Greg Docherty wants to be central to any Rangers success, not a bit-part player

[ian1964 10,430]

WHEN Greg Docherty was growing up, he dreamt of one day lifting trophies as a Rangers player. Had he hung around Ibrox this season, there is a fair chance that he could have realised that dream.

But when the midfielder eventually does climb those steps in a light blue jersey to hoist silverware skywards, he wants to have really earned that right. To have made a crucial contribution to the success.

 

That’s why he decided to take a step back in order to make two steps forward in his Rangers career by spending this season on loan at Shrewsbury, rather than being a bit-part player in Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox revolution.

The choice was entirely his own, but despite the wrench that came with temporarily leaving the club he had worked so hard to be a part of, he believes he will return to Rangers a much better player for the experience and be ready to really stake a claim to be a central figure at Ibrox.

“I’m looking at the long-term,” Docherty said. “I don’t want this contract at Rangers to run out and say I was part of the Rangers regime, I actually want to be a part of it, play regularly and play a role in winning trophies.

“I just knew that if Rangers were winning things this year and I had been a bit-part player, then I wouldn’t feel as much involved as I really want to.

“My long-term goal is to be a successful player there, and for the time being, I need to get consistent games if I am to achieve that.

“Of course, sometimes it’s difficult watching the team and seeing them do well when you know you could be a part of it in some way, but I’m just thinking of the long game.

“It was a daunting decision to come down here, and there was no pressure for me to leave. But once I hadn’t played in a couple of the Europa League qualifiers, I felt myself that the best thing for me would be to go out on loan.

“As I went to go and speak to the manager, he was wanting to speak to me as well, so he could tell that I was getting frustrated and we both knew this was the best thing for me. He asked me how I felt, and I knew deep down that I wanted to be playing consistently and I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that up until now.

“He couldn’t offer me the game-time that I needed this season and that was fair enough. You never know with injuries and everything, I could have been playing, but that was a chance that I didn’t want to take.

“I don’t want to set myself back, I really want to be pushing on. My main thought was that I didn’t want to be sitting in a year’s time in the same boat where the manager wanted me to go out again to get more games.

“The manager has been very clear that he wants me to come back, and he is very keen for me to come back.

“So, I’ll take it game by game up until January and see where things are at, and if I’m here for the season then that’s fine. Whatever it takes to make a real success of my Rangers career, I’ll do it.”

Docherty admits that he was concerned he wasn’t making a great first impression on new manager Gerrard during pre-season as he struggled for fitness, and he is looking forward to showing his boss just what the move to Shrewsbury has done for him when he returns to the club.

“When I came into pre-season I knew that I wasn’t up to full fitness and I wasn’t up to full sharpness, and it was frustrating for me because I knew that I could be offering so much more to the team,” he said.

“I was trying to do things and it wasn’t coming off for me, and I knew I could do better, so I didn’t want to be coming into the team knowing that I wasn’t up to full match fitness.

“I have so much still to learn as well, I’m still young, and although I’ve played a lot of games I am still relatively inexperienced football-wise.

“Coming down here gives me a new challenge and that was part of the reason I came to England. It’s a clean slate where I can just go about my business and take it from there.

“Getting out of the limelight for a little while has been great. I’ve come down here to experience something different, and so far, I am enjoying it.”

That he certainly is. The 22-year-old has three goals in his 10 appearances so far this term and is becoming a firm favourite of the Shrewsbury support.

They aren’t the only ones taking notice of his form, with his Rangers teammates and the Ibrox staff keeping up to date with his progress.

“I’m still on the team group chat and I speak to them regularly,” he said. “I’ve got a few close friends there, and I was actually in a few weeks back when I was up for the day.

“I still love to go in as much as I can, and everyone is very welcoming. It’s not like I’m an outsider or anything like that, my kit and my locker is still there.

“They have been keeping tabs on my game and my results, and it was nice to go back up last week after getting my first goal because they were all happy for me.

“They are getting clips sent up which I knew they would, and their support makes me even more certain that I’ve made the right decision so that I’m in a position to come back and really make a push to be in the team.”

“I know it’s just a temporary thing down here, but I’m enjoying it. It’s maybe coming out of my comfort zone a wee bit, one that I didn’t know I maybe needed to come out of.

“Coming down here has made me mature that wee bit more, and if it is going to stand me in good stead for my Rangers career, then I’m all for it.”

https://theukbulletin.com/2018/10/13/greg-docherty-wants-to-be-central-to-any-rangers-success-not-a-bit-part-player/

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,493]

There's plenty of time for the wee man. Better players than him have gone on loan and went onto reach the heights. 

[RANGERRAB 3,288]

Good to see him doing well. Hope he returns a better player from his loan spell & can push for a first team place

[Tannochsidebear 2,316]

Still think he went a league too far down to really push his career on. The English Championship should have been the level he went to, League 1 is a very poor level. He would have been better going on loan back to Hamilton if he couldnt get a championship side.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

On 15/10/2018 at 12:26, Tannochsidebear said:

Still think he went a league too far down to really push his career on. The English Championship should have been the level he went to, League 1 is a very poor level. He would have been better going on loan back to Hamilton if he couldnt get a championship side.

Remember seeing him against hearts last season and thinking he was excellent. Was all over the park and bossed the game.

 

Not sure how realistic it is for a young player not getting a game in Scotland to go on loan to the EFLC as it’s a much higher level. 

 

 

[buster. 4,808]

26 minutes ago, Ser Barristan Selmy said:

Remember seeing him against hearts last season and thinking he was excellent. Was all over the park and bossed the game.

 

Not sure how realistic it is for a young player not getting a game in Scotland to go on loan to the EFLC as it’s a much higher level. 

At face value, the 'gamble' that he'll get a regular game would be longer odds in the 2nd tier as opposed to the 3rd.

That said, it'll also depend on variants that go beyond the simple 2nd is more difficult than 3rd, eg. form of teammates in the same position.

 

He's not been starting recent league games but the support seem to like him, his workrate and goal threat.

 

He's got to stick-in and make the loan spell work or his career may drift backwards.

His attitude is good and that should stand him in good stead.

 

 

[Tannochsidebear 2,316]

4 hours ago, Ser Barristan Selmy said:

Remember seeing him against hearts last season and thinking he was excellent. Was all over the park and bossed the game.

 

Not sure how realistic it is for a young player not getting a game in Scotland to go on loan to the EFLC as it’s a much higher level. 

 

 

Agreed re Hearts game. 

 

I dont think the EFLC is much higher a level than ours. Outside the top 2/3 teams, there is an awful lot of overpaid mediocrity and hype in that division that any time I come across a game from there I am usually far from impressed at the technique and quality of player on show. 

 

The important thing is though he has to be starting games and getting a lot of minutes under his belt at a competitive level. There would be no point going to the bottom team in the Champ and getting overrun and gubbed twice a week.

 

 

[buster. 4,808]

GOAL -Shrewsbury Town 1(Greg Docherty 2')Barnsley 0