‘Dips in form can affect you’ – Exclusive: Bruce delivers verdict on Hastie future at Rangers
We’re delighted to welcome former Scottish Premiership defender Alex Bruce as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Rangers…
Alex Bruce has said that winger Jake Hastie has “good potential” despite his loan deal at Rotherham being terminated early.
Hastie started his loan spell off in blistering fashion, scoring three goals in three games, and starting eight consecutive games.
However, his form fell off a cliff and he only started two more games before his loan deal was terminated by mutual consent in January.
Asked if that could damage his Rangers career, Bruce said, exclusively to Ibrox News: “That can happen. I think one thing about him is that he has got good potential. You’ve seen that he can play to a decent standard.
“However, with young players like him, your form can dip up and down – it just depends if Rangers have the patience to ride his dip in form out and give him an opportunity.
“Young lads, you often see they have peaks and troughs and then they level out by 26, 27 years of age. We’ll just have to watch this space.
“If he can consistently get to the level of performance that he showed when he first went to Rotherham, I would say yes, of course he can go back to Rangers and do a job.
“But those dips in form can affect you. The only people who know for certain are the coaches who are watching him every day.”
Hastie is 22 and no youngster any more.
The loan deal at Rotherham started so brightly for him and he’ll be bitterly disappointed at how it turned out.
He’s under contract at Rangers until 2023 and it could well be that another loan deal could be the best move for him when the 19/20 season ends.
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