THE continuing allure of Rangers in their current impoverished state continues to frustrate and baffle the rest of Scottish football.
Nicky Law has discovered as much in the past week or so since it first became apparent that he could leave Motherwell to move to Ibrox, with Jon Daly another who had been considering the step down from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Both deals were concluded yesterday, when the former Dundee United captain signed a two-year contract and Law put pen to a three-year contract.
Motherwell supporters have not been slow to slate the 25-year-old for a perceived lack of ambition. In their eyes, the midfielder has left the second-best team in the country to join a club who will play next season in the third tier.
The criticism has not surprised Law but he felt compelled to explain his decision after being inundated with tweets and texts from disgruntled fans who had hoped he would sign on to return to Fir Park next season.
Money would seem the most obvious source of motivation but Law is quick to dismiss that theory. He had been in talks with a handful of npower Championship clubs, all of which could have offered a greater financial package than what he has accepted at Ibrox.
Instead, it is Rangers' heritage, stature and facilities that won Law over, a personal tour of the stadium by manager Ally McCoist the act that sealed the deal. In Godfather speak, this was an offer Law felt he couldn't refuse.
"When you come to Scotland you dream of signing for Rangers, one of the big teams, and that is what I have managed to do," he said. "It is not ideal circumstances, because we are in the second division. But it was too big [a move] for me to turn down.
"When you see the trophies and the titles they have won it is just something that you want to be a part of. I haven't been lucky enough to win anything in my career so far and coming here gives me a massive opportunity to do that. I think I am right in saying this club has won the most trophies in world football. Hopefully I can play a part in bringing some more."
Law understands the criticism that has come his way but unsurprisingly did not agree with it. "Motherwell are the second best team in the SPL and [the fans] probably see this move as a backwards step," he said.
"They probably think Motherwell's better than Rangers at the minute but here there's 50,000 people and an unbelievable stadium. When you look around, it's a fantastic place with so much history.
"It's a shame that people [have criticised me] because I am ambitious. I've come here for not as much money as I could have got in England. The manager here told me I was going to be a big player for him and that was a huge draw. The clubs I'd spoken to in England, I didn't get that feeling that I was going to be as big a part of it as I was going to be at Rangers.
"The worst thing for me would have been to go for a Championship team for more money but not playing and then finding myself back out on loan like I was two or three years ago in League Two and not enjoying my football. Speaking to [McCoist], his desire to bring me here has been huge. He's really chased me, we've spoken a few times."
Rangers' transfer embargo means Law many only be able to play in competitive games as a trialist until after September 1 but he has not allowed that to affect his move. "I will probably just miss two or three games at the start of the season," he said.
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