Former Rangers attacker David Templeton has spoken about his personal struggles during his time at the Ibrox.
Signed from Heart of Midlothian in 2012 for £700,000, the winger hit the ground running at his new club scoring 16 goals and registering 11 assists in his first 24 games for Rangers. The Light Blues were playing their football in League Two – the fourth tier of the Scottish Football League system – after entering administration.
Inconsistency and a series of injuries forced Templeton to be sidelined as Rangers made their way up the Scottish football league system. He was ultimately released from his contract in 2016 as he struggled to repeat the form he had shown early on in his Rangers career.
Templeton spent more than a year outside of football and signed a short term deal with Hamilton Academical in March this year. His contract was extended following the completion of the 2016-17 season.
Although he insists that he does not regret his move to Rangers, he admitted that sometimes the pressure was too much for him to perform.
“When I moved to Rangers, things didn’t really work out for me,” Templeton said. “I wouldn’t say I regret it but looking at it now it didn’t work out the way I wanted.
“At the time, you could never say no to Rangers and it’s just unfortunate things didn’t work out for me. For all I know, things could have gone a totally different way and I could still be there. At the time I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to and had a few injuries there as well.
“It is a huge change going there, the expectancy, the pressure, everything. When things aren’t going well, it is a tough place to play. I wasn’t playing as well as I knew I could.”
Since joining the Accies, Templeton helped the club stay in the top flight after beating Dundee United in the Premiership play-off final. The 28-year-old has featured in all but one of Hamilton’s four games in the Premiership this season.
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