Murty got rough ride but he’s done Gers a huge turn by landing rising star Middleton
Holt tips former Norwich kid to shine at Ibrox
GRAEME MURTY will be remembered as the Rangers manager who suffered two of the worst defeats by Celtic in Old Firm history.
But his legacy could live on in the shape of emerging youngster Glenn Middleton with fans desperate for Steven Gerrard to unleash him in the first team.
Murty was in charge of the Light Blues in January when he swooped to sign Middleton, who he knew from his time at Norwich, after the Canaries shocked the 18-year-old by releasing him.
The Scotland youth international was seen as one for the future and didn’t feature as Murty’s spell as boss came to a disastrous end.
But Middleton will be on the flight to Skopje this morning for the second leg of their Euro qualifier against Shkupi after a couple of impressive camoes.
The teenager was roared on when he replaced Josh Windass in the 2-0 first-leg win against the Macedonians having impressed when he set up a couple of goals in the 6-0 friendly romp against Bury.
Former Kilmarnock midfielder Gary Holt met Middleton on his first day at Carrow Road when the East Anglian side persuaded him to sign.
Holt was working in the Canaries academy and, after being left stunned at Middleton’s Norwich departure, believes he has all the attributes to be a major player at Rangers.
And he insists there’s only one man to thank for him ending up at his boyhood heroes. Holt said: “As soon as Glenn became available the first and only option was Rangers.
“And that’s because Graeme put the groundwork in to get him to Ibrox. He was the Under-18s manager at Norwich so was always going to have an interest when Glenn got released.
“It also helped that Glenn is such a big Rangers fan. That made it easier but Graeme certainly deserves credit, especially after the negative way it ended for him as manager through no fault of his own.
“Graeme was thrust into a position he couldn’t turn down and he gave it his best shot but if Glenn becomes a roaring success then it all comes back to Murty who was the man to bring him in.”
Holt watched Middleton take on the cream of England’s youngsters at Norwich and it was always the
Rangers kid who rose to the top in games. But he insists it’s unfair to expect too much from him in the early days under Gerrard with only 38 minutes of top-team football under his belt.
Holt said: “He’s Scottish, young and energetic so I can see why there’s a clamour for him to be given a start but let him enjoy his football and make mistakes.
“He’s still only 18 and will eventually have an absolute stinker and then it will be, ‘He’s too young, he shouldn’t be playing.’
“I’m sure the management team at Rangers will look after him. But when we put him on the pitch against even the best teams in England – Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham – he was the standout player. If you look at the underage England teams who have won all the big tournaments recently, Glenn would have played against most of them and was head and shoulders above all those players.
“When you’re in England and you’re playing the Chelseas, Arsenals and Tottenhams in the FA Youth Cup and Under-21 league they’re big games and you’re up against superstars.
“But that didn’t faze him. He took it in his stride and embraced it and almost tried too hard at times to be the best player on the park but you’d rather that than going into his shell.
“I was the assistant academy manager at Norwich when Glenn first came in to have a look about with his mum and dad.
“He was only 13 and was quiet and shy as you would expect so I played a bit of head tennis with him to break the ice – I won of course!
“I knew he came from Scotland so I could have a bit of chat with him. And as he was a Rangers fan and I’m Kilmarnock I gave him a fair bit of stick.
“We progressed him quickly to the Under-21s and he played a lot of games, probably before his time, and that made him realise he had to adapt his game to have more than just pace.
“He’s not averse to constructive criticism and won’t spit the dummy. And what I liked was he knew he couldn’t just run down the line as quickly as possible.
“He was prepared to come inside, come off the line and get involved in the game and not just be an out-and-out winger.”
“I was astounded he got let go by Norwich but sometimes if you’ve been at a club so long, especially at a young age, it can help to move on and improve your game.