15 Oct 2026 09:41:33
Fork and three Cheers thanks for the informative responses regarding the contract extension.
My information was clearly incorrect, but unfortunately in life you cannot be correct all the time.
One thing I do fully believe is that the starting right back for an EPL team who just defeated Fenerbahce 6-0 in the Champions League is a far superior player than one who only just became a starter for Rangers.
I am impressed by his form and I hope to enjoy his good play for an entire season but in no way will we collect 10+ million for a player we could not give away only 3 months ago.
Anyway bears enjoy your day, I hope to catch up tomorrow and over the weekend but European football calls today.
Rangers have had people watching Hammarby IF recently.
Hampus Skoglund and Paulos Abraham i believe are the players of interest.
15 Oct 2026 09:58:20
I would much rather keep an inform and settled player than take a gamble. A poster said on here i think EHL that the plan is to have a starter, development and some utility players to cover the squad and head in the right direction with player trading model and of course hopefully win trophies. To me that is bang on the money.
15 Oct 2026 10:12:44
Exactly Jking 👍 Why get rid of the best right back in Scottish football if he remains injury free and not to mention how good he is and how well he's playing 🤔Rangers have had Dujon Sterling injury free for almost a year now and allegedly have got to the bottom and solved the problem regarding the injury issues he had and imo definitely gets a new deal to stay at Rangers 👍 It's quite clear derek McInnes rates Sterling very highly 👌🇬🇧 If it's not broken, no need to look to fix it 🤔.
15 Oct 2026 10:29:36
There's that magical word "if" again.
And "if" he is now injury free, why wasn't he in the squad against Falkirk? Or could the plastic pitch still be an issue?
P. S. I really like Sterling as a player, but no way he will sign back on, on reduced terms.
15 Oct 2026 10:40:29
No problem Nato, thankfully i, m never wrong and many folk who know me actually aspire to be me or get as close to being me as possible. It's not easy being totally faultless like myself but someone has to do it for the sake of humanity.
I always help when i can be bothered and here is a nice wee tip for future reference- If anyone asks you about the sea level of the Dead Sea then be sure to tell them that currently it lies roughly 441.3m (1448)ft below sea level. That level changes by around 1m every year due to mineral extraction and river diversions upstream in Jordan.
15 Oct 2026 10:44:25
Mph, Sterling has missed 45 game through injury in his career, 9 games before Rangers.
Nato, this we couldn't give him away is nothing more than a myth mate, I really don't know where that comes from, but is amusing.
15 Oct 2026 11:04:59
We really do love to get caried away.
I can't remember the exact stats, but I think Sterling has been unavailable for around a third of the matches since his health issues began - so far this season, he's tracking at around 15% which is good to see.
However the winter period will be a huge test for him, and hopefully the lack of midweek European games gives him a greater chance of playing consistently, however I have my reservations.
When he does play he offers very little in attack and is suspect positionally, however he is excellent in 1 on 1's and his pace, power and aggression are a real asset.
If he was an EPL quality player - he'd be playing in the EPL as we were actively trying to move him on over the summer and there were no takers.
15 Oct 2026 11:07:50
Correct My star 👍derek McInnes didn't want to give Sterling away as some choose to put it and rates him.
15 Oct 2026 11:18:17
Sterling injury record, before Rangers he missed 9 games with a groin injury.
While a Rangers player.
Missed 4 with muscular problems, 32 games Achilles tendon injury.
I posted further down, we go on about who's the best between Sterling and Johnston, but it never gets mentioned Johnston has missed more than double Sterling's games through injury.
15 Oct 2026 11:24:36
You must be invisible EHL, how long you been saying about his heath not injury issue, ages I believe. Interesting that u say we were actually trying to offload him.
15 Oct 2026 11:26:22
Sterling is a quality RB for our level but for me he would not start for a single EPL team. That doesn't bother me though as he does the job for us and if he stays fit for the remainder of the season we would be mad not to get him signed up again.
15 Oct 2026 11:38:05
Well his health must be better now as it will soon be a year before injury kept him out.
15 Oct 2026 12:28:32
I don't think we will get a huge offer from an EPL side for Sterling although I can think of one or two who have worse right backs than him . Tav , even at his best , wasn't rated highly enough by EPL sides to want to buy him but that doesn't mean he didn't do a good job for us and hopefully Sterling will continue to do the same .Not having three games in 8 days will help him this season and although he will continue to be left out of games on plastic pitches , the fact there is only one nowadays will mean that isn't too much of an issue either.
