Players have come in and made more of an impact, but few men at Rangers have built such a rapport with the Ranges faithful as quickly as Gareth McAuley.
Since moving to the club, the defender has managed to become a bit of a favourite of the fans, owing to the reliability of his performances. He was brought in as a rotational option, and that’s the role he’s played so far, but whenever he’s on the pitch, we all feel at ease.
He’s no youngster, but with age comes experience, and McAuley clearly has bags of it.
The veteran has gotten even older this week, too. Today (Wednesday), he’s celebrating his 39th birthday, and Rangers recently shared a message on Twitter to pay tribute to the defender.
Happy Birthday to @G23mcauley. pic.twitter.com/GJUvY4zpun
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) December 5, 2018
At 39-years-old, most players have already retired and moved on. Indeed, the defender is older than his current manager, Steven Gerrard.
Despite that, though, he’s still delivering on the field – and the fans love him for it. See what they’ve had to say below…
71% of the world is covered in water,
The rest is covered by Gareth McAuley
— Gary Hynds (@GaryHynds) December 5, 2018
Whose the lad that just listed all our players chipping in with goals this season. Ye missed out the big man ???????? only way hearts were scoring. Happy birthday Gareth
— BornaBear (@Eiledon69) December 5, 2018
Happy Birthday @G23mcauley
— David Nimmo (@Nimsay1872) December 5, 2018
Don’t think he lost a header against hearts at weekend. Very similar to Alves but will look and play better with better players around him than Alves had.
— Buzz Killington (@1304873) December 5, 2018
Happy birthday wish we had you years ago big man enjoy what time we have now though
— Stevie Brown (@stevieb_1872) December 5, 2018
Happy Birthday big man. Let’s get 3 points and a clean sheet tonight!
— The Donfather (@DougieDon1) December 5, 2018
happy birthday fella have a good one a goal or 2 would make it special tonight
— Jim ….the colour is blue (@bluenose2014) December 5, 2018
Thoughts?
Gerrard’s latest offering gives Rangers fans an idea of what to expect in January