Steven Gerrard had high hopes for Rangers’ Ryan Hardie.
Ryan Hardie ended 2018 in terrific form. There were justified calls from Rangers fans for Steven Gerrard to recall him to the side.
Rangers did recall Hardie, taking him to Tenerife for their mid-season training camp.
Rangers eventually felt that he would not be a first team regular for them, and sent him back out on loan to Livingston.
Upon his return to Livingston, Hardie has failed to score a single goal.
This is a spell which spans seven matches, and over the last fortnight he has lost his place in the starting line up.
Hardie now has a big obstacle to overcome. If he is going to succeed at Rangers, he needs to prove he can do it at Livingston too.
He will get a chance in pre-season at Rangers, but his form this year is making it easy for the club to send him back out on loan.
It’s possible of course that Rangers’ decision to recall Hardie briefly is to blame for his loss of form.
Rangers were right to do so, to take a look at him, but it evidently knocked him off his side and was a mental distraction for the young player.
His 2019 is so far shaping up as a disappointment. Hardie still has a couple of months to change that before the summer.
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