It would not surprise me if theRangers left-back Borna Barisic has woken up with terrors every night since last Wednesday’s mauling in the Derby.
Uncomfortable in possession, making mistakes defensively all across the board and even finding time to relax himself for a squat workout whilst Abada ghosted past him for the third – it was a night to forget for the Croatian in the Bhoys’ Paradise.
He was a long, long stretch off the talents that Greg Taylor portrayed that night, way off the pace for admittedly one of the league’s best left-backs.
But the night under the lights at Parkers seems to have really affected him – according to theRangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
A former left-back himself, it was a showing that will have had the new boss pulling his hair out.
And according to the diminutive manager, Barisic has been affected so much that he needs help to regain his confidence.
For Borna, it was a difficult game,” van Bronckhorst said to The Scotsman.
Those are moments that will happen in your career.
The only thing we need to do is make sure we give him confidence, we help him. It is not easy. You see when he came on against Hibs, he had to come on at a split-second, which is always hard without a warm-up.
As the game progressed, he started to get in the game better. He is one of our players and we support him – not only me, but the other players. We support him to get the performances which he needs.
If a ninety minute mishap at Celtic Park has seriously broken him that much, then the derby after the split will hopefully give him recurring flashbacks with Abada looking to run riot once again.
