Earlier on we harped on about Rangers Standard, about those of yesteryear, and where the current crop sits in the halls of fame per se.
Specifically in this one we want to forensically examine the midfield – is it up to scratch, does it need better?
One-by-one we’ll look at the players…
John Lundstram:
His CV is good. He’s an experienced Premier League player with almost 70 appearances at that level, and he’s snagged back a bit of form this season after a poor campaign last term. However, there are few Rangers fans totally content going forward with him in midfield, and when we compare him with Barry Ferguson or even Kevin Thomson (2007-2011 is the best barometer to measure against for practical purposes) it’s not a legit measurement. He’s also 29 now, and we’re not sure we’ll get a lot more out of him. Better player than given credit for, but compared with the alumni of the past, he falls a bit short. Rangers Class: 7/10
Ryan Jack:
He’s a problem. When at his best he was a goliath, and he’s a major reason we won 55. His covering Tav at the back made Rangers watertight back then. He’s not that player now, at 31, and he’s injured more than he’s fit. He’s been switched in position to an actual 8-to-10, and isn’t overly great at it. He’s not as good there as his days of a defensive 6, put it that way. He now plays the Scotty Arfield role of linking midfield with attack, and trying to cover defence too, and added to the injuries, isn’t the force of nature he once was. Miles off being a Scotland starter. Rangers Class: 6/10
Jose Cifuentes:
He came to Rangers with a great CV – LAFC’s best player, Ecuador international, it was a protracted signing and his market value of about £12M-£15M made the £1.5M price a snip. It’s not quite clicked yet for Cifu, who’s almost into December and hasn’t really impacted. There is talent there, he is a strong boy and he’s great at breaking up opposition midfield, but he’s quiet, lacking conviction and doesn’t offer anything in attack yet. He is one who ‘needs more time’ before anyone can fairly make a judgement on him. He seems a bit of the Mo Edu but time will tell. Rangers Class: 6/10
Nico Raskin:
Injury-ravaged these days, Raskin has missed a tonne of football this season and what he has played has been well below the level he set last season. Did himself no favours talking about his dream of playing for Chelsea, and the performances on the pitch haven’t justified such boasts/ambition. Did come with a great CV – Belgian U21 international, experienced Jupiler Pro, but the quality we saw last season hasn’t been there this time. He’s been disappointing. Rangers Class: 5/10
Kieran Dowell:
Set to leave anyway, this was a bad signing. Mediocre CV, and mediocre performances of what little he got earlier this season, that his highlight since joining was an Ibrox Noise rating of 8 in a pre-season friendly v Hamburg shows he’s miles below Rangers standard and shouldn’t be here. Another duffer from the Mick. Rangers Class: 2/10
Some may disagree with our scores, some may think this is bang on. Either way, it’s not quite Davo, Barry or Thommo is it?