Rangers have several decisions to make ahead of the summer, both on and off the pitch.
Nils Koppen will be busy rebuilding the Rangers squad, but Patrick Stewart wants a sporting director and there is also the small matter of someone permanent to pick the team.
Not having a “proper” Rangers manager in place means that there are decisions needing to be made about the players who are out of contract.
One such player is Leon Balogun who might well have played his last game for the club.
Barry Ferguson made mistakes against Athletic Club, however, losing Balogun through injury was avoidable and the Nigerian international has given an update on why he went off.
Leon Balogun might have played his last game for Rangers
Speaking after the Europa League loss to Athletic, Balogun explained how he felt the Spaniards were the better side as well as why he had to go off:
“I’ve fractured my cheekbone again,” Balogun said after the match. “So, it’s the fourth time, I think, in my career.
“I knew it straight away, and I knew that I had to come off with it. I said, ‘Look, if there’s any chance for me to stay on…’ but then the pain normally kicks in like five or ten minutes after, and then it’s no.”
“No, I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he was out for the rest of the season. “We will see how severe but it will probably need a small little surgery, then a few days rest and I can go back on with the mask.”
Why Balogun might have to be content with a place on the bench
Unfortunately for Balogun, he might only be afforded a short cameo appearance to say farewell to a club he has grown to love.
Few “get” Rangers better than the veteran defender, it’s just a shame that he can’t stay fit enough to play 40-50 games a season.
There is also the long-term planning that Barry Ferguson should take responsibility for now and give Clinton Nsiala a run of games until the end of the season.
Only one of them could make money for Rangers in the future, and it isn’t the player who will be 37 in the summer and who has completed 90 minutes just five times in the league all season.
