Steven Gerrard has a big decision to make ahead of Hearts

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Steven Gerrard has a big decision to make ahead of Hearts


Like most fans, sites, groups you name it, Ibrox Noise very much favoured our Croatian international defender Nikola Katic over the man who got the nod ahead of him on Thursday, Joe Worrall.

We’d been unimpressed by the on-loan Nottingham man, and despite pre-Livi claims his Croatian buddy’s resting against Gary Holt’s men was a combination of being rested for Thursday and the player’s own disdain about plastic pitches, Katic once again found himself sitting it out for the visit of Austria’s finest.

As it transpired, fans had little to fear – the U21 England international delivered his finest display by a mile, with absolutely nothing getting past him and reassuring us greatly in the process that he might be good enough to play for the Famous on a regular basis.

However, while many might immediately respond to this upcoming question with the answer ‘rotation’, we do wonder now exactly how Steven Gerrard keeps happy both Katic and Worrall.

Rangers ideally should not chop and change such a vital part of the team such as defence so much – so simply rotating between Katic and Worrall every other match is surely a strategy fraught with peril.

It is evident Connor Goldson is first choice defender, period. The only match he didn’t feature in was the Ayr cup clash, and both his juniors handled that match adequately enough.

But when it comes to his partner, who is now first choice? Do Katic and Worrall take turns for the rest of the season?

Gerrard’s thinking behind the defence tomorrow will be fascinating. Does he reintroduce Katic who must be feeling a little frustrated right now, or does he keep Worrall in on the basis of his commendable display midweek?

Managing both players’ morale will be key to keeping them both happy – naturally there’s an option to play all three and guarantee satisfaction all round but it’s unlikely Gerrard will try that system again any time soon.

So, for now, watching who plays when and why will be truly compelling stuff. If we had to pick, yes, it would be Katic. He’s been extremely impressive pretty much all season so far and he’s a definite fan-favourite and indeed site favourite. We do love players who clearly want to play for us and run through walls for the team.

But with Worrall’s dramatic improvement on Thursday, he’s written himself significantly into contention, and tomorrow’s team news really will be have our attention.

Over to you Stevie!

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5 COMMENTS

  1. For me, I favour Katic, but you're right. It is a tricky one. I think we have to see how Joe performs over a few games, to see if he's got what it takes long-term, to rest Katic, on whatever basis. Nice to have bases covered, though. In case of injury.

  2. For Me, because its such a Vital Match, It has to be Katic

    This is one match where Stevie cant afford to mess around with the Team.

    Its a Must Win if we want to see the SPL Trophy wrapped in 🔴⚪⭕

  3. There is the option of playin 3 centre backs with 2 full backs just in front. 3-2-4-1 or can be 3-5-2 depending the opposition, it could work though and give us greater security defending cross balls and sides taking the long ball route as at fir park. horses for courses.it could also pay dividends at the other end where a katic could go top in games where u go route1 with time against u and teams parkin the bus.

  4. It should be remembered that Katic is OUR player while Worrall is not. Unless there is a drastic difference in ability then we should always favour the development of our own players.

  5. As robrob57 says katic is our player and should be our focus for developing, there's not much between them defensively. Worrell probably passes out from the back better, and does a bit more talking on the park. However, Katic is lethal at corners, that trumps it for me.

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