The Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin experiment has to be over now, surely. The two Rangers heroes, lauded by so many fans last season and used as faith in Mick Beale, are both passengers this campaign and we have much better and hungrier players in their positions.
Cantwell was great last season, no one would question that, but he got distracted by Sutton, Tiktok and his own hype, and didn’t show up to preseason at all. The pattern never changed, and that’s two matches in a row he’s been hooked at half time in. Regardless of one good goal, Cantwell hasn’t been at the Rangers races since before preseason, and that’s nowhere near good enough.
Raskin was also great last season, but just like Cantwell he’s been subpar this one – boasting happily that Rangers are just a step in his football career, he’s played nowere near well enough for Chelsea (or anyone else) to take interest in him. And spare us the nonsense that he ‘needs games’. Funny how Sterling shone like a beacon in his position after coming in from the cold and not being match fit. We know fine well Raskin has been injured, but he was poor before it too.
Both of them are passengers, and we have better.
Tom Lawrence isn’t fully up to speed but he’s already shone a lot more than Cantwell. Despite, like Sterling, like Raskin, not being fully match fit, Lawrence is a smarter, more intelligent player than Cantwell and sees the passes. He is, admittedly, our only fit number 10 right now aside the ex-Norwich man.
Sterling? He’s been ‘sterling’ as DM, a mile ahead of Raskin, and while he was abysmally wasted at LW in an experiment that didn’t work v St Mirren, he is our best option beside John Lundstram back there.
Cantwell and Raskin will have to graft their way back into the team – they don’t deserve to start, they show little hunger or quality and we have much better options.
Fair play to Clement for trying to get more from them, but you can only lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink it. And neither Raskin nor Cantwell have any justification to play.
Their attitudes are also questionable – Raskin was dumped by Deila at Liege for his attitude, and Cantwell was basically dumped at Norwich for his.
This season, in Ibrox Noise’s view, we’re starting to understand why we got these theoretically talented players for such a small fee.
It looked like a bargain last season, but now they feel like a burden.
Stick them on the bench and make them earn and graft their way back into the team.
We have hungrier and better options waiting to take their places.