Exiting Rangers ace sums up 'everything wrong with modern football' as latest social media post lands backlash
The attacking midfielder completed a move back to the English Championship on Deadline Day
Todd Cantwell arrived at Rangers eager to reignite his faltering career - but he departed on a rather sour note after just over 18 months.
The dynamic former Norwich City attacker had lost his way at Carrow Road when he rocked up at Ibrox in the January transfer window of 2023, but fans were left convinced he would prove to be a success story in Glasgow after impressing during his first six months at the club under Michael Beale.
Six goals in 16 league games offered cause for encouragement, but the Englishman’s form nosedived when Beale’s first full season in charge quickly descended into chaos and his successor Philippe Clement never truly favoured Cantwell, despite starting matches regularly. He was often the first player to be subbed off, including at half-time during the Viaplay Cup semi-final win against Hearts.
Cantwell was banished to train with the Gers B-team by Clement earlier this summer after handing in two separate transfer requests in mid-July. Given his version of events for the first time, the playmaker said: “It was his (Clement) decision to tell the press that that was my decision. We'd spoken internally for a while before the season had finished and ultimately we couldn't find a happy medium for both. Listen, the one thing I am desperate to clear up is that I never, ever said I didn't want to play for Rangers Football Club. That never came out of my mouth and never would.”
Cantwell returned to the English Championship on deadline day, joining Blackburn Rovers for a fee of around £600,000. During the recent international break, he set tongues wagging again on social media by posting a video of him scoring a goal in training. That riled up pundit and former Hibs star Tam McManus, who admits he understands why a large section of the Gers fanbase began to turn on Cantwell towards the end of his career in Govan.
He claims the fact Cantwell thought it was a clever idea to upload the clip epitomised “everything that is wrong with modern football” and that he was chasing likes on Instagram rather than focusing on his football. In the video, Cantwell arrives in the box, turns and spins to connect with a cross with his left foot, back-heeling it into the net without the presence of any defenders.
McManus commented: “I genuinely get how the Rangers fans really turned on this guy. Probably everything that is wrong with modern football is in this one clip. Posting goals in training you might get away with down south but at a big club like Rangers, what the fans want is for you to do your talking on the pitch. Not for likes on social media.”