It’s natural to look back at happy times through rose-tinted glasses and pine for a return to them.
There’s often a mate who still holds a torch for his ex, only to be reminded that she cut the arms off his favourite shirts and stuck his golf clubs on eBay because he left some crumbs on the kitchen worktop. It’s the same with football fans and former players – and it’s why some Rangers supporters have the blue-tinted specs on when it comes to guys like Ryan Kent.
The winger getting his jotters from Fenerbahce has got some wondering if it would be worth bringing him back Understandable. Is Kent better than what Philippe Clement has at his disposal right now? Probably. Well, if it’s the Kent of the first few seasons then definitely. The latter Kent? Erm, perhaps not. That’s where the split in the supporters comes from too.
The former Liverpool kid was by no means a disaster at Rangers. He might not have lived up to the £6.5million fee they stumped up to land him but there were some top performances in the league-winning season and especially in the run to the Europa League Final the following year.
Those are memories that would have a chunk of punters happy to see him back in blue. But there are other memories fresh for plenty of others. Kent could turn it on when the mood took him.
Yet consistency was an issue. It usually is with wingers, as they rely on the rest of the side to get the ball to them and on strikers to stick away the chances they create. A lot of the flak Kent took about his statistics was harsh given he was let down by some of this team-mates at times.
And this is the problem. There are reasons that justify trying to bring him back – along with loads of excuses to give him a wide berth.
There’s that old cliché about never going back but Rangers have bucked that trend plenty of times over the years. The likes of Barry Ferguson, Richard Gough, Steven Davis, Allan McGregor, Kenny Miller, Craig Moore and a fair few others made successful comebacks at the club, some of them in third and fourth spells.
But those guys were different types than Kent. None was posted missing towards the end of their first shots on the swings. Clement was cute enough to leave the door open on a return in January but he’ll be hedging his bets.
He’ll need to see what kind of dosh he’s got to spend and where he wants to splash it. The Belgian is still light in terms of muscle in the middle of the park but that wide-left role is an area that will need attention. Oscar Cortes remains an unknown due to his injuries and Rabbi Matondo continues to be a frustrating enigma.
But Rangers coughing up 20k-plus a week on Kent after more than two seasons of barely kicking a ball looks like a gamble they can’t really afford. Some memories – good and bad – are best left in the past.
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