As Rangers boss Michael Beale confirmed a spate of absences prior to the victory over St Mirren, the inclusion of stalwart Croatian defender Borna Barisic was never in doubt.
Amid a dire season for the Rangers medical department – where a spate of consistent injuries have quite simply derailed our season – the left-back has been a regular feature for the side.
Save for his recovery post World Cup, Borna Barisic has been a regular feature for the Ibrox side and after several seasons of shaky performances has stabilised this campaign.
Indeed, across his 43 games this season, the left-back has probably been one of Rangers’ most consistent performers and his return of two goals and 13 assists represents a return to form.
Borna Barisic hires personal physio to regain fitness
Speaking about his resurgence, the 30-year-old spoke candidly about hiring his own physio and doing extra-curricular work for Rangers to maintain his fitness and really excel this season.
But whilst these comments certainly shine well on Barisic and his commitment to the Ibrox cause, they are anything but positive with regards an under fire medical department who are struggling to keep players fit.
“I decided that myself [to hire a physio and personal trainer and seek outside advice],” said Borna Barisic [the Herald].
“I would say I was always hard-working when I was in Croatia but you don’t see some things there that I saw here.
“I saw people were working more, they were going to the gym, using GPS things and these small tips help you to perform.
“When my first season finished I went home and I was thinking about everything and what my problems were.
“When you are injured for one month, you need two or three weeks to come back and a few games.
“When you are injured four times in a row like me, it was very hard. I couldn’t do anything.
“So I realised that I had to be fitter and I need to figure out a way to do it.
“I have my own physio coming every month here and we are working for a couple of days.
“I have my personal fitness coach also, so we are working and everything is fine.
“It’s not easy, but I love to do it and it’s no problem for me to come in on my day off. I’m always here to work and be ready for the next game.”
Barisic comments a sorry indictment of Rangers medical department
As admirable as this is from Borna Barisic, Rangers fans will be asking why the Ibrox medical department is not delivering this level of conditioning to its squad of crocks.
That the Croatian has had to look outside of Rangers to sort his fitness problems out is alarming and will raise red flags for Rangers fans sick and tired of relentless injuries.
At present, Rangers are without Robby McCrorie, Connor Goldson, Filip Helander, Ridvan Yilmaz, Steven Davis, Ryan Jack, Scott Wright, Ryan Kent, Tom Lawrence, Antonio Colak and Kemar Roofe.
At various points this season the club has also been without Ben Davies, John Souttar, Glen Kamara, Nicolas Raskin, Scott Arfield, Malik Tillman, Rabbi Matondo and Alfredo Morelos.
At what point does the injury crisis in the Rangers medical department stop being put down to bad luck and start being criticised for bad management?
The comments from Borna Barisic about hiring a physio are encouraging, as are the clear results, but the fact the defender has had to go down this path is a sorry indictment of what’s going on in the medical department of Rangers.
