Rangers fans’ patience is wearing thin with current first choice striker Cyriel Dessers – with the final straw for many who still have faith in him finally snapping after another below-par display against St Johnstone on Sunday.
And how the light blue legions could do with a frontman in his prime they once came close to signing for the kind of cash that they can only dream about just now. During the lavish spending days of Sir David Murray’s tenure when Dick Advocaat was in charge, Rangers were on the brink of signing Spaniard Raul Tamudo.
But having had their fingers burnt when it came to splashing out on injury-prone players – the late defender Daniel Prodan to name just one – the Ibrox club were ultra-cautious when it came to signing big cheques. John Hartson famously failed a medial only to head across the other side of the city where he became a goalscoring hero for Celtic.
Tamudo, 23 at the time, was another who failed a medical after Rangers had met a £10.5million release clause. And Tamudo later revealed how Espanayol dedicated a supporters club to the then Rangers doctor who scuppered the move – Dutchman Dr Gert Jan Goudswaard.
Tamudo went on to become a legend – and he played in Glasgow seven years later when his side lost the UEFA Cup final to Sevilla at Hampden in an all-Spanish affair – at the Barcelona-based club with almost 400 appearances over 13 years but it could have been cut short had he joined Rangers.
The bizarre tribute to the medical man sees the fan club being named called ‘Doctor Gert, Diga 23’, with 23 being the shirt number Tamudo wore during his spell between 1997 and 2010 at Espanyol.
Tamudo was unhappy at how the move to Scotland fell through and initially demanded an apology before, when talk of the move being revived, saying: ”I don’t want to go to Rangers and I want to forget all about them.”
Rangers went on to sign Tore Andre Flo for £12m which remains a Scottish football record but the Norwegian flopped before moving to Sunderland.