Steven Gerrard has quietly made a massive change at Ibrox

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Steven Gerrard has quietly made a massive change at Ibrox

One glance at the starting team sheet yesterday coupled with similar little looks over the past few weeks have revealed a glaring fact:

Stalwart Scott Arfield is no longer considered part of Steven Gerrard’s first team.

The Canadian international, one of Rangers’ best and most reliable players since Gerrard took the reins in 2018, has been reduced to a bench player, an impact man, and an addition to shore the team up when needed.

It is now abundantly clear the former Burnley star is not viewed as a XI starter any more, and we’re very split on our feelings towards this.

On one hand, he’s just such a good player, and Rangers perform better with him in the team. He’s reliable, a leader, and he’s not let us down at all the past two years. He’s a Rangers-standard player and we’re lucky to have him.

On the other, though, Joe Aribo’s in electric form and appears to have found his feet, which shores up attacking midfield, and while Ianis Hagi isn’t overly thriving on the right wing, it’s not Arfield’s best slot either. And for now, Kamara and Jack seem to have clinched the deeper midfield berths as things stand.

So, as long as the results continue like this, we really can’t have any complaint, and neither can Arfield himself.

It’s a shame, he’s a stellar player who gives everything for the cause, but it looks like, for better or worse, he’s not in the starting XI picture any more.

Of course this may change, and it’s a long season, so there’s plenty of space for him to get a lot of appearances, but for arguably one of Rangers’ most consistent and regularly-picked players to have barely started any matches lately does suggest he’s becoming more of a bench man.

As long as we keep winning, that’s ok.

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