Rangers: BBC pundit thrilled for Sam Lammers after what’s happened since Ibrox exit
Rangers made the “right decision” to allow the “technically gifted” Sam Lammers to depart during the January transfer window despite his good form for Utrecht, says Derek Ferguson.
Lammers was allowed to join the Eredivisie side on loan until the end of the season just six months after joining from Atalanta in a £3.5million deal (Rangers Review) after a woeful stint at Ibrox.
The Dutchman only managed two Scottish Premiership goals for Rangers and struggled to show he could deal with the pressure cooker that comes with playing for such a prestigious club.
However, he has shown some positive early signs at Utrecht, managing two assists from his four Eredivisie games (sofascore), already one more than he managed in the league for Rangers.
Still, Ferguson – speaking to Ibrox News – has no doubt that it was the right call to allow him to go and play elsewhere.
“I said it when Lammers was here you could see he’s a technically gifted football player, he’s pleasing on the eye,” he said.
“But the thing is when you play at Utrecht it’s a different kettle of fish to Rangers there’s not as much pressure on him at Utrecht.
“I think he can maybe relax a little bit, you don’t get time to relax when you play with Rangers or at Celtic or you live round about this city of Glasgow.
“It’s a different pressure, players only kind of realise it once they’re up here, once they play for Rangers, once they live in and around the city, you’re scrutinised 24/7, that brings different pressure and for whatever reason Sam Lammers didn’t quite handle it and it showed on the park.
“I’m delighted he’s away playing good stuff, you like to see players play well, getting on, it wasn’t quite happening at Rangers.
“So it was the right decision to let him go out, enjoy himself, less pressure, that’s where you go putting on some good displays.”
Sam Lammers had to leave Rangers
It is absolutely lovely to see Lammers hitting a bit of form now he’s departed for Utrecht and long may it continue because it will either mean a decent fee for Rangers or maybe he comes back with more confidence.
But, in here and now, it really was the only course of action the Light Blues could take to let him leave because it was just reaching new levels of awful for him at Ibrox.
Ferguson is right that too many people come to Rangers or Celtic and just cannot handle the level of pressure and scrutiny that comes with it.
So, the inevitable outcome was moving Lammers on and they did that, it was the right thing for all involved.
In other Rangers news, Jose Cifuentes is wanted by four different clubs.
For more Rangers news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.