‘Can’t happen’: Ibrox hero slams Rangers for playing 22-year-old vs Ajax

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Former Rangers ace Graham Roberts believes the sight of James Sands starting at centre-half during Tuesday’s 3-1 Champions League defeat to Napoli is a damning indictment of the club’s poor recruitment, speaking to talkSPORT (2 November, 11am). 

How much blame should really fall on Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s shoulders?  

Rangers, swept aside by Ajax at Ibrox, are now officially the worst team ever to feature in the Champions League group stages; no wins, no points, two goals scored and a staggering 22 conceded. 

But while Van Bronckhorst certainly has questions to answer (where was the intensity or the fight that characterised the club’s very best European performances under Steven Gerrard?) bad luck and underwhelming recruitment are two more factors that should not be ignored. 

There is no Calvin Bassey at Ibrox anymore. The irony is, of course, that he produced perhaps his finest Ajax display against his former employers in midweek. Conor Goldson, Bassey’s partner throughout last season’s Europa League run, has also missed the last two group-stage games with a hamstring problem. 

With Filip Helander, Ben Davies and John Souttar also unavailable – and with Leon Balogun long gone – Van Bronckhorst had no real choice but to partner a central midfielder with 18-year-old Leon King when Ajax came to town. 

Rangers lose to Ajax as dismal Champions League campaign comes to an end

“He’s had a lot of injuries,” Roberts, a Scottish Premiership champion in 1987, points out. “Losing Goldson against Liverpool has left him with youngsters at the back.

“I think you have got to give him until the (World Cup) break now; two or three more games. The club has to back him. They haven’t backed him.

“I thought Bassey was a brilliant player. Balogun was a decent player. You’ve lost two decent centre-halves there and not replaced them. You’re playing a midfielder as a centre-half. That can’t happen.”

USA international Sands stood out in his favoured midfield role during Saturday’s convincing 4-1 victory over Aberdeen. Whenever he has been asked to fill in at the back, however, Sands has looked about as comfortable as Daniel Day Lewis in a Seth Rogan comedy; following up his red card against Napoli with another difficult evening.