Jason Holt celebrates one of his goals from last season
By Decord reporter Spew Heevins
Speculation was mounting last night that Rangers are poised to make a sensational swoop for former Hearts prodigy and highly sought-after free agent Jason Holt, as Mark Warburton’s expert rebuilding job on the Glasgow giants continues.
Creative midfielder Holt (22), known to the Tynecastle coaching staff as “Baby Schweinsteiger” due to the similarity of his playing style to the German World Cup Winner, made the first team breakthrough at the Gorgie club in 2011, after an impressive season with their U19 team, who ran Celtic a close second that year.
The midfield schemer really made the breakthrough after being sent on loan to Raith Rovers to give him first team experience, where he scored on his debut in a 3-2 win over Hamilton in November 2011. He played another five games in an impressive loan spell for the Kirkcaldy club before returning to Edinburgh in January 2012, having scored a respectable one goal in five games.
A Hearts insider told the Decord last night, “Jason is a fantastic player; so skilful and composed on the ball. He can pick a pass and has an eye for goal. He’s the type of player you build your team around. We had to send him out on loan to Sheffield United for the second half of last season, because it just wouldn’t have been right for such a talented boy not to be playing first team football.”
Holt became a firm favourite of the Blades’ fans, who quickly nicknamed him “The Scottish Scholes,” due to his small stature and attacking menace. They were dismayed when financial difficulties prevented the South Yorkshire club from offering him a permanent deal after his astonishing 5 goals in 15 league matches in League One.
Sheffield’s loss looks like being Rangers’ gain as the player has begun training with Rangers with a view to winning a deal.
A source close to Musselburgh boy Holt told the Decord last night, “Jason grew up a big Hearts fan, but when Rangers come calling, you don’t say no. He has been blown away by the facilities at Murray Park and after speaking to Mark Warburton about his plans for Rangers, he’s just desperate to be part of it all.”
Rangers will have to beat off competition from a host of League One clubs in England for the Scotland U21 international but Warbs is proving to be a huge asset to the Ibrox club when it comes to attracting top class players, with his reputation for innovative coaching methods and vision for the Govan giants being incredibly hard to resist.
With Hibs floundering in their pre-season of turmoil and Rangers positively thriving under the tutelage of the Master Baker, the bookies are expected to be offering very short odds on the Govan giants returning to their rightful place in the top tier of Scottish football by May.
The Raily Decord 