Rangers centre-back John Souttar had a debut to forget as he was substituted midway through the second half during the 2-1 win over Livingston on Saturday.
The summer signing struggled to handle Joel Nouble, who got the better of him to score the home side’s opening goal.
Souttar’s replacement James Sands did considerably better and, while not every fan on Twitter lambasted the former Hearts player, many are concerned that he may not be good enough to start games for the Gers:
Souter had a nightmare
β Oor Wullieπ¬π§π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ (@goals60) July 30, 2022
This debut is going to stain his career for a while. I’m gobsmacked at how bad he has been.
β π¨π¦π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ BlueDel π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώπ¨π¦ (@Vengafish) July 30, 2022
He’s a better player than he’s shown today.
β Frank Van Castle π¬π§π³π± (@GeorgeS79826261) July 30, 2022
IMO, worst debut in a rangers jersey, and I saw Senderos
β StevieQatar (@StevieQatar) July 30, 2022
Yeah, not going to do him any favours with the fans after that debut performance. Will already be written off by a lot of our fanbse!
β Rob (@bobtap29) July 30, 2022
A shocker. Sands HAS to start
β Cambridge Bear (@scooterrangers) July 30, 2022
Souttar is a squad player
β Harty (@harty9) July 30, 2022
Give me one difference between Souttar and big George Edmundson
β Uncle Bryn (@hillinwelsh) July 30, 2022
π― he is struggling with this. Heβs a fantastic defender though. Will come good.
β Ian Hainey (@Ian_Hainey) July 30, 2022
He needs to get in the gym, lose some weight and sharpen up pronto. Biggest weak link I’ve seen is have in three seasons. Shows you the levels required! Actually worried for other teams to identify him as the weak link
β captain (@Joe9ti) July 30, 2022
Settling into a new club can be difficult so it’s probably wise not to make any sweeping judgements about Souttar at this stage, but it wasn’t a good start.
Managers rarely take off centre-backs unless they have an injury so Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s decision to sub the 25-year-old demonstrates how poorly he played. It will be hoped that he puts in some much better performances for the Light Blues going forward.