Antonio Colak opens up on Rangers exit and Michael Beale after unwanted exit – ‘I was really emotional’
Antonio Colak didn’t want to leave Rangers and was “really emotional” when he watched the highlight reel made by the club after he was sold to Parma, he has revealed.
The Croatian told Rangers Review (28 October) that he thought he might stay at Ibrox for the rest of his career after signing prior to last season, but the situation changed with the arrival of Michael Beale as manager and he “cannot really explain what happened”.
Despite a fast scoring start to his Light Blues career he was reduced to “joker time” once the now-former boss replaced Giovanni van Bronckhorst and was ultimately left “disappointed” to go during the summer transfer window.
Colak said: “When I left Rangers and watched the highlight reel of my goals the club made, I was really emotional watching it with my wife.
“When I arrived in Glasgow, I thought it could be the place I stayed for the rest of my career. But in football sometimes things are unpredictable.
“Of course, there was a moment where I was disappointed and said ‘I don’t want to leave’ but now I’m here in Parma having taken a new opportunity and life could not be better for me personally.
“My time at Rangers, however, it’s really, really unique.”
He went on to say: “When a new manager comes in, things change. I think it was maybe something of an advantage for the other players who had already worked with the manager.
“When we started back after the World Cup break, I cannot really explain what happened.
“I wanted to come back as fast as possible. I worked day and night to be fit. Maybe sometimes you try too hard and then the chances don’t come or you get some minutes in what I call ‘Joker time’ at the end of games, when play is always broken up and you maybe only see five minutes as a substitute.
“It’s tricky to show off your qualities in these moments.”
Mistake
Colak, by his own admission, wasn’t the sort of one-man wrecking ball that former teammate Alfredo Morelos was but he showed he could fulfil priority number one – scoring goals.
Yet, as soon as Beale arrived the suggestion proliferated that the Croatian wasn’t his type of forward and didn’t fit with the way he wanted to play.
When Colak was duly sold to Serie B and over £10million was spent to sign Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers and Danilo it was expected that these handpicked alternatives would therefore thrive in the manager’s system.
Beale was presumed to have a plan, but instead all three have struggle to take off in a Rangers shirt to different extents and the new season started so poorly that the Englishman is now gone.
That has left the decision to dispense with Colak’s services look like a poor one, and highlights the perils of the hiring and firing cycle that the Gers have found themselves in.
Philippe Clement might have been far happier to use the 30-year-old, and with a record of 18 goals in his single season at Ibrox he would arguably have a greater claim to start over any of the current options if he were still at the club.
In other Rangers news, Clement has been tipped to make a January bid for a familiar striker after his comments this week.