One of the best things about football is that everyone has an opinion, not all of them are correct mind. We also have our own guilty pleasure players that played for Rangers. They offer insight into what sort of person you are dealing with and what their “football philosophy” might be. They can also let you know when someone has no idea what they are talking about. Josh Windass is better through the middle and is a decent player, that sort of nonsense….
This week I’ll reveal my three guilty pleasure players. Players that are in some circles a cult hero or they play in the same position as you do. So, here’s my choices, don’t @ me as the kids say nowadays!
Tore Andre Flo
Yes, before you start I know he wasn’t worth £12 million! I just liked watching him play, he was in the right place but at the wrong time. If we sign him eighteen months earlier and for £4-5 million I reckon he would’ve been a success.
Flo was a neat and tidy player, the epitome of the “nice touch for a big man” cliché. He had a decent goalscoring ratio considering he was injured for a period and that Dick Advocaat constantly changed shape and strike partners. Any combination of Flo, Miller, and Dodds with De Boer supporting them on a consistent basis would’ve been a success.
I would, rightly or wrongly, defend Flo to the hilt to anyone that says he was rubbish in his time at Rangers. We signed a goal every three striker and he left with a goal every two, but I’m not sure I’ll change anyone’s mind if it’s already been made!
Pieter Huistra
The Flying Dutchman was at Rangers for five years in the midst of 9 in a Row. Huistra played a significant part too with around 150 appearances for the club. He was never a key player or considered the first name on the team sheet though. The floppy-haired crepe lover joined Rangers when I was about 10 and at that age we all love seeing attacking players flying past full backs and Huistra was capable of that on a regular basis.
Now, to clarify, I’m not putting him in anywhere near the same category of player. Stay with me. I always thought Huistra was similar to Brian Laudrup in the way he ran with the ball and got past players. He wasn’t blessed with anywhere the same level of skill or consistency but just his style of play made him one of my heroes. I also (inexplicably) played on the left wing in my youth football days so I’d watch what he did and try unsuccessfully to replicate it on a Sunday!
I was gutted when he left. But, I soon got over Pieter’s departure though, the Danish lad from the season before turned out ok.
Billy Dodds
Dodds was such a strange player to have in Dick Advocaat’s squad. He didn’t have blistering pace, he couldn’t beat a man with skill and he wasn’t Dutch. Billy Dodds, like his name, was almost a bit of a throwback. Stick him up front with Mark Hateley and he’d have had a field day in the way that McCoist did.
I felt sorry for Dodds in a similar, but different, way as I did for Flo. He would be in for a game then out for two, or he’d start a couple of games then be out the squad altogether. Even when he did start he would be playing in a variety of positions with a variety of partners. At a goal every two and a half games, he did ok. I bet his goals per minute ratio was even better given how many times he came off the bench or would be hooked if he hadn’t scored when he did start.
You could never fault his effort or desire and was one of the few players who didn’t really let us down during Advocaat’s demise, certainly not in his attitude anyway.
So, those are my guilty pleasure players, I have many more but it is Three of a Kind and well, that’s kind of the point.
