Dujon is one of those players you can’t get away from... I just wish he wasn’t one who got away from me
Ex-boss Neil isn’t surprised to see Sterling bossing it at Gers.. only that it’s in midfield
PHILIPPE CLEMENT is convinced Dujon Sterling can play anywhere he likes for Rangers.
But if Alex Neil had got his way, he wouldn’t be at Ibrox at all.
The former Chelsea youngster joined on a free transfer and has quickly emerged as a fans’ favourite. And his new boss has been won over by the 24-year-old’s ability to plug holes in a team that’s been repeatedly hollowed out by injury misfortune.
Sterling has found himself filling in right across the backline as well as a number of midfield slots both central and wide.
Former Hamilton gaffer Neil recruited Sterling on loan for his old side Stoke at the start of last season and hoped to convince him to stay when his Stamford Bridge deal expired.
Neil said: “We wanted to sign him ourselves. We tried before he went to Rangers but the lure of European football and the opportunity to win prizes was a lot for him.
“I took him to Stoke last year and he was excellent for us. Physically he’s top notch and defensively too he’s probably one of the best I’ve had.
“I’m surprised he’s been playing midfield a lot for Rangers though.
“He did that when he was a kid but we predominantly used him as a right-back or at left-back. We even used him at centre-back because he’s quick and powerful.
“But I’m not surprised to see he’s broken his way into the
Rangers team because I do have such a high opinion of him.
“I always expected him to find his way in somewhere because he has great physical qualities and I’d expect that in the Scottish Premiership – he’d certainly be one of the best in that regard.
“He’s been at Chelsea since he was a kid, he’s had a lot of loan moves too, so he’s had a good footballing education.
“He’d been at Blackpool and Wigan before coming to us at Stoke, so he’s well versed in terms of playing at a couple of different levels and at a few different clubs.
“Technically he’s good as well – he’s just a good all-round player.”
It was Michael Beale who left
Neil disappointed when the former Ibrox boss won the chase to sign Sterling with an offer of a four-year deal.
The Londoner’s plan was for Sterling to challenge skipper James Tavernier for the right-back slot where he’d spent the majority of his early career playing.
But Neil admits that might be the hardest of all the positions he’s covered this season to get a regular game.
He added: “The biggest difficulty for Dujon is trying to get that right-back position at Ibrox from Tavernier given how many goals the captain offers their team.
“If Tavernier is not the
He was excellent. Physically he’s top notch, defensively he’s one of the best I’ve had ALEX NEIL SINGS STERLING’S PRAISES
right-back, Dujon would be a perfect fit in there. There’s no doubt about that.
“The problem is that with Tav, he’s the captain for a start so he’s an influence in the changing room. But also the number of goals he scores, you just can’t remove them from your team.
“Like any good player, however, Dujon will adapt in the meantime and will find himself a slot where he can be effective and show he’s got other strings to his bow.
“Clement will try to get as many of his best players on the pitch as he can and the way Dujon has been performing, he’s certainly been one of them.”
Like Clement, Neil had no issue slotting a round peg into a square hole if it would help bend the opposition out of shape.
He added: “The biggest thing I always felt about Dujon was that if you played him up against somebody, if you asked him to deal with an individual, then that player would be in for a tough game because he can run, he can pass, he can tackle.
“If we had a player in the opposition team who we felt would cause us a problem, Dujon dealt with him. That’s how we felt about him.
“He could just nullify threats because you can’t get away from him. He’s a type of defender that you need to beat two or three times to get past him.
“He was excellent. In one-vones against any opponent last year, he came out on the right side of it.”
Clement was shocked to learn after his October appointment that Sterling hadn’t made it into Beale’s side more often.
But when the change of management offered an opportunity, he certainly took it.
Neil, who parted ways with the Potters in December, said: “With the modern-day game, the one thing that is absolutely certain is that things change at clubs quite quickly – whether that’s you as a player moving on or the coach is changed.
“It’s how you react to that change that defines your period at that club.
“Dujon has clearly had a good reaction to the new manager coming in and has now found himself in the team as a regular. “Watching a few of Rangers’ recent games, I’ve thought he’s been one of their better players and I think the manager will feel the same. “I won’t be surprised if he kicks on now and finishes the season strongly.”