C oisty: Joe has to cool things down
JOE GARNER has been one of the most talked-about players in Scotland this season.
He’s a cult hero at Rangers because of his aggressive style and the fans got Glad All Over by The Dave Clark Five to No. 31 in the charts after chanting his name to the tune.
What he really needs to do is start scoring goals.
Garner has only hit the net three times in the league, but hit a Scottish Cup hat-trick against Hamilton at the start of the month.
That, however, was overshadowed by a wild tackle on Dougie Imrie.
New Ibrox boss Pedro Caixinha likes a bit of aggression but former manager Ally McCoist believes the striker has to calm down a bit to be a long-term success.
He said: “I played with boys when you were allowed to be aggressive.
“Big Duncan Ferguson was aggressive. Mark Hateley was quite aggressive. Gregor Stevens had his moments.
“They could certainly handle themselves. But you can’t do it nowadays. The game has changed.
“With someone like Garner there’s a thin line that you obviously can’t cross. But if you take that away from him, you take away from his game.
“It’s very important that he gets the balance right for him and the team.
“Scoring the hat-trick against Hamilton should help him.”
Rangers play Motherwell on Saturday and it looks like Caixinha is asking his men to adopt a more-direct attacking style.
Ally McCoist believes that will suit Garner – as long as he can resist the temptation to make rash challenges.
There’s a new manager to impress and collecting yellow cards regularly is unlikely to go down well.
McCoist went on: “Centreforwards need people to get balls in the box and create chances.
“I am not sure he was getting those earlier in the season.
“I’d be telling the rest of the boys to get the ball in the box for him to attack, and I would tell him to make sure he doesn’t step over the line.
“Play your normal game but don’t overstep the mark, because you’re no good to anybody sitting in the stand.”