Andy Walker names four Rangers and Celtic players in team of the season so far
Andy Walker has named Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo as the only two Rangers players in his Scottish Premiership team of the season so far.
Celtic duo Jota and Kyogo Furuhashi also make up a team that consists of players from six Scottish Premiership clubs.
Balogun’s inclusion is arguably an unexpected one with the 33-year-old centre-back proving inconsistent in spells and Rangers’ defence, as a whole, failing to impress prior to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s arrival.
Still, Walker has been raving about the Nigerian on the Sky Sports website.
The ex-Celtic player said: “Leon Balogun impresses me when I see him.
“The game he played against Celtic, when it was so surprising to see him start, he handled that occasion very well.
“That’s what I like about some players, you’re thrown in at the deep end and they survive and show you they have so much potential.”
Odd pick
Let’s face it, no one in Rangers’ defence has stood out this season.
Motherwell’s Bevis Mugabe was the other centre-back that Walker chose but you could easily make cases for Charlie Mulgrew and John Souttar to be in there over Balogun.
Obviously, we’re happy to see Balogun getting some recognition as he has played well in a number of games. However, he’s also been sloppy at times and really struggled alongside Connor Goldson.
Since van Bronckhorst came in, Balogun hasn’t played too much due to an injury and Calvin Bassey has played alongside Goldson.
We have looked more solid in those games while Balogun has been out but Glen Kamara’s return to form in front of the back-four has helped out massively and perhaps made Balogun look worse.
Rangers haven’t conceded in six Premiership matches without Balogun though. In the five games prior to his absence, we conceded in each of them.
Either way, when Filip Helander is back from injury, we’d rather see him start but the centre-back options must be sorted out in January or in the summer anyway with Goldson and Balogun’s contracts expiring.
In other Rangers news, a Sky Sports pundit has predicted that a double exit could be on the cards at Ibrox in January.