The one small blot last night that we can report of course is Borna Barisic, but even then that one can be spun positively too.
Of course we wish the Croat a speedy recovery but sadly the former Osijek star has suffered injury issues from since he joined Rangers in 2018, and the latest one is an ongoing concern from a major collision over a month ago with Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes.
But there is that silver lining. As fragile as Barisic now seems to be, his replacement is an absolute unit and was simply outstanding last night.
Calvin Bassey, we reported in the summer, was being groomed as a Barisic replacement, and wasn’t just being brought in to make up the numbers.
The young defender, fairly unknown, was a top player, Steven Gerrard assured us – he said Rangers fans would be surprised just how good the giant lad proved himself to be, and if recent outings are anything to go by, it’s another one the boss got right.
Bassey’s ‘cameo’ arguably made Rangers even stronger last night, and tbh the torrential weather probably suited him far more physically than it did the man he replaced.
Bassey has really given Stevie the problem we expected – that we now may have two legitimate options for LB and he is more than cover, he’s competition.
Bassey didn’t join to sit on the bench, he joined to contest.
Defensively he’s stronger than Barisic, pace wise he’s quick, physically he can trample through what he needs to – and all this for a player we got on the cheap and who was effectively discarded by Leicester?
No, we’re going to see a lot more of the 20-year old, and we might just have unearthed yet another gem.
Basseys like a steam train the way he bomb forward lol
After the win at Parkhead I was thinking about the strength of our squad and how unworried I would be at losing a player through injury as we seem to have players standing by who are every bit as good. Everywhere except full back I thought. But Bassey showed on Thursday that, while maybe not an exact replacement, he is a more than capable stand in that brings something that Barisic doesn’t.
Outstanding in every department,a great addition to our now quite formidable squad,great capture from the tango man.
Still got to learn from the ball over the top for me happened a few times I’ve seen him ..
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