needs to get more numbers, more goals and assists.
“That’s what Rangers are lacking at the minute so if Todd comes in, he certainly has to improve on that front.”
Cantwell now has the chance to see how Beale works up close, an experience Dorrans never got to fully savour when the Londoner was assisting former Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard. But it’s no shock to the 35-year-old that Beale has made a successful start to his own managerial reign from the brief glimpses he got before injury brought his spell at Ibrox to an end.
Dorrans - who has not given up hope of resuming his playing career after leaving Dunfermline last year - said: “Michael Beale was great during my time at the club. Unfortunately I didn’t spend too much time on the training ground under him which was disappointing because of the bits I did see, he was very, very good.
“Obviously injuries happen in football but he’s definitely someone I’d like to have worked under for a longer spell and learned from him. His knowledge of the game is fantastic and the way he explains things is so clear. You know exactly what you have to do for your role in the team. It’s no surprise that he’s started so well now that he’s the boss. Hopefully that continues.”
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