'Disaster' - Pundit reacts as Rangers ace suffers nightmare after agreement reached

Ianis Hagi’s sending off is a “disaster” for the Rangers attacker so quickly after he had secured a return to the team, says Tam McManus.

The pundit told PLZ Soccer on 7 October that the Romanian’s red card in the 2-0 victory over St. Johnstone the previous night was a major blow as it forces him out of the equation again immediately due to suspension.

Hagi was shown a straight red following a VAR review for a poor challenge on Benjamin Kimpioka on his 100th appearance, having reached an agreement with the club on 1 October to overcome the contract stand-off that had left him out in the cold since the summer [Rangers Review].

McManus said (30m 50s): “He’s been playing with the B Team, he’s not been sighted in the first team. I think they’ve come to an agreement with the club, maybe they’ve split the difference in terms of the money he was due to get for one more appearance.

“He gets that appearance last night and I think it’s just lack of game-time, lack of sharpness. He just went in to try and tackle, I’ve done that as a striker myself, you’ve not used to tackling. It was a bad tackle, it’s 100% a red card, but I don’t think there was any intent to go and do him.

“I think he’s got a three-game ban now and he’s not eligible for Europe, so I think he’s going to miss the next three games. Just got himself back in and he’s going to miss the next three games, a disaster for him because the Rangers fans were excited for him coming back. They think he can come in and make a real impact.”

Philippe Clement had insisted no way back at Rangers

Hagi will actually only miss two games [Rangers Review, 7 October] but coupled with the international break he won’t be seen in a Light Blues shirt again until the end of the month against Aberdeen at the earliest.

While any ban is frustrating it could hardly be more so for the 25-year-old as he looks to make up for two lost months left turning out for the reserves.

Philippe Clement had previously insisted there was no way back for him [Daily Mail, 1 September] but the compromise emerged not long after he after seemingly wavering on his stance and admitting it wasn’t entirely his decision.

The Belgian is hardly overwhelmed with attacking options so Hagi is likely to be back in the reckoning as soon as he is available, especially after registering an assist in the time he spent on the pitch at Ibrox.

That was always why it seemed so strange that the club had frozen the Romania international out of the senior set up entirely.

Questions surely still need to be answered by Clement and the Ibrox hierarchy about why that situation came to be, seemingly due to a contract clause Hagi had been given that would entitle him to a wage increase [Daily Record, 13 August], and why it took so long to rectify.

Now that it has the red card has thrown a thoroughly-unwelcome spanner into the works of the comeback, but it has surely only delayed appearance 101.

In other Rangers news, the predicted price for the Light Blues to sign a top target they have been looking at has emerged live on air.

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