If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial-grade products and next-day delivery, Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger.
We got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Scorcher today. It's going to be a scorcher. to welcome in our next guest we've all seen. what ryan kent has done so far during his time in major league soccer we can see that the seattle sounders have got a very exciting potentially game-changing player we know that but what we don't know necessarily. All the fine points, the details of his path.
to major league soccer how does a player like this become available on a free transfer i feel like we know the basics of the story uh but to learn more about it i figured who better to ask than someone who covers Rangers FC day in, day out, the club where Ryan Kent spent his best years. at the club level. So in order to learn more about this, learn more about this player and his path to Seattle and Major League Soccer.
Welcoming to the show right now. His name is Derek Clark of Rangers Review, which as far as I can tell is the best resource for coverage of Rangers FC. Thank you so much for taking the time to join our show today. How are things going out in Glasgow? Yeah, all good. Thank you very much for having me. That's some kind words from your good self. Yeah, we're passing in sunshine over here. We've been spoiled.
with temperatures were hitting 25 degrees the other day there, so that is unheard of. We usually get a wee little bit of sunshine. never this prolonged period of time so not ideal for me right enough i'm a fair-headed sort of guy so I need to seek shade at all times. But that aside, it's been all very good. Although Rangers this season haven't been the best. Everyone's looking forward to the season ending this coming.
weekend and looking forward to the takeover which is on the horizon a group of Americans you might have heard 49ers Enterprises who for control of Leeds United are poised to take over, so there's a lot of anticipation and excitement about what they could do with the club going forward. Well, really looking forward to getting into this interview with you and talking about Ryan Kent.
But before we do that, I do always like to give our guests a chance to tell our audience about the work that you do. So what can you tell us just about Rangers Review and the work that you guys do covering the team day in and day out and what your role is covering the club?
Yeah, sure. So we are a website and a YouTube channel covering the club. We've been going for, I think, about... four years this year and uh sort of gone from strength to strength and uh yeah but we can record a youtube show every weekday uh monday to friday just covering all the latest news all things at Rangers we cover all the games as well and In terms of the website, we've got another couple of guys that keep us up to date with all the latest goings on from Ibrox, where Rangers play.
A lot of talk right now just off a show with Chris Jack, my colleague, about the latest regards to the managerial search. The talk is that Carlo Ancelotti's son could be the next Rangers head coach, which is... quite something so uh yeah we've just been updating uh the fan base on that but uh yeah youtube channel and our website and it's been there
Going strong, Ari, so long may it continue to sit. I feel like you're, well, especially myself, being a Rangers fan and sort of living the dream a little bit, getting to cover you. boyhood club week in week out so if you want to check out the website or the YouTube channel folks then please do
Everyone in chat, go subscribe to Rangers Review for all your coverage of Rangers FC and the Scottish Premiership. Show them some support. Derek's giving us his time, so it's the least you can do. All right. Derek, let's get into it because... Ryan can. He arrived at the Seattle Sounders just a few weeks ago under somewhat mysterious circumstances. No one really knew what to expect.
it was uh it was a free transfer uh i guess first of all i'm wondering how much have you been able to follow uh how he's done in major league soccer so far have you uh been keeping tabs on how he's doing or do you kind of have no idea I've seen him when he came on and made his debut. I noticed when he signed for you guys as well, I was actually surprised it took him so long to find a club because he had his contract terminated with Fenerbahce.
end of last year, had a bit of a disastrous time in Turkey, not the only player that's gone from Britain and had an unsuccessful period over there. But yeah, I was surprised it took him so long to... find a club. But when I noticed he had signed for Seattle Sounders, I thought, oh, that's a good club. MLS, a good level for him. And I was just wondering if he could recapture this sort of form. that we witnessed at Rangers. I felt that his career might just nosedive and I certainly...
Felt that we would have seen the best of him in a Rangers jersey. But I'm intrigued to figure out how he's been getting on over there. I know you've been quite excited at how he's been performing, which is a good thing. He's certainly one of those players. But you go and you pay money to go and watch football. It gets you off your seats and he's an entertainer. So, yeah, I'm pleased that he's doing well so far.
