Rangers have found a stable defensive partnership for the first time in years with Connor Goldson and John Souttar being Philippe Clement’s go to duo.
The Gers boss seemed to prefer Leon Balogun in the early stages of his tenure but it is the Scotland international who has the jersey now.
Goldson has had a few partners over his time at Rangers with numerous central defenders coming and going with one of his regular colleagues having something of a nightmare over the weekend.
Ex-Rangers favourite Nikola Katic has moment to forget
Nikola Katic was the proverbial fan’s favourite in his time at Ibrox to the extent that I reckon most would welcome him back with open arms.
It’s safe to say that the player would crawl on broken glass to come back to Ibrox too:
“It was really difficult to leave as the support was amazing over the four years. Even when I was on loan, they wanted signed Hajduk shirts. It was a really big thing for me to be loved by the fans like that.
“I will always have a connection to Rangers. I said to (sporting director) Ross Wilson on my last day that I’ll see him in two years when he buys me back!”
Now in the Swiss league with FC Zurich, the Croatian has made a solid career for himself since leaving Rangers although he has had a moment he will want to forget.
Competing for European places, Zurich blew the chance to close the gap on Lugano in third place with Katic, partially, responsible.
One of the things that made Katic such a popular figure amongst Rangers fans was his mentality and aggression, however, he was occasionally let down by a limited technical ability with the ball at his feet.
A bullet header at Parkhead and a stunning half volley v Midtjylland were particular highlights, but he will want to forget about this one pretty quickly.
Presented with what looked like a tap-in, Katic showed none of the composure that he had done to score the goals mentioned above and completely missed the target.
Other than Filip Helander in recent seasons, nobody has really convinced as being the main man to partner Connor Goldson.
Katic was the first in 2018 but was controversially replaced by Joe Worrall.
Both were relatively young centre-halves but it was Katic who looked like he had the higher ceiling.
Few defenders have put in the sort of performance that he did against Legia Warsaw to qualify for the Europa League in 2019, he was colossal.
He had the physicality and basic ability to defend first that Helander had, he just wasn’t as consistent in possession.
It’s good to see him doing well, however, on this occasion, imagine if he had done this in a Rangers top in such a big game….
