One of Rangers biggest problems throughout the club, from top to bottom has been the lack of forward of succession planning, however, in the case of James Tavernier, they seem to have got it right.
Last summer, the squad was bolstered by the arrival of Dujon Sterling, but despite being an Ibrox favourite, he now finds himself second fiddle to another new recruit.
Neraysho Kasanwirjo was given his first start at right-back against St Mirren with BBC Sportscene pundit Marvin Bartley impressed with the Netherlands Under-21 international.
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Neraysho Kasanwirjo praised for Rangers performance
Kasanwirjo stepped into centre-half for the last 30 minutes and showed the struggling Robin Propper what a Rangers defender needs to do.
It was in his natural right-back role though, where Bartley thought he saw something familiar.
When asked if seeing Tavernier on the bench was a surprise, he said:
“I was very surprised, if I’m honest, I think people have been calling for James Tavernier to, potentially, have a rest for a long time, and it’s not happened.
“Listen, but he came into the team and did very well, he can definitely gallop and wants to play the ball forward when he can and he’s also technically very good so, to come in for James Tavernier, again, I don’t think he’s done his chances any harm.
“He’s very, very similar, in the sense that he’s like the James Tavernier of old that gets forward and overlaps and he gives (Vaclav) Cerny an option down the outside.
“He had a really, really solid game.”
Is Kasanwirjo the right fit to be Rangers right-back?
Who should replace James Tavernier at right-back for Rangers?
Kasanwirjo looked good, however, Philippe Clement could benefit from having two more natural defenders who are also comfortable on the ball playing on the same side.
As with his Dutch teammate, not many players beat Sterling for pace or in 1v1 situations, he might not be the tallest defender, but he has the athleticism needed to make up for this.
Against most SPFL teams, Rangers defend on the half-way line and being able to win individual duels as well as having the pace needed to recover or back-up teammates is a huge benefit.
These are qualities that have been missing for a while in Rangers rearguard, although in Kasanwirjo and Sterling, they have the opportunity to rectify this.
