Buy-one-get-two-free Lee Wallace not left on the shelf by Ally McCoist

Published on Sunday 15 January 2012 02:59

ALLY McCoist knew that he would be shopping for bargains when he took over as manager at Ibrox but one of his earliest signings for the club represents better value than even he had anticipated.

When Heart of Midlothian parted with Lee Wallace last summer, they were selling Rangers three players for the price of one.

There is Wallace the left-back, whose ability attracted Rangers in the first place. There is Wallace the centre-half, who once helped Hearts to win an Edinburgh derby. And these days, as his new club develop a settled back four, there is Wallace the wing-back, hurtling down the left with power, pace and a dangerous delivery to boot.

The only pity for McCoist is that he cannot play all three Wallaces at once. Given the resources at his disposal, the manager has plumped lately for the midfielder. He does, after all, have Sasa Papac at left-back, with Carlos Bocanegra and Dorin Goian in central defence.

Wallace has adapted to the role as though it were second nature, which is not so very far from the truth. It was his position as a youngster with Hearts until John McGlynn, then on the club’s backroom staff, converted him into a full-back. “I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s further up the park than left-back but similar in a lot of ways. I’m comfortable there. I’m getting forward a lot and having some joy. I’ve scored my first goal there . . . I’ve scored my first two goals there.”

That, in case you didn’t know, is Wallace’s little joke. Four days after opening his account in a league match against St Mirren, his header in the Old Firm derby was wrongly disallowed. Television replays showed that it should have been the game’s opening goal but Wallace hardly bothered to claim it. “I thought the keeper had tipped it on to the post and it had come back out. I looked quickly at the referee but he waved play on so I assumed it hadn’t crossed the line. I just got on with it. It was only when I went into the changing room that I got all the texts.”

Wallace says that he has sympathy for the referee and his assistant, neither of whom was in a position to be sure that the ball had gone in. He is also reluctant to use the incident as an argument for goal-line technology, which he says could be complicated in practise. The disallowed goal was an injustice, one that he could not bring himself to watch for at least a couple of days, but he is not one to make a fuss about things which, says McCoist, is the player’s most endearing quality.

“He’s a breath of fresh air,” the manager says. “He’s actually a little bit old school in that he’s refreshingly honest in the way he plays the game and the way he is off the park.

“He comes in, beasts into his training and does everything he’s told. He’s very inquisitive and has settled into the swing of things probably a lot quicker than most.”

Wallace, now 24, also has grown in confidence since swapping Edinburgh for Glasgow in a £1.5m deal. McCoist says the new environment, potentially intimidating for many young players, has brought him out of his shell.

“The spotlight is on Old Firm players more than most in Scotland, so, when you come to a club like ours, you have to take your turn in doing the Press or charity appearances. That all helps the natural progression of the individual in life. I certainly see that he is developing not only into a great player but also a really good man.”

For the moment, McCoist is reluctant to identify Wallace’s best position. He signed him to play left-back, is pleasantly surprised by his form at wing-back, and believes that he is “hard enough” to play in central defence. While that versatility is unlikely to be exploited by Scotland, whose biggest vacancy is at left-back, it will come in handy for Rangers, whose small squad is easily exposed.

McCoist, who also has Steven Whittaker and Steven Naismith on the books, wonders if the more adaptable, rounded player is a feature of the modern game.

“We are starting to see more versatile players coming through these days,” he said. “We certainly have one who has taken it to extremes in Steven Whittaker, who can play pretty much anywhere. I would hope this is down to the way we are coaching young players now because the one thing that we’ve always complimented good teams, like Brazil, on is that any of those players could play in any position in their team.

“I still think we have a long way to go before we’re at that stage but I certainly believe we have players who now have a far greater appreciation of other positions than just their own.

“That can only be a good thing, especially in our current financial climate.”

Taken from the Scotsman