Rangers fans slaughter Ibrox Noise over Calvin Bassey

If there’s one thing we undoubtedly underestimated here at Ibrox Noise, it was fan feeling towards Calvin Bassey.

After a recent article in which we suggested LB wasn’t entirely comfortable with either Bassey or Croat Borna Barisic as the two options, the response from fans absolutely slaughtered the piece.

Not so much the criticism of Barisic, but it absolutely took apart the sentiments towards Bassey and told us in no uncertain terms how good he was and that he was clearly the best LB at Ibrox.

Last night’s performance from the Nigeria man was certainly no let down either:

He got the ball third-most of the entire team, managed two successful dribbles and was fouled twice, and while he didn’t intercept at all, he did tackle, block and clear plenty.

His distribution does need a little work, with only 1 good cross of 4 attempts, and none of his long balls hitting their mark, but as a workhorse there was little to fault him.

He also provided the (indirect) assist for Tav’s goal v Dortmund at Ibrox.

In short, fans have surprised us by strongly suggesting the former Leicester man is their player of the season, with many choosing him ahead of Tavernier, Aribo and Morelos.

From how he fared on his initial season under SG, the way Bassey has bloomed this campaign thanks to a complete physical makeover in the summer and taking advantage of Borna Barisic’s major dip too, the 22-year old’s present status in the team is now close to guaranteed starter.

We know he has work to do to truly become the complete LB, and he isn’t there yet (which is why we suggested we have weakness in that position), but Bassey’s recent displays have been among the most consistent.

Yes, he has made some big gaffes, and yes, his concentration isn’t perfect, which isn’t surprising for such a young lad.

But it does seem like Rangers have a first-choice LB for the big occasion now. And he isn’t Borna Barisic any more.