Red-hot Red Devil Amad Diallo found his career hitting a dead end at Ibrox.
But Rangers kid Ross McCausland insists there is still a pathway to the Light Blues first-team for the youngsters strong enough to cope with the club’s demands. New Manchester United new poster boy Diallo underlined his growing reputation by hitting a hat-trick to sink Southampton on Thursday night. But the emergence of the Ivorian at Old Trafford has stunned Gers supporters, who remember him flopping after joining Gio van Bronckhorst’s side on a six-month loan in January 2022.
McCausland – then an academy hopeful – always felt Diallo would come good, which he did after kick-starting his career with another loan at Sunderland. But he reckons Diallo’s Gers struggles prove Ibrox is not an environment for the faint hearted. He said: “Yeah, you’re right. There is a lot of pressure. Maybe pressure isn’t the right word. There’s a lot of demand. At a club like Rangers, you want to win every single trophy and the fans are on you all the time, which sometimes can be a good thing and sometimes can be a bad thing.
“It all depends on the type of person you are and how you perceive that sort of stuff that people are giving you. You can take it the wrong way or you can take it in a good way. So, I think looking on the back of that, some people might not be able to cope with the pressure, but people are different and take different pathways. [At Rangers] you need to be mentally tough. But you also need to be a very good footballer.”
Diallo faces a reunion with his old side next Saturday when Gers head to Old Trafford for a glamour Europa League clash with the struggling Premier League giants. And McCausland added: “Yeah, I trained with Amad a few times. He was an amazing footballer, so seeing that he’s doing really well is good.”
McCausland was making good progress himself last year after breaking into the Gers line-up but has found his game-time lately blocked by Vaclav Cerny. But he hopes to use the Czech ace as inspiration to win back his slot. He said: “I’m not playing as much as I’d like.
“But Vaclav has been incredible for a number of months. He’s someone I can look up to every day and learn from. The main thing is he plays on the right and his strong foot is his left.
“For me, my weak foot is my left foot. But he’s got really good at going down the right and on the left and being both footed. So I think adding that to my game, a bit of variety, will do me good.”