Gordon Smith believes Borna Barisic’s future at Ibrox will be determined by his reaction to the £3.4million signing of Turkey left back Ridvan Yilmaz.
And as the former Rangers striker and director of football launched a new venture with business partner Colin Stevenson in Glasgow, he admitted he will be fascinated to see if the Croat meets the challenge head on or throws in the towel and concedes that if Gio van Bronckhorst has spent that kind of money on a player for his position then Barisic is going to be spending more time than he wants on the bench.
Mindset is very much at the forefront of his Flow Sport business programme, already patented and run successfully in the US, where sports clubs are benefiting from one-to-one sessions with their squads designed to provide coaches with information on the mental well-being or otherwise of each individual.
Smith firmly believes that athletic ability and fitness can only take a player so far. What goes on between the ears is just as important and when a new signing is made - and Yilmaz is the seventh to arrive at Ibrox this summer - the reaction of those they may be replacing is crucial. “ Rangers have brought in Ridvan Yilmaz and someone like Borna Barisic should be thinking he has to show he is the better player,” Smith said. "He has to prove to the manager he is first choice.