Greg Docherty (2018 to 2020)
A lifelong Rangers fan, Greg Alexander Docherty made his dream move to Ibrox in January 2018 when the 21 year old signed a four-and-a-half-year contact.
A product of Hamilton Academical’s much admired youth system, Greg had progressed through the ‘Accies Academy’ to establish himself as first team regular in Scotland’s top league. Indeed, he had caught the eye when playing against Rangers on more than one occasion and his eagerness to join his boyhood heroes was no secret.
Docherty joined in what was yet another volatile season for Rangers. With Pedro Caixinha having been relieved of his duties long before the turn of the year, ‘carateker’ Graeme Murty once again unexpectedly found himself in the managerial hot seat. Results had initially improved under Murty and there was optimism going into the second half of the season with Jamie Murphy and Jason Cummings arriving on loan to bolster the squad during the winter transfer window.
Despite a blistering start the Old Firm clash at Ibrox on 11th March 2018 in which Rangers were ahead within 3 minutes, ten man Celtic rallied to emerge 3-2 victors and any feint notion of a title challenge evaporated. The optimism within the stands quickly disappeared.
Rangers seemed to collapse thereafter and suffered two humiliating defeats to their oldest rivals in the space of a fortnight, the first of which being a Scottish Cup Semi-Final at Hampden ensuring no silverware for another season. Murty was soon put out his misery with dressing room disharmony becoming public. It had been more than a difficult start to Greg’s fledgling Rangers career, a real eye opener for the youngster.
A busy and infectious player in the middle of the park, Greg liked to get around the pitch showing good ball winning ability and a strong desire to support the front players. Whilst his initial few months at the Club were by no means a stand out, there was optimism that he could still make a positive impact in the new season given the benefit of a good pre-season in a less turbulent environment. Having spent in the region of £600,000 to secure his services, the recruitment of Greg represented a significant outlay to a Club still a long way from being able to balance the books.
The arrival of Steven Gerrard as Manager in the summer of 2018 brought fresh hope and the feel good factor gradually began to return to Ibrox. Many friends of Rangers would have anticipated that Docherty would be one to thrive under Gerrard who, after all, was one of the iconic midfielders of the past 20 years. However, it soon became apparent that Gerrard did not view Docherty as a first team player and, instead, he was soon loaned out to Shrewsbury Town in England’s League 1.
Docherty appeared to rekindle his best form and, indeed, was voted Shrewsbury’s Player of the Year for season 2018/19. From the outside, there were many who felt Docherty could have been part of Gerrard’s squad and even more so when that again failed to yield any trophies. Although Greg did manage to secure some game time on returning to Glasgow at the start of 2019/20, there was still no obvious indication that he was going to improve the Rangers first team any time soon.
A second loan spell (this time at Hibernian) was agreed before the player transferred to Hull City on a permanent deal in August 2020.
Greg’s time at Hull City was successful, he helped them secure promotion to the Championship and made 125 appearances in his first three seasons at The Tigers.
by Rick Plews
