Rangers have been told that they are underusing “one of the best” talents former Hamilton manager Alex Neil has ever seen up close.
Rangers behind in title race after Dundee postponement
As it stands, Rangers have the Scottish title in their own hands but sit just off the pace due to the postponed fixture against Dundee before the break. A point behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, they have a game in hand on their rivals and still have to welcome them to Ibrox before the end of the first split.
Philippe Clement’s side boast the meanest defence in the division, having conceded just 16 times all season, and though they were knocked out of Europe in the last 16, they could yet call it an extremely successful season if they bring home the top flight trophy for just the second time since 2011.
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What a massive boost this would be ahead of a key period.
But could they be doing even better? Former Hamilton boss Neil, who recently left Stoke City after spells with Sunderland, Preston North End and Norwich City, believes Clement may be unter-utilising a top talent.
Gers talent “one of the best” Neil has ever coached
Neil has claimed that Rangers have a ‘top notch’ defender among their ranks, piling the praise on young Dujon Sterling.
The 24-year-old former Chelsea man made the move to Ibrox on a free transfer last summer, despite interest from Stoke (where he enjoyed a successful loan spell), but he has struggled to nail down a starting berth for Clement’s side, often being used as cover across a whole host of positions.
So far this season, he has managed just over 700 Scottish Premiership minutes, and has been played across right back, left back, defensive midfield and even on the wings.
And Neil belives that he is being criminally underused at Ibrox, revealing that he saw him as “one of the best” that he has ever coached defensively.
“We wanted to sign him ourselves,” Neil revealed to Record Sport. “We tried before he went to Rangers but the lure of European football and the opportunity to win prizes was a lot for him. I took him to Stoke last year and he was excellent for us. Physically he’s top notch and defensively too he’s probably one of the best I’ve had.
“I’m surprised he’s been playing midfield a lot for Rangers though. I think he did that when he was a kid but we predominantly used him as a right back or at left-back. We even used him at centre-back because he’s quick and powerful. But I’m not surprised to see that he’s broken his way into the Rangers team because I do have such a high opinion of him.
“I always expected him to find his way in somewhere because he has great physical qualities and I’d expect that in the Scottish Premiership, he’d certainly be one of the best in that regard.”
However, he did admit that he understood why Sterling was struggling, given the importance of Rangers captain James Tavernier, who currently occupies the right back slot for Clement’s side.
“The biggest difficulty for Dujon is trying to get that right-back position at Ibrox from Tavernier given how many goals the captain offers their team. If Tavernier is not the right-back, I think Dujon would be a perfect fit in there.”
