'Very wasteful' 4/10 Rangers flop should be looking over shoulder at B team star with 'presence'
Yesterday at 08:30 AM
Rangers had a slow start to the season but are starting to show the early signs of recovery.
Even in a routine win over Dundee, Philippe Clement will have been encouraged to see as many good chances being created.
What won't have impressed the manager is how many good chances to put the game to bed with the gap between the good players in the squad and the rest still a real problem for Rangers.
Should Rangers consider Ross McCausland position switch?
Looking for fresh legs, Clement introduced Ross McCausland, and he was certainly full of running.
Not only did he help out defensively, but he got into some great positions to make something happen.
Clement was critical of the quality of the B team's Glasgow Cup win over Celtic but has shown that he will back academy players with the right attitude.
They also need to have the requisite quality too though.
McCausland is honest, however, he struggles to beat a defender, isn't lightning fast, isn't a great finisher or crosser of the ball – most wingers have at least one thing they excel at in terms of attacking qualities.
Presented with two chances to score, he didn't look comfortable with either and wsa branded ‘very wasteful’ in his 4/10 Rangers News player ratings.
Had the Northern Ireland international broken through as a right back, nobody would be any the wiser and his skill set is probably better suited to that position for Rangers where his work rate would be perfect.
Is McCausland's time in the first team running out?
Zak Lovelace was given a chance before McCausland only to see injury ruin his last 12 months.
After scoring the Glasgow Cup final winner, Lovelace served another reminder as to why he remains a better option off the bench.
Speaking after the game, B team manager David McCallum explained why he is so highly rated:
"Of course it is. I don't think any player should feel that you're entitled or guaranteed. And Zak wasn't at that. I think he understood the situation.
"But he also understood that he was going to have a part to play. Did we all know it was going to be the part that he did play? Absolutely not. But we knew he was capable of that. And I think he's shown that.
"He is a goal threat. He's got a presence. He's a finisher. He's got a strength that he can run against the back line, which causes threats and causes problems. So he's got a mixed variety of how he can impact the game.
"But I actually quite liked the way he's managed not starting the game. Like I said, I think every player should feel, as you're getting towards the senior game, that you need to play, and it wasn't the case with Zak tonight.
"Zak's obviously come back from injury, but you need to feel that you earned that moment.
"Zak tonight, like I said, he got injured a couple of weeks ago. So he wasn't ready to start the game and he knew that. The disappointment is fine. I think that's okay."
Unless McCausland learns to be as clinical as his former academy teammate, or changes position, cameos like his one against Dundee will only become a rarer occurrence.