Yeah, you know, it's funny that you say that because bums off seats were his own words to describe the type of player that he is. And so that's kind of become a catchphrase. Because I mean I can just give you the update. He's only played I think last night was I think his fourth appearance for Seattle since he got here That game was difficult. Seattle took a big loss at LAFC last night, but before that, they had won four out of five.
And he's been excellent so far. Like I said, I don't think that, at least for me personally, I wasn't sure what the expectations should be because you have this player who it seems like it's a bit of a distressed asset. uh in a sense uh and like you mentioned i wanted to get into uh the kind of what happened during his time in turkey uh but no like uh pretty much from the uh instant he set foot on the field in mls uh his first few games
He's looked like the best player on the field, like immediately. And I think what's been impressive about it. is how quickly he's integrated with his new team.
Seattle has another player, big-time acquisition, Jesus Ferreira, where the storyline has been that he's had a lot of trouble adapting to the team and fitting in. And Ryan Kent, it's like he just... slid right in there and uh got just the uh the creativity but also the uh the flair that he plays with the kind of swagger that he has on the field uh i guess just Hearing how well he's doing in MLS so far. Does that surprise you at all or based on based on the guy you covered does that add up?
yeah well when he was on it at Rangers when he was on top of his game then he was a real joy to watch I actually seen him before he joined Rangers back 2016-17 he was on loan at Barnsley I was down south covering a few games at Barnsley. That's where he caught my eye initially. And I thought, this guy's got talent. He was on loan initially from Liverpool. He had a few loan spells from Liverpool.
When he first came to Rangers, he was on loan and he did well in that first season. And Rangers then stumped up, I think it was about seven and a half million quid, which is a lot of cash for a club like Rangers. I was considered at the time a good move. And yeah, he was instrumental. the 55 season when rangers won the league title under steven gerrard and yeah initially when he came people were thinking wow uh this guy's got a lot of talent quick feet uh mesmerizing at times uh defenders
nightmare going up against him because you didn't know what he was going to do. He's good with both feet. They can go one way or the other. Sometimes I don't think he knows what he's going to do, but that's what makes him real exciting. talent um the last The Fenerbahce move was a surprising one for me. I think he would have earned a lot financially out of that, especially I think he's got a decent agent to get him a move over there, but I was surprised when.
He left Rangers. That in itself was a thorny issue because the Rangers fans weren't too happy that he was allowed to run down his contract. As I mentioned there, seven and a half million quid to then see him walk out the door for nothing isn't really good business. sense really and the thought was in his final season at Rangers
He was nowhere near the level that we have witnessed from him before. I've seen him a good few times in the flesh and he just looked disinterested and certainly when he went to Turkey. It didn't help that they had a managerial change there, but by all accounts, Jose Mourinho came in, didn't fancy him. and just looked like he'd sort of fallen out of love. with the game and he was linked with a lot of moves back home to England also.
Like with a move back to Ibrox as well, which sort of split the fan base. Some were quite excited at the prospect of him returning. Some felt that because he was so off it in his final season, they didn't want anything to do with him. another Rangers manager at the time, Philip Clamod. was asked about him in a press conference and he said he tried to sign him when he was a Club Rouge manager and he missed out to Rangers.
at the time when Steven Gerrard brought him in initially so he was a big fan but they couldn't get a deal over the line. Yeah, it was quite a surprise to see him pitch up at you guys. But it was one of those moves. I'm sure we talked about it on one of our shows at the time. We felt that it could just be the right move for him to try and reinvent himself.
yeah it's interesting what you say about uh like falling out of love with the game because based on some of the stuff that he's told us uh that's That's exactly kind of what it sounds like happened. And I think.
Something that it seems like he's benefiting from early on in MLS is it just it looks like he's having fun like he's he's like i said he's playing with flair out there he said it's the easiest locker room he's ever had to fit into so it seems like uh It seems like he's falling back in love with the game again, but I'm interested to hear more about sort of the end of his time with Rangers because my impression of it is that he had this
fairly lengthy run where it was pretty electric honestly a lot of the similar attributes to what we're seeing here but what uh did you get any sort of read or concept of The downturn at the end of his time with Rangers, was it just like him falling out of form or out of favor and then it snowballed or what kind of led to his eventual departure to Fenerbahce? Yeah.
