Boos, jeers and ironic cheers – it’s nothing Borna Barisic hasn’t heard before.
The Croatia international has been at Ibrox for nearly six years and he insists he’s dealt with the lot.
The Ibrox faithful certainly made their feelings clear last night as Rangers faltered in their Europa League group after being held to a damaging 1-1 draw against Aris Limassol. The result means their post-Christmas European football fate depends on whether or not they can defeat group leaders Real Betis away from home next time out.
Todd Cantwell was substituted after only 35 minutes by Philippe Clement. The former Norwich City and Bournemouth attacking midfielder’s frustrations were visible as he kicked a chair and slammed his seat as he took to the bench in place of Ross McCausland – who would go on to score Rangers’ equaliser.
There were audible boos when Cantwell left the field, although it’s not entirely clear what these were aimed at specifically, whether it be the manager’s decision to take him off, or Cantwell’s poor performance.
What was clearer though, was the cheers of joy when Sam Lammers’ number went up on the board as he was withdrawn in the second half for Tom Lawrence. The Dutchman has endured a difficult five months in Glasgow after arriving as one of Michael Beale’s top signings in the summer. So far, it just hasn’t worked out.
Barisic has been there himself, more recently and in the past. Misplaced passes led to a hounding from the packed Ibrox crowd. The team in general understandably received a tough time from the fans given the nature of the result and performance. He’s called for calm, insisting Rangers will learn from a difficult night.
“Obviously this is Europe and it’s hard because all the teams we’re playing are good,” the 31-year-old said. “Aris were also a good team but to talk about what we should have done better or not is hard. We’ll analyse the game and then talk in the dressing room altogether on what we can improve on.
“Listen, I’ve been here almost six years. I’m used to this. I agree that we’ve been a little bit nervous in some moments and maybe didn’t do the right passes.
“We need to analyse and be calm - or more calm in this situation - and make some better passes, especially in the final third and then punish the opponent. Then it will be much easier for us to play if we can score one or two goals earlier. We didn’t do that on Thursday night.
“There was some good play. I think we’ve played some good teams [in this group] and I think we need to stay positive and move forward.
“As you can see now, everything is open. We have secured Europe after Christmas for sure but obviously, we want to be in the Europa League. So, we are going to Seville to play against Real Betis. They are a tough opponent and it will be hard, for sure, but we believe in ourselves that we can do it.”
Rangers were criticised by TV punditry duo Ally McCoist and Derek McInnes post-match for lacking intensity, and not reaching their best levels to ‘wipe the floor’ with ‘average at best’ Aris.
The left-back doesn’t think it’s a fair assessment of the team under Clement as a whole, pointing to the players’ running statistics, but he did concede in the last two games against Aris and Aberdeen, their levels have been lacking.
Barisic added: “I don’t think it’s been missing in the last few games. Maybe in some parts on Thursday night and in the last league game. But, listen, things cannot change in one night, or two weeks, or three. I think we’ve shown some good football in the last few weeks.
“We’ve shown a high-intensity press and we have run much more doing things together. But, as I said, you cannot have a magic thing where it will go just in one night. We still need to work and focus on ourselves, that’s the most important thing.
“There have been cheap goals, I agree. But we need to work and focus on the things we can improve. There are still a lot of things we can improve but, as I said, it cannot happen in two days or two weeks, we need to work and that's the process.”
