David not fit to land Caps deal
Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson has played down his interest in forgotten man David Templeton after the former Rangers winger joined the MLS outfit on trial.
The 28-year-old, stuck on the sidelines for 18 months, has been without a club since his release by the Ibrox side at the end of last season.
Templeton turned down an audacious bid from League Two Edinburgh City and trained with Raith Rovers without winning a contract from Gary Locke who he worked with at Hearts.
The former Scotland Under-21 starlet has now joined up with the Whitecaps for their preseason camp in Wales ahead of the new MLS campaign starting up again in March.
Templeton could be given a run- out against League One outfit Oxford United tomorrow and Championship side Bristol City later this week.
But Whitecaps boss Robinson is adamant Templeton is not on course to go down the same route as Kenny Miller and Fraser Aird who have pulled on a Vancouver jersey in recent years.
The Welshman said: “Temps has come in to have a little bit of rehab with us.
“There is nothing in that except the fact I know him and he wanted to come in and see if he could get back up to speed.
“Temps has been out of the game for a very long time – 18 months – so this is us just helping him out a little bit.
“He is a fantastic talent but is still a couple of months away from being where he needs to be.
“He has seen what it is like here so we can help him in that regard.”
Templeton joined Hearts from Stenhousemuir in 2007 and following a loan stint with Raith went on to notch 13 goals in 94 appearances for the Jambos.
That convinced Rangers to shell out around £ 700,000 on the wideman in 2012 as the Light Blues started to work their way back up from League Two.
Despite scoring 26 goals for the club, Templeton’s Ibrox career petered out and he made just three appearances during his final campaign as injuries and a dip in form took their toll.