‘Always make 3 or 4 howlers’ Rangers flop is becoming Barisic 2.0

With the January transfer window set to open next week, Danny Rolle and the Glasgow Rangers board have some big decisions to make.

New signings are always exciting, so there will be a lot of attention on who they bring in to strengthen the squad, but there will also be some focus on who needs to move on from the club.

One of the most difficult parts of team building is knowing when is the right time to move players. The Light Blues have suffered in the past for failing to time their departures, such as in the case of Borna Barisic.

Why Rangers released Borna Barisic too late

According to Transfermarkt, the Croatian international spent six years at Ibrox as a left-back alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philipp Clement, making 236 appearances in all competitions.

However, in his final season at Gers, the left-footed star’s performances regressed and he was no longer the same player he once was at Ibrox.

The summer of 2023 might have been the best time for the club to sign Barisic, as he only had 12 months left on his contract at the time after registering nine assists in 30 Scottish Premiership games in 2022/23.

Instead, they continued to retain the Croatian defender and, as you can see from the statistics above, his performance in and out of possession regressed in the 2023/24 season.

Barisic then left on a free transfer at the end of the season as Clement opted to go in a new direction as a left-back, and Rangers may have regretted not letting him go sooner.

Current Rangers stars in danger of becoming the new Barisic

Now, with the Light Blues player regressing on the pitch, he is in danger of becoming a new version of Barisic at Ibrox.

In the summer transfer window, Rangers were reportedly interested in signing Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pearce Charles, but they ended the transfer window without adding another goalkeeper to their ranks in Russell Martin.

It’s a decision they may now regret, as first-choice goalkeeper Jack Butland made too many mistakes in 2025/26 and regressed season after season in Glasgow.

The English shot-stopper was inexplicably brought down at his near post by Lawrence Shankland in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Hearts, according to Sofascore, making it his seventh mistake leading to a shot or goal already this season.

After this loss, journalist Johnny McFarlane posted that “Butland will always have three or four howls a season, no matter how well he plays,” and unfortunately this has been true since the start of the 2024-25 season.

As you can see from the table above, the former England international made five mistakes that led to shots or goals in last season’s Scottish Premiership and Europa League combined, four more than in his first season at the club.

The slide in his consistency was clearly ringing alarm bells inside Ibrox. At the time, they were interested in signing Charles from Sheffield Wednesday to replace Butland.

However, the Rangers chose to support him by avoiding signing a new goaltender, and the Rangers were punished for that support as he has already committed more errors than he did in all of last season.

As with Barisic, Rolle could make a decision in January as the Light Blues appear to have kept Butland for one season too long and may need a new goalkeeper to challenge the Englishman.