NO ORDINARY JOE
Gerrard sings the praises of star man Aribo
STEVEN GERRARD reckons Joe Aribo has the footballing world at his feet after the midfielder produced another sparkling show for Rangers.
The Ibrox boss singled out the 23-year-old for effusive praise following yesterday’s 3-0 Betfred Cup success over East Fife that set up a quarter-final trip to Livingston.
Aribo claimed his side’s third goal to make it four from eight games since moving north to sign a four-year deal in the wake of his Charlton contract expiring during the summer.
Gerrard is delighted by that piece of business and argued that the standards he maintained in the low-key surroundings of Bayview spoke positively of an approach that could take him
to the very top level. Asked how far Aribo could go in the game, Gerrard said: ‘As far as he wants. I hope he stays alongside me for years, but he has the world at his feet. ‘He has so many attributes. It’s okay having them, but if you have the right mentality and character you can go as far as you want to go. ‘Joe expresses himself. He loves playing football. He is robust, he’s leggy, rangy, can score a goal, can set them up, he tackles, he wins balls back, he’s skilful. He ticks every box and, with experience, he is only going to get better. ‘Everyone will go away talking about him today and rightly so. I am not sure how many good players have been at this stadium but I don’t think you will see many better than Joe. ‘He was outstanding from start to finish. He has scored four goals in eight games but it isn’t just about that, it is about all-round performances. ‘Top players turn up anywhere, it doesn’t matter if it is in front of 50,000, or 1,500, your standards are always the same and from day one Joe has done that. ‘It was a big change moving away from London but he has taken to it smoothly. I can’t wait to work with him for longer. He covered every blade of grass.’ New £3million defender Filip Helander set up Jermain Defoe for the first-half opener, before the Swede’s header deflected in off Ross Dunlop for what could be ranked as a debut goal. ‘Filip said it is an own goal but he was solid and no frills,’ added Gerrard. ‘I asked him to defend and he did that and George Edmundson was outstanding. ‘The first goal comes from Filip stepping in and beating the press with his pass. ‘I’m not sure if he is fully 100 per cent but that 90 minutes will get him a lot closer.’ Helander’s introduction was one of ten changes made by Gerrard after last week’s 3-1 win over FC Midtjylland. He was joined in making his debut by second-half substitutes Brandon Barker and Andy King. ‘They are not ready just yet,’ added Gerrard. ‘They haven’t played much football. ‘Brandon got a full pre-season but not many games. That half-hour will do him good. Andy is the same. He is a fit boy and really professional but it is similar to a Steven Davis situation earlier in that we need games into him as quick as we can.’ Rangers now face a trip to Poland for Thursday night’s first leg of their Europa League play-off against Legia Warsaw. ‘It’s important not to get ahead of where we are,’ insisted Gerrard after a fifth straight win. ‘It’s a big two weeks coming up. We have two huge European games and a big league game against St Mirren away sandwiched in the middle. ‘Then there is the first Old Firm game before the international break. So it’s a big two weeks and that’s all we need to concentrate on just now.’