ian1964 10,415 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 TOMMY Wright has revealed that Rangers want loan star Michael O’Halloran back at Ibrox next month. But the St Johnstone manager hasn’t given up hope of keeping the winger at McDiarmd Park for the rest of the campaign. O’Halloran – a £500,000 Mark Warburton signing from Saints – fell out of favour under Portuguese flop Padro Caixhina and jumped at the chance of a return ticket to Perth in the summer. He got off to a flying start at his former club and secured the August player of the month accolade. An ankle injury hampered his progress and O’Halloran (26) hasn’t netted since September. The winger found himself frozen out under Caixinha and was stunned when he picked up the papers to read he had no future at Ibrox. But the fleet-footed attacker’s lucrative Gers deal runs to 2020 and now director of football Mark Allen is keen to bring him back into the fold. With Caixinha gone and Graeme Murty handling the caretaker role at Ibrox, O’Halloran is expecting to hold talks soon to thrash out his future. The winger, who had to sit out the 3-1 weekend win over Rangers, has insisted his immediate focus is on helping Saints. And Wright believes O’Halloran will have a major say in where he wants to play his football. And that decision will have a huge bearing on the Perth manager’s transfer window strategy. Wright, who is set to recall young defender Jason Kerr from a successful loan spell at Queen of the South, said: “The indication from Rangers is they want Michael to come back. “But part of that process will be down to what he wants to do as well. “I want to keep him but a few weeks ago Mark Allen indicated that they want him to head back to Ibrox. “So we will have to see what happens when Michael sits down with them and talks about his future. “If he’s just going back there to be a bit-part player then it might be in everyone’s interests for him to come back here. “If he goes we will have to replace him but it’s a case right now of just waiting to see what happens. “It will be down to what Rangers want to do and if he can come back here then it will be down to the chairman and whether we have the money to keep him until the summer. “There are a lot of things that can happen in January. I would like to have my business done for when the window opens but that isn’t the case right now. “We will just have to see what next month brings.” Wright is eager to build on the win over Rangers but admits Hearts are a tougher proposition under Craig Levein. “Hearts got a fantastic result last weekend against Celtic and deserved all the headlines they got," he said. “It maybe knocked us off the back pages after winning at Ibrox the day before. “Hearts deserved to win the game. Celtic were always going to lose at some point and it took an excellent, high-energy performance from Craig’s team to do it. “He will be delighted with the way they played and will come here looking to build on that. “I’m glad to see him back in the dugout. “The last three managers appointed in the Premiership have all been experienced managers, Craig, Owen Coyle and Stevie Clarke. “That has bucked the trend a wee bit from previous years and I think that’s a positive. “Those three have done the miles, they’ve been out there doing it for a number of years now and know what the job is all about. “There are a lot of good young coaches around getting praise but maybe jobs have come too early for some of them. “There is more to management than just putting a training session on and I think clubs have realised that looking at the three guys they have appointed this season. “I have a lot of respect for Craig, you can see Hearts starting to play the way he wants to. “The purists might disagree with the way he sets his team up but I like the way he does it, they are hard to beat. “He’s probably got a similar outlook to me in that you set your team up to be hard to beat then try to win the game from there. “Sometimes that means you play more on the back foot but if that’s your best chance of winning then who is anyone to criticise. “Craig has already made Hearts better and I have no doubt he will continue to do that. “He has thrown young players in, some of it through injuries to others but also because he believes in them. “Hearts are a big club so they attract some of the best young players. If you have the quality there you play them if you think they’re good enough.” http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/15787432.Rangers_want_Michael_O_Halloran_to_return_to_Ibrox_in_January/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 9,370 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 I actually see him being a useful forward in the 4-4-2 diamond -- playing a role similar to Windass. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 I think we need the bods but it does seem strange to play for two teams in the same league - especially as he could play against St Johnstone... Not really sure same league loans work well especially as he couldn't play against us but can play against our rivals. Seems like an advantage. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarty 1,876 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 (edited) The problem I have with MOH was that he was a signing by Warburton that was frankly bizarre because he didn't fit with our style of play and doesn't seem to have been given any sort of sustained run in the team to prove his doubters otherwise. We're certainly setting up in a more pragmatic manner under Murty, but even still I don't think he's going to get a lot of time where we are playing games where he can get in behind defences to make his pace count. Its kind of a similar situation for Hardie too. That said, with Miller out for an unspecified time, when we were already very light in terms of realistic attacking alternatives, I'd take him back. I'm just not sure what good its going to do for either him or the club. Edited December 22, 2017 by stewarty 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,833 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 I have time for MOH as a player, Warburton did not utilise him properly. However, as a man; his refusal to trap for a development game was unprofessional. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenny3k 500 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 Could be bringing him back to sell him on and make some money for a potential new managers signings... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 I don't think MOH wants to come back? That being said he's our player, however i would sell him to the highest bidder. At least we should be trying to get our initial outlay on him back, maybe even a wee profit, but no more discounts or giveaway price please Rangers. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 6,137 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 Won't go wrong with Miller out . 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,258 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 Rangers want him back to sell him to somebody. He has no future at ibrox. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 6,137 Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 If we want to sell him he Will ha e to play to his best and that will be beneficial to everyone 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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