Podcasts

Rangers: Journalist wants Ridvan Yilmaz to start tonight

|
Image for Rangers: Journalist wants Ridvan Yilmaz to start tonight

Journalist Joshua Barrie has told The Rangers Review podcast that he wishes to see Ridvan Yilmaz start for the Gers in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

Rangers are set to take part in the Champions League group stages for the first time in 12 years this evening when they take on Ajax, who were semi-finalists just a few years ago and were seconds away from making the final.

The Gers, however, are coming off the back of a very heavy and embarrassing defeat to their Old Firm rivals which saw them ship four goals on Saturday afternoon, and Barrie believes that summer signing Yilmaz should now be given his chance to impress from the start, urging Giovanni van Bronckhorst to start Yilmaz over Borna Barisic tonight against Ajax.

He said: “Yilmaz over Barisic probably won’t happen as well, but for me, offensively he was good [against Celtic], but I still think for at least one goal at the back post there was another example of him losing his marker in an Old Firm away from home.

Will Rangers win tonight?

Yes!

Yes!

No!

No!

“Yilmaz is someone that the club has spent a lot of money on, and I think he should play soon, because if he doesn’t play now, he probably won’t start at Aberdeen – how long do you go on with that being the case? So I just think there need to be changes after a game of that magnitude.”

TIF Thoughts on Yilmaz coming in for Barisic…

Barrie makes a good point that Rangers’ usage of Yilmaz, as they did indeed splash out a lot of money on the Turkish defender – they paid Besiktas £5m for the full-back. Despite this, he has still only started one game across all competitions this season.

Therefore, after such a heavy and high-profile defeat last weekend, this would offer Van Bronckhorst the perfect opportunity to shake things up and hand his new summer signing a chance to impress on the big stage.

1 of 10
carlos-pena-in-mexico-training

How well do you remember where Rangers' signings came in from down the years? Take our quiz to find out! First up, Carlos Pena was the Gers' most expensive arrival during the summer of 2017, but where did he join from?

It would be a baptism of fire for Yilmaz to be thrown into the starting lineup away to a European giant such as Ajax in a Champions League opener, but it could be a chance to see if he does indeed sink or swim at the level Rangers wish to be competing at.

Share this article