IT'S HARD not to like Niko Katic. A robust, no-nonsense defender who relishes the dirty stuff, the Croat looked the part from day one despite arriving as a fairly inexperienced 21-year-old kid.

A memorable Old Firm winner at Parkhead in 2019 didn't do him any harm either. 

But it soon fell apart after an ACL injury halted him in his prime ahead of the 55 season and it's been a struggle ever since. 

In a fascinating interview with The Athletic, he detailed his emotional departure from Ibrox, a move he still seems to wish hadn't happened.

The 25-year-old left Scotland for FC Zurich in the summer after it was made clear by Giovanni van Bronckhorst there was no future left in Glasgow.

“He said he liked a different type of defender," Katic admitted.  "I’m not Messi but I see the defenders doing typical defender things, not anything special or making the last pass. If someone is Virgil van Dijk then fair enough, but it is hard to watch the numbers of goals they are conceding right now as I believe I could have helped — especially with the goals from set pieces. It’s Scotland, so a lot of the away games are physical no matter what you do and you need to have defenders to defend.”

It's clear Katic feels he could still do a job and amid a fortnight of defensive calamity, it's perhaps no wonder.

But here's the sad truth as I see it - Katic is only half of the perfect Rangers centre-back.

When it comes to the rudiments of defending, the power, the aggression, the bravery, he's got it all in spades. He would have been a perfect signing for the Walter Smith side of the 1990s. 

But football has moved on. 

Rangers Review: Click to sign up to our Newsletter and get articles like this straight to your inboxClick to sign up to our Newsletter and get articles like this straight to your inbox (Image: Rangers Review)

Defenders have to do more than defend in the modern game, even goalkeepers are selected for their involvement in build-up now for goodness sake.

While there are games where a bulldozer of a defender might be handy, 80 percent of the matches Rangers play are going to see van Bronckhorst's side building up against an opponent sitting in a deep block.

You might suggest that a player like Katic would be handy at set-pieces and that's undeniable - but in terms of building through the thirds quickly, that's literally the weakest point in his game.

In a possession-dominant side, you need central defenders that can pass, and the quicker and more accurately they do it, the more effective your block busting can be. 

It's why Pep Guardiola seems to have an obsession with turning midfielders into defenders at every club he's been at, from Javier Mascherano to Fernandinho.

Now, Rangers aren't Manchester City, but the gap between them and their opponents is similar on a week-by-week basis.

For Rangers to evolve under Gerrard and through to van Bronckhorst they needed to improve their build-up, disrupting the pesky defences of weaker but well-organised Scottish sides - and overall, slowly and steadily, they have.

Katic's injury robbed him of a chance to evolve with his teammates but the jury is out on whether or not he'd ever have been able to adapt. 

Like van Bronckhorst, Steven Gerrard was also never fully convinced - his use of Joe Worral and the signing of Filip Helander is evidence of that.

Every Rangers fan will wish Katic well. It's to his credit that so many will lament his departure. 

But history shouldn't be reframed to suggest a player whose Achilles' Heel is essential to an aggressive, front-foot, attacking side looking to win trophies would be the solution to Rangers' current or future problems.

This piece is an extract from today’s Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 5pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.

To receive our full, free newsletter including this analysis straight to your email inbox, click here and tick the box for Top Stories.