A rare talent that must not be discarded

Rangers decide he should continue his career elsewhere -- and it would

be their decision not his -- it would be a great pity.

The 28-year-old has been at Ibrox since he was a teenager and would

prefer nothing better than to end his playing days there, but Rangers

might not be so anxious to extend the relationship. Indeed, they may

believe they have done enough for the player already and that no-one

could accuse them of being disloyal should they now be of a mind to

sever ties.

Walter Smith is trying to reshape his side and blend a collection of

talents capable of winning at home and also of competing in the

Champions' League. As manager, that is precisely what he should be

doing, and inevitably some difficult decisions will have to be made.

Egos will be deflated. There will be casualties.

Interestingly, however, the one time Rangers performed impressively in

the Champions' League, in season 1992-93, when they went through their

qualifying games and group matches unbeaten and almost made it to the

final against AC Milan, Durrant was one of the heroes. In fact, during

that run alone he paid back any kindness shown to him by his emplpoyers.

The midfield player scored three Champions' League goals and it was

his astute use of the ball and ability to make telling runs which helped

make Rangers such a force throughout that campaign, one of the most

exciting recent times in Scottish football. So far as I can see, nothing

much has changed with Durrant, yet he is unable to command a regular

first-team place with Rangers.

Smith uses the running and tackling power of Stuart McCall, whose

tenacity often disguises the fact that he, too, is a decent distributor

of the ball, and with the emergence of Craig Moore and Charlie Miller,

both of whom are versatile and play midfield as one of their positions,

Durrant must be standing on the sidelines wondering two things. First,

he must be asking himself if it would not be better to leave, and

secondly he may be considering if either Moore or Miller will ever have

his touch and vision.

However, the threat to Durrant is not so much from younger stock as

from players like McCall and Ian Ferguson, who is fit again. Trevor

Steven and Alexei Mikhailichenko are recovering from long-term injuries

and then there is Brian Laudrup, a player to whom even Durrant would

bend a knee.

Gordon Durie has also been used in wide midfield, all of which tends

to suggest Durrant is being pushed further out of the manager's grand

scheme. Durrant could be looking at a term in reserve-team football and

that really would be a dreadful waste of what is still a rare talent.

The truth is Durrant is much too good to play in anyone's second team,

and if he has not already told his manager so, then it is about time he

did.

It is not this column's place to champion anarchy within Ibrox, or any

other club for that matter, but there has to be something seriously

wrong with all of us -- at the very least too many seasons of

bludgeoning premier division football must have warped our values -- if

a player like Durrant is left to kick his heels in the little leagues.

Are we really so well off for talented footballers that someone like

him can be passed over? Of course we aren't.

Smith obviously feels he has enough in midfield and would have

accepted a realistic offer from Everton had the English premiership side

been willing to extend Durrant's recent loan period at Goodison Park to

a more permanent signing. It is indeed a desperate stage we have reached

if most of the above players are considered to be in possession of

greater touch and wider appreciation of what goes on during 90 minutes

than Durrant, even if he did suffer horribly because of injury. Yes, I

know that to keep harping on about the tackle which almost completely

destroyed one of his knees is tedious, but had that not happened,

Durrant would probably have been the most influential player in

Scotland's midfield by now, never mind a club side.

He never did quite recover his electrifying burst of pace which often

propelled him through opposing lines of defence and into scoring

positions. He was one of the few players in the Scottish game who could

do that and even though he was brought more into line with everyone else

after his knee had been rebuilt, he still found he could pass with

greater accuracy and see openings quicker than the others.

Those qualities alone make him someone to be cherished, a player to be

protected. He is certainly not someone who should be discarded.