LUNDSTRAM IS BUILT TO LAST
Reborn midfielder can be cornerstone of Rangers team for years to come
THE offer of a safe passage back to the comfort of a Chris Wilder team may have held logic and appeal to John Lundstram three short months ago.
Used sparingly by new Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, few would have blamed Lundstram for leaping at a chance to join his old boss on Teesside during the transfer window.
Now? Ex-Ibrox defender Maurice Ross believes his former teammate Van Bronckhorst will be constructing winning Rangers teams around Lundstram for many years to come.
‘Lundstram wouldn’t even pick up the phone to Middlesbrough now, would he?’ Ross suggested.
‘He’s 28 years old and Rangers should be getting his best years. So let’s keep this boy and build around him.
‘Steven Davis is kind of moving out now. Surround Lundstram with good young players, he can be the cornerstone of a team.
‘And when he’s 33, he can play centre-back every week. We’ve seen he can do it.
‘It’s incredible to think there were grumblings about him and he could’ve left in January.’
Lundstram insists it was always his intention to tough it out at Rangers even as he struggled to foist himself on the narrative of the campaign.
As Van Bronckhorst’s midfield anchor or surprise central defensive problem-solver, his part as an imposing unit in the Europa League thrill ride has more than justified that determined approach.
On the domestic front, Ross watched in awe at Hampden as Lundstram’s man-of-the-match display helped lift Rangers over the line against Celtic to reach the Scottish Cup final.
‘He was strolling about the pitch like Graeme Souness there,’ says Ross. ‘There’s a clip from old Rangers archives where I see Souness in an Old Firm game at Ibrox just turn and clip a pass out to Davie Cooper standing right out on the touchline.
‘That’s what Lundstram reminded me of when he did a similar thing against Celtic in the semi-final, zipping one out to James Tavernier.
‘The way Lundstram goes in with 100-per-cent commitment to a tackle — bang — then goes calm. That’s a gift.
‘Players who are typical midfield ratters, they’re on 10 out of 10 intensity all the time so, when it comes to making the composed pass, they can skew it.
‘Lundstram, however, goes from totally intense to completely calm in a flash.’
The midfielder required a cool head when his dream move to play for Steven Gerrard began to turn sour.
Ross appreciates, for all that Lundstram was the top Sheffield United performer in a recordbreaking ninth-place finish two years ago, cracking Rangers can be far more challenging.
‘Okay, Sheffield United are a big club but not in terms of Rangers,’ stressed Ross.
‘At Sheffield United, it was about him breaking it up. Come to Ibrox, you’ve got to be a ball player, not always the destroyer.
‘That takes time, maybe six months to have a confidence to say: “I can do this”.
‘So great credit to him now. If you’re talking about whatever Ryan Kent is worth, then double that for Lundstram.
‘That boy is an English Premier League player all day long.
‘But hopefully he could be the next one who, if he keeps on showing what he’s shown in the last six weeks, plays for another seven years at Rangers and ends up in the Hall of Fame.’
Van Bronckhorst’s deployment of Lundstram at the heart of a threeman central defence in Leipzig on Thursday, says Ross, was a masterstroke that almost pulled off a first-leg stalemate.
Successful against Borussia Dortmund at the outset of the knockouts, he was back in between Connor Goldson and Calvin Bassey.
For Ross, the switch had echoes of Van Bronckhorst’s Rangers boss Dick Advocaat at his European best.
An early Van Bronckhorst goal gave Rangers the lead over Monaco in a famous Champions League win in 2000, as Turkish midfielder Tugay held the fort at the back.
‘Dick played Tugay as a sweeper and centre-back in Europe and was deemed a tactical genius,’ said Ross.
‘Now, Gio has done that before in Europe and did it again the other night with Lundstram. Tactically, it was brilliant.
‘He was really spot on. They were unlucky to lose 1-0. Gio is so switched on and the team round about him are switched on now. That tactical nous comes to the fore in Europe and against Celtic.’
If Lundstram has overcome an early bump in the road at Rangers, then his captain’s recovery from hitting myriad obstacles to emerge triumphant title winner and Euro semi-finalist is an inspiration.
Four years ago, Tavernier was in a bedraggled Rangers squad thrashed 5-0 by champions Celtic two weeks after a 4-0 drubbing at Hampden.
‘That scars inferior players but it didn’t scar Tavernier,’ notes Ross. ‘He never went hiding. He took the bullets.
‘He has always been a good player but played with lesser players while Rangers were in that predicament. Gradually, Rangers got better players round about him, he started to flourish, became captain and he’ll absolutely be a Rangers Hall of Famer. That’s a brilliant story.’
Even in the early seasons of improvement under Gerrard, Tavernier still had his captaincy credentials besmirched. Those doubts are no longer valid.
‘What he’s done is, quietly, take on the mantle of the top man,’ Ross added. ‘Massive credit to him.
‘He’s just gone about his business with a touch of class, is never big-mouthed. I think he’s a wonderful Rangers captain.
‘To take pelters at Ibrox is tough. But it’s not just at Ibrox for those 90 minutes. It’s when you’re walking down to Waitrose. You hear the murmurings: “He’s sh***, he’s rubbish”.
‘But he’s been amazing. There can’t be a full-back in the world that’s got the numbers Tavernier has got. Maybe there are no wingers in the world with his numbers!
‘It’s phenomenal and something I never saw coming. People talk about legends who come to Rangers for 18 months. No, not for me.
‘Legends stand the test of time, legends win leagues, legends churn out games. Tavernier has stood the test of time and barely missed a game in seven seasons.
‘Being a Rangers captain is not just about 90 minutes and, in that sense, he’s been exceptional.’
While Ross trusts in the longevity of the Tavernier and Rangers relationship, he fears a new defensive rising star might not be around Ibrox for long.
Calvin Bassey’s storming displays at centre-half and left-back at 22 is one of the stories of a tumultuous Rangers season.
Snapped up from Leicester for a tiny compensation fee in summer 2020, he could be worth a transfer fortune to Rangers.
‘Bassey is another one who’ll end up in the Premier League,’ Ross stated. ‘Young, quick, left-sided, can use the ball so well. He’s a star, he’s got the lot. Rangers will struggle to keep hold of him.
‘But what I’d say to him is: “You could play for another 15 years. Enjoy being at Rangers.”
‘It’s the best club in the world. When you go to Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest or wherever, it’s not the same as Rangers. That will come for him.’
John was strolling about the Hampden pitch like he was Graeme Souness