RANGERS fans shouldn’t be too downhearted about Scott Allan signing for Celtic, and in the end, he’s probably made the right footballing choice for this stage of his career.

He clearly didn’t want to wait an extra year to get back to the big-time, so he is right to not pass up such an opportunity.

If he was to pick up a serious injury playing for Hibs this season, the chance might not have come up again.

There is no doubt that Allan is a good player, and he could have been a creative force for Rangers, particularly as a lot of teams will probably sit in and defend deep against Mark Warburton’s revitalised side.

But Rangers have players already that are rejuvenated in there. He would have been a good addition but what you don’t have you don’t miss.

Rangers fans might be disappointed if the midfield wasn’t playing well, but they’ve been outstanding this year, so most of them will let it go and say ‘fine, if he wants to go to Celtic then so be it, we’ve got a great midfield here’.

The Gers got Jason Holt from Hearts for a development fee of about £100,000 and he’s been different class since he arrived.

Andy Halliday has been a great addition and with Nicky Law, Dean Shiels, and Andy Murdoch on the books as well there really is an abundance of good, creative midfield options for Warburton.

All in all the majority of Rangers fans will be happy with what they’ve got in there.

And you have to have two interested clubs to make a transfer happen, the buyer and the seller.

Rangers were certainly interested in buying Scott Allan, but Hibs were not interested in selling him to the side they see as their main rivals for the Championship title. That’s fair enough.

Unfortunately for Rangers, when Celtic showed an interest, Hibs were only too keen on making the deal happen.

Then it’s down to the lad to make a decision, and it is his decision alone, nobody twisted his arm.

The player was desperate to go there in the end because of the obvious things like the chance to win leagues, perhaps trebles even, and play in Europe.

He’s looked at his own football career and spoke to his family, and he’s decided that he can’t afford to wait a year for the Rangers deal to come along.

It’s a magnificent opportunity for him and he’s grabbed it with both hands, so fair play to him.

He might get stick from some quarters but he’ll have known that would be the case, and he seems as if he will be strong enough to deal with that.

The Rangers fans will be unhappy because they thought he was going to sign a contract in January, and as a boyhood Gers fan, they might not understand how he can sign for their oldest rivals.

But he has obviously decided he isn’t going to wait that long and wants to be in the big time right away. That’s exactly what he’s done, and that’s fair enough. You’ve got to take what he says at face value, and that it was a footballing decision rather than one motivated by money.

He’s got a heck of a challenge ahead of him because he’s in there with a lot of good players in Celtic’s midfield, so he’s going to have to work really hard to get in the team.

It might be that he spends a lot of time on the subs’ bench, but he wants to be in the big time in Europe and everything else that comes with playing for a huge club like Celtic, and he’s got his wish.

Looking at Rangers’ midfield options, he might have spent a fair bit of time on the Ibrox bench as well.

From a footballing point of view it was a great decision for him, but admittedly from a Rangers point of view I’m sure it’s obviously a little disappointing for the club, because they felt sure that he was going to join up.

Allan’s got to look after number one, that’s all you can do in football these days, and that’s what he’s done.

Glasgow Times:

Why do we slaughter players for doing their job and entertaining the crowd

IN 1967, Jim Baxter played keepy-uppy at Wembley, the biggest example of showboating you’ll ever see in your life, and was hailed a hero.

We’d humbled England at Wembley and there he was taking the mickey.

We’ve struggled to talk up Scottish football because of the lack of talent that we have in our game, but now when Nathan Oduwa tries something a bit different he gets slaughtered for it?

It’s absolutely ridiculous. As a player now you can’t even run over to your supporters when you score a goal in case the fans fall down steps or fall onto the pitch.

It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world, but apparently it might happen in Scotland!

Look at Paul Hartley. You’ve got a manager who gets a 94th-minute equaliser against his team’s biggest rivals, goes absolutely bugsy and gets sent to the stand.

Absolutely ridiculous. They’re taking all the fun out of football.

I know there are rules there but common sense needs to prevail in this country.

We’re starting to get a decent league now with some great games since the start of the season, and then people come out with all this nonsense about showboating.

We’re in the entertainment business, but the moment you try to entertain in this country you get slaughtered.

When I played you might have had a word in the ear of a winger that tried something fancy against you and you might put a hefty tackle in on them, but that’s because they were good.

Now referees shouldn’t allow overly hard tackles even if they are early on in the game, so if we’ve got skilful players we’ve got to let them go out there and entertain.

Oduwa lasted 15 seconds against Ayr before he was hacked up in the air, but I hope he’s not discouraged.

He looks a talent and he’s got something a bit different in his locker. That should be applauded, not criticised.

Glasgow Times:

Gers need to be more clinical, yes, seriously

I DON’T think that anybody felt Rangers could play the way they’re playing so quickly and also get results.

The game at Alloa last week was a massive test of the Mark Warburton revolution, because last season Rangers just couldn’t do anything against the Wasps.

We were always toiling against them under the old regime, but Mark Warburton’s Rangers went there and won 5-1. They’ve pummelled them, and that to me shows that Rangers have turned a corner.

It is early doors, we know, we’re only four games into the season.

But the style of play that has been adopted, with full-backs high up the pitch, an emphasis on passing the ball through midfield and the amount of chances that are being created, are all highly encouraging.

Rangers fans have been starved of free-flowing, attacking football in recent times, and you can see now they are lapping up the football.

The only thing I would say against the team is that they haven’t been clinical enough. I know they’ve got 19 goals in five games, but it could be 119 with the chances they’ve missed.

There are going to be times when Rangers are up against a good side who are defending well that they’re going to have to take those chances.

That’s my only worry, but it’s a wee bit pernickety when the team are playing so well.

Your question for Derek Johnstone

CRAIG STEWART from Motherwell asked Derek: Do you think that loan signings could affect development of Rangers’ own youngsters?

No, I don’t think so. Rangers have to get up, it’s as simple as that.

Mark Warburton is bringing in quality competition, but if you’re good enough, you’re getting in the side.

He’s still giving players like Tom Walsh, Brad McKay and even Nicky Clark games, so it’s not as if they’ve been tossed aside.

If you have a question for Derek, just email him at dj@eveningtimes.co.uk and we’ll print the answer alongside the question.