GRAEME Murty said last night that his third triumph against Derek McInnes and Aberdeen in the space of eight weeks proved that Rangers are a match for any team in the Ladbrokes Premiership on their day, as the club agreed a £670,000 deal with Hamilton Accies which will make midfielder Greg Docherty the fifth signing of the January transfer window.
The 21-year-old midfielder, who is in line to make his debut against Ross County on Sunday assuming a medical and all other formalities are sorted out today, joins loan signings Russell Martin, Sean Goss, Jamie Murphy and Jason Cummings in the Ibrox squad and the enhanced strength of this unit was much in evidence yesterday as this 2-0 win saw the one-time interim manager complete a personal hat-trick against McInnes, the man who it was once assumed he was only keeping a seat warm for.
Read more: Rangers 2 Aberdeen 0: Murty completes personal hat-trick over McInnes
While the Ibrox side's winter refurbishment may not be done just yet, they leapfrog Aberdeen into second and Murty said that Docherty was precisely the kind of young hungry player he was looking to add to his squad. Last night’s goalscorer Alfredo Morelos, who appeared in a TV show in his homeland Colombia to speak of his hopes of moving to the Barclays Premier League this summer, was another example
“It shows that, in the big games, we have a top level that is the match for the best in this league,” said Murty, who singled out goalkeeper Wes Foderingham for praise for a string of saves, many of which came after the Dons were two goals in arrears. “We have to be that good every day. Every team has to face that Rangers – not a Rangers who are off it. We need to show that will to win, that character and that ability.
“As good as it was, we will get better," he added. "The players we have in the building are pushing us to be better. That’s really exciting for me and should be exciting for Rangers fans. We’re at the start of what could be a very satisfying journey.
“Unless someone walks in with a barrowload of cash – and a big barrowload – he [Morelos] will be a Rangers player. But I want players who have aspirations to be in a better place. Hopefully we can get better at Rangers but the big prize is to play in the Premier League. If we have someone good enough to go there, it’s fantastic for us. Hopefully [Docherty] another bit of business for another young hungry player desperate to enhance our group.”
Read more: Rangers 2 Aberdeen 0: Murty completes personal hat-trick over McInnes
“Greg is now in the hands of Rangers,” Hamilton chairman Ronnie MacDonald had said earlier in the day. "The financial agreement has been signed by both clubs, so it's up to Rangers to contact him and arrange a medical. Rangers have acted really well on this. The finishing line has been far away at times, but we got there.”
A downbeat Derek McInnes, who saw his goalkeeper Joe Lewis carted off to hospital after conceding the clinching penalty for a foul on Josh Windass, refused to give up on second position and said that yesterday's granting of planning permission for the club’s new stadium was a potential game changer. “I’m not going to jump through hoops about that [three straight losses to Rangers], am I?" said McInnes. "We’ve lost a game. We’re always capable of going on good runs. Rangers were the clear favourites for second spot at the start of the season. We fell short of what we’re capable of. If we reach the levels we can, which we do most weeks, we can still finish second. We go back and work. There is a potential serious injury there [Lewis]. We just have to be hopeful and let the experts do the job.”
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel