Aberdeen’s thrilling fightback away at Celtic has Rangers legend Barry Ferguson fearing the worst ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Jimmy Thelin’s Scottish Premiership pacesetters.
And who can blame him?
After losing at Kilmarnock and creeping to an unconvincing 2-1 win over St Mirren on Sunday afternoon, Ferguson is dreading the idea of Robin Propper going up against Aberdeen’s jet-heeled frontline at Pittodrie.
£1.5 million summer signing Propper struck up a fine understanding with Rangers teammate John Souttar during a run of five consecutive clean sheets in September and October. But with Souttar unavailable against St Mirren, a partnership of Propper and a 36-year-old Leon Balogun were pulled from pillar to post by The Buddies.
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson feels Toyosi Olusanya, his all-action number nine, ‘scared the life out of’ Clement’s re-jigged back four.
So Ferguson, while admitting that he is concerned over the lack of consistency in Rangers’ defence, is urging Clement to make one more change in pursuit of a win that would cut the gap between the visitors and Aberdeen to just three points in midweek.
Rangers urged to drop Robin Propper for Neraysho Kasanwirjo
“The thing that worries me about Rangers is they keep changing their backline,” Ferguson tells Go Radio. “I think that is so, so important when you are trying to build a team.
“The goalkeeper and your back four are predominantly are the strength of your team. For me, at this moment in time, it looks the weakest as they don’t know who it is going to be.
“I know they’ve had injuries at full-back but the centre back pairing? I am not sure [Clement] knows what he wants in there and that is vital. Going to Pittodrie, they’ve got pace in the front line, [they] make you defend quickly.
“I noticed it at Celtic Park, they turn you around quickly and run away from you. That could be a big issue for me.”
Ester Sokler opened his Premiership account as surprise packages Aberdeen proved their title credentials on the green side of Glasgow.
Pape Habib Gueye, meanwhile, has five already. Thus, helping offset the sale of Bojan Miovski to Girona.
And Ferguson feels that Neraysho Kasanwirjo, after impressing at centre-half following Propper’s 62nd minute removal against St Mirren, has earned himself a first ever Rangers start in that new role when Aberdeen come to town.
Barry Ferguson desperate to see Rangers claim Aberdeen win
“John Souttar is touch and go. I don’t know the injury situation but, if Souttar is not fit, Kasanwirjo has to go into centre-half,” adds Ferguson. “He has to play there.
“I have been impressed with him. I was impressed with him again at right-back and went into the centre-back position when [James] Tavernier came on for Propper. So if Souttar is not fit to play, they have to make a big decision in the centre-back area.
“And I think it has to be Kasanwirjo and Balogun.”
Clement praised the Feyenoord loanee after Kasanwirjo showcased his versatility with stand-out performances in two different roles over the weekend. The Rangers boss will need his potentially Souttar-deprived backline to be at it’s most solid, meanwhile, if they are to avoid slipping nine points adrift of the Premiership summit.
“This one on Wednesday night is absolutely massive for Rangers,” Ferguson says. “My mind set going up there is there is absolute no chance I am letting it go to nine points or stay at six points.
“That is the attitude you have to have. All credit to Aberdeen, they’ve had a fantastic start to the season and digging out some really good results. It is going to be tough, there is no doubt.
“But Rangers need to go and basically shut a few people up and go and show you’ve got the mentality, character and personality to go to a place like Pittodrie and make sure you come back down the road with three points.”
