The on-loan Spurs winger took time to adjust at Ibrox but a change of manager helped ignite his time in Glasgow
You can add Danny Rohl’s name to the list of people around Ibrox who would desperately love to see Mikey Moore back in blue next season.
“Me as well,” grinned the Rangers boss when it was suggested to him that there is a roll of signatories 50,000 long willing to sign a petition calling for the Spurs kid’s return.
As for Moore himself, well as much as he has enjoyed every minute of his time in Glasgow it doesn’t seem like he’s quite willing or able to yet give the people the answer they are looking for.
And no wonder.
On the basis of the displays the 18-year-old has put in so far, he’s destined for big, big things.
And given the state his relegation-threatened parent club are in right now, there’s every chance he will be recalled to North London in the summer and asked to provide Tottenham with the kind of leadership on the ball he has shown repeatedly for Rangers.
Whether that is in the Premier League or the Championship remains to be seen but the one thing that is for sure is that if the teenager with the boyish looks does leave Rangers never to return, he’ll be going having matured into a man and a supreme talent.
“I’ve loved every single second I’ve been here and I think the club is special and it’s special to me now,” he said after scoring in his man-of-the-match display against Aberdeen on Saturday night. “I feel the love from the fans in the stadium and I think they’ve took to me really well.
“For a loan player, I think they’ve been unbelievable with me, especially with the way we started and the way I started personally. For them to still back me and sing my name, it’s been something special, so I’m grateful to them.
“For me, I’m just going to enjoy the next seven games and obviously I need to speak to people back home. I never know what can happen. To be honest, I have no clue. We’ll have conversations in the summer and we’ll see what happens.”
If Moore does return to Tottenham, they will have to hope their own chats go as well with the youngster as Rohl’s early talks did. The German gaffer arrived at a time when the chips were down at Ibrox following the Russell Martin misadventure.
Moore wasn’t alone in having struggled but with Rohl’s encouragement, he quickly rediscovered the verve he’d shown while breaking through at Spurs last year under Ange Postecoglou.
“He’s been unbelievable to me from the start,” said Moore of Rohl. “For me, when he first came in, I was in probably the toughest moment I’ve had so far. He came in and straight away gave me a belief in myself and my ability.
“He called me on one of the very first days and said ‘you’re going to be a big player for us.’ For me, being a young player, that belief in me was something I’m thankful for. He’s still like that now, trying to help me. As much as I’m playing quite well, he wants me to go to another level. He’s been a massive figure for me and I’m grateful for that.”
Moore also appreciates his manager’s knack of keeping his cool amid the madness of the title race.
Saturday’s 4-1 win over Aberdeen means Gers remain three points behind leaders Hearts heading into the final seven tension-filled fixtures of the run-in.
“Yeah, he’s a calm guy, he’s a calm character and I think he helps us all,” said the winger. “The way he speaks to us, he gives you real belief in what you’re doing. He’s been unbelievable since he’s come in and he’s helped change it around, really, because we weren’t in a good spot at all.
“We’re in a lot better spot now and we can see what we can achieve at the end of the season. For us, it’s just keeping switched on for the rest of the season and just being a collective. As I said, I think that comes with everyone. It’s not just the 11 players on the pitch, it’s the bench and the fans and the rest of the staff. I think everyone can be a real unit in the last seven games.”
Rohl is doing his bit to negotiate the highs and lows of the race for the crown that seem to fluctuate on a weekly basis. And Moore is chipping in too. On Saturday, he was the driving force for a Rangers team that at times has a habit of running shy of ideas.
When inspirations waned, it was Moore who produced a spark to reignite the crowd. “Yeah, for me, I just try to go and enjoy myself on the pitch,” he explained. “I think it’s always a collective effort. Obviously, some weeks there’ll be better individual performances than others.
“As long as, as a collective, we’re all doing well and the leaders of the group are stepping up. I see Tav, that free-kick he scored at the end was unbelievable. There’s some big characters in the group, so I think if we all stick together and play a part in that, we can achieve what we want to.
“As a kid, you want to play in front of all stadiums in big games. These games are what you want to play in. You play the whole season and you want to be involved in a title race. Before you come up here, you say ‘hopefully we can win the league and we’re going to battle it out.’
“These next seven games are going to be massive for everyone involved, not just me. I think everyone’s got a big part to play in it. As a collective, we’re going to try our very best to do what we can.”
