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Ex-Rangers coach shares disappointment at what happened to Tom Lawrence: 'I was gutted'
Ceri Bowley has revealed he was “gutted” about what happened to Tom Lawrence at Rangers last season.
Speaking to the Daily Record on Tuesday (21 November), the former Gers coach said the 29-year-old was “unique” and that was a quality that wasn’t easy to replace after he suffered a season-ending injury.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s right-hand man hopes the Welsh international can now get back to playing consistently as he believes the attacking midfielder will be “very effective” at Ibrox.
“Tom’s qualities are different,” said Bowley. “From travelling with the ball to picking passes, receiving in tight areas, scoring goals, assisting, running in behind – Tom has a range of abilities that others just don’t have.
“So when you lose that thing that’s different, it’s obviously going to affect the variety of your play. Tom was unique and it’s not easy to replace that uniqueness. He’d just got going at Ibrox and was starting to contribute goals. We were starting to see the real Tom Lawrence before he got injured.
“I was gutted for Tom because I know how passionate he is about doing well at Rangers. He had a setback after that initial injury which made things even more difficult. I just hope for him, the new manager and the club, they can have Tom back playing consistently because when he is, he’ll be very effective for Rangers.”
Blow
It was a huge blow for Rangers when Lawrence suffered the Achilles injury in September 2022 that would keep him out for the best part of a year.
It had a massive impact on Van Bronckhorst’s plans for the campaign after the Welshman had scored two goals and laid on two assists in the opening five games of the SPFL season.
It meant that the Gers really lacked a creative influence down the middle of the pitch before the Dutchman’s time at Ibrox came to an end just a couple of months later.
Having returned to the fold in August under Michael Beale, Lawrence now has another new Light Blues manager to impress in Philippe Clement.
The Belgian will no doubt want to manage the attacking midfielder’s minutes as he continues to work his way back to full fitness, but he will have been impressed by his most recent outing in the 2-0 victory over Livingston.
In other Rangers news, a Champions League club are looking to sign one Ibrox star.