Reports this morning suggest that Rangers winger Chris Burke has ?done a Shaun Maloney? and cancelled negotiations on a new contract, preferring to see what is on offer from other clubs in the January window.

It?s a massive gamble for a boy who has obvious talent but who has spent most of his three years in the Rangers first team squad on the treatment table.

Football now exists within a context wherein most of the pundits we see in the media are agents, or at least have an agency stake, so it?s not surprising when you hear some has-been trot out tripe like: ?The boy has to look after himself; football careers are short, you?d do the same?? etc.

But what about a bit of loyalty? In Maloney?s case what about a bit of loyalty to Celtic, the club who saw him through 2 seasons of serious injury? In the case of Burke, what about some to Rangers who have stuck with the lad through his various injuries and bouts of illness?

What about some loyalty to the fans as well, the people who pay the ridiculous wages these guys pick up?

Maloney and Burke are (or at least were) absolutely adored by their respective supporters. They were players the supporters could identify with, players who personified the ethos of the Scottish game. Now all they stand for is greed, opportunism and harsh, cynical reality. Their grasping steals the magic from the game.

There is also the point that from Rangers, there are few places to go that can really be called a step up. Burke may want to think about that as he contemplates offers from the Championship and the lower reaches of the Premiership. He may also want to think about what kind of offer a club will be prepared to make to a lad who has yet to manage an injury free season.

When David Murray had a word with the players last week about their terrible recent form, he reminded them that only two players, Gio Van Bronkhorst and Rino Gattuso can realistically say they have left Rangers for better things in recent years.

Burke and Maloney have already risked losing the respect of the fans with their antics, but they also stand to lose the chance to build careers at clubs that genuinely matter.

But football careers are short, right? You?d do the same, right? Bollocks you would. For some of us, it?s not all about the money.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 16th, 2006 at 9:58 am and is filed under Rangers. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.