Fan scapegoat proves his worth as supporters rave over Rangers performance

Rangers fans and indeed Giovanni van Bronckhorst can take a tonne of things away from yesterday’s slaughter of Hearts at Ibrox yesterday.

They say you learn more in defeat than you do in victory, but we learned probably as much from Sunday afternoon as we did from Wednesday night, and both were valuable lessons.

But one of the biggest bonuses of the 5-0 stomping of the third-place Gorgie side was the return to the fold of Ibrox Noise favourite John Lundstram, who fans will be well aware we’ve bigged up since we signed him.

He’s been a scapegoat, so many times lambasted as junk or a donkey by many supporters keen to slaughter another victim they weren’t fond of, and of course he demonstrated his worth many times earlier in the season played in the right position. At that point fans fairly did admit they were wrong, and he was proving himself.

But Gio’s arrival spelled a period of ‘rest’ for the big scouser, and we seriously wondered if he had a future at the club, despite Ibrox Noise’s clear preference for him.

Well, yesterday’s outing v Hearts showed just how good a player John Lundstram is, played in the correct slot, able to work on both the defensive and playmaking distribution side.

This is where he’s on record as loving playing – getting stuck in, being physical, but showing tremendous composure on the ball and using it magnificently.

And that 9/10 display (by our rating) propelled him back into being a serious choice.

It gives the manager a glut of choice in midfield. He has to choose from Jack, Kamara, Lundstram, Ramsey, Arfield, Aribo, and Steven Davis. For, at most, 3 places, that’s seven absolutely splendid options.

Lundstram will have to work hard to hold onto his place, because there’s always going to be up to 5 players competing for that jersey.

And that is, of course, the way it should be.

We’ll now see what the future holds for the hard-working northerner at Ibrox.