Docherty lifts lid on struggles at Rangers
AFTER spending two- and- ahalf years on the fringes of the Rangers squad, Greg Docherty sealed a permanent move to Hull City this summer following loan spells at Shrewsbury and Hibernian.
The former Accies player admits it was a difficult call to leave Ibrox in search of a new club but when he looked at the performances put in by the likes of Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield, he knew it would be “really tough” to break into the starting lineup.
hat led to Docherty’s switch to Hull, where he says he can “take control” of his career once again – with the 23- yearold insisting he has no regrets about his choice to move on from Rangers.
When asked if he requested more game time from Steven Gerrard when speaking to the Football Daft podcast, he said: “Obviously, you do have conversations and stuff like that. But I had to be realistic.
“For the majority of that time from the summer through to January, the team were doing well, they were winning.
“I looked at the guys ahead of me. Davo [ Steven Davis] was back, he was coming and getting better and better; Jacko [ Ryan Jack] had an unbelievable season last year; Scotty [ Scott Afrield] as well, banging in goals.
“I was looking across that midfield and it was really tough. There were very rarely times when one of them got injured, there was very rarely a space opening up. That’s
what you’re hoping for and trying to prime yourself all the time to make sure you’re ready and fit.
“It was a squad that was – maybe that’s down to the way the medical team or the sports science team – they were a robust, fit squad. It just so happened there weren’t many spaces or opportunities opening up.”
That introspection resulted in Docherty’s move to Hull when it became clear the midfielder would never be more than a bit- part player under Gerrard.
But rather than wondering what might have been, Docherty says the move lifted his spirits.
He continued: “I think I had to [ decide to leave]. It does, mentally, take its toll.
“My mum said to me in the last few weeks, ‘ You wouldn’t believe the difference in you’. I probably don’t realise, it’s just a weight off my shoulders that I’m doing what I always wanted to dedicate my life to
doing, just to playing football.
“It’s stood me in brilliant stead. I’ve learned through that spell, that four/ five months, you go right to maybe bits of your mind you don’t really think you’ve been before.
“Again, I know for a fact I went in every day and I loved being in that dressing room, I loved the boys, I did feel part of it and felt they respected me as well.
“They respected that every day I trained to my maximum. And Gerrard said to me, I spoke to him loads of times, he was like, “I don’t have an answer for you, you don’t give me any reason to not [ pick someone else],” which is a tough one to take because I’m thinking what can I do?
“You’re hoping an opportunity comes. But the players in front of me were good players and I’m honest enough to know that. They’re seasoned pros, they were good, in their prime, and it’s just unfortunate that was in front of me at the time.”