Nile Ranger has publicly apologised to his current employers Blackpool and his previous teams as the controversial striker admitted this week that he has “taken things for granted”.
The 24 year old, who had previously played for Newcastle, Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday and Swindon, was surprisingly retained by Blackpool over the summer following the club’s relegation to League One.
This decision, made by the club’s board, came after Ranger had gone AWOL last November and he has not played for Blackpool since.
The forward, who has been plagued by off the field issues his entire career, took to Twitter on Monday evening to issue an apology in which he also stated the desire to re-start his career.
“I have seen two of my good friends pass away,” the 24-year-old said.
“Whilst overcoming this it has made me realise life is really short and I have really been taking things for granted.
“I would like to use this opportunity to thank Southampton, Newcastle, Swindon and Blackpool for giving me the chance to experience the dream of being a professional footballer.
“To add to this I would like to apologise to everyone at these clubs including management, players, staff and fans. I should have given more and been a better role model.
“I would also like to add I am sorry to my current team-mates at Blackpool for being missing for a long period of time and not attending pre-season and putting in the hard work during this time.”
Ranger added: “Truth be told I’m just a young boy who has been living the dream and playing a game which I do love and miss deeply, and hope that one day I will be able to get back on a pitch and play because life is really too short.”
Despite recently posting videos of himself training in Blackpool’s kit, it appears Seasider’s manager Neil McDonald won’t be integrating the forward back into the first team picture at Bloomfield Road.
“He’s come back to cause a bit of havoc and some headlines. He didn’t even turn up on Friday, so that’s what we are having to deal with.” McDonald told the Blackpool Gazette.
“The player has no future at this club,” he added.
“You’ll have to ask the hierarchy why he is still here.”
It remains to be seen how the stand-off will end or in what direction Ranger’s career will progress, if at all.