It's an interesting one. It doesn't help that the fact that Rangers, when he first came, I touched on there, Gerrard brought him in. He then left to go to Aston Villa. Rangers then brought in.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst who was a former player at the time and there's a famous video clip doing the rounds I think the first one of one of the first training sessions he brought in Roy Mackay the ex-Dutch striker as one of his coaches and he said famously they were doing a little drill in training and he says trickster for the circus and Ryan Kent was the player that he was sort of telling that to and you think to yourself well Ryan Kent's an expressive sort of player he likes to
He likes to, like I said, he's an entertainer. He does things off the cuff. So he was sort of like a caged animal, if you like, under Geo. Although that being said, he had a major role. in the run to the Europa League final that season, scored some important goals for Rangers, but he was very much part of a unit as opposed to.
expressing himself and being a bit off the cuff, if you like. Gio then left after some disappointing results. Michael Wheel came in, who was Steven Gerrard's assistant, and he was in and out of the team. And the times that he was in the team, it just...
I don't know what it was. It might have been a confidence issue with him. But it just looked so far off the pace. It defies belief. Even his work rate wasn't as... what it was and the fans were getting a tad frustrated at him being in the team so it was a bit of a sad ending really that final year at Rangers and to allow him to walk out the door for nothing after paying that much money for him.
You really can't let that happen. He's not the only one. There's a number of other assets ranges have allowed that to happen, which is unacceptable, really. it's one of those it's a hard one to put your finger on it but i think confidence played a part changing managers put apart all have different styles and ways they would like to play the game so that didn't help but Gerrard certainly got the best out of him I feel and as I touched on earlier
That 55 season when Rangers went through the league campaign unbeaten, he was unplayable at times. And yeah, it was a real joy to watch. so he certainly seems like a confidence player a lot of demands at Rangers as well where the fan base can be on your back if you make it a slack pass if you give the ball away cheaply or you take the wrong option they can get on your back at times they're a very demanding fan base
I just wonder going to Seattle, like you say, it might be able just to relax a little bit more. I know Fenerbahce is very intense as well. Whereas perhaps, as you touched on there, he's just gone over there and he's enjoying playing the game again. I'm not too sure what the expectation levels are at you guys at the moment.
I can't imagine that they'll be as intense as what he's used to, even at Liverpool as well, of course, where they never quite made it. These are big clubs where the expectation levels are sky high. Maybe he just needs that little arm round his shoulder and toe to go out there and just be himself and that might be the trick to get the best out of him.
Yeah, so basically what happened was, I mean, I don't think an acquisition like this was, I mean, it wasn't in the cards based on where Seattle's roster was at, but. They had a major injury, one of the players that they acquired over the offseason via an interleague trade. towards ACL and the way it works here is that you're allowed to, it's like the season ending injury list.
And then that allows you to spend salary cap money that you otherwise wouldn't have to make an acquisition like this. And the stars just kind of aligned where he happened to be available exactly as Seattle was looking for a player of his. profile, and it seems like it worked out about as well as it could have as far as Seattle lucking their way into a replacement. Thinking back to that season you were talking about where Rangers won the league, was that 2021? Yes.
So, thinking back to that season, sounds like that was his best year with Rangers. What do you remember about his form that year? What seemed like it clicked and how did he sort of turn that into being one of the best players for? A league winning side. Yeah, he was one of a number of players. Everything just clicked that season. It was a COVID season. I mean, the fans weren't in the stadiums, which is unfortunate, but he was never present in that team. There was a front line that...
