Vanja Dragojevic arrived at Rangers in the summer with a big reputation. The 20-year-old was captain of Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade and was ranked number four in a list of top Under-23 defensive midfielders by the Football Analytics website. At £4.5 million, most in the game believed the Ibrox club were getting a bargain.
Yet after less than four months in Glasgow, Rangers fans are asking where Dragojevic is. Given how much was paid for him and how little time he has spent on the pitch, the question is legitimate. However, some supporters perplexed by his lack of minutes should not be too surprised.
Europa League exit a turning point
Rangers crashed out of the Europa League qualifying to FK Jablonec at the end of August. In Derek McInnes' own words, it was a 'mortifying' night. The club had already exited the Champions League after defeat to Jagiellonia Bialystok, but the loss in the Czech Republic was a new low.
Not a single player, with the possible exception of Olwethu Makhanya, turned up for that second-leg tie. Dragojevic started the game and was particularly poor. He lasted an hour before being hooked and has barely been seen since.
Others who featured against Jablonec, like Daisuke Yokota, Tochi Chukwuani, Connor Barron and Thelo Aasgaard, all suffered from the embarrassing elimination. Yokota was dropped before getting injured, Barron and Aasgaard were sent out on loan, and Chukwuani has spent much of his time on the Rangers bench.
A test of character for the Serbian
It was a sobering experience for McInnes, who learned about certain individuals and who he could trust. Dragojevic has paid the price by hardly kicking a ball since, but that does not mean his Ibrox career is on the slide. What has happened to him off the back of a dire display is exactly what McInnes is trying to foster at Rangers: a culture of accountability and a culture of one for all and all for one.
The test now for Dragojevic, who is still in the infancy of his career, is whether he knuckle down and prove his worth or go in a huff and drift further out of the picture. He could learn from Ben Godfrey, who also cannot get a game for McInnes' Rangers right now. The former England centre-back has far more experience and was put out of the side by injury, not bad form. Godfrey's behaviour around the training ground and on match days has been exemplary, according to anyone inside the club. Findlay Curtis and Ross McCausland, who cannot make the squad, are in the same position.
Dragojevic has to show the same professionalism. If he does, he will get his chance to shine under this manager eventually. He featured early on in the season and looked like he had something to offer. His goal, a stunning volley from 25 yards against St Mirren in the League Cup, was a sign of what he is capable of. He also looked a really good type, popular among his new team-mates.
Learning curve at Ibrox
The youthful enthusiasm he exudes probably worked against him at times. When deployed at right-back against Hibs, he was too eager to wander into other areas of the pitch. Against Jablonec, he was far too rash in everything he did, careless in possession and lashing at clearances, giving the ball away far too often for McInnes' liking.
He has paid for it by being a perennial substitute, but this is a learning curve. Being around a squad on an 11-game unbeaten run domestically might be a good thing for him in the long term. He could do worse than watch Nico Raskin and Dan Neil, two leaders in the Rangers dressing-room who have made the central midfield positions their own since he was bombed out.
His Serbian pal Kosta Nedeljkovic, on loan from Aston Villa, is in a similar boat, but the midfielder cannot sulk or be dragged down by their dual disappointment. Unlike the full-back, he is on a big contract at Rangers. The club and McInnes still have high hopes for Dragojevic.
The Ibrox gaffer will know that, in a long season with injuries and suspensions to come, he will have to rely on the former Partizan skipper at some point. If Rangers are serious about going for a domestic Treble under McInnes, they will need every player in the squad to play their part. The message for Dragojevic is simple: if he stays calm, focused and shows the right attitude, he can still fulfil his potential as a Rangers player, and the curious supporters desperate to see him play will finally get their wish.
