When you think back to the dark days of 2012 and the immediate fall-out over administration and everything else, there are a lot of regrets and ‘what ifs’.
In a football sense, one of biggest tragedies of that time was the way that Nikica Jelavic was snatched away from the Rangers fans at the eleventh hour in January 2012 and a decent story, could and should have been so much better.
From his memorable goal in the League Cup final against Celtic, to the audacious overhead kick at Pittodrie, to the nonchalant first touch finish at Tynecastle, what a treat it was to watch Jelavic score goals for Rangers.
He was red-hot in that 2010-11 season and a crucial element in Walter Smith’s side making it three league titles in a row.
In an interview, published this week on the official Everton website, the likeable Croatian again paid tribute to his Ibrox mentor.
He spoke of his time “at a massive club with brilliant supporters” playing under Walter Smith who was “a gentleman and a good coach.”
Jelavic duly followed Walter Smith’s instruction to “just score goals” as he netted 36 times in 56 appearances.
In this particular interview, the striker gives more of a summary on his career with an empasis on his time at Everton, which is understandable given the source.
He hit the ground running at Goodison Park and scored the winning goal on his home debut against Spurs, which prompted a further sequence of 11 goals from 13 starts.
Amazingly, of his 15 goals scored between March and October 2012, 12 came with a just a single touch of the ball.
“The first eight months with Everton was the best period of my career,” said Jelavic, now 35.
Another recent piece was published by This Is Ibrox in which there was more depth provided by Jelavic on his life and times at Ibrox in what is a recommended read.