Rangers Barry Ferguson and Clinton Nsiala.
Clinton Nsiala ‘shattered’ by Rangers drama – ‘Catastrophic’
Clinton Nsiala was less-than-impressive for Rangers in their 4-2 win over Kilmarnock on Wednesday.
The former AC Milan defender has been at the centre of attention for the Ibrox outfit over the last week or so after he put in two horror-show performances with his outing against St Mirren costing Philippe Clement his job.
Barry Ferguson is now the man at the helm and despite Nsiala’s poor showing against the Saints, the former Ibrox captain still chose to start the centre-back for their game against Derek McInnes’ men.
However, that once again ended in ignominy as the centre-back was hooked in the 31st minute with the Gers 2-0 down.
Craig Swan believes that due to Ferguson subbing the defender off in the 31st minute of their game against Killie, the defender has been left “shattered”.
When the centre-back was brought to Ibrox in the summer transfer window, it felt unlikely that he’d have to be used as regularly as he has been this season.
However, due to the injuries that players such as John Souttar and Leon Balogun have suffered this term, the youngster has been thrown into the deep end in a season where Rangers have been nowhere near good enough.
Writing for the Daily Record (28 February, page 51), Swan shared his thoughts on how the defender is likely feeling after what his manager did.
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“Shattered Clinton has the support of Ibrox Pals,” he wrote. “Nsiala suffered a shocker against St Mirren with two howlers gifting goals to Mikael Mandron and Toyosi Olusanya.
“That resulted in a 2-0 defeat, after which Philippe Clement was shown the door.
“Handed another start by new boss Barry Ferguson, it got even worse for the defender as he toiled in a catastrophic first half hour against Kilmarnock.
“Bullied by Marley Watkins and given the runaround by Bobby Wales as the home side surged 2-0 ahead, Nsiala was hooked with 15 minutes of the half still left to play.
“Nsiala paid the ultimate price for his weak show with the ignominy of the early departure.”
Rangers interim manager Barry Ferguson
Rangers manager, Barry Ferguson (Credit: Sky Sports News YouTube).
Ferguson needs to pick Nsiala up and get him back on track at Ibrox
The 2024/25 season has certainly been one to forget for Rangers and their fans, they have little-to-nothing left to play for despite there being around a third of the campaign still left to play.
Indeed, they’re still in contention for the Europa League but there’s no knowing whether they’ll manage to get past their next game against Fenerbahce, never mind the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham.
It’s clear that Nsiala has a bright future ahead of him but at the moment, it still feels too soon to have him included in the first team as a regular member of the first-team squad.
Of course, at the moment the Gers are down to their bare bones defensively so, at the moment, it’s what’s needed but once Souttar and Balogun are back, the 21-year-old needs to be given more time to develop into the player he’s expected to become.
For now, however, Ferguson just needs to pick the Frenchman up and make sure that he doesn’t get himself too down in the dumps, despite the fact he took him off before the first half had even ended.
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