Philippe Clement promised to fix the injury problems at Rangers, unfortunately, he won’t be the one to benefit from his hard work.
There are still a few injury prone players in and around the Rangers squad, there are certainly a few still on the wage bill.
It is common sense for everyone at the club from the top down to do everything possible to maximise player availability, especially when there is a solid argument for the Scottish Premiership titles of 2021/22 and 2023/24 being lost because of a shortage or options and shortage of depth.
Of course, there needs to be luck too, with Ibrox seemly having an injury curse affecting one position in particular.
Rangers have spent a lot of money on No.9s over the years, but these are the ones who promised a lot before being hit by the cruelest hex.
30 Apr 2000: Sebastian Rozental of Glasgow Rangers holds off Lee Wilkie of Dundee during the Scottish Premier Division match at Ibrox in Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow Rangers won the match 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill /Allsport
30 Apr 2000: Sebastian Rozental of Glasgow Rangers holds off Lee Wilkie of Dundee during the Scottish Premier Division match at Ibrox in Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow Rangers won the match 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill /Allsport
The Rangers striker injury curse and what might have been
Sebastian Rozental
Walter Smith travelled personally to speak to and watch the Chile international and player of the year before signing him, a prestigious award in the 1990s given Ivan Zamarano and Marcelos Salas were on the scene and about to light up Serie A.
For a fee of around £4m, a lot of money in 1996 considering Duncan Ferguson had been a British record for £4m just two seasons earlier, Rangers got their man, beating Juventus and Man Utd in the process.
After a brief cameo against Motherwell, the 21-year old tipped to replace Ally McCoist got his first start against St Johnstone at Ibrox a few days later.
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He injured his knee as early as the second minute, was told to run it off, scored, and never came out for the second half.
He only made another 18 appearances for the club, scoring six goals, and was never the same player again with Rozental blaming the surgeon for making his knee worse.
Marco Negri
Relatively unknown when he signed from Perugia, Negri arrived in Scotland and promptly set about breaking every goal scoring record around.
At Christmas, it looked like 50 goals would be scored before the clocks changed only for a mysterious squash injury to his eye see him sidelined and return a shadow of his former self.
A trophyless season never looked possible given Negri’s form and, had he maintained it, 10-in-a-row would have been a formality.
The rest of his time at Rangers – and the original squash injury – have always been shrouded in mystery and rumour.
What didn’t help his cause recently was trying to poach Alfredo Morelos for Udinese.
Photo by Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Manchester United via Getty Images
Michael Mols
One of the biggest “what might have been” stories Rangers fans have ever seen with Michael Mols’ recent message to Barry Ferguson showing how much of an affinity he still has for the club.
A hugely talented player who had made a blistering start to his career in Scotland and who looked like being the missing link to success in Europe.
If ever a player could go back in time and replay an incident it would be Mols’ decision to hurdle Oliver Khan rather than land on the Bayern Munich No.1 who all but ended his career.
Enjoyed trophy success at Rangers, but was never the same player who shone so brightly.
Danilo
Arrived with an unblemished medical file only to have his jaw broken scoring a header and his knee clattered by a 14 stone defender in the same season.
This year hasn’t gone much better for the £6m signing with a training ground accident setting him back again.
Has time on his side, however, the 25-year old striker really needs a lucky break, rather than one to his body.