We Need More Players in Football like Todd Cantwell
Todd Cantwell is set to leave Rangers after Phillippe Clement confirmed he’s handed in a transfer request and will be training with the B team whilst he tries to find a new club. Speaking after Rangers’ 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City, Clement stunned the room with the news that the midfielder wants to depart the Ibrox club:
“Todd Cantwell came to my office a while ago. We have a really good relationship and we talked a long time about that. He came a while ago to say he feels ready for another adventure, that he wants another challenge. I spoke long with him because I think Rangers is a really good club for him.
I wanted to give him time also, so that’s why the last couple of weeks I didn’t speak about it. But he came back with the same request. So I’m going to be focused on the next couple of weeks on guys who are with their heads with Rangers.”
Cantwell signed for Rangers from Norwich City for a fee of £1.5 million in the 2023 January transfer window and he instantly became a fan favourite amongst the Ibrox faithful as they were impressed with his effort, flair and passion that he showed on the pitch.
The Dereham-born playmaker was never shy in giving his opinion, as he had a public feud with Chris Sutton where he called the pundit an “attention seeker.” The former Celtic striker used to praise Cantwell when he was at Norwich but after he signed for the Hoops’ arch-rivals – he changed his tune.
During the Englishman’s time at Ibrox, he made 64 appearances, scored 14 goals, with 12 assists, won the Viaplay Cup and helped Rangers progress to the last 16 of the Europa League. There is no question about it: Cantwell is a talented player but it is fair to say that he could have produced more in big games. He is a player who is confident, believes in his abilities, who isn’t afraid to speak his mind and does have a bit of an ego – which is a good thing to have, especially as professional footballer.
Sutton famously nicknamed Cantwell ‘TikTok Todd’, due to his prominent social media presence. Many supporters have been critical of Cantwell’s social media content where he would upload a montage of his best moments from a particular game or simply post motivational quotes on his story – harmless stuff.
The comments on his posts would be flooded with constant abuse demanding that he doesn’t post a video of his best goals and assists from last season, just because it was a disappointing one for Rangers. It’s simply ridiculous because no one has the right to tell the midfielder what he can or can’t post on his own personal social media.
There is a lot of negativity and problems at Rangers right now but Cantwell and other players posting stuff on their social media most certainly isn’t one of them. It would be a real shame if one of the reasons Cantwell has made the decision to leave Ibrox was because of the barrage of abuse he would need to endure on social media from people who were meant to be supporting him. We need more footballers in the game like Cantwell that aren’t afraid to be themselves, who are big characters and don’t act like robots.
By: Scott Bradley / @ScottBradleyX
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Getty Images