It was really formidable, scored a lot of goals. There was goals coming from everywhere. Kent chipped in with a good few. They had Alfredo Morelos, Jermaine Defoe chipped in with goals as well. as well as the likes of Yanis Hadji. And it just worked. He was given a sort of free roll at times, just able to drift in and out. As I touched on earlier, a defender's a real nightmare to pick him up. They didn't know if they had to drop off.
sit in. If you got too tight to Ryan Kent then you could easily turn you and get away from you. You had blistering speed as well, that initial sort of five, ten yards to burst away from someone. So, yeah, that was fully evident in that season when Rangers romped to the title. They turned up in big games as well. That was a season where... Rangers won. In fact, it was prior to that, I think, 2019-20 season was the famous
win at Parkhead when Rangers beat Celtic and Kent scored. He finished off a great move and got in a bit of trouble for his celebration. The Celtic fans didn't quite... Quite liked how he was celebrating his goal. But it often turned up in big games, Ryan Kent, which is why the Rangers fans really enjoyed watching him. He was a big game player. And yes, certainly that 55 season, everything just sort of... came together at once and all just...
fell into place that season. Rangers were magnificent to watch. Blew everyone away and were rightly named champions going through the season unbeaten. If anything, they should have won a treble that season and acquired the two cups. They went out of those competitions when they really should have mopped up that year. But yeah, that is it this season. I think it's top of my memory when I think of Ryan Kenton, of course, as well as I touched on.
That Europa League run, you might be able to see YouTube reels of him terrorising the Borussia Dortmund defence and a brilliant goal he scored against Red Star Belgrade. And, yeah, he played a starring role in that Rangers run towards Seville. So, yeah, he was magnificent. That was probably the peak of Ryan Kent. I do wonder if he'll be able to.
sort of recapture that sort of form you know he's now 28 so you certainly get plenty of years left in him but it was a real joy to watch certainly the 55 season and that run to Seville where he was unplayable he's going up against some of the best defenders in the world, especially when Dortmund, that Dortmund result was massive at the time. It really gave Rangers belief that they could go on a run all the way to the final. So, yeah, it's almost a case of...
The bigger the more well-known opponent he came up against, then the better a performance he got from Ryan Kent. That's nice to hear that he's a big game player because Seattle has their biggest game of the season coming up here this weekend. The big Darby here is... Seattle versus Portland Timbers. They're going on the road. And I am really excited to see this guy playing a derby like this because, like you mentioned, he got sort of a reputation as a big game player.
I guess I wanted to ask you about these Rangers Celtic derbies. Ryan Kent's presence in it I think I saw I think you might have mentioned it there buddy there was a he punched a guy i think in the you never want to see that uh you know you gotta keep control of your emotions uh but I don't mind a guy who's going to get up for the intensity of a derby like that. I guess more generally, I'm curious, like,
What's a Rangers Celtic Derby like? Just the intensity and the spectacle of it. That's one of the ones that when I think about the Derby games around the world that I would love to go catch, that's like near the top of the list. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty intense stuff. And yeah. There was one recently that wasn't as intense as what it should have been just because of the fact that Celtic had already won the league. Rangers haven't really competed for the league title.
a number of seasons now and they haven't won it since Kent was part of that team that won it back in 2021 but in terms of The actual fixture, it's one of those, you're quite right there, Ari, it's one of those games on the bucket list for many to go. just savour and experience because there's nothing quite like it really. I think it's quite easily the biggest and most intense derby.
in the UK in particular, and certainly put up against ones, big ones in Europe. I think Lazio Roma is certainly intense. The Fenerbahce Galatasaray games are... pretty mouthwatering as well but it's right up there and yeah you need a certain type of character to play for Rangers and Celtic in these fixtures often you'll get
guys that might go into their shell and they won't rise to the occasion in games like this but it's alright being a good player but you have to have the right character as well to stand up because It can be deafening walking out, whether it be at Ibrox or at Parkhead. But that's the thing with Kent. He seemed to really thrive in that sort of environment. That instant that you mentioned, it was Scott Brown who went down. I think he was goading him.
I'm sure Celtic had just scored, which turned out to be the winner, if I'm not mistaken. I think it might have been Gerrard's first game, old fun game at Parkhead. Celtic, I think, won that match and Brown certainly went down a bit easy. that that still image of Ken just shows you how intense and fierce the Derby is really it can affect even the most. stable-minded sort of players
It can make them do weird and wonderful things. But, yeah, certainly turned up in these Derby games. Ryan Kent has touched on that goal at Park Ked 2019, I think, or 2020, maybe. If you've not seen it, you should go and watch. It's a really good move from Rangers and a fabulous finish from Kent. Again, as I touched on there, two feet. I think he fires it in with his left foot, but he's equally as comfortable.
