Did Rangers make £800,000 mistake this summer?

Rangers fans were shocked when Declan John was linked with a loan to Swansea City. After all, the Wales international had been one of Rangers’ most consistent performers in 17/18 and following his impressive displays, Rangers made his loan permanent in January this year.

Indeed, it appeared usual left back Lee Wallace was going to struggle to get his place back given the form of the ex-Cardiff man.

Then Steven Gerrard became the new manager and John was gone.

As the site discussed earlier, LB has essentially been a problem ever since – no one player has completely convinced there, and the big Gerrard summer signing of Borna Barisic has been a failure on grounds of both settling in and fitness.

Not only was John gone, but it was a sale rather than a loan, and a sale for a pathetic £800,000. And with his departure went stability in that position.

With the acrimony over Wallace, the fitness and form of Barisic, the insufficiency of Halliday and the ‘he’s not bad but no more’ of Flanagan, the decision to cut John loose seems to have been yet another summer mistake from Gerrard in terms of personnel choices.

And it’s made even more ironic because with Stevie complaining about players for big occasions and attacking half his team for failing on them, John was one of the few who was able to deliver – after all, he’s now a Wales regular and ever-consistent whatever the occasion.

Gerrard clearly said this summer he was going to assess the squad and figure out who wanted to stay and fight, and had hunger, and who didn’t. Are we honestly trusting that Greg Docherty, Declan John and Jason Cummings fell into the latter?

All in all it just seems like Rangers had left back pretty solidly covered in the form of John and Wallace, and now there’s no one player who seems completely able there.

And that’s the choice of the manager.