RYAN IS JUST AIMING TO MAKE THE RIGHT IMPRESSION
SENT off three times in nine league games for his new club, a sacking for the manager who recruited him and twice going to war with the Scottish Football Association over a ban. If that early-season shambles can pave the way to a first ever Scotland cap, then the international sky is the limit for Ryan Jack when his hitherto chaotic Rangers career eventually clicks into place. Jack labelled his debut against Holland ‘the proudest moment of my career’ — an occasion he was determined would not be sullied by the sorry sounds of booing from bitter Aberdeen supporters targeting him in Scotland colours because he left Pittodrie for Ibrox.
The 25-year-old has needed to shut out a lot of noise in recent months anyway as his budding Rangers career has been daubed by controversy. So Jack was able to dismiss the significance of a few former fans turning on him and produce a sound display at rightback for Malky Mackay.
The call-up and exposure to 90 minutes of senior international football against the Dutch was a solid show of confidence in Jack’s talents from Mackay considering his Ibrox form for a spluttering Rangers team has not yet matched that which prompted his ascent to the Aberdeen captaincy.
On the back of this boost, the midfielder is intent on righting a few wrong impressions when returning to club duty this week. By the time the next Scotland squad is named — most likely by a new, permanent appointment for a March friendly in Morocco — Jack would wish there to be no debate over his inclusion thanks to an excellent mid-season run with Rangers.
‘As a player, if you sit down and think how’s it going to go at a new club, then it’s not gone the way I’d planned out,’ conceded Jack.
‘But, look, that’s all part and parcel of the game. This is probably the proudest moment of my career. Right now I’m just delighted to have got my cap and hopefully I can build on that.
‘I think I’ll always strive to be better, it doesn’t matter if I’m doing excellent or not doing so well. I’ve had that my whole career since I’ve been a professional.
‘I’ve always come in every day, whatever game I play I always strive to do better, strive to shut people up that doubt me. That’s what I’m about.
‘So I need to go back to my club, start doing really well. And hopefully I can get the nod again when the next squad is announced. I want to just do as well as I can for my club, that’s how you get here and get a call-up. Then you come away and every chance you get in training you want to do as well as you can, whatever position the manager puts you in in training. I just want to give it my all, enjoy my first cap and try to make the most of it.’
Jack wouldn’t be the first Old Firm new boy to move from a league rival and discover a very different mental challenge in Glasgow. The unstable environment of Pedro Caixinha’s Rangers reign was no doubt a negative for the summer newcomers trying to settle.
The calamitous European exit to Progres Niederkorn was the first setback to Jack’s dream move and the dismissals against Hibs, Hamilton and Kilmarnock — albeit two were overturned on appeal — stripped him of the chance to show Rangers supporters his consistent best. Jack reveals he’s found comfort amid the upheaval in his home life with wife Ashleigh and daughter Madison.
‘I’ve got good people around me, I’ve got a close-knit family and I’ve got my wife and daughter away from the pitch that are always around me and keeping me going,’ he said. ‘That’s what you do it for, you do it for your family, you do it for yourself and you do it for your fans. There are times in life you always need your family, it’s not just when you’re playing football. I know for a fact when I do need them and I need my friends, they are always there.’
Jack was one of four players handed debuts by interim boss Mackay. Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie started alongside him while Jason Cummings passed up one great chance to cap the perfect introduction as a sub three minutes from time.
The task for Jack was the toughest, however, as he was asked to play on the right side of a back four — the role he was switched to by Billy Stark for the Scotland Under-21s four years ago.
If deployment there gives Jack the best chance of carving out a career at senior international level, there will be no complaints from the Ibrox central midfielder.
‘I feel comfortable doing it, I think I’m a player that wherever I get told to play I’ll play,’ said Jack.
‘It’s one of those ones, I’m playing for my country, I’ll play anywhere. It doesn’t make a difference to me and wherever you play you’ve just got to enjoy it and I did that.
‘Malky said, look, we don’t have many right-backs as Callum (Paterson), who’s done great when he’s played right-back for Scotland, has had a bad injury and been out for a while. He’s come back fit and is doing really well again.
‘But Malky just said he was going to play me at right-back, you’ve been playing football for your club and we don’t have anyone else at this moment apart from Callum.
‘It doesn’t bother me. I just want to enjoy winning my first cap. I’ve made my debut for my country and I’m delighted with that.
‘I enjoyed every minute of the week. The result was not what we wanted but the amount of chances we created and the energy we had, the togetherness we had on the park for playing together for the first time was excellent. We can take plenty of positives from it.’
I’m always striving to do better, to shut up the people that doubt me