ian1964 10,386 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 CARLOS BOCANEGRA admits he would happily have spent all of the nine years he had playing in Europe at Rangers. The former USA international captain signed for the Light Blues in August 2011 but left on loan 12 months later for Spanish side Racing Santander after financial difficulties at Ibrox. Bocanegra then had his contract ended early by mutual consent last summer with his salary higher than Gers could afford. But the short time he did have in Glasgow made a significant impression on the Californian and hindsight tells him he’d have loved to sign for the club much earlier than he did. Now at MLS side Chivas USA, Bocanegra spent his day off yesterday travelling up the coast from Los Angeles to meet the touring Rangers squad at their pre-season base in Ventura. It brought memories of his stay with the 54-time Scottish champions flooding back as he spoke with manager Ally McCoist and some of his former team-mates. Popular defender Bocanegra experienced top-level football in England and France with Fulham, Rennes and St Etienne prior to his switch to Gers. But no other club got under his skin the way the Light Blues did and he said: “In football, you move so many times but when we arrived in Glasgow it felt like home. “We really embraced the city, the people were very friendly and it became about more than just on-field stuff. That was amazing. “Playing in front of 50,000 fans at Ibrox every second weekend and experiencing the support we got around the country otherwise was fantastic. “But my family and I loved the club, the city and the culture too. Everything came together in a really nice mix so when I had to leave it was a very difficult decision. “I would have liked to stay but there was the issue with my wages and I was trying to keep my national team dream alive ahead of the World Cup but we had dropped down the leagues. “The timing of things didn’t quite work out when I came to the club but I loved my time there. I really enjoyed it and I would have loved to retire there. “I’d have loved being there sooner. In all honesty, I’d have loved to go straight from Chicago Fire in 2004 to Rangers and played my career there. “Playing in the Champions League, winning titles and cups would have been great. The atmosphere there is amazing and I loved everything about being part of that club. “I guess the only regret I have is I didn’t get the chance to go there earlier but during my time at Rangers, we had a great team. “The level was high and I got to play in the derby matches. The short time I had there was special and I really cherish it because I know how lucky I was to experience it. “You always wish you can have everything perfect in life but being able to be part of Rangers for just a short amount of time was awesome.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7209-playing-for-gers-was-awesome? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmu 0 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Allys gonna sign him! Ticks all the boxes.. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 he really was excellent for a year. perhaps we should indeed have got him earlier. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whosthedado 1,481 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Somebody get Ally a shaver over there. I thought my attempts a growing beards were embarrassing 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Pure quality on and off the park, could play till he's 40+. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWee BlueDevil 0 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Pure quality on and off the park, could play till he's 40+. Exactly this. I would also say, all the US players we have had, have had personal skills and qualities beyond football that are a real credit to their nation. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Look where Claudio Reyna is now - director of football operations for the new New York City FC franchise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Reyna 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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