Roaring back to his best
Docherty flourishing at Tigers after Ibrox pain
GREG DOCHERTY knows he’s given up his invite to the title party that has been a full decade in the making. Yet as he reflects on the decision to leave Rangers last summer, the 24-yearold sees not a shred of evidence to suggest he has made a mistake.
Now thriving at Hull City, he has his heart set on a shindig of his own as the Tigers chase down England’s League One crown.
That he’s playing such an active role for his new club offers a happy counter-point to the lows he experienced grafting for an opportunity that was never going to come under Steven Gerrard.
Docherty fulfilled a lifelong ambition when Hamilton accepted a £650,000 offer for his services in January 2018.
A four-and-a-half-year contract offered the promise of a golden future at Ibrox but, following the appointment of Gerrard six months later, it was apparent that he had fallen down the pecking order.
A season-long loan at Shrewsbury got him going again and, having performed well enough to tuck away the club’s Player of the Year award, he threw everything at his second shot at impressing Gerrard. Again he foundered.
‘I had to leave,’ he admits. ‘I know it was hyped up that I am a big Rangers fan, the classic dream come true. But when you are there and you don’t personally feel involved it’s so tough.
‘Yeah, I was in the squad, I was in the dressing-room and that’s all great. You can stick around and be there at the end of the game, be at all the parties, but, when your contract runs out, where are you going to go from there?
‘I’m not afraid to say now that it really took me to the toughest point of my career. Just mentally and how I was feeling off the pitch.
‘It was the first time in my career where I had not played regularly and I found it hard. If you had told me that in a year I would realise how much it was making me stronger I’d have gasped and said: “That’s a year away!”
‘But it really has. It made me toughen up.’
As a first step, Docherty embarked on a loan spell at Hibs that saw him score three goals in eight games before Covid curtailed last season. But, if he was not going to make it at Rangers, he resolved to have another crack at football south of the border.
His spell at Shrewsbury taught him that he would have no problem with the level in England’s third tier or the intensity of the schedule. The difference this time is that there is the pressure of playing for one of the division’s biggest clubs.
As Rangers cruise towards the Premiership title, Docherty has
found himself in what looks to be at least a five-way fight for top spot.
‘It’s tough, relentless in this league,’ says Docherty. ‘Since the turn of the year, we have been going Saturday-Tuesday and it will be like that until the end of the month.
‘There is an added pressure at Hull. We should not be where we are and there is an expectation from the fans that we get back to the Championship.’
Docherty was advised on his choice of club by Michael Beale, the tactical brains of Gerrard’s coaching team at Rangers.
Although Beale could not foresee a role for Docherty within a strong midfield set-up, he admired the player’s dedication and professionalism.
‘I trust Mick’s judgment,’ says Docherty. ‘He knows the gaffer here and told me this would be a good move for me. ‘He and Gaz (McAllister) were the two would speak to me at Rangers.
‘Mick was the one at the front of training and he’d pull me aside and tell me not to get disheartened, that the effort I was putting in during training was being noticed.
‘He didn’t need to do that but I think he could see it was getting to me. I wasn’t throwing my toys out of the pram or anything but maybe my mood was different.
‘Mick is devoted to football, more than anyone I have ever seen.
‘It’s amazing the number of aspiring coaches who have come and asked me what he’s like, saying they have read his books.
‘To have that sort of stature when there are so many other coaches out there? Good on you, Mick.
‘The style and ethos he has pushed forward at Rangers has really come to the fore.
‘Players respect it. The message is clear and if it’s not working out, you know it is your own fault. It’s all there in black and white.’
It’s taken until year three for the Gerrard/Beale project to turn Rangers into a title-winning proposition but Docherty is unsurprised at how the team has blossomed this season.
‘From the first day, Mick, Steven Gerrard and Gary set out their stall and told us it was not going to be instant success,’ he says.
‘You now see the value of sticking by that. They have got better and they have a very strong nucleus of players who have bought into it.
‘They just dominate games. At times they can blow teams out of the water but this season the defensive side has been so good.
‘That may have been the weak point in the past but when they concede now it’s like: “Wow”. It’s a shock.
‘The midfield has always been strong. When I came back from Shrewsbury, I knew the challenge was to displace these guys.
‘I know I pushed them in training. I was always on my toes, so maybe in the background I helped them play a little bit better.’
One of the men to block Docherty’s path was Ryan Jack, who has blossomed into a key figure not only for Rangers but Scotland over the past 18 months.
‘Jacko would be one of the first on Steve Clarke’s teamsheet at the moment, he’s keeping out guys who are playing in the Premier League,’ adds Docherty.
‘That’s purely on merit because he controls games.
‘It was a bit frustrating for me to have somebody like him ahead of me at Rangers but he’s set a standard to aim for.
‘The (Scotland) midfield is extremely strong but, if I can keep my name in the headlines, it might raise the question.
‘I’m not saying I have any right to be in the Euros squad, absolutely not. I have a lot to prove after a spell in the background.’
It was just the first time I wasn’t playing regularly and I found that hard