OPINION
Former Rangers man Barrie McKay hit the nail on the head with his criticism of the club allowing centre back David Bates to leave for Hamburg last summer.
The 22-year-old departed Ibrox once his contract expired at the end of last season, and has since become a key player for the German club in their push to return to the Bundesliga.
McKay feels that letting him leave was a mistake by the club: “I didn’t want to go. A similar thing happened with David Bates,” he told the Scottish Sun. “I think that is down to bad management, as Rangers didn’t tie him up on a contract earlier.
“Before they knew it he was gone — one guy at the club didn’t rate him and somebody with a big future was allowed to leave. The move to Hamburg has worked out well for Batesy and he is thriving out there. He has got himself in the Scotland squad since moving to Germany but he could still be in Scotland.”
You have to say that McKay’s assessment of the Bates situation is pretty spot on. The fact that Bates was allowed to leave Rangers for nothing was inexcusable.
The club should have tied him down on a long term deal – there’s no way that he should have been allowed to leave. He is now playing regular football for one of the biggest clubs in Germany – albeit a fallen giant – and is doing really well.
With some of the issues that Gers have had at centre back this season you can’t say that they couldn’t do with someone like Bates. It was brave of him to move abroad to a club like Hamburg, but it should never have been allowed to happen.
Well run clubs ensure that their best players are never allowed to run down their contracts, that’s how they work. The fact that Rangers did allow Bates to slip through the net merely shows how dysfunctional things were at Ibrox before Steven Gerrard’s arrival.