The former Norwich City standout had somewhat lost his way in football by the time he arrived at Ibrox in the January transfer window of 2023.
He flourished in his first six months at the club under Michael Beale, scoring six goals in 16 league outings and regularly influencing games with his dynamic play.
But as Beale’s first full season in charge began to fall apart, Cantwell’s form dipped and he was then never truly favoured by Philippe Clement (even if he did play regularly).
He was hooked at half-time during the Viaplay Cup semi-final win against Hearts and a few weeks later he was replaced during the FIRST HALF of the Europa League draw with Aris Limassol.
This summer the Belgian banished him to the B team and made a bizarre scene at a pre-season press conference when he left and returned to declare that Cantwell had handed in a transfer request.
Cantwell has since given his version of events, stating: “It was his decision to tell the press that that was my decision.
“We’d spoken internally for a while before the season had finished and ultimately we couldn’t find a happy medium for both.
“Listen, the one thing I am desperate to clear up is that I never, ever said I didn’t want to play for Rangers Football Club. That never came out of my mouth and never would.”
Now he’s at Blackburn Rovers, having signed on deadline day for a fee of around £600,000.
But during the international break, some of his actions on social media have riled up a pundit who insists he sees why some Rangers fans began to turn on the player towards the end of his stay.
Cantwell posted a video of him scoring a goal in training and for former Hibs star Tam McManus, that just wasn’t on.
He said the fact Cantwell thought it was a good idea to post a goal from training epitomised “everything that is wrong with modern football” and that he was chasing likes on social media rather than focusing on his football.
In the clip, Cantwell arrives in the box and turns and spins to connect with a cross with his left foot, effectively back-heeling it into the net. But the fact it wasn’t against any defenders – let alone a live game – would have irked the Rangers faithful, McManus reckons.
McManus said: “I genuinely get how the Rangers fans really turned on this guy.
“Probably everything that is wrong with modern football is in this one clip.
“Posting goals in training you might get away with down south but at a big club like Rangers what the fans want is for you to do your talking on the pitch. Not for likes on social media.”
