Steven Gerrard has made the stunning call to rest James Tavernier for this afternoon’s visit of St Mirren at Ibrox.
The recently-appointed club captain makes way for new signing Borna Barisic to start in Govan for his debut, while Jon Flanagan takes up his natural RB position in the captain’s place for the first time as a Rangers player.
It must be borne in mind Rangers have another Europa League match this week and this selection was with that in mind, but nevertheless Steven Gerrard is making a big call to rest his captain and make full use of the resources he has at full back in order to maximise the use of his squad.
Flanagan was outstanding during the last match at Pittodrie, and Gerrard will be hoping for even better from his natural position, but Tavernier’s place on the bench is very intriguing indeed and should these two put in a fine shift today, it gives even more welcome headaches for the Rangers manager.
Very wise move in my opinion with an important European tie coming up
Agreed. Got to remember Flanagan is banned for midweek so a good chance to give barasic his debut at left bàck and rest Tav for midweek.
At last a sense of professionalism at rangers
I don't like resting first team players. I would have rested Katic, he is 21 and has played a lot at a high intensity and giving him a wee bit protection might be wise. Really though, top first team players should play every game. They can jump of at 70 mins if they have too. I want a consistent first team. Rotation can happen in January when the players have a right to be showing fatigue. It should still be a solid backline and do the job without Tav, maybe even more solid defensively. Alan stubbs will have looked at James's mistakes and identified that as a weakness. Him not being there removes this option and will make a hard job near impossible for St Mirren ( I hope).
If Mr Gerrard beats Celtic in September can we sing:
'All you need is Stevie, doo da roo da roo
All you need is Stevie , doo da roo da roo
All you need is Stevie, Stevie,
Gerrards all you need.'
To the tune of All you need is Love by The Beatles? Where should i suggest this to make it happen?
Have to agree with this decision, very wise,Barisic is cup tied for Maribor, this decision gives him his debut and let's Flanagan play in his natural position. We then have the skipper fit and ready for Maribor without ,in my opinion weakening todays team.
InsiderDude I agree completely.
Tav has been tremendous.
Need plan B's as all top teams do
Spot on Decision 👍
Decent Win Today Even Though I would have liked it to be 3-0/4-0 😁💪⚽
All for squad rotation, why risk a player against lesser opposition. We have plenty of players needing a game and St.Mirren at home should be easily beatable with a second string team.
Great debut for Barasic quite right to rest Tav as Barasic is cup tiedtiedd.We now have a manager that understand understands how to keep a team fresh and fit keep it going gaffer as the fans now know we have a team to make a decent challenge on all fronts
Wise and everything I've heard and seen of Barasic, makes me think he'll be a great asset for us.
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