Rangers fans largely had pretty high hopes when the club announced the signing of attacking midfielder Todd Cantwell. As it has been with plenty of hotshots from south of the border such as James Tavernier and John Lundstram, Ibrox seemed to be the perfect place for the former Norwich City man to reignite his career after he went off the boil at Carrow Road. During his stint in East Anglia, it appeared like – from an outside perspective, at least – he allowed his head to be turned with the plaudits he was gaining and the clubs that the media-driven transfer rumour mill began linking him to.
The now 26-year-old has an abundance of talent, of that there is no doubt. Throughout his first couple of years with the Canaries, he was the star of the show, twice helping the club to promotion to the Premier League and garnering the attention of illustrious clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur. It was only a few years ago that the English media were touting him as Norwich’s replacement for Emi Buendia, who himself was brought in to replace the Manchester City-bound Jack Grealish.
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But while the aforementioned Grealish is off to the European Championships with England, a tournament that Bovada sportsbook makes the Three Lions a short-priced +300 favorite to win, Cantwell is instead sat at home, wondering where it all went wrong.
Falling Out Of Favour
There can be no denying that the one-time Fortuna Siittard loanee rapidly fell out of favour at Carrow Road. He even managed to somehow fall upwards with a loan from the Championship to the Premier League with AFC Bournemouth, however, that temporary switch didn’t go as planned. As such, it’s clear that bringing him to the blue half of Glasgow did have an element of risk attached to it, but one that the powers that be within the club thought was worth taking.
Since he arrived in Glasgow 18 months ago, the former England Under-21 international has managed to notch up 13 goals as well as providing a further 12 assists in 62 games in all competitions. Those are hardly numbers to be scoffed at, but that doesn’t;t change the fact that he has left a number of the Gers faithful frustrated with his sheer inconsistency. That is primarily because they know how good he can be on his day.
Cantwell is capable of world-class moments, movements and passes, and he can transform games almost single-handedly. But he is also just as capable of being completely anonymous for 80 minutes, and the frustration from fans comes from the fact that he should be offering much more to the team. His performance return and consistency should be better, his goal production should be better and he remains the very definition of an enigma.
Even though he has not truly nailed it on the pitch for Rangers – despite his moments of magic – he also does not cover himself in glory off of it. We now know that despite the improvements made under Philippe Clement and the progress the team has made in recent months, it was not enough progress to ultimately remain at the summit of the Premiership. A late-season collapse saw us outfit drop points against both Ross County and Dundee, which ultimately handed the title to archrivals Celtic for the third straight season.
Looking Forward
The Gers faithful remains optimistic for next term however, and there is a belief inside the walls of Ibrox that silverware could be just around the corner. The club’s Belgian gaffer now has a full transfer window and pre-season ahead of him and that will provide ample opportunity to stamp his authority on his team. But perhaps his biggest task this summer is to get his key playmaker to do his talking on the pitch.
While the attention should be on the team and yet another defeat to their rivals from across Glasgow, Cantwell’s immaturity is not taking centre stage. He has recently made the headlines based on his social media posts which have been triggering to many of his club’s supporters.
A recent post of his was not an insult and it was not made for the wrong reasons as he tagged friends in, but the penny has not dropped when it comes to life at Rangers and his timing couldn’t have been worse. Cantwell simply posted a picture of his goal from the Tynecastle draw against Hearts, with his finger at his lips and the caption ‘Shushburger please,’ accompanied by a laughing emoji.
That is fine for friends and private jokes, but to send it to the wider fanbase, especially because the league title was lost disappointingly was a huge mistake. Rangers have given him a chance to shine again, just as he did in his early days at Carrow Road, and he should understand the wider implications of not performing well, especially at the age of 26. Unfortunately for both him and the fans of the club, the penny has not yet dropped, and many will be hoping that it finally does before the 2024/25 season gets underway.
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