LEON BALOGUN has branded Rangers’ season as ‘too inconsistent’ in a brutally honest assessment.
The central defender has been troubled by injury recently, but had earlier played his part in what has so far been an underwhelming period at Ibrox.
Leon Balogun has struggled with injury[/caption]
He’s in his second spell with the club, having previously won the league and reached a European final[/caption]
Though they remain comfortably clear in second place in the Premiership, they are 13 points behind rivals Celtic.
The Parkhead team bested them in the League Cup final earlier this season, and recently the Gers crashed out of the Scottish Cup in the fifth round when they lost at home to Championship side Queen’s Park in one of the worst results in the club’s history.
Despite having won their last five league games, there is still widespread discontent in the support as many want to see Philippe Clement sacked.
Speaking to SportsBoom, Balogun bemoaned the up-and-down results and labelled the situation SAD
He said: “Too inconsistent. I think that’s the most honest review I can give.
“If you look at Europe, we’ve been pretty good. We got direct qualification to the Round of 16, but domestically, too inconsistent.
“I mean, I don’t want to be short or shy for words, but that’s just the perfect description.
“We’re too inconsistent. That’s why we are where we are in the league, which is sad.”
Despite a strong start to the season from Aberdeen pushing them back, the Ibrox team now have overtaken and gained an 18-point cushion in the runner up spot.
But as the Nigerian defender notes, European performances have acted as a saving grace.
Some major results against huge teams have helped Clement’s men gain a bye to the last 16 of the Europa League, with their opponents for that stage still to be confirmed.
Balogun was on the bench for Rangers’ 2022 UEL final against Frankfurt in his last spell.
He said: “It’s hard for me to say because when I’ve played for Rangers, we’ve always been pretty good in Europe.
“And I think there’s a level of confidence that we don’t have to really be afraid or hide from anyone, as long as we stick to what we want to do.
“And obviously, sometimes you need a bit of luck. but we’ve played some big teams like Tottenham, Manchester United.
“Man United was a close call, we lost in the end. Unfortunately, probably a draw would have been fair. We got a late equaliser against Tottenham.
But overall, Europe has always been, I think, a well of joy for Rangers, in recent years at least.”
Only a penalty shootout where the German side prevailed stopped them from claiming a major European trophy three years ago.
This earned them automatic Champions League qualification, but a tough draw saw them dominated by Ajax, Liverpool, and Napoli.
Since then they’ve picked up results against Sparta Prague, Real Betis, and Benfica.
This season they’ve also beaten Nice, Union St. Gilloise, Malmo, and Bucharest.
But with a club demanding as much success as Rangers, they cannot rest on good international performance alone.
The Hoops have won the last three league titles with a fourth looking increasingly likely.
But Balogun was in the 2020/21 Light Blues squad which stopped Celtic’s 10-in-a-row by claiming their 55th league trophy, their first since Walter Smith’s 2011 triumph.
He added: “I’ve been fortunate to be part of a team that successfully broke Celtic’s dominance in the past, and I’d love to experience that again.
“However, at this moment, it’s clear that we have a lot of work to do to challenge Celtic for the title.
“As things stand, we’re behind in the race, and this season has highlighted the need for significant improvement.
“We’re fully aware of the challenge ahead, but we’re determined to put in the hard work necessary to close the gap and compete at the highest level to reclaim the title.
Celtic’s goal difference is 30 better than that of Rangers, showcasing their current ability to brush teams aside in a way that Clement’s side can sometimes struggle to do.
They’ve also fallen behind in the financial side of football, as Transfermarkt found that Celtic’s B-team have made more in players sales this season than Rangers.
Over the last 10 seasons Celtic are well over £100million clear in that aspect, with the likes of Jota and Matt O’Riley bringing huge profit.
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