Michael Stewart raises 'Red flag' after what Rangers star recently said

Michael Stewart believes that Robin Propper admitting he needs time to adjust to the Scottish Premiership remains a “red flag” for Rangers.

The centre-back spoke to Voetbalprimeur on 25 November about how most teams in Scotland often play long balls, something he wasn’t used to in the Eredivisie.

Propper was substituted at half-time at McDiarmid Park on 1 December as the Light Blues beat St Johnstone 1-0, courtesy of an own goal from Jason Holt.

Speaking on The Scottish Football Social Club [2 December], Stewart raised concerns over the 31-year-old, saying: “What about Propper? Again, like the Killie game when he comes off, you could almost tell in the first half he wasn’t fancying it. And you look at yesterday, again, off at half-time.

“And he’s been talking about, ‘I’ll be one of the first names on the team sheet when the season starts getting deeper’ and ‘Most of the teams play long ball’. That’s a red flag, and any other team will be looking at that going; he doesn’t fancy this domestically. Get right up and at him, get him on the back foot.”

Robin Propper needs to do better at Rangers

Propper struggled against St Johnstone and Philippe Clement made the right call to haul him off early.

The Dutchman has been one of the manager’s preferred options at the back alongside John Souttar, and they’ve formed a decent partnership in defence.

But the former Twente centre-back has been unconvincing at times and seemingly isn’t up to speed with how teams set up and attack in Scotland.

Clement should rightfully be worried about Propper’s lack of understanding of Rangers’ domestic opponents.

The 31-year-old can’t continue to put in underwhelming displays and expect to be an undisputed starter, with Leon Balogun an ever-reliable option at the Light Blues.

In the current campaign, the Nigerian has been a backup option for the Gers, but the defender hasn’t let the Belgian manager down whenever he’s called upon.

The Bears were fortunate to get the three points at McDiarmid Park and maintain their charge to second place, with chances of catching up to Celtic at the top of the table unlikely.

Surprisingly, a defender of Propper’s presence is having trouble dealing with long balls, and maybe it’s time for Clement to reconsider the Dutchman’s standing within the squad.

In other Rangers news, Alan Hutton has given his verdict on James Tavernier’s situation at the Glaswegian outfit.

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