Life in Glasgow may have been strange enough for Ridvan Yilmaz to adjust to – then came Wednesday night and a real Ibrox eye-opener.
The Turkish full-back performed well on a rare start against Dundee and probably felt pleased to reach a major cup semi-final. Then came the boos as the crowd vented at the team’s display in a 1-0 win. My feeling is there’s greater emphasis on performance these days in comparison to the result than when I played. Clubs talk about recruiting managers based on their style of play rather than a history of winning results and success. But, purely on watching Rangers this season, the reaction is an accumulation of things – and isn’t surprising.
There’s not the same edge and energy as last season. Heavy Champions League defeats have dented confidence. These are not bad players. It’s about finding a way to get the best out of them in tough times. That falls on the manager and coaches to pick them up when they’re not feeling good about themselves and get them back to the level they’ve been capable of in the recent past. However, the starting line-up, without Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo, is probably weaker than last season. And that brings us back to Yilmaz, who is stuck in the middle of a debate about his recruitment from Besiktas for £5million.
