Loan Ranger: Andy Webster could find himself in Rangers' defence next term after impressing on loan at Dundee United.
Andy Webster has been told he has a part to play in Rangers’ plans for next season by manager Walter Smith. The defender, who is on a season-long loan with Dundee United, won his 23rd Scotland cap in the recent friendly win over Czech Republic and has been in fine form with the Terrors, who sit fourth in the SPL table.
Webster, 27, spent three years in the football wilderness after his move to Wigan Athletic was dogged by injuries and he suffered a similar fate when he moved to Rangers in 2008, spending time on loan at Bristol City to regain his fitness after playing just 11 games in three seasons.
A move to Tannadice followed as he struggled to break into the Rangers first team and he has turned his career around, playing 23 times for Dundee United and playing from the start in Craig Levein’s first match in charge of the national side.
That upturn in fortunes has alerted Smith, who may need a replacement centre half if David Weir, who turns 40 in May, decides to end his career. The Rangers boss, who is preparing his team for the arrival of the Dundee club in the Scottish Cup at the weekend, hopes he can recreate his form with Rangers next term.
"I have been impressed by Andy," Smith told Rangers News. "He has been captain at Dundee United and, as someone who is on loan, that's a real accolade for him.
"It's a reflection of how the people up there view him and the reason I let him go elsewhere was because he was going through a terrible injury period here.
"He wasn't settling down but I'm hoping the confidence he gets from going out on loan and playing can kick-start his career when he comes back to us next season."
Rangers are subject to takeover talk from a consortium headed up by former QPR director Andrew Ellis and he may lead big changes at Ibrox come the summer. Smith, together with Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall, are working without contracts as the uncertainty continues to hang over the SPL league leaders but the manager hopes that, whoever is in charge next season, Webster can make an impact.
"I'm not sure of what future any of us will have here but I think putting him out to United has worked well for him,” said Smith. “He had a hard period here where, due to contractual situations and his transfer from Hearts to Wigan, he stalled a bit.
"He had a terrific start to his career but it hit the skids when that happened to him and he was unfortunate when he came here and played just once in two-and-a-half years.
"If my memory serves me correctly, he scored in that one against Gretna but injuries limited him a lot. I think he's over that now. I certainly hope he is and I like to think he can come back with the confidence he had three or four years ago."
