Mark Warburton has revealed that Kenny Miller hailed Niko Kranjcar as the “best he’d seen” after one Rangers training session.
The former Ibrox manager claimed the veteran striker was blown away by the technical ability of the Croatian attacking midfielder signed in 2016 from the New York Cosmos.
“Niko Kranjcar, we knew, was a stone overweight but he was a top technician,” Warburton recalled to the Glasgow Evening Times. “After one training session in Charleston, Kenny Miller said he was the best he’d seen. He was outstanding, but it was a gamble to get him fit.”
OPINION
Kranjcar might have been technically brilliant, but by the time he joined Rangers, he couldn’t run and his conditioning was appalling. The problem is Ibrox isn’t a retirement home for past-it footballers who’ve lost the desire to get in tip-top shape. The Croatian was suffering from serious knee issues when he joined Rangers shortly before he turned 32, but it was soon evident that Warburton had blown a significant portion of hs budget on a big name whose best days were long behind him. He is nearly five years younger than Miller, but there was a chasm of difference in the physical conditions of the pair. By the time Kranjcar’s lucrative two-year contract had been cancelled, it was abundantly clear that Warburton and the Rangers board had sanctioned a deal that was a total waste of money. Perhaps the former manager should show some humility by admitting he had got it massively wrong over the Croatian. It’s fair to say Miller would have been appalled by the attacker’s condition.