I just want him to keep doing what he is doing .
15 Oct 2026 12:31:34
As I confirmed on another thread, we tried to offload Sterling for around £1.5-2m and there was no takers. This was to Championship level clubs.
15 Oct 2026 12:53:13
Borna since then he's been a nailed on starter for McInnes and proved his fitness so I don't think we will be in a hurry to sell him now.
15 Oct 2026 12:55:11
He is doing great here and now, he obviously has issues which makes things difficult for him to recover, I like what he's doing right now but, he's no Robertson Numan or Steven's, or even Papac or Munro, he doesn't bring any attack prowess really and won't ever be a good attacking option, but , he's solid when in the team and he's strong and copes well with closing down and defensive tackles,
I'm happy with him in the team right now, but he won't be sold for millions because he just lacks the spark for top leagues, but as I say he's doing well right now.
15 Oct 2026 16:27:29
Ehl do. you think it's only a matter of time before Kosta gets a run in the team or do you think McInnes will trust Sterling more.
15 Oct 2026 18:51:33
For years we had Tav criticised for supposedly not being able to defend , a right backs main job is to defend and the attacking stuff is a bonus was the criticism aimed at him .Now we have Sterling who is a great defender but he's not good enough as he doesn't offer anything in attack .
He may not be a Numan , Stevens or Robertson who were all outstanding players but as a long time Rangers supporter I seem to remember Papac and Munro both being criticised for being " not good enough" when they were in the team. Nostalgia always makes players better than they were.
15 Oct 2026 19:50:35
Tavernier is an interesting subject, mainly because of the success of his brother, and how similar in styles they are, although different positions obviously, You may have thought that given Marcus Tavernier story that someone would be willing to take the chance on James given he was scoring world class goals over a considerable period of time, they didn't.
Now we don't know if offers were made or declined so we can never say for certain, but it appeared nobody willing to take that chance, my opinion is that he was very weak defensively although very fit and lethal at deadball , Niw nobody took the chance on Sterling, when we watch Celtic being toyed with and torn apart by Lask we realise that Scottish football is very poor in comparison to the top or even mediocre leagues, possibly somewhere between Holland and Belgium at it's better clubs, thus major league clubs are less likely to be swayed by players here and there would have to be an exception to that rule.
Like Van Dijk, Or Igamane or even Christie, they would have to be exceptional in everything to attract interest, I believe Makanya may make that cut but who knows really, possibly Fernandez and Bauer will also make the jump , but Tav never did , he earned major money from Rangers and probably knows what he had here was not going to be better elsewhere, thus he never agitated for a move, the step up to epl is massive and Tav wasn't there, Neither is Sterling but he's doing what he needs to do at Rangers and sometimes you get what I call the perfect storm
Perfect club, manager and system that makes ordinary decent players look way better than they actually are in the bigger picture.
15 Oct 2026 23:16:26
If injuries wasn't actually an issue as Mystar and others are suggesting how the hang was he 3rd choice behind Tav and Aarons?
16 Oct 2026 00:00:50
Kasier, Sterling got an operation last April, he missed 32 games, he's not being injured since he returned though, he's being impressive this season, outstanding in a few games, best was at Celtic park.
His run in his favoured position and his fitness level he is showing what he's all about, nothing gets by him.
16 Oct 2026 07:12:31
He's been fantastic this season so far now also with advantage of only playing one game a week. Which only makes it more evident the effect those injuries had had on him before.
16 Oct 2026 08:47:21
Firstly, this is not a hate piece, I just want to correct a lot of the tripe being posted above.
Sterling's underlying, career-threatening illness originally happened in 2020. The debilitating condition sidelined him for nearly two years, preventing him from playing any football until his eventual return to fitness on loan in 2021.
This prolonged absence during critical development years disrupted his baseline physical conditioning and left his muscles highly susceptible to tearing and bruising.
Posters claiming Sterling only missed as handful of games before signing for us really need to take more time Googling as what I'm posting isn't secret inside information, it's available for those who take the time to read it.
What isn't commonly published is that he's been unavailable for us many times due muscular issues related to his condition, and they ARE NOT logged as injuries.
Additionally, Sterling's major Achilles tendon injury, which was published as a freak incident involving a pitch sprinkler at Ibrox. Can again be tied back the fragility of his body due to his underlying condition.
