Pundit Stephen McGinn has questioned Rangers boss Michael Beale’s decision to leave out Borna Barisic in their most recent fixture against St. Johnstone at the weekend.
Beale has come under heavy criticism from Light Blues fans in recent weeks, citing their poor transfer window and slow start to the season. His choice to drop Barisic, one of the Gers’ star players, has been just another talking point regarding the brittle safety of his position.
What did Stephen McGinn say regarding Michael Beale’s decision to leave out Borna Barisic?
Speaking to the Go Radio Football Show, McGinn said: “Michael Beale sounded like he wasn’t overly happy with members of his defensive unit over the past few games and it was very interesting to see if there was a change [against St Johnstone].
“Obviously, he has left out Barisic for Yilmaz. I wondered if missing Celtic has anything to do with it. You weren’t available for us and all of a sudden you went away and played the two games for Croatia when we needed you last week.
“There is no doubt Borna Barisic is a better player than Yilmaz and he brings a huge quality on the ball, a delivery into the box and at set pieces.”
Should Michael Beale have dropped Borna Barisic from the Rangers starting XI?
Ultimately, Rangers were victorious in their game against St. Johnstone, as Danilo and Rabbi Matondo gave them the 2-0 win – nevertheless, it was a below-par performance from the Gers against a lacklustre Saints outfit.
Going forwards, Rangers looked very one-dimensional – it was through dogged perspiration, rather than inspiration, as to how they broke St. Johnstone down and scored past them.
In this instance, Beale appears to have gotten away with it. It was probably a mistake to not field Barisic, but St. Johnstone offered so little that it did not matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.
However, in games against sterner opposition – such as the Old Firm derby and in Europe – Beale may be left with several burning questions to answer if he continues to freeze out the Croatian international.
