Sometimes we forget that there’s a person behind every player. I’ve been guilty of that myself since I retired and started working in the media. But it can be unfair and I think that’s been the case with Glen Kamara at Rangers recently.
I should know better, considering I was a team-mate of his for six months at Dundee back in 2018. Incredibly, he actually went through a spell at Dens when he wasn’t getting a game. When I look back, it was because there was so much speculation surrounding him. We ended up getting relegated that season.
But I’ve learned that things like that affect people in different ways. Players are just human beings, remember. Glen has become a bit of a forgotten man at Ibrox. But this is a guy who was absolutely integral to the success they had in winning a league title. He was a mainstay. A rock in their midfield alongside Ryan Jack and John Lundstram. This season, for some reason, he seems to have fallen out of favour. From the outside, it appeared he’d become a little disheartened by not getting enough game time. That led to talk about a move away from Rangers in August.
His form this season has been nowhere near what we know he’s capable of. But that could be about to change with the return of Michael Beale as manager. I’m not going to say I know Glen inside out. But I spent a bit of time with him at Dens and I do know that he’s a wonderful footballer.
He’s shown that since he joined Rangers almost four years ago. There’s been a lot of mixing and matching with team selection at Ibrox to try and find the right solution. Gio van Bronckhorst was still searching for the right formula before he was sacked.
But when Steven Gerrard won the championship and went through the full league campaign unbeaten, there were constants in the team – and Kamara was one of them. That’s why some of the criticism directed towards him has probably been unjust.
Players naturally get a bit down or low when they’re not getting a game. Especially when they’ve been a regular in a team over a number of years. But with Michael coming back in, he’ll be one of a number of players who thinks, ‘I’ll get back to my best now’.
I don’t suspect that will be true for two or three players – it could be 10 or 11. Glen has proved to be a top international footballer for Finland. Not that long ago, he was being talked about as a £10 million player who Premier League clubs were seriously looking at.
His dip in form seems to have coincided with this uncertainty about whether he’s actually part of the plans at Rangers. That’s what I mean when I say there’s a person behind every player. How has that chat affected Glen behind the closed doors? He’ll have been asking himself, ‘What’s going on’?
But I’m convinced Glen will be one of the players who is delighted Michael is back. He’s the manager’s type of player and he’s previously got the best out of him. Then you throw in the Neil Banfield connection as well, which goes back to when Glen was an academy player under him at Arsenal.
Neil speaks really highly of him. He was one of Mark Warburton’s assistants at QPR and I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of hours with Neil a while ago. We had a good chat about Glen and he was very complimentary. All of that tells me this is a player you could be about to see a huge improvement in.
But I sense that with a lot of these players now that Michael is back in the building. I watched a training video the other day and I actually saw Ryan Kent smiling. That might sound like a stupid wee thing but I’ve not seen him smiling for a long time.
Even when he got his goal against Hearts at Tynecastle a number of weeks ago, there was no relief or release in his celebration. He just looked like an unhappy player who wasn’t in a great place. But he looks happy in his work again and I think Glen will be the same – this will feel like a clean slate for a lot of them.
Another guy Michael has spoken a lot about in the last few days is Kemar Roofe. Kemar has never been the first-choice number nine at Ibrox and has been deployed in different roles. But he was the club’s top scorer when they won title number 55.
Kemar’s level of goals has been really good. It’s sitting at just under a goal every other game. For someone who hasn’t been a mainstay, that’s good numbers. He’s another player who will be happy that Michael’s back and talking about him in a positive light again. If he’s fit and firing, he can be a really valuable member of the squad.
If he stays clear of injury, he can be an important player for Rangers, especially if Alfredo Morelos isn’t at it and Antonio Colak has a dry spell. Kemar Roofe can step in and guarantee a goal every two games. The obvious problem is his injury record which is clear for everyone to see.
Over two and a half years, he’s only accumulated 74 appearances for Rangers. Guys like Connor Goldson are rattling off 60 in one season. That tells you he’s not been available nearly enough for the club. But if Michael can get him fit, he’ll be an asset. Because if Rangers are going to try and get back into a title race – that isn’t over – and finish the campaign with silverware, having guys like Roofe and Kamara to call upon will be paramount.
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