Lastly, a little bit of information that may help explain my personal bias toward the player. Alcohol blocks the signaling pathways that your body uses to rebuild and repair muscle fibers after training. It also raises cortisol (a muscle-breaking hormone) while lowering testosterone (necessary for muscle growth). Therefore, anyone with any underlying health conditions that impacts mucle recovery should avoid alcohol consumption - especially during the season and especially after being given unlimited support to get his career back on track.
16 Oct 2026 10:15:27
Excellent post EHL, confirming what you have been saying for ages, that he is managing the after effects of his health condition. Just some didn't listen.
16 Oct 2026 11:08:43
Sterling is maybe over his health issue, since his Achilles tendon injury he's never missed a game, except Falkirk, muscle problem kept him out for 9 games for Rangers, still saying his dd is why he isn't getting the credit from some like he deserves.
Or can his health condition not be improved like?
16 Oct 2026 10:19:45
Great informative post EHL.
16 Oct 2026 11:47:47
Am seeing he had muscles injury earlier in his career, he says himself he's was trying to recover and play to quickly, hopefully over his issues, he has played 275 games, that's decent for a 26/27 years with problems.
16 Oct 2026 12:02:15
Penrice has only missed 13 games through injury, he's roughly a year older than Sterling.
Penrice has played 49 games more than Sterling, I only hope Sterling's problems are behind him.
16 Oct 2026 11:34:24
EHL, you may be best to answer, but please correct me if I am wrong.
My recollection is that Sterling missed matches in March 2026, April 2026 and may 2026 due to load/risk management relating to minor muscular issues.
If my recollection is correct surely this would eliminate the apparent injury free for 1 year argument.
16 Oct 2026 12:28:06
Nato, I just had a quick look, either playing or was on the bench, back to back games against Celtic in March, started every game in April except 1, was on the bench, either in the team or on bench in May.
He's not injury free for one year until the end of next month begging of December.
16 Oct 2026 12:32:09
Great explanation EHL. Have often said what's logged as injuries on sites like transfer market doesn't really reflect how long someone is really out ie regaining match fitness or niggly injuries that mean they miss games regularly.
Also for someone with a history of such injuries drinking alcohol while not in itself wrong shows a lack of professionalism, to take your fitness seriously.
Perhaps the incident last year provided the wakeup call needed as we are starting to see the benefits.
16 Oct 2026 12:39:50
Sterling has played 27 competitive games for Rangers during 2026, end of last season beginning of this one.
Rangers have played 34 games in 2026, would be a few games on pitches he's advised against playing on.
16 Oct 2026 12:46:27
Kasier, hopefully it was a wake call for him, but all I'm seeing so far this season is a very impressive Sterling.
16 Oct 2026 13:15:57
I can't believe nobody mentioned Sergio Porrini or Alan Hutton in that conversation, good God we were spoiled at one point Sterling is a good solid right back in that same way Papac and Porrini were, Porrini was top notch and it's easy to forget him because he was just so effortlessly competent. Sterling's no Porrini but if he stays fit I like what he does now a lot better than the last few seasons of Tavernier pointing the finger at everyone else and pleepsing every time he got caught out of position, his free kicks were great and all but mainly he made me pine for days when we had a proper leader like Richard Gough as captain.
Sterling's obviously very different to Numan and Tavernier in what he offers in the attacking sense but if we have guys offering that further up who cares? Numan and Hutton were wonderfully balanced in both aspects where Tavernier was probably far too flawed defensively for a Premiership team to ever consider him viable and I have to say I don't miss him as we're a better team without relying on him to produce big moments at the expense of stability in that position for 90 minutes which I think Sterling offers infinitely more of.
Tavernier's best form came with Daniel Candeias ahead of him who was more wide midfielder than right winger, that's probably not a coincidence as there was a bit more positional nous covering the multitude of sins that came with having him at right back. Not saying Sterling is worth £10million but he's definitely a more dependable right back over 90 minutes than Tavernier ever was when he's fit.
16 Oct 2026 15:01:22
I totally agree with you on that Star. I'd completely wrote him off preseason so great to see him performing now.
17 Oct 2026 10:32:44
Zungu tavs best football came when Ryan Jack was got for me. Jacko and he had a great understanding of when jacko should drop in and cover Tav.
Tav absolutely could've played EPL football. Not saying which teams ues and which no but for me he absolutely could've played EPL not a shadow of doubt.
There's worse fullbacks than Tav made a career that n that league.
17 Oct 2026 12:43:17
Ehl, I was going to say something similar, I remember big dunc saying he thinks a lot of his injury's were due to Alcohol I hope he has stopped drinking and can stay fit he's still a young man at the end of the day.