BORNA GAIN
Barisic reveals how an honest chat with Gerrard gave him lift-off at Rangers
HE comes and goes, according to the Rangers chant for a new cult hero. Had he gone for good last summer there would have been no communal singing, more likely a collective shrug. As Borna Barisic now admits for the first time, giving up on a career in Scotland and quitting Rangers after only one season was very much on his mind.
So deflated was the defender by an inability to adapt and impress in a new league that he resigned himself to the idea that he and Rangers simply weren’t going to work.
The conclusion was reached as his erratic, inconsistent, injury-riddled season drew to a close and he was only an occasional pick for Steven Gerrard.
As Barisic signed off for international duty with high-class contributions to victories over Porto and Livingston, it is hard to imagine that Croatia’s left-back struggled here for so long.
Yet when asked if he ever wondered that Scotland just wasn’t right for him, he replied: ‘Yes, I will be honest. Yes. It was the second half of last season around March. It was a hard time for me.
‘That is maybe normal when you keep getting injuries, you start to think maybe it is too much. But then I looked at all the other players and I listened to what the gaffer said every day in training and I just kept working hard.
‘And when I came home in the summer, I thought a lot to myself about everything. On holiday, I thought about what I had to do better when I got back for pre-season.
‘And I said to myself, for my career, I can be good here. I knew I could do better. Now I feel in a very good place.’
There were false starts to the new dawn, however. Barisic may have returned fitter and stronger to cope with a league much more physically demanding and quicker than the one he featured in back home for
NK Osijek. Yet his confidence still looked fragile on opening day as Rangers rallied to a late Ladbrokes Premiership win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The 27-year-old was left out of the next five matches, before a return at Paisley and post-match showdown with manager Gerrard represented a critical turning point.
‘For pre-season, I did come back strong and in good shape,’ he said. ‘I knew I needed to train when I was on holiday, to make sure I was fit and ready to go.
‘I scored against St Mirren and it was a great goal and it gave me a real lift.
‘But, after that, I had a chat with the manager. It wasn’t a long chat or anything but we were both very honest with each other. After that, I started to play a lot better. I won’t say what we spoke about, but I felt better after it.’
Gerrard has pointed out that Barisic isn’t the first, and won’t be the last, Rangers recruit to take considerable time to feel at home in the cut-throat environment.
Culture at the club fully embraced, Barisic admits the journey to being comfortable with the demands was a long one.
‘Last season I had a few injuries and I couldn’t really settle down,’ he explained. ‘My mindset was different back then as well. I now feel I have the mentality that is needed to be a Rangers player.
‘To be a Rangers player, you have to have that mentality to win every single game. You can’t be happy because the team have won three, four or five games in a row.
‘You have to win all the time. You have to be brave, you have to get the team to the top of Scottish football. That’s what we want to do now.
‘I feel the squad is mentally stronger this season than last. We have also all lifted our levels in terms of confidence.
‘When you play for Rangers it isn’t just about your physicality, the mental side is really important, too.
‘I came from the Croatian league and this is completely different.
‘I’ve learned a lot from the likes of Jermain Defoe, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield, the guys with more experience than me.
‘Also there is the gaffer and the coaching staff who have helped me improve.
‘The pressure is massive at this club — and you have to deal with that.
‘Now I don’t feel pressure, I feel confident in myself and the team. I feel I am now on a good path and I am confident about my future now.’
His superb pass for Alfredo Morelos and the goal which sealed a 2-0 victory at Livingston last Sunday was a fine way to cap a 13th successive start for his club.
Barisic can count himself among a number of Ibrox players far better prepared for the rigours of Europa League Thursdays than slogging it out on tricky surfaces on Sundays.
The £1.8million signing, who picked up his 12th cap for Croatia last night as they secured their place at Euro 2020 with a come-from-behind 3-1 home success against Slovakia, was excellent on a stirring Ibrox European night against Porto as Rangers stayed in contention to progress from their group.
After securing four points from a possible six in meetings with a perennial Champions League team, Barisic believes Rangers pounced on Portuguese complacency.
The reputation of Scottish league football is on the rise again in the Europa League but Feyenoord and Porto cottoned on too late, according to Barisic.
‘When we play some teams in Europe it is like they don’t have a lot of respect for us,’ stated the Croatia international.
‘I think we have shown this year we are a good team and, in the future, they will have to respect us.
‘When you see how we played against Porto over the last two matches, then teams may treat us differently now.
‘We were all very happy after the Porto game. I don’t like to get carried away about qualifying for the next round.
‘But if we play like we have in Europe so far this season, then we believe we can go through.
‘We are in a good position in the group now. Porto are a good team who were in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season.
‘So that win was amazing for us as a club. All the Europa League nights are special, the fans are amazing on these occasions. We have to thank them for that.
‘When I speak to my friends and family about coming to watch me, I always tell them to come on a European night.
‘I can’t explain to them how great they are — they have to see it for themselves.’
He’s only one goal shy from the top of the Scottish top flight as Rangers trade title blows with Celtic, a trend he expects to continue through the season.
The strength of the scrap for domestic supremacy, believes Barisic, is one factor in pushing both Glasgow giants on in the European stage.
‘I think people will see the Scottish league as strong this year because of what the clubs have achieved in Europe,’ he stressed.
‘It is good if Celtic play well and we play well. It lifts the whole league. I think the title race has actually helped us in the European games.
‘People who don’t know the league said to me that I could take it easy in one or two games. But I told them you can’t.
‘Every game is difficult and we have important games every three or four days. I am enjoying it.’