Bates’ exit is big blow for future
THERE were two things that struck me yesterday when I heard David Bates had signed for Hamburg.
The first was a sense of shock. Quickly followed by a feeling of disappointment.
Even now I’m struggling to get my head around this one as I can’t for the life of me understand why Rangers have allowed this boy to slip through the net.
I understand money was a problem but something could have been sorted out.
A lot of supporters will feel angry about it because Bates looked as if he was going to have a real chance of making the grade at Ibrox.
He’s only a young boy but as far as I’m concerned he’s already a better central defender than Bruno Alves and Russell Martin so it’s beyond belief he didn’t get tied down on a new contract to prevent this happening.
It’s not the first time they’ve let it happen either. Not even this season.
When Danny Wilson left for America as a free agent I said Rangers were making a huge mistake because he was beginning to look like a future captain and a readymade Scotland player.
Now they have also lost the young boy who could have been playing next to Danny in both shirts.
One of the main reasons I said Celtic got lucky at Ibrox last month was because Bates had to go off injured after Tom Rogic made it 1-1.
He made such an impression on me for his natural defensive qualities.
He’s not the finished article by a long shot in terms of technical ability but there was plenty there for Rangers to work with.
What he does have though is an old-school approach to defending in the way he clears his lines.
He could have been a real asset for Rangers in the years ahead but now it’s Hamburg who get the chance to make a player of him.