David Edgar, Cameron Bell and James Tessier discussed all of the latest Rangers news on the most recent edition of the Heart and Hand Podcast and spent some time talking about Gers forward Jermain Defoe during the show.
The 38-year-old striker played 64 minutes for the Gers last weekend in the Glasgow-based side’s 2-0 Premiership win over Livingston and scored Rangers’ second goal of the game in the 16th minute.
This game saw Defoe make his first league start of the 2020/21 season, while the £1.26m-rated forward’s goal in last Sunday’s fixture was also his first league goal of the campaign.
Last season, the veteran striker was Rangers’ top goalscorer in the league, but during this recent edition of the Heart and Hand Podcast, Edgar explained that some Gers supporters were surprised to see him starting on Sunday and went on to share that he doesn’t think it’s wise for fans of the Glasgow club to write off the Englishman despite his age.
He said: “There were a lot of eyebrows raised before the match at Jermain Defoe starting and I think that the manager sort of alluded to this when he mentioned that Jermain Defoe wasn’t going to be in the [Europa League] squad, that he felt that he wasn’t going to start these matches, so rather than have him travelling, that he would get the full week off, if you like, between the games and be ready to be used in this type of match.
“It was almost as if some Rangers fans had sort of written him off and I think that that was a bit premature considering, yeah, you’re probably not going to start him away at Parkhead or away in Europe but [Sunday] was his 27th goal for Rangers in 18 months in limited appearances. The idea that he can’t contribute this season, I think, is a wee bit far-fetched.”
Do you think Defoe has a big part to play for Rangers this season?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Edgar had to say about Defoe…
As Edgar explained, Defoe has been left out of Rangers’ squad for the UEFA Europa League group stage and perhaps his omission from that squad led some Gers supporters to think that he would not play a major role for Steven Gerrard’s side this term.
However, it’s clear that Edgar thinks that Gerrard’s decision to leave Defoe out of the Europa League squad was a calculated one that doesn’t necessarily mean the striker won’t be a significant part of his plans this term.
It seems from what Edgar had to say that he believes Defoe has been left out of the Europa League squad in order to give him some extra time to rest up and keep himself fresh for the Premiership and given that he performed so well in that competition last season and managed to score in Rangers’ most recent top-flight clash, perhaps this will prove to be a wise move from Gerrard if that is the case.
So, it will be interesting to see how significant the 38-year-old’s role ultimately proves to be at Ibrox as the 2020/21 season progresses.