OPINION
The 2018/19 season has been a mixed bag so far for Rangers midfielder Ross McCrorie.
The 20-year-old has long been seen as one of the club’s best prospects in years, but the versatile midfielder did not find early success under new boss Steven Gerrard.
McCrorie had to settle for a fringe role in the early season running, with the youngster remaining on the bench or out of the squad more often than not.
However, his fortunes began to turn towards Christmas, with McCrorie starting four out of their last five games in the Premiership before the winter break, including playing 90 minutes in their 1-0 win in the Old Firm derby.
Ahead of their Scottish Cup fourth round clash against Cowdenbeath on Friday, Gerrard has now spoken out about McCrorie after rumours he could leave the club on loan this month.
Gerrard firstly dismissed those rumours out of hand, saying “Ross McCrorie is going nowhere,” as quoted by the club’s official Twitter account, before expanding on his thoughts on the youngster:
??SG: We have had to be careful with Ross, when to play him and he has been superb in the training ground with his confidence coming back, it is a shame he is suspended for Cowdenbeath as he had earned the shirt. He has a great future here and is a potential future captain.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) January 17, 2019
It is pretty obvious from his comments here that Gerrard rates McCrorie very highly, and the fact that he was so adamant about him staying at the club shows that he has big plans for the Scotland youth international.
Something else which suggests that McCrorie is set for an increased role under Gerrard is the fact that he admitted in the same press conference that fellow midfielder Jordan Rossiter could leave on loan this month.
Rossiter has always been rated highly by Gerrard and everyone at former club Liverpool, but his injury record has taken its toll, and his potential exit opens the door for McCrorie to feature more highly in the manager’s plans.
All in all things are looking on the up for McCrorie, who is surely set for a more prominent role at Ibrox in the coming months after Gerrard’s press conference on Friday.