John Souttar needs to be ‘nastier’ in his defending for Rangers – something that can take him to the next level.
That’s according to former Hibs defender James McPake, who spoke ahead of Rangers facing Hibs at Ibrox in the Premiership on Saturday.
Souttar is easily Barry Ferguson’s best central defender at the club, with the likes of Robin Propper and Clinton Nsiala struggling alongside him.
Kris Boyd praised Souttar’s ‘colossal’ displays against Celtic in the Old Firm and Fenerbahce in the Europa League as Rangers progressed to the quarter-finals.
But the former Hearts man was part of the backline that conceded three goals to Dundee last weekend, with Rangers going on to win 4-3 eventually.
And McPake, after watching the thriller at Dens Park, thinks Souttar lacks one key ingredient which can add levels to his game – controlled aggression.
James McPake wants to see a ‘nastier’ John Souttar for Rangers
McPake stressed that he loves watching Souttar having followed his career and admitted ‘feeling sorry’ for the Rangers star due to his repeated injury problems.
But he wants to see the nasty side of Souttar and thinks it’s not too late for Ferguson and his interim coaching staff to bring that out of him.
McPake told The Go Radio Football Show: “He is a joy to watch, the way he plays the game, but he needs to be nastier. And I don’t mean kicking people just for the sake of it.
“He’s talking about there (in his press conference) we can’t allow them (Dundee) to score early on. The way they conceded that first goal from a set play so early on in the game, that’s my pet hate in football.
“He needs to add that to his game. At 27, it’s not too late. And I can imagine Neil McCann and the way he coaches, he’ll be doing a lot of work with him on it.
“Just being that little bit nastier, controlled aggression into his game. Because if he adds that, he can add levels to his game.”
Souttar addresses Rangers contract latest
Souttar’s Rangers contract expires in the summer having signed for the club in June 2022 from Hearts on a free transfer.
He has made 87 appearances in total for the Ibrox giants, but insists he isn’t focusing on adding to that beyond the summer – at least, for now.
Souttar told reporters at the Rangers Training Centre: “To be honest, I’ve not spoken about that for a while. There has been loads of changes at the club so that situation has gone on the back-burner.
“I’m just concentrating on my football and let others deal with what they have to deal with. Hopefully it then gets resolved.
“There is so much going on at the club just now. I’m sure that when there is some stability that’ll get sorted.”
