Rangers reaction: Borna Ultimatum, friendly fire, police cell turns to new media room

Rangers' Borna Barisic had a difficult evening against Olympiakos.

Ahead of Rangers’ final pre-season friendly against Hoffenheim on Saturday, we take you through three talking points from the match:

The Borna Ultimatum

Just what has happened to Borna Barisic? For so long one of Rangers’ most dependable defenders and attacking threats, the Croatian international’s form seems to have fallen off a cliff. He looked vulnerable early on against the Greeks and never really recovered, with Olympiakos repeatedly shelling balls over his head for their full-back to latch onto. You only need to take a brief peek at social media to see that a number of Rangers supporters have already given up on Barisic, many lapsing into dramatic despair when the team lines were announced. With Ridvan Yilmaz ready to start and Dujon Sterling able to fill in at left-back too, the time may be right for Rangers to let Barisic move on and recoup a fee while they can. And few could have foreseen that turn of events when he was representing Croatia at the World Cup just eight months ago.

Friendly Fire

They came from Greece, they had a thirst for carnage. Pre-season friendly or not, Olympiakos are clearly not a team that ever does anything half-heartedly. Referee Steven McLean must have wondered just what he had let himself in for as he awarded a Rangers penalty and immediately found himself surrounded by a clutch of angry Greeks, their outrage moving up another notch when the Ibrox big screens replayed Todd Cantwell’s dramatic fall to the turf as they watched on in dismay. Friendlies can often be anaemic, lacklustre affairs. If you want a proper competitive test, send for Olympiakos.

Lock Them Up

The media room deep inside the bowels of Ibrox is one of the areas of the stadium that has been spruced up this summer. The existing facility has been refurbished with row upon row of gleaming new desks for snappers, hacks and new media types to utilise, while across the corridor a spangly new conference room has been created to host manager and player conferences. Somewhat fittingly, this space was once the site of the stadium’s police cells. Now it will be crimes against literacy committed there instead.