Former Rangers full-back Alan Hutton feels that Greg Doherty will be looking to leave the club in January if a suitable offer comes in, as told to Football Insider.
Hutton was speaking after Docherty impressed in a closed doors friendly fixture against Leicester City in which it is rumoured scouts were assessing the midfielder.
So what has Hutton said?
The recently retired Scotland international was asked about the predicament Docherty currently finds himself in:
“I kind of feel for him. It’s difficult – he’s went out on loan, done well, come back and playing reserve football. As a player, you’ve done that when you were younger and you don’t want to be sitting there again”.
“These are the years where you have to, you really want to be playing week in, week out. I do feel for him, it’s an area where Rangers are heavy in midfield”.
“He’s obviously quite far down the pecking order. I think he really has to be looking to get first-team football and whether it be out on loan move or actually making a permanent move somewhere to be the best five years for him”.
“Sometimes you have to take a step back, you get a big move to Rangers and you have to take a little step back to go forwards. I think that’s where he’s at at the moment”.
So is Hutton right?
Football fans always have an increased attachment with either players from their own academy or a player that has been signed who is a known supporter of the club, Docherty fits into the latter category.
If he wasn’t a self confessed bluenose, there would be little interest or hope in him making the grade at Ibrox, he currently sits at about seventh choice in a battle for three places in Rangers midfield. Hutton is right, at 23-years-old, Docherty should be an established first-team regular.
He has shown at both Hamilton and Shrewsbury (when on loan from Rangers he scored 10 goals and had 11 assists) that he can contribute with both goals and assists from midfield, there is definitely a talented player there. He is also a machine, Docherty is a former middle distance athlete in his youth and still possess a huge aerobic base.
Docherty has only 170 minutes for the first-team, mainly in the Europa League but has still managed three assists according to Transfermarkt.
Should Rangers sell Greg Docherty?
Yes
No
His lack of game time suggests that he doesn’t have a future at the club, Rangers should look to get him out on loan in January to put him in the shop window, before selling him in the summer. Docherty is a decent player, he just isn’t of the required level to play for Rangers week-in, week-out.