Thomson, Kevin
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| Kevin Thomson
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Walter Smith signed Kevin Thomson on 30th January, making him the last signing of the 2007 January transfer window. It was thought his buddy Scott Brown would be part of a deal as every time one was linked, the other seemed to be said in the same sentence as if they were some sort of package deal. Thankfully, only Thomson came and Brown stayed at Hibs until the end of the season before moving to Celtic. He made a slow start to his Rangers career and his form only really picked up towards the end of the season. He's not thought of as a midfielder that would dominate games due to his combative style but he's quite capable of doing that on his day.
The 2007/08 season was a great one for him. With the way Walter Smith set up, his tackling and passing was crucial to the way we played and it suited him and us. Him, Ferguson, Adam, Hemdani and latterly Davis were important in the run to the UEFA Cup final. One suspects he deliberately got booked in the quarter final second leg against Sporting so he could be free for the second leg against Fiorentina! He's been criticised for his discipline and despite picking a raft of yellow cards he's only been sent off twice for Rangers, both in the 2009/10 season by ref Craig Thomson for two late challenges. His first goal for us was the game against Celtic on the 29th March. Half time was seconds away when Thomson passed it to Darcheville, who held it up, passed inside for Thomson to run onto and slot under Boruc. He said he wanted to be sick the feeling was that good.
2008/09 was turning out to be a great season and his last minute goal against Dundee United rescued a point for us; he beat three men before shooting past Zaluska from 20 yards. That extra point was rather important in conclusion. Then came the match at Rugby Park where Rangers were 2-0 up and a challenge with ex-Celtic player David Fernandes saw him fall awkwardly on his knee and scans confirmed he would miss the rest of the season. It was the second time in his career he had suffered a serious knee injury and the operation took place one month after the injury because of a clot in his leg that formed. Funnily enough, our season stuttered after that and didn't get going again until mid March. 2009/10 brought great expectations for Thomson, and one that he struggled to live upto initially. He was only allowed to play half an hour at most in Germany before being cleared for an hour in London for the Emirates Cup. He seemed slow and unfit in the first few months but he improved at the turn of the year. When you compare performances with his best pal Brown over the same time period you will clearly see Walter got the best deal.
Kevin Thomson - twice the player, half the price.
Middlesbrough
Thomson signed for Boro on July 16th for a fee of £2million, not even a profit for us. Upon signing he said,
"I'm over the moon! It's been a long time coming because it dragged on a little bit. I think the move has been in pipeline for the whole of the summer pretty much. I first heard there was an interest from Middlesbrough before I set off on holiday. When I got back for pre-season with Rangers, the manager told me the clubs had agreed a fee, but it was down to me if I'd like to move. As soon as I spoke to the manager, Gordon Strachan, it was a pretty easy decision to make. I wanted to come here. The whole set up is impressive but the manager impressed me too. The players he told me he was trying to sign intrigued and excited me. He is trying to acquire players who can win this club promotion and I like the way he is going about setting up the team. I'm not coming down here to be in a middle-of-road Championship team. When I think of Middlesbrough, I think of a Premier League club. The manager is determined to get the club back there and I think he's going about that in the right manner."
Let's be honest, Middlesbrough are a mediocre club that play in a half-empty stadium. They're barely a Premiership side and they couldn't even sell out their stadium in their run to the UEFA Cup Final in 2006. Obviously you don't want to annoy any Middlesbrough fans if they read this but that's the way many people see them. Why any first team Rangers player would consider them is beyond me and you'd have to imagine Thomson was thinking about his contract situation. His contract was running out and in normal circumstances I'm sure he would pick us over Middlesbrough. But things aren't normal at the moment.
Rangers Career Statistics
| Season | League | Cup | League Cup | European | Friendlies | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2006/07 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 1 | - | 13 | 0 |
| 2007/08 | 26 | 1 | 5 | - | 1 | - | 12 | - | 3 | - | 47 | 1 |
| 2008/09 | 11 | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | 5 | - | 19 | 2 |
| 2009/10 | 24 | - | 4 | - | 4 | - | 6 | - | 6 | - | 44 | 0 |
| Total | 70 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 123 | 3 |
Honours
- Scottish Premier League: 2008/09, 2009/10
- Scottish Cup: 2007/08, 2008/09
- Scottish League Cup: 2007/08, 2009/10
- 2 International caps for Scotland
- 2 International caps for Scotland B
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