Gary McAllister: New Rangers signing Jon Flanagan deserves second chance

Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister believes Jon Flanagan deserves a second chance in football.

The former Liverpool right-back today put pen to paper on a two-year deal to become the seventh signing at Ibrox since Steven Gerrard’s arrival as manager, though supporters have been critical of this particular transfer.

In January of this year the 25-year-old admitted assaulting his girlfriend in Liverpool city centre, for which he received a sentence of 40 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order.

Jon Flanagan has joined Rangers on a two-year deal. Picture: Getty

While McAllister refused to defend the actions of the one-cap England international, he did insist the player showed enough contrition to be allowed to continue his career.

He told the Scottish Sun before the signing was confirmed: “I feel that it was unacceptable, most definitely. It was unacceptable and a really poor decision that he made in that episode.

“But he deserves a second chance. He showed remorse, he put his hand up and has taken his punishment. He wants to get on with his life and his football.”