Kris Boyd has destroyed Croatia international Borna Barisic and claimed he “doesn’t want to be at Rangers”.
Barisic joined the Glasgow giants last summer for a £2.2million fee (BBC Sport) after impressing Steven Gerrard during the Europa League qualifiers against NK Osijek.
Pundit and Kilmarnock striker Boyd has been unimpressed by the defender for his performances and can’t believe he gets selected ahead of Lee Wallace.
“I look at the left-back, Borna Barisic, and see a player who doesn’t want to be at Rangers,” Boyd told the Scottish Sun. “Every time I see him he just goes through the motions and I don’t get it. Whenever the going gets tough he seems to be injured.
“The best left-back in the building is Lee Wallace and yet he can’t even get into any of the squads with midfielder Halliday the second choice. That whole episode just stinks.”
OPINION
Boyd’s typically outspoken view is likely to chime with those of Bears, who have been distinctly underwhelmed by the performances of the left-back since he was signed to much fanfare last August. Barisic started off reasonably well, and looked particularly effective in the early autumn. But he is the epitome of a player with a big reputation who appears to shrink in the Ibrox spotlight. The left-back played in both of the Scottish Cup clashes against Aberdeen, and stank the place out each time. In big games, the big players turn up. Barisic is good enough to have been capped four times by World Cup runners-up Croatia, but he has been a major disappointment at Rangers. He can’t be dismissed as a bargain capture, either. By Rangers’ standard, a £2million-plus fee is a gargantuan one. To say the Ibrox board will be fuming at the 26-year-old’s lack of impact is likely to be an understatement.