Patterson – should he stay or should he go? Gers fans have their say

James Tavernier’s contract situation has reportedly taken a positive turn with the news that Rangers are confident of him signing a new deal.

With this in mind, the future of Nathan Patterson comes back into focus with the club and country’s “brightest prospect” now facing a seriously uphill battle for regular game time next season.

Vital Rangers believes that he should stay and that the decision is down to Steven Gerrard to make sure that he is played enough to develop whilst providing top level back-up to the skipper, signing an understudy would simply be a waste of money.

But what do the fans think? We asked contributors to Rangers fan media what they think we should do with the Scotland youth cap next season, if we are to get the best out of him going forwards.

@Pena_Cartel – Gary McStay – who writes for the Four Lads Had a Dream blog, believes that the best place for Patterson to develop is at Auchenhowie:

“We now have a RB that is more than capable of stepping in to allow us to rest Tav when required.

“I believe Tav to be as important as any player in the squad and I don’t think there is any better way for Patterson to continue his development than playing 15-20 games within our system while still learning from the captain on a daily basis, especially given they have a lot of similar qualities.

“He is in the perfect situation to continue his growth as a player.”

@TremendoHendo72 – Graham Hendry – has contributed to the Heart and Hand website on behalf of Rangers Da’s everywhere and also feels that he should be going nowhere, depending on how Tavernier recovers from his knee injury:

“A lot will depend on whether or not we make the UCL. If we do, we can rotate him and Tav for the first half of the season and see where we are come January. Definitely keep him and review his situation in January.

“Need to see how Tav recovers and what his form is like.

“No harm in Patterson pushing Tav hard but we’d be foolish to loan him out in August.”

@Cammy26_2 – Scott Cameron – who can be heard on the Rangers Rabble podcast thinks that Patterson needs games to continue his development:

“James Tavernier has extended his Rangers contract and for all that I’m delighted with this news it presents a real conundrum for the ongoing development of Nathan Patterson in the same position.

“A years loan for Patterson to the English Championship next season I believe to be a sensible idea to allow him to continue progressing.

“Don’t believe when Tav is fit and firing again that he’ll be happy to be rotated, he’ll want to play every game like he has until this point.”

Patterson is good enough to be a Rangers player, that has been established through seeing him play in an Old Firm fixture and in the Europa League, sending him out on loan achieves nothing other than getting him a more regular game but we would be weakening our squad in the process – when Tavernier was injured this season, being able to call on the 19-year old was a huge part in maintaining our form, and ultimately, winning the league.