Tim Howard lauds team-mates Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu for weathering Ibrox storm

EVERTON goalkeeper Tim Howard has been impressed but not surprised by how well his United States team-mates Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu have coped with the problems at Rangers.

The Ibrox duo are in Florida with the rest of the national team ahead of the friendly against Scotland in Jacksonville in the early hours of tomorrow morning UK time.

For Bocanegra and Edu, the return to their homeland has provided an escape from the ongoing turmoil at their club.

Rangers were forced to call in the administrators in February and Howard has had nothing but admiration for the way the pair have continued to deliver on the park despite events off-field.

He said: “Those two are professionals. Carlos is a leader and our captain and you expect that from him. Mo is a guy who is not easily rattled, he is one of those guys who just gets on with it and worries about his own performance and how his team does. I spoke with Carlos on a weekly basis when all that was going on and it wasn’t easy for him. I imagine it wasn’t easy for any of those boys. It’s a tough situation. I don’t know a lot about it, just what I get from the boys, but they have handled themselves well and they have played well throughout and that’s all they could do.”

Howard has sympathy for Bocanegra, in particular, who joined Rangers only last summer in the hope of playing at the top level in Europe and winning silverware – only to end his debut season empty-handed.

The USA goalkeeper added: “The way they started the season, they were fantastic and were a whole bunch of points clear at the top.

“It was hard because I’m sure he made the move with Champions League, titles, medals in mind, so to be hit with all that going on, I’m sure was disappointing.”

However, Howard’s own club Everton have benefited from Rangers’ financial problems after the cash-strapped club agreed to sell their top goalscorer Nikica Jelavic to the Barclays Premier League side in January.

The Croatian has impressed so far and Howard is looking forward to seeing how much of an impact he can make in his first full season at Goodison.

He said: “He’s been brilliant for us, he’s been great, it was a steal at the price we got him for his goal return. He has been fantastic and he is a great Everton forward – he works his socks off, he runs the channels, likes to get in behind and he finishes his chances. I think he got 17 goals at Rangers and 11 for us so that’s not a bad goal return for the 12 months.

“We are looking forward to getting him from pre-season. He has bedded in with the team now, which is great. Going into next season, he will be one of the boys and he knows the system and he knows the fans. We need a top striker and we got one.”

Meanwhile, Howard believes James McFadden still has plenty to offer Scotland if he can find the right club this summer.

McFadden – whose last cap was in September 2010 – is on the lookout after parting company with Everton for the second time at the end of the season.

Howard said: “He’s got bags of talent. He’s tricky because he can play on the right side and come in on his left foot. He can pick a pass out and he’s a good striker of the ball. Injuries are difficult but he is working his way back. He did well this year to get himself fit and we used him towards the end of the season.

“Faddy is someone I played with when I first came to Everton and then he left but I’ve always enjoyed being around him. I like his attitude and he’s got a boat-load of skill.”