Rangers supporters have been in high spirits in recent times after seeing their side move up to second place in the Scottish Premiership table on Saturday.
Steven Gerrard’s men went into their encounter with Livingston at Ibrox having not tasted defeat in the league since the meeting between the two sides back in September, with the Gers since then winning four and drawing the other of their five matches. And the Light Blues made it five victories by avenging that loss at Almondvale Stadium, with goals from Daniel Candeias, Alfredo Morelos, and Scott Arfield sealing a routine 3-0 success for the Scottish giants, who moved up to second in the table following Hearts’ defeat to St Mirren.
Thus, there have been many thrilled Rangers fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom are likely to be interested by recent comments from BBC pundit and commentator Rob Maclean, who has named defender Gareth McAuley in his Team of the Week.
In fact, Maclean went on to suggest that the ex-West Brom ace ‘strolled through’ their win at the weekend, at the same time giving Gerrard ‘another option’ in the heart of his defence – statements that were both absolutely spot on given the 38-year-old’s fine performance.
Ultimately, the Northern Ireland international made the move to Ibrox back in the summer after leaving West Brom at the expiration of his contract, thus bringing the curtain down on a seven-year stint at the Hawthorns, in which time he became a hugely adept Premier League centre back.
Thus, Gerrard knew that McAuley would bring a wealth of experience both on and off the field as well as ability to his defensive ranks, only for injury to prevent him appearing in any of their opening 12 Scottish Premiership games of the season.
However, the 38-year-old played 45 minutes of their 7-1 hammering of Motherwell on November 11, and earned his first start as a result against Livingston on Saturday – and what a decision that proved to be from Gerrard.
And that’s because McAuley was excellent in the heart of the Light Blues backline to help them keep just a fourth clean sheet of the season – it’s surely no coincidence that, in the 135 minutes of football the 38-year-old has played this term, Rangers haven’t conceded a goal.
And while he has so far struggled to force his way into Gerrard’s first team plans, back-to-back impressive efforts suggest that he has indeed given the Gers boss something to think about, especially given his side haven’t exactly shone defensively in recent weeks.
Thus, even at the age of 38, Maclean is absolutely right to heap praise on McAuley for his outstanding performance for Rangers on Saturday, a display that he rightly states gives Gerrard ‘another option’ in defence, and thus something to think about ahead of matches against Villarreal and Hearts later this week.
Rangers fans… what do you think? Let us know!
