James Penrice has warned Rangers rival Tuur Rommens he’s here to stay at Ibrox. The former Hearts left-back has been drafted back to Scotland from AEK Athens on a year-long loan after an injury to Gers’ Belgian ace left boss Derek McInnes facing a defensive crisis.
The 27-year-old wasted no time showing what he can do as he bagged a goal and an assist during an impressive debut win over St Mirren on Sunday. Rommens could be back from his groin strain within a month but having now claimed the jersey in Govan, Penrice is determined to cling on to it.
Loan deal includes permanent option
With the loan deal including an option to make his move from Greece to Glasgow permanent, the boyhood Rangers fan is planning on sticking around. He said: “Tuur is obviously injured but I'm coming in to play obviously. I want to keep performing, I want to make the jersey my own and hopefully I can do that.
“Staying here long-term is a conversation for the future but there's obviously an option in the deal, everyone knows that. I've only been in a few days so let me enjoy this one and then in a couple of months we can sort that.”
Previous interest and January disappointment
Record Sport revealed last December that Gers chiefs were keeping tabs on the left-back following his move to Greece. But Penrice - a title winner with AEK last year - admits he feared he’d missed out on a dream move to Ibrox when former gaffer Danny Rohl opted to go for Rommens last January.
“You kind of get doubts,” he said. “I was quite upset that it didn't happen in January, I'm not shying away from that. But as soon as I found out in the summer there was a chance I pushed like mad and it was the only thing I wanted.”
“January was close, it didn't happen for a number of reasons and I ended up staying, ended up winning the league with AEK. But when I heard there was a sniff this window, it was all I wanted. I pushed like mad and then I've got to say thank you to AEK as well because they made it happen.
“I told them I really want to come to the club and they facilitated it so I must thank them as well, but I must also thank the club here for showing the faith in trying to get me here.”
Reunion with McInnes and family support
Penrice is now looking forward to reuniting with McInnes having spent a few short weeks working with the new Ibrox gaffer before leaving Tynecastle at the start of last season. He said: “Obviously I was with him at Hearts for a number of weeks before I left. He tried to convince me to stay. Look, I know the quality's got as a manager, it's one of the reasons why I come here as well. He's shown a lot of faith by bringing me to the club and I can only thank him for that.”
Penrice has already begun repaying that faith with a dazzling debut. The Livingston lad had a huge contingent of his Gers-daft family in the stands to watch him help sink St Mirren in the Light Blues’ 5-1 Premier Sports Cup demolition. And he hopes there will be more for the Ibrox punters to celebrate in the weeks ahead following a difficult start to the campaign.
“I couldn’t have had a better debut,” he grinned. “It was brilliant but look it's more about the performance of the team. Five goals is brilliant for the boys and hopefully it's a start. I had about 10 tickets for the game so my friends and family were all buzzing.
“I couldn't actually see them to be fair. I didn't know where they were sat because I've only been here two days but I hope they were all happy. I felt quite comfortable out there and tried to add my voice for the team. I think it's got to be done. I played in this league before and you can't be shy in these games.
“And if I can come in and just help one per cent, two per cent then it's helping the boys. Somebody might tell me to shut up but I'll try to help everyone on the pitch as long as I can. And I think that's all we need. We need to be pushing in the right direction and I thought the boys were brilliant.
“It’s special when you score anywhere but I think for me, being at this stadium when I was younger, been in the youth set-up when I was a kid, that all added that wee bit extra and I felt that when I scored.
“Can this team still achieve special things this season? Absolutely. The building is full of talent. The squad that that we've got is exceptional and it's just about connecting the dots and adding that wee bit of confidence. If I can come in and add that 1 per cent, two per cent, help a couple other boys, it will hopefully push us in the right direction.”
