Steven Gerrard delaying Ianis Hagi’s introduction in Rangers loss looks baffling

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After a lacklustre first-half at Ibrox, it was little surprise that Steven Gerrard waited less than 10 minutes before introducing Florian Kamberi during Rangers’s Europa League tie on Thursday night.

The substitution definitely had a positive impact on the Gers, who were 1-0 down at half-time. Kamberi was superb after coming on.

He was able to drive the team forward. The January signing played a key role in a brilliant chance for Alfredo Morelos, and he nearly provided an assist for the Colombian after winning the ball back on the edge of Bayer Leverkusen’s box.

Unfortunately for the Gers, their promise was largely quashed when Leverkusen doubled their lead – somewhat against the run of play.

And that prompted Gerrard to turn to Ianis Hagi midway through the second-half. And shortly after, Rangers were back in the game thanks to George Edmundson’s brilliant header.

Gerrard deserves plenty of credit for wasting little time before introducing Kamberi. The Rangers boss has been criticised at times for waiting too long to make changes.

However, for all the credit he should get for Kamberi, he should perhaps have questions to answer over his decision to delay Hagi’s introduction.

It was not a good night for Rangers’s midfield. Steven Davis and Glen Kamara were poor, while Scott Arfield also seemed to struggle.

Hagi has perhaps not been in the best form more recently. And it may have been a gamble as Rangers were largely on top at 1-0.

But he has shown in the Europa League that he has the quality to be a game-changer.

And in truth, Rangers probably would have been no worse off turning to Hagi in place of one of the other midfielders much earlier.

The January signing looked bright after coming on. He won the corner that led to Rangers’s goal. And he played a gorgeous through ball that almost fell to Morelos late on.

And Rangers fans are surely allowed to wonder what may have been had Hagi been introduced slightly earlier in the game.