It was arguably Rangers’ darkest season since being liquidated and placed in the third division. In 2015, Stuart McCall’s side were humbled by Motherwell in the play-offs and consigned to a further season in the Championship.
In the January window that year, five players were sent on loan from Newcastle Utd to Rangers as reported by the BBC. Among them was Kevin Mbabu, who failed to catch the eye of McCall.
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The 55-year-old was talking to The Sun about Mbabu’s recent £9m move to German side Wolfsburg and how unimpressed he was with the Swiss international during his time in Glasgow. McCall said:
“Kevin Mbabu wasn’t someone who particularly stood out for me”.
He went on to talk about seeing him play for the reserves against Celtic:
“He got taken off at half-time as he had been booked in the first half. He was a bit hot-headed”.
Clearly Wolfsburg see much more in him than McCall did at Rangers. Mbabu left Newcastle and went on to make 78 league appearances for BSC Young Boys, and went on to displace Stephan Lichtsteiner at right back for the national team.
Rangers may not feel too disappointed about their eventual decision to not stick with the 24-year-old though, as James Tavernier is an established fans’ favourite and stand out player.
However, the inability to see anything in Mbabu shows perhaps how out of his depth McCall was as manager at the time, as ultimately he has shown that there is certainly a talented player there.
