John Hartson has batted away suggestions that Connor Barron was “punished” by Rangers boss Philippe Clement for his mistake against Lyon.
The midfielder has been an ever-present in the Light Blues’ midfield engine room since his summer switch from Aberdeen – and has quickly made himself a fan favourite. But the Scotland U21 international made a costly mistake in the Europa League clash that gifted the Ligue 1 side their second goal – as his loose pass found Malick Fofana who led a swift counter attack before squaring the ball to scorer Alexandre Lacazette.
Just days later, the 22-year-old was dropped from the line-up for the Scottish Premiership showdown with St Johnstone as Nicolas Raskin was given the nod by the Belgian boss. Rangers fan Paul called into the Go Radio Football Show and speculated that the midfielder had been served a “punishment” after an “unfortunate mistake” in the rout at the hands of the French side.
Former Ibrox defender Craig Moore explained the pressure on Barron’s shoulders in response: “He has come in and he has done really, really well. I kind of feel that he has done as well as he has done because Rangers are not where they need to be. For Connor Barron to come in and be a mainstay and people to say all of a sudden ‘he will do this, and he will do that’ – he will do in the future, we hope – but I think there is so much pressure to do it now, when he actually needs others around about him.”
Former Celtic hero Hartson insisted the reason was just for the boss to shake up the eleven – rather than to the “detriment” of Barron. He said: “Sometimes when you are a young player you make a mistake. You need to make mistakes to improve.
“That is what being a young player is. He pulled in Raskin and I don’t think it’s any detriment to Barron. Barron knows he has been playing well. I think he just made the change to get Raskin in and just get some different personnel on the night.”
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