Davie Provan has slammed Rangers chairman Dave King for his wretched judgement in offloading Martyn Waghorn for just £200,000.
The ex-Celtic midfielder has written in his weekly Sun on Sunday column that King should be “embarrassed” that Middlesbrough have tabled a £7million bid for the striker a year after he was let go by the Gers for £6.8million less.
“King must have winced when hearing Middlesbrough are offering Ipswich £7million for Martyn Waghorn,” said the Sky Sports pundit. “Even if Gers get a slice of the fee, they should be embarrassed Waghorn was sold for just £200,000.
“Good for 16 goals during his last season at Ibrox, the striker matched that figure in his first season at Portman Road. No wonder Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy boasted he had stolen Waghorn from Ibrox.”
OPINION
If ever Rangers needed any further proof of how wrong King and his board were to put so much faith in the wretched judgement of ex-boss Pedro Caixinha, it has come with the remarkable rise in value of Waghorn over the last year. It wasn’t just with the players he signed for big money – Carlos Pena and company – where Caixinha erred. It was also in his judgement of whom to sell, with the departures of the likes of Barrie McKay, Joe Garner and Waghorn proven soon afterwards to be mistakes. The one that stands out was the cut-price sale of the Waghorn, who Mick McCarthy delighted in subsequently claiming he had sealed one of the bargain of the seasons. The 28-year-old ripped it up on his return to England, scoring 16 goals and assisting 13 more to prompt interest from some of the Championship’s big spenders this summer. You can almost hear the yelps of anguish from Glasgow as a player Caixinha binned in favour of hopelessly inadequate pair Pena and Eduardo Herrera and Pena increased in value 30-fold in 12 months. Transfer blunders don’t come much more expensive than that.