Both feet can pick up position on the left and the right and can play the number 10 as well. So he's very comfortable across the front line. And, yeah, certainly terrorised Celtic on a good few occasions. But that last season, I touched on there, it looked like it was phoning it in at times. It was a match at Hamden for the life of me, I think it was.
at the cup final or the cup semi-final and he was so off the pace it defied belief I don't know if it was a fitness issue or his confidence was shocked to bits but he just looked like a shell of the player that we'd all known prior to that season but yeah in terms of a fixture I'd very much if you can get the chance to go to one then do it because yeah you'll never forget it is such a a big component of Scottish football at Rangers-Celtic matches.
As long as your team comes out on top, they're always, when I watch them, not enjoyable at the time because your heart's racing. You're on the edge of your seat worrying whenever Celtic foray into the Rangers penalty area. But if your team wins, there's no greater feeling than that.
Got Derek Clark of Rangers Review on the show, talking some Ryan Kent. Derek, I just got a couple more for you, and then I'll let you go. I do have to ask. My audience will destroy me if I don't ask this one, so I do have to ask. Do you know? If he has pet crocodiles, can you confirm or deny the existence of the pet crocodiles?
This is how it sort of surprised me his period out of the game. He was linked with a whole host of clubs. I think this was a club in Iran, if I'm not mistaken. And apparently the reports were he'd agreed to join because of honour. I can't remember what it's to do, but it's something to do with crocodiles. It just seemed absolutely bonkers, but I do not think he has pet crocodiles. I don't even think that's allowed.
anywhere really so yeah it was one of the weird and wonderful news stories to come out I think over the turn of the year January time when he was getting linked to all sorts of clubs. So yeah, I do not think he has any pet crocodiles, thankfully. Okay, cuz that I mean that's honestly been one of the biggest topics of discussion whether or not they exist whether he was gonna bring them to Seattle
And, you know, that was one of the first things I heard about the guy. So I was like, all right, seems like he might be a little eccentric. Yeah, it's about out there, Ryan Kenyon. Yeah, he's not your normal sort of guy. Very eccentric, like you say. Yeah, various. I...
He's his own sort of guy, if you know what I mean. He doesn't follow trends or things like that. He does his own thing. But certainly Crocodiles, when I heard that, it sort of blew me away as well. I thought it was a bit... uh bonkers to be honest with you but uh yeah never moved to iran in the end i don't know if that was just paper talk or one of these crazy transfer websites just uh trying to make up a rumor but uh yeah never materialized in the end
Well, okay, let's talk about this though, because, you know, crocodiles aside. uh you know you hear that you hear that detail And then, you know, I'm just looking up random videos, right? You're about the crocodiles. You see the punch. Then you hear the story of what happened at Fenerbahce and the falling out with Mourinho. And I'm sort of thinking, all right, maybe the issue with this guy, it's clearly not talent, but perhaps there's like... attitude issues or those eccentricities.
maybe take away from his play on the field at times. So I was sort of prepared for maybe like a bigger outsized personality with maybe attitude issues or something like that because How else does a guy at this level of player, why would he be available on a free transfer to come to MLS? Doesn't make any sense. But I will tell you, since he's got here,
He seems very humble. He seems very laid back. Is that lined up with the personality of the guy that... you covered or uh do you think he's maybe just trying to put on a uh not a show but just you know adapting to a new team come off as a certain type of way or what do you think he's a quiet guy in the main i mean he's not someone that hogs hogs the limelight uh let's just football do the talking really um i know you touched on there a few incidents but uh
Yeah, it was never really... I touched on there, of course, his celebration. That was most Celtic fans just losing the rag over. rangers uh winning a game at parkhead it's not the first time that's happened it won't be the last um but uh yeah very really uh up in front of the beaks for anything untoward certainly when he was at rangers
I'm just trying to think if he was ever sent off at all. I can't remember if he was, to be honest. He wasn't someone that you were always worried about in terms of his temperament or anything like that. So Alfredo Morelos was certainly in his... starting. Rangers his first few seasons he was someone that picked up needless red cards but Kent was never that sort of guy he just stuck to the game very quiet so I wouldn't worry too much about that he's not one of these
hothead characters that are coming to the MLS. It's going to be a bad boy, if you like. I don't think... That's his nature. So, yeah, all I would say is just enjoy him while he can. I'm not too sure what sort of contract length he signed with you guys and what is...
