By Pranav Shahaney

27th Apr, 2023 | 12:10pm

Rangers supporters will have woken up to the news that left-back Borna Barisic has been nominated with two other players for the Player of the Year award.

Along with the Croatia international, captain James Tavernier and summer signing on loan Malik Tillman have been picked as the club made the announcement on their official website.

While a case can be made for Tavernier as he leads the goal-scoring charts for Rangers in the league with 15 goals and seven assists and Tillman has been one of the most consistent attacking players with a decent return of 10 goals and four assists, Barisic’s inclusion raises eyebrows.

The 30-year-old has been a defensive liability of the Ibrox giants on the left side and has often made defensive errors that have cost the team crucial goals.

He’s not played with the desire one would expect from a senior player at the club and fans may even find it hard to name one good performance he’s had this season.

While it’s not been a great season for the club in any competition, including Barisic has raised major eyebrows as there certainly have been players better than him.

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Ridvan Yilmaz was signed in the summer to be his replacement but an injury-ravaged campaign has seen him struggle to make that spot his own at the club.

However, whenever the Turkish defender has played, he’s shown that he’s worth his grain of salt and should be a realistic candidate to be the first choice next season.

Many fans would want Barisic sold this summer so seeing him on the list for the best player certainly raises eyebrows.

Antonio Colak, despite being injured for a large part of the campaign, was a clinical goal scorer who could’ve made the list while even January signing Todd Cantwell makes a very good shout for the quick impact he’s had.

In other Rangers news, the club may now approach a sporting director who built a Champions League winning team and can hire him for free.