Michael Beale is set to defy Rangers fans’ wishes by making James Sands permanent if he manages to prove himself in midfield.
Ibrox Noise polled our readers recently to identify who of the two American loanees the supporters would keep, and 99% were loosely to strongly in favour of attacker Malik Tillman, while 0% wanted to keep James Sands.
But Rangers supporters these days appear to be very keen to jump on the backs of our players, and Sands, despite digging the club out of many holes earlier this season, isn’t held with any respect by the bulk of fans, and is very much a scapegoat when things go wrong.
And Michael Beale thinks it’s unfair, suggesting Sands hasn’t had enough time in midfield to showcase his talents properly, which is absolutely true.
He said:
“James Sands has had a bit of a knock. He was listed on the bench for Dundee United but once we got to the stadium he didn’t feel right. He hasn’t trained this week. He’s had a slight muscle issue. To be fair to James he’s had to play mostly at centre-back, even going back to the PSV games which were fantastic results. He came in as a guy to play in midfield and can play as a centre back if required and he has done that more than we expected. So I would like to give him an opportunity to play in his more favoured position before we make any decision on that one.”
In short, Sands’ best slot is midfield, and Beale won’t reject the lad before he’s had a fair chance to assess him in that position – which we may or may not see happen this season, depending on injuries and suspensions down the line.
Supporters, for the majority, have been extremely unfair towards Sands, abusing him and degrading his performances, generally with pretty emotional language which other players have not suffered anything like, nor should they.
Sands, unfortunately, is a very unpopular player with fans who just like to dismiss him when they get the chance. But it’s Michael Beale who’ll make the call, not them.
The boy should be in the midfield long before Kamara is even considered. He’s played almost 40 games for us now, he’s never had 1 assist or scored a single goal, yet he can’t be far off having around 10 man of the matches? He’s had more matchday sponsors motm’s than Tillman who has been scoring(6)/assisting(5)
I just want to see Sands kick the ball up the field the right way 🤞
He has to give him a go in midfield He’s a holding midfield player . I’d have him before Kamara who doesn’t want to be there and has downed tools
I agree with Beale that Sands should be given a chance in his natural position & not judge him as a CB. He was signed as a midfielder so play him there & let’s see what he can do & judge him on that, he’s been unfairly treated so far imo.
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