his aspirations and his thinking is ahead of the future. I just think it's when I've seen him signing for Seattle, I thought that could be a decent move for him, good level at the MLS. It could be a place for him to just... enjoy football again, I guess.
really reinvent himself and show really what he's capable of. It's an interesting one. He could have touched on that run to Seville. He was instrumental in that run, but in that final itself, I think... I feel there's a big, big chance for Rangers right at the death in that game against Frankfurt. Kamal Roof put the ball across, set the face of goal.
and he connected, but the goalkeeper, Trapp, I think his name, made a save. Now, there is a feeling that the ball may have crossed the line before it had got to. Ryan Kent and it would have been chopped off by VAR but I'm not necessarily sure that would have been the case now if he had scored that Ryan Kent it would have been probably the winning goal and Rangers would have won the European trophy. If he had scored that winning goal, his career, I think, may have turned out slightly different.
than what it has done. They'd have wanted to build a statue to him at Ibrox if he'd scored that goal, I reckon. So perhaps it's something like that that's just played on his mind, that feeling of... so close yet so far. And his career, as I touched on there, that last season at Ibrox, it was a bit of a hangover. He just played down his contract, didn't look interested at times. Got the move to Fenerbahce, which I've got to admit, I was like, really? Fenerbahce is a huge club, but Turkey.
Not many players go over there and really make a name for themselves. And it turned out to be an absolute disaster for them. And then that time out the game, I was thinking, where's he going to end up next? As you touched on there, he was getting linked to... all sorts of clubs. And yeah, Seattle comes up and he moves over there. So I would say best of luck to him. I hope he goes on. As I touched on there, he's 28, isn't he? So he's got a few.
years left in him I really hope that he gets back to something near his best because if he can then yeah he's a real joy to behold Yeah, I guess that's sort of my last one as we start to wrap it up here. Thank you so much again for the time. Do you know anything about exactly what happened at Fenerbahce and the fallout with Mourinho, was it just a case of the coach not rating the player? Did they butt heads on an interpersonal level? I think one of the strangest things about it is
Right, like he makes this big move from Rangers to Fenerbahce. I think at that point, everyone's considering his trajectory just on... upward, straight upward trend. And then you hear about this falling out with the coach or whatever, but I have no concept of exactly what happened. Was that sort of like behind the scenes that no one knows about or was there publicly reported stuff about exactly how that went down?
It's a weird one because Mourinho wasn't there when he initially joined and I think there was murmuring that he wasn't too happy there before he arrived. I thought to myself, oh, maybe Mourinho can get the best out of him, but he went along the same lines. I think the president came out and spoke.
out against Kent. And they're very vocal over it in Turkey. And now there's been a lot of other Rangers players that have went out to play there recently at Trabzonspor. And I think the president recently came out and slated. the signing of John Lundstrom who went to sign for Trabzonspor but I think he's changed his tune now.
If they're not happy with you over there, then they're very vocal in telling you if they don't want you to play. I think some clubs don't even pay your wages and they try and force you out the door. So I think that was the case with Kent. I also think they do have a... a quota in terms of foreign players that are able to be part of the squad. So I think they had too many players from out with Turkey that could be registered.
