Rangers fans started to hear alarm bells in Ally McCoist’s first season as manager in 2011/12 when a promised summer of busy transfer business ended with Lee Wallace being our marquee signing, Dorin Goian and Carlos Bocanegra the only other notable signings needed to fill a gaping hole in defence.
The Gers legend had tried to make other additions only to be frustrated by those above him having neither the funding nor the capability to negotiate such deals and the players he was able to put out were weaker as a result.
One such name who slipped through the net was Jamie Vardy, the Leicester City legend and England international taking the unconventional route into professional football by tearing up non-league football which is where he was spotted by Rangers, as told by McCoist on Talksport breakfast, via The Daily Record:
“I tried to get Vardy when he was at Fleetwood, but I couldn’t get the money. My coach John Brown watched Jamie Vardy, and to be fair Bomber had a great eye for a player.
“Bomber watched about 45 minutes and sent me a message saying ‘we need to get this lad.’ But it’s another one that wasn’t to be unfortunately.”
Vardy might have been capable of covering for Nikica Jelavic when he departed and would have formed a decent partnership with the likes of Steven Naismith, however, with 134 Premier League goals and 49 assists in 283 games, it’s safe to say that he has done alright for himself – a Premier League and FA Cup winners medal alongside his player of the year and Golden Boot awards suggest that he made the right call.