Ally McCoist finds it “absolutely baffling” that Ridvan Yilmaz has not been included in the Rangers squad for their Europa League campaign.
Philippe Clement’s predecessor Michael Beale decided to leave the Turkey international off the Gers’ updated UEFA squad list back in September.
That decision looked even stranger on Thursday (26 October) as Rangers were also without fellow left-backs Borna Barisic and Dujon Sterling against Sparta Prague in the 0-0 draw.
Discussing the team news on TNT Sports ahead of kick-off [26 October], McCoist said: “It’s a bold call. The first thing that sticks out for me is Yilmaz isn’t in the squad.
“If you’re going to spend the best part of a couple of million, three million, on a player, the first thing I’d guarantee is that he’d be in the European squad. So that is baffling to me.”
Unnecessary disruption
Clement was forced into a difficult situation against Sparta about his starting line-up due to a silly decision made before his arrival.
The Belgian was forced to go with a 3-5-2 formation, meaning an unnecessary change in formation and players being used out of position.
Had Yilmaz been available, he likely would have slotted straight in at left-back and there would have been minimal disruption to the line-up.
Yilmaz arrived at Rangers last year for an initial fee of £3.4million [Sky Sports], yet for some reason he has been considered a spare part.
With Barisic sidelined once again, albeit possibly for just this one game, Yilmaz may now be called upon more frequently.
Beale tried to explain his decision behind leaving out the 22-year-old a couple of months back, but the reasoning seemed strange.
Thankfully, with an experienced and successful manager in Clement now at the helm, the same mistake will surely not happen again.
