Philippe Clement has a tough decision to make this weekend when Rangers face St Mirren.
For weeks, the manager went with a pairing of John Souttar and Connor Goldson only to see form and results necessitate a change of plan.
In came Leon Balogun to good effect, however, Philippe Clement now has to decide whether to keep the same pairing or bring the Rangers vice-captain back into the side – if he does, who should miss out?
Philippe Clement has Rangers selection poser in defence
Clement has four senior stoppers to call on at Ibrox with Ben Davies now fourth choice and a cert to be moved on in the summer given his profile, wages and what Rangers paid for him.
For Balogun and Souttar, they have spent most of their time fighting to play alongside Goldson but is it now a three-way fight for two places?
Out of the three, it is the big Nigerian who is unshackled by the burden of previous mistakes this season having largely negotiated games when he has played error free.
Remember, Souttar only forced his way to the front of Clement’s mind when Balogun picked up a knock.
As for Goldson, the manager has hinted that his absence was nothing other than a chance to give him a breather:
“When I came in we had at that moment four really good centre backs with Connor, John, Leon and Ben Davies.
“Ben has also been injured a long time and is coming back now.
“Connor did a massive job the last couple of months when we have been the best defence. But he looked a little bit tired to me last week. My idea was to let Leon play on Wednesday, to give Connor a breather. But Leon became sick then so there were circumstances where you need to adapt.
“I know the quality of these four guys, I know they are going to push the next few weeks to be in the team.
“If I can have more headaches like that in all the positions then I am sure we are going to be really successful the next couple of weeks.”
Goldson, Souttar and Balogun go head-to-head
How do they measure up against each other?
There are two main tools that can be used to determine who should start on Sunday?
- The numbers.
- Our eyes.
Balogun is a clear frontrunner in terms of basic defensive actions. He is more proactive and nobody wins more duels that the veteran.
For passing and bringing the ball out of defence, it is Souttar who is the main man.
The only question about Clement’s decision to pair them against Hearts was why Souttar was playing on the left when he was always going to be the one responsible for building play?
Using the eye test though, Souttar seems to have a bad habit recently of doing 99 things well but on the 100, gifting the opposition a golden opportunity.
As I said, it’s a tough call to make because they all have their own strengths and weaknesses.
On paper, it should be Souttar on the right and Balogun on the left, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Clement picks the same line up again or if he brings Goldson in to replace Balogun or Souttar.
Anything is possible.
The biggest concern, is that with two Old Firm derbies left, now isn’t the time for experimenting or messing about with an area of the team that can win or lose games on their own.
