Rangers could have had Vardy for a song

RANGERS’ turmoil robbed the club of the chance to snap up English scoring sensation Jamie Vardy in a bargain buy.

The reign of Craig Whyte was at the core of the failure, according to former Ibrox chief scout John Brown, to snap up a striker now the subject of interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Vardy, 28, was playing nonleague football at Fleetwood when Brown’s dossier directed Rangers to make a move.

The Leicester City forward (below) has taken the Barclays Premier League by storm this season, becoming the first Englishman to score in nine successive matches.

He has netted 12 times in the division, five more than any nearest rival and he can equal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 10 top-flight games in-a-row next time out.

Yet, in another shocking example of the negligence which has characterised the running of Rangers in recent times, football decisions lapsed when Brown was desperate for the club to bid.

‘I saw Vardy half a dozen times and reported he’d be a revelation in Scotland,’ said Brown. ‘He was sensational. I thought he’d batter defences up here.

‘I’d never seen a striker work as hard. The energy he had was incredible and, even in heavy conditions, he was operating at the same pace from first minute to last.

‘He didn’t give defenders a second. His eye for goal I likened to Ian Rush. He was good enough to score between 30 and 40 goals a season in the Scottish top flight — easily.

‘I’m convinced Rangers would’ve got him hands down — and before Leicester — if the club was being run well because we were in the Premier League at the time.

‘But Craig Whyte’s regime was in full flow. Instead of trying to buy good players, Ally McCoist wasn’t able to get any joy from Whyte.

‘There were plenty of other examples of conversations with agents and scouting players that could have been quality and lucrative for Rangers, but unfortunately came to nothing.’ Brown had to look on as Vardy switched to then-Championship side Leicester for £1m in 2012.

He said: ‘What would you pay for him now? £40m? I think we might have got him for around £600,000. Watching a player I imagine: “OK, how would he cope against Celtic centre-backs? ‘Aberdeen? Dundee United?” ‘He’d be in their face all the time, running into corners, tormenting.’