Rangers caretaker manager Graeme Murty raised a few eyebrows by continually leaving out experienced centre-back Bruno Alves from the Gers starting eleven in their last three fixtures.

The veteran was seen as the Light Blues major summer signing and it was felt his winning mentality would benefit the rest of the squad.

But since the departure of Pedro Caixinha and Alves’ retrospective suspension after the League Cup semi-final loss to Motherwell, we haven’t seen Bruno in the first eleven.

Murty’s team selections were vindicated with Scottish Premiership victories over Hearts and Patrick Thistle, it all came crashing down around him when Hamilton Accies secured their first league win in Govan since 1926.

In truth, Rangers bossed most of the game and created plenty of clear cut chances that they just couldn’t put away. Hamilton hit them with the sucker punch but alas the home support have seen it all too often this term.

The Gers interim boss watched on as young defender Ross McCrorie inexplicably played a blind back-pass into the path of former Gers winger David Templeton who made no mistake in giving the Accies the lead.

In the build up for the second goal fellow centre-back Danny Wilson struggled to keep up with his opponent as Hamilton broke away to score yet again.

Now obviously the loss isn’t solely down to the central defensive partnership but it is obvious that if fit then Alves should be starting the next game.

Alves hasn’t been a superstar this season but I’d certainly say that he’s been the Gers best defensive minded player this term.

Yes he’s prone to get involved in some antics with opposition strikers but his no nonsense style is actually needed at Ibrox just now.

I don’t think Pedro help his compatriot’s case by coitinually starting Fabio Cardoso in beside him. You can tell that the younger Cardoso needed a bit more time to get used to the Scottish style, so having Alves and Wilson could have been better for everyone.

Wilson has always been better when playing alongside a more experienced partner, who will do they ugly side of things. David Weir and Clint Hill are perfectly good examples of teammates who seemed to get the best out of Danny and I think he’d be more up for it with Bruno at his side.

Alves would then have a better time of it by not having to worry about a nervous partner that he’d have to walk through games with.

I still think Cardoso will become a better player for the Ibrox side, he just needs a but more time to adapt.

I’m not overly surprised by Ross McCrorie’s mistake on Saturday, he’s still very inexperienced and learning. Murty should now protect him by taking him out and give the boy a breather on the bench. I’m sure his time will come again soon.

There has been speculation that the veteran Portuguese internationalist didn’t want a place on the bench on Saturday but other reports suggest he had a back injury. The fact he was in the stands and at the club’s charity evening suggests the latter is true.

In fact, Murty has praised the strong centre-back for not taking the huff when he wasn’t included in the starting line-up in the last few outings:

“It could be tough if Bruno chose to be but he has been brand new, a consummate professional.”

“He’s easy to deal with, he’s up front, honest and open and he hasn’t been an issue in any way.”

“That’s what I expected from a guy of his experience and class.”

With that in mind I’d expect that Bruno Alves, if fit, will be back in the Gers team on Friday night against Dundee as Rangers once again look to start to put a winning run together. It would make no sense not having their best defender on the park!

Posted on November 22nd, 2017 by scott
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