Dorrans will be a key player on the road to Rangers’ revival
IN 2005, back in the very infancy of his career, Graham Dorrans took just a couple of training sessions to convince Dick Campbell he was going to be a star.
Then an untested teenager on loan at Partick Thistle from Livingston and looking to make his breakthrough, the Glaswegian shone out to Campbell for his quality and his hunger to learn.
A dozen years, a dozen Scotland caps, and a stint in the English Premier League later, he is back in the Scottish game with Rangers, the club he supported as a boy.
It’s a move his former manager is equally sure will both secure him a return to the national side and earn him a place in the affections of the Ibrox support.
“The Rangers fans are going to absolutely love Graham and this move will definitely also be to Scotland’s benefit,” said Campbell, now manager of Arbroath.
“He is a great footballer, right up there with the best I have ever worked with.
“This was 12 years ago, so he was pretty much at the start of his professional career back then.
“All the same, the quality and technique we know him for now was there, alright. “And he was so keen to learn. “I’m straightforward as a coach. I know what I like and I took to Graham right way.
“He was always asking questions, not in a pushy way but as someone who l ov e d the game and was keen to learn.
“He was very keen to get on, but at the same time he would enjoy a laugh with myself and the rest of lads.
“I played him in a forward midfield role, more attacking than he is now, and he was great.
“He played every week, scored a few goals and set up a few more.
“Livingston must have been impressed because they had him back in the winter and right into their side.
“From there he never looked back, going on to West Brom, Norwich City and, of course, now Rangers.
“I have followed his progress all the way and I am delighted he has come back to Scotland to play.”
Dorrans’ latest switch has been a protracted one, with the Canaries rejecting repeated bids from Rangers to hold out for the £ 1.3- million fee they were after.
And the timing of its completion hasn’t been the best, with the player
arriving hot on the heels of his new employers’ embarrassing Europa League exit. Given that very few teams involved in the first qualifying round make it to the competition group stage, it would have been unrealistic for the Glaswegian to expect to get that far.
He certainly, though, would not have bargained on missing out due to the efforts of part-time Luxembourg outfit, Progres Niederkorn.
“It might not be the best moment to land at Ibrox, but Graham will cope just fine,” Campbell continued.
“When you watch him play now, he is very calm and composed. He weighs up all the options open to him, and then takes what he believes to be the best one open to him.
“That’s the approach he will take to assess the situation he finds himself in.
“Rangers have had a bad result, yes. But that is why he and the other new signings are there – to make the team better.
“They have brought in a lot of new foreign players and there is no denying Bruno Alves, for example, has top-class experience behind him.
“For me, though, it is still going to be the Scottish lads – the likes of Graham and Ryan Jack – who are going to be the key.
“They are the ones who know the environment, and appreciate what is required to play for Rangers.
“If they settle quickly, then they can help bed in all the others around them. I think Graham will be a central figure in the manager’s thinking.”
Campbell also expects Dorrans to push himself into Gordon Strachan’s plans through his performances for Rangers.
“I am staggered a player of Graham’s ability hasn’t got more than 12 caps to his name,” said the Lichties boss.
“All I can think of is that he must have picked up injuries at the wrong time. That and the fact we are strong in midfield, with a lot of decent options there.
“Gordon doesn’t ignore top-class form, and if Graham is running the show for Rangers week in, week out – and helping them to a decent season – I’m sure he will be given another chance by Scotland.”