This is a divisive, taboo and very controversial topic, and as Ibrox Noise regulars know, this site is not afraid to cover this kind of ground. We may be criticised for it, we might be condemned, but we are always honest, and we know we have a lot of support among the Rangers fanbase for calling out as we see things. We know there will be ‘what tim wrote this’ or ‘get behind the team ffs’-type responses, but we aren’t going to stop praising and being honest in equal measure where we deem fit.
And with that in mind, the absolute nonsense we’ve heard for too long about Connor Goldson has to stop, and the most overrated defender in our club’s history needs to be called out.
He is absolutely, unequivocally not good enough to be a Rangers defender, and the biggest lie about him that has been filtered through the years he’s been at Ibrox is that he’s a ‘Premier League’ stopper.
That he was signed from a Premier League club in Brighton and he’s that level of stopper.
This is an absolute fabrication – Connor Goldson has made three, THREE Premier League appearances in his entire career – one when Shane Duffy (yes, THAT Shane Duffy) was suspended, one when then-manager Chris Hughton wanted to try a three at the back (they lost 0-4) and the final one as a late sub.
Goldson is, and never was a Premier League-level defender and it’s about time we called that nonsense out for what it is. That he couldn’t even supplant the farcical Duffy tells you the esteem he was held in by Hughton.
In 2015 he was League One with Shrewsbury, then in 2016 Championship with Brighton – and even then, only 24 appearances at that level. He has managed a career total of 55 appearances at that level, and spare us the line about heart surgery. He had it in February 2017, and only 7 months later was back on Brighton’s bench as a reserve in the Premier League. He was also benched plenty at Championship level before he was diagnosed.
This is, and always was, a Championship and League One-level defender, who like James Tavernier and Jon McLaughlin (at one point) couldn’t believe his luck to get a huge club like Rangers and be competing for silverware under Steven Gerrard.
Now, before we continue, this isn’t a hate-fest – we are just being absolutely honest about his career levels, and what we expect of Rangers defenders in his position. We expect David Weir, Terry Butcher, Richard Gough, Carlos Cuellar – even Lorenzo Amoruso played two seasons in Serie A with Fiorentina despite maybe not being quite at the level of the other luminaries on this list.
And then we look at the gigantic leap in quality we saw from John Souttar, who despite many fans’ misgivings about him absolutely soared in form at the end of the season.
But Goldson? He is a reasonable defender, but no more. He is Championship or lower, with no major career CV before he arrived at Ibrox.
There’s a very good reason no good Premier League offers came in for him before he signed the new Rangers deal.
He’s just not good enough.
Have to agree.
I have been rattling on about ditching Goldson for ages. I can think of more than a couple of times he cost us badly due to his lack of strength ability and presence. I would have been more than happy to have him leave I was hoping he would have left and not signed that terrible deal. Wilson and Robinson should have ripped up the deal and offered him a rolling 12 month contract for his arrogance and lack of respect or better still told him to sling his hook.
Agree with this too, if only we kept Katic instead. I still miss the big guy. As a defender he was miles better than Goldson. He was better at everything apart from was a bit rash as he was over eager but this could have been coached out of him easily. Still think it was massive mistake to let Katic go he loved us and we loved him was a match made in heaven LOL.
Comments are closed.