Rangers alarm bells rings after news on Leon Balogun before Celtic final.
Bill Leckie has slammed Rangers and said that “alarm bells” should be ringing if their Scottish Cup Final hopes hinge on the availability of defender Leon Balogun.
Philippe Clement is hoping that Balogun will be well enough to play for Rangers against Celtic on May 25 at Hampden Park, but Leckie feels that “says it all” about the present team management.
In their last Scottish Premiership game, the Gers conceded two late goals to Hearts to draw 3-3. Leckie implied that the Ibrox team’s worries over Balogun’s fitness are concerning.
“The fact that Clement’s sweating bullets over Balogun says it all about the state of the club he inherited,” Leckie said in a Scottish Sun column.
Alarm bells definitely should be ringing if your cup final plans depend on the fitness of a 35-year-old center-back who hasn’t made 50 starts for any of his ten clubs.
In their four previous Old Firm games this season, Rangers have given up eight goals; in their most recent encounter at Parkhead, they were hammered back-to-back in the space of a few minutes.
Clement was optimistic that Balogun would be eligible to play against Celtic following their most recent 3-3 draw at Tynecastle, but they’ll need more than the Nigerian to be at the top of their game if they want to win the Scottish Cup.
This season, the Gers’ record against their Glasgow rivals is dismal: three defeats and a 3-3 tie at Ibrox, where they overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 by scoring twice in the last moments.
At the end of the current season, a number of defenders, including Balogun, have their contracts expire. It looks like a significant overhaul is imminent. It’s unclear if a new contract will be extended to the 35-year-old.
There is a mountain to climb at Hampden, according to Leckie’s assessment of the “crumbling” Rangers squad heading into the Scottish Cup final, but after pushing Celtic hard this season, there are great expectations that they may finally defeat their Old Firm opponents.
