Manager Steven Gerrard has delivered a furious verdict on the treatment of Ross McCrorie by previous managers at Rangers, believing that playing him out of position could have ruined his career at Ibrox.
McCrorie burst into the Rangers first team as a centre-back last year but it soon became apparent to every supporter that his best position was in fact as a defensive-minded midfielder after he was pushed further forward by Graeme Murty.
However, he still played in defence on occasion, with his performance in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden against Celtic a particular blow for the young player.
Gerrard has now blasted the decision to throw him into the deep-end as a defender and it looks like he will now always be a midfielder in the Liverpool legend’s team.
As quoted by The Daily Record, the manager said of the 20-year-old:
You look at the centre-back position when we came in. We lost one of our main players (David Bates) on a free to Germany.
We had a player playing at centre-back when it wasn’t his real position – he was 19 years of age and had been thrown in at the deep end. He could easily have been destroyed, career-wise. We felt that decision was careless.
It highlights that Gerrard is wasting no time in stamping his authority on the first team squad and cares little for decisions or roles that had been established under previous regimes.
The comments will be pleasing for supporters to hear considering their long held belief that McCrorie is not a defender, but a midfielder. The club finally seem to have a manager that is in tune with what fans want.
What do you think Ross McCrorie’s best position is? Let us know in the comments below…