Football fans tend to have rather short memories, and perhaps the more critical members of the Rangers faithful need to cast their minds back to the beginning of the campaign.
At least, former Ibrox stalwart Andy Halliday certainly thinks so.
He could barely believe his ears when he heard the criticism start to rain down like an unwelcome cold shower on an otherwise balmy spring afternoon. Connor Barron may have lost his place in Philippe Clement’s starting XI of late – Nico Raskin has been in ‘outstanding’ form alongside Mo Diomande – but lest we forget just how impressive the former Aberdeen youngster was in his first few months at Ibrox.
Arguably no Rangers player performed better in the opening 12 weeks of 2024/25.
And while the 22-year-old’s influence has waned recently – Connor Barron was subbed at half-time as Rangers lost at St Mirren and has only played ten minutes since – it’s a long-old season and the club’s number eight has plenty of time on his side to earn back Clement’s admiration.
Andy Halliday backs Connor Barron to silence Rangers doubters
“I think some of the things that have been said about Connor Barron recently is ridiculous,” an exasperated Halliday fumes. “People [have been] caning him!
“He was Rangers’ best player for the first few months of the season. It is not Connor Barron’s fault that Rangers are having to rely on him to be their best player. He wasn’t signed to be their best player, so its not his fault that everyone else around [him] has not been doing well.”
Rangers have not exactly been flying without him either. Philippe Clement’s team have won just two of their last five matches with Barron starting all of them on the bench.
Raskin may be playing the best football of his Rangers career but, with Diomande’s form up and down, perhaps Clement would benefit from bringing back a player who’s intelligent use of possession and his tireless work ethic without it could be key to helping control games which otherwise tend to spiral out of control.
Take Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Hibernian for instance, or that similarly dramatic clash at Motherwell.
- READ MORE: Rangers Transfer History 2016-Present
Philippe Clement says Barron so important at Ibrox
Only a fortnight ago, Clement spoke about the importance of Rangers three first-choice midfielders. Aged 23, 23 and 22 respectively, Raskin, Diomande and Barron are not only integral to the club’s success in the present, but also the future.
“Don’t forget that Nico Raskin was injured for eight, nine months. So, in the beginning, it’s impossible to be at your best after that long out,” Clement told reporters back in December.
“Diomande is here less than a year [arriving initially on loan from Nordsjaelland last January]. He had to adapt to things. Barron knows the league but is still a young player who can still grow. That’s normal for the three of them.
“They are in the midfield. It’s important to win the duels, it’s important in Scotland. People always say this about Scotland but the Belgian league is also the same, in the French league it was the same. It’s not as if you don’t have physicality there.
“You need it in every league. I think in every good league, it’s a big part of football, an important part of football. If you don’t have the basics by winning these duels, you have problems.
“It’s not like a Spanish team who can just play balls in between lines and then win games. That’s not possible in this league.”
