International breaks can be a tedious affair but what this one has shown Rangers fans who didn’t already know, is that Zander Clark should never be considered as a possible transfer target.
The Hearts keeper has done ok covering for Craig Gordon after his double leg break, however, ok isn’t good enough to be considered for a move to Ibrox, regardless of allegiances.
After not exactly covering himself in glory in the league cup semi-final against Rangers, Zander Clark again struggled at Hampden playing for Scotland against Norway.
Rangers make right choice in not giving Zander Clark a chance
For years Scotland managers could turn to three keepers that they knew they could trust in Allan McGregor, Craig Gordon and David Marshall.
Each one had spells as first choice and it was usually down to injury that saw the jersey being rotated.
For Steve Clarke, since Gordon’s leg break, he had to look a bit harder and managed to persuade Rangers-linked Angus Gunn to follow in his father Brian’s footsteps.
After Gunn, there isn’t much in terms of depth.
Liam Kelly has done well since leaving Rangers but lacks the composure required at international level whereas Zander Clark has shown that he just isn’t good enough at the basics when he is needed to make a difference.
Every one of the three chances Norway scored from should have been dealt with by the defence better – especially Celtic’s Greg Taylor – but once-linked Clark failed to deal with any of the crosses that resulted in goals.
He might be home grown, but Rangers need more than that, Robby McCrorie has proven that he could challenge Gun, earning the praise of Jack Butland, although his lack of game time sees him further down the pecking order than his ability reflects.
Even Jon McLaughiln is a safer pair of hands for Rangers than Zander Clark would be and he is miles out of the picture now.
It happens every time a player with Rangers connections plays well against us or gets called up for Scotland, however, on this occasion, the emotion isn’t strong enough to outweigh the quality – as harsh as that may sound.
