Rangers midfielder Greg Docherty has revealed that Ibrox loan manager Billy Kirkwood is in regular talks with both him and his family over his development and future at the club.
The midfielder left Glasgow for Shrewsbury back in the summer of 2018, Steven Gerrard giving the green light over a year-long loan to the League One outfit.
With a return to the Scottish top flight this summer, Docherty confirmed that Kirkwood, who is in charge of all the Rangers players out on loan, has been keeping tabs on him during his time at England, while also being in regular contact with his family.
He told Rangers’ official website: “That (Kirkwood’s appointement) was crucial and credit to the club for doing that. It sets them apart from a lot of clubs, and it really makes you feel as if you are still a Rangers player.
“Billy was phoning me every week, and I’d say maybe one in every five games, Billy was there and that is credit to him as it’s quite a journey. He has a lot of boys to go and see as well but his texts were frequent and he would take time to speak to my parents and family to reassure them.
“So it was great for me coming into training and hearing Billy had been on the phone to them as you knew Rangers were still on top of you and still watching and the end goal was to come back here a better player.”
Opinion
It was a surprise that Gerrard chose to let Docherty leave Ibrox last summer but with the amount of new arrivals, especially in the middle of the park, you can now understand why. The young talent was someone who stood out in the final weeks of last season’s ill-fated campaign for the club and so to drop down from the Scottish top flight to League One might have been a little disappointing. However, he has shown tremendous form in England and you can be sure that Kirkwood will have been giving feedback to Gerrard and the rest of the coaching staff over how he has been performing. It seems as though things are going to ramp up for the midfielder this summer and he has a battle to prove his worth to the Ibrox outfit in the middle of the park. There is still a lot of competition for him to overcome and failure to impress over the coming months could make his next exit a permanent one.