It wasn't part of the make-up of the squad initially, I'm sure. And then, of course, if you've got no chance of playing, then you're not going to be happy with that. So I think it was a move that was just doomed from the outset. I'm not entirely sure the other player... Got picked ahead of Kent. But yeah, he never really got an opportunity. Mourinho comes in. and isn't impressed by what he sees from him in training. They try and force him out the door. I think he was linked with Lazio.
and make him go there and he was not for moving really Kent and came to the at the point where they decided just to terminate his contract. I think it was November time or something, October time, I can't remember, just to get rid of him, get him off the wage bill. Yeah, it's just one of those ones. I think you would have got a decent signing on fee out of it. But in terms of career progression, it really wasn't good for Ryan Kent. And he's probably wasted a good...
a couple of years, two and a half years of his career just at Rangers when he went through the motions and then Fenerbahce, which was just a disaster. So yeah, you'd imagine he just wanted to get out there, get on the park and show what he can do again. Yeah, well, it worked out for us. I mean, we're thrilled to have him in Seattle. Like I said, just these first few cameos where he's coming on as a substitute. He started one game, but just been...
Pretty electric and kind of a criticism, I would say, of the Seattle Sounders in recent years. They're one of the winningest clubs in the league. Not always the most exciting club to watch, especially in the last couple years. So he's really added a lot of juice. Real quick, I did want to ask, where do things stand with the...
Rangers right now like my my perception of the Scottish Premiership from the outside as someone who doesn't follow us follow it at all is That you bet it's basically a Rangers Celtic show in the top two, but it sort of feels like Celtic usually comes out on top and it's like Rangers are the clear. next best team, but maybe can't quite get over the hump of beating Celtic or finishing ahead of them on a regular basis. Is that still the dynamic, would you say? Is that gap?
still there or do you feel like there's a chance that that rangers could really challenge to be the top team in scotland uh going forward Yeah, unfortunately that's been the story the last few seasons ever since they won that league as I touched on there under Steven Gerrard.
The gap has just grown and grown. Celtic have spent a lot of money rebuilding a squad and they brought Ange Posse Coglu in, who's now at Spurs. He won the... won the title they brought Brendan Rodgers back when Postacoglu left and Rangers went through. a number of managers that have really struggled to keep on Celtic's coattails. They did come close last season. They were so far behind before appointing Philippe Clement, a Belgian coach.
who got them back in the title race so much so he had them ahead at one point. But in the business end of the season, they just choked when it mattered. And that has been levelled at this Rangers squad for quite some time when the going gets tough. that they're found wanting. So we're going into this summer. Another rebuild is required with regards to the squad. We're just thankful that there is this takeover on the horizon. Otherwise, it would be a real depressing state of affairs, Celtic era.
a richer club now than Rangers will at this point I imagine with this takeover taking place that Rangers will be able to now start shopping in different markets for players and the hope is that The 49ers can get a Rangers team winning on the park again and get challenging for silverware again because Celtic have been allowed to.
surpass Rangers in terms of the trophy count which is totally unacceptable for the board that are there at the moment and so it's vitally important to get the next manager appointment right. and they bring in a standard of player that is able to cope with the demands of Scottish football, which is quite unique in a way because you do have to win every single week.
Then you throw a factor in Europe, which Rangers have been really good in Europe. And ever since Gerrard came, they've restored their reputation in European competition. They reached out the quarterfinals of the Europa League this season. And yeah, they've managed to perform well in Europe against some of the top teams on the continent.
struggle domestically against teams that they should be beating quite easily so need to try and find a balance there so it's a big summer ahead again for Rangers but there is a bit more optimism around the place with the prospect of this change in ownership. about Rangers and the direction the club could be going in. So hopefully they can challenge next year. They're a massive, I don't even know what the gap is at the moment.
The league was pretty much done by New Year, which was totally unacceptable with Holland so far behind Celtic. So it is a two-horse race in Scotland. It's been like that for about 40 years. I can't see it changing. soon so second is nowhere in Scotland that's what they say there's no prize for finishing second in Scotland unless you're one of the other teams so yeah hopefully that can all change next year because Celtic have had it all their own way for two off Thank you so much.
for the time. I feel like I learned his path to major league soccer so i really appreciate that knowledge with my with our audience rangers You know, Derek, I don't know if you... game but if you do Yeah yeah, I'll be sure to do that at some point. And if I... with you for Take care.