James Sands ‘surprised’ as Rangers end Champions League journey
James Sands has been left “surprised” by the gulf in quality with other teams as Rangers suffered an ignominious Champions League group exit.
The Bears not only lost all of their six games in the group, but they also ended with the worst goal-difference ratio in the history of this competition.
Sands has suggested that it has been “extremely tough” for them to fight against three top teams in Europe, but they got better towards the end.
“It’s been an experience for all of us and we have to learn from it. It’s been a bit of a surprise for everyone,” said Sands, as quoted by the Daily Record (4 November, page 52).
“We had three of the best teams in Europe in our group – it was extremely tough. We were surprised by the quality but we got better as the group went on, which is a positive.”
Focus
Sands received a lot of criticism from the fans and pundits for his poor performance against Ajax in the final game that the Bears lost 3-1 at Ibrox.
In fact, Sands ( and others) had a poor Champions League campaign overall, and it’s unfair to put a blame on any particular player.
Sands is primarily a central defensive midfielder who can also play as a centre-back. But that is not his natural position. With the Bears missing a host of defenders through injuries, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been left with little option but to use Sands and Leon King in defence.
The inexperienced pair made errors and they got rightly punished.
However, it’s time for Rangers to learn from those experiences, and make sure they return again to the Champions League next season.
The focus should be on winning every game in the league and closing the gap with Celtic. The Gers are already four points behind and if they drop further points, the Dutchman would find really hard to keep his job safe.
In other Rangers news, a “crazy situation” has emerged at Ibrox that’s led to this star player being “gone” from the club.