MANNY FROM HEAVEN

Admirer Ainsworth tips Gers signing Fernandez for greatness because his cultured, ball-playing skills fit boss Martin's tactics like a jigsaw piece

- BY GORDON PARKS

THE road to Rangers for Emmanuel Fernandez had staging posts at Margate and Ramsgate but Gareth Ainsworth insists the signs all point towards a Glasgow success story.

Fishing ports apart, Sheppey and Spalding United have also been part of the £2.5million Ibrox recruit’s route from Peterborough, and Gillingham boss Ainsworth believes the giant defender’s move has been timed to perfection.

Ainsworth revealed he once opted against signing a teenage Fernandez during a trial spell at Wycombe and is adamant underwhelming career credentials mask the rapid progress of a player who could become a masterstroke signing by Russell Martin.

He said: “We had Manny in at Wycombe for a couple of weeks when he was a wafer-thin 16-year-old.

“He was nowhere near ready for the professional game and we didn't have an academy at that time so it wasn't an option for us to keep him.

“It was a really difficult situation and it's never nice to tell a kid he wasn't going to get anything as we didn't have the infrastructure for that.

“It's all changed now at Wycombe and if he had arrived it would be completely different. He's someone who has proved doubters wrong.

“Anis Mehmeti came into Wycombe around that time.