Player Profile - Anestis Argyriou
Argyriou was a right full-back signed by Ally McCoist in the summer of 2012 following a successful trial.
A move to Scotland represented a first move abroad for the 24 year-old Greek who had played most recently for AEK Athens.
As Rangers settled down to life in the lower leagues following the traumatic events of 2012, there was unsurprisingly a huge turnaround of playing staff. Stalwarts such as Allan McGregor, Steven Davis and Sasa Papac moved on with unknowns such as Argyriou, Emilson Cribari and Sebastian Faure arriving from overseas.
Many immediately questioned with wisdom of these imports at the expense of simply promoting youth players into the first team. Whilst the demands of playing for Rangers remained massive, there was a feeling that Rangers missed an opportunity to blood more Scottish talent during what was a unique period in the history of the Club when predominantly facing a far lesser standard of opponent.
Without meaning to appear disrespectful to Argyriou or any of those listed (and there were many others), hindsight would tell us that there was indeed local talent more than capable of matching their input and presumably at a fraction of the costs. For example, Argyriou would face young Queen's Park full-back Andy Robertson during his season in Glasgow. Robertson, a young Amateur player at the time who would go in to win the Champions League with Liverpool and captain his country. Whilst Ibrox was never likely to be high on the list of likely destinations for Robertson, the point remains valid. Of course, none of this was the fault of Anestis or any of the other players who were signed.
Argyriou's debut came over the Border, Rangers having to settle for a 1-1 draw at Berwick having taken the lead through an Andrew Little goal. With much of the 'outside noise' in the lead up to the season being whether Rangers could win every match in Scotland's fourth tier, the reality was that the first two away fixtures had ended in stalemate with the overwhelming favourites enjoying an element of good fortune on each occasion.
League Cup ties with Falkirk and (particularly) Motherwell perhaps provided the young Greek defender with a glimpse of what it would be like to represent the Club in normal circumstances. Whilst Ibrox was never lacking in terms of numbers or support from within the stands, the majority of league matches lacked the usual edge with superior fitness levels usually a telling factor against part-time opponents.
Anestis would make 27 appearances during season 2012/13, tasting defeat on three occasions.
Despite having signed a two-year contract on arriving in 2012, Argyriou was already deemed surplus to requirements by the time Rangers looked to embark on a second successive promotion in 2013/14. Anestis did not feature for the first team at the start of the season and his contract was eventually terminated on 18th September 2013.
by Rick Plews
