There are not many certainties for Jon Daly as he approaches pre-season training with Rangers.
The striker does not know for certain when he will be able to play his first competitive match for the club, and he considers it likely that he will play up front, but admits he may also have to undergo a spell at centre-back. Daly is embarking on a new chapter in his career, and all of the circumstances have to be coped with.
For those outwith Ibrox and the Rangers support, Daly's background as an Irish Catholic was widely commented upon when he agreed to sign for the club. His own experience has only been positive. "Even back in Dublin, I've had people wishing me well," Daly said. "So I'm just looking forward to getting going."
For now, that means introductions with his new team-mates when the players return to Murray Park on Monday, then the rigours of pre-season training.
Daly will sign for Rangers as a free agent on September 1, when the club's registration embargo ends, but there is a possibility he and the other new recruits could turn out as trialists in some competitive matches before then. Daly will want to make an immediate impact but it may be that adjusting to his new surroundings, and the challenges of playing for Rangers, will be his priority.
"The situation the club finds itself in is an odd scenario for a player," Daly said. "I just want to come in and work hard in pre-season so that when I do get the chance to start playing I can hit the ground running and try to score some goals as early as possible. I have been off for five weeks now and in the first couple of weeks I was just letting the body recover and recharging the batteries. Since then I've been doing a little bit to keep myself in shape. Pre-season is hard no matter what shape you come back in. I've been doing a little but I am expecting the worst.
"I was six-and-a-half years at Dundee United, so it has been a while since I changed clubs. You get a few butterflies when you go in and meet new team-mates, but it is something I am looking forward to. When I spoke to the manager, he said he was bringing me in as a striker so, as far as I'm concerned, that's where I'm coming to play. But if I'm needed at the back, so be it. I'm here to play football and as long as I am on the pitch I don't mind where I play."
Daly is one of six players to commit to signing for Rangers on September 1 and others are likely to follow. Ally McCoist is keen to add a right-back and a centre-back to his squad, although there are likely to be departures in the coming weeks. Having been assured that he will principally be a striker, Daly will be looking to develop a partnership with either Andy Little or Nicky Clark, one of the other new signings.
"You can never tell how you are going to gel with someone," he said. "I've never met Nicky Clark but I am looking forward to that. We will be working hard in training, trying to work on partnerships. But the manager has got options and whoever he plays up front I'm sure they will get a partnership going."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article