Glasgow Rangers winger Daniel Candeias started at the weekend, but the Ibrox side suffered a surprise defeat.
Daniel Candeias was one of the few Rangers players to emerge from last season with any credit after a very impressive first year at Ibrox. He was unquestionably one of the only success stories from Pedro Caixinha’s incredibly poor transfer window.
But after Steven Gerrard enjoyed a summer that was just as busy as one year ago, it appeared that Candeias was left with a much tougher time trying to hold down a place in the Gers side.
Ryan Kent and Eros Grezda arrived in the window, while Glenn Middleton has made a fantastic start to life in the first-team, so Candeias probably cannot afford to let any opportunity he receives slip through his grasp.
The Portuguese has featured regularly in the Scottish Premiership, but he could easily find himself falling down the pecking order with Kent performing well, Middleton looking frightening at times and Grezda still an unknown quantity.
And he has arguably done himself no favours with an extremely lacklustre display in Rangers’ defeat to Livingston at the weekend. He was certainly not the only member of Steven Gerrard’s squad to perform poorly in the 1-0 loss, but it was perhaps a performance that Candeias desperately needed to avoid.
The Gers cult-hero has looked well short of his best this term. He is yet to provide an assist in the league – which is almost startling given that he topped the Rangers charts last season with 10 in the top flight.
And after his performance at the weekend, it would probably not be a huge surprise if Gerrard took him out of the starting lineup for their Europa League clash on Thursday.
And given some of the promise that some of his teammates are showing, it may not be a huge surprise if Candeias has to endure a fairly frustrating spell before getting another chance.
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