Romania treated the return of Ianis Hagi (25 years old) to Rangers’ first team training in a regime of “Breaking News“.
Ianis Hagi. PHOTO: Facebook
Probably, on Sunday, there would have been a media call for the fans to come out to University Square, when the midfielder provided a goal pass in Rangers – St Johnstone (2-0). “eruption” some bombastic headlines, to glorify the success of the midfielder, but it had to be postponed for another occasion. Because, 23 minutes after the assist provided in the match in the 7th stage, the Romanian international had to leave the field. The reason? His extremely hard foul, with a terrible entry, directly on the opponent’s shin. Although he had escaped with only “yellow“, in a first phase, Hagi jr saw “red“, after the referee David Dickinson reviewed the images, with the foul committed by Ianis, on the monitor, at the request of his colleagues in the VAR room (no – video refereeing).
The elimination of the Romanian international, which came in the 81st minute, did not influence the course of the game in any way, given that the phase took place when the score was already 2-0. In addition, St Johnstone, second to last in the Scottish Premiership, is such a powerless team – it has 4 points in eight matches – that even in numerical superiority it was unable to issue claims on “Ibrox Park”. Under these conditions, the elimination of Ianis did a great disservice strictly to the Romanian international. First, because his intervention showed a lack of footballing intelligence, being unnecessary, in the 81st minute of a match that was almost won.
Then again, it’s disturbing that Ianis committed this foul at a time when he wasn’t allowed to do such a thing given his situation at Rangers. The Romanian midfielder had just ticked off his first official match for the Glasgow team after 414 days. During this period, he spent a season in Spain at Alaves on loan. On his return from Scotland, he was demoted to Rangers B because of his contractual situation, but also because the Belgian coach, Philippe Clement (50 years old), was never a big fan of the footballer Ianis Hagi. Even so, the technician gave him another chance that his student should have made better use of.
The speculation of Scottish journalists
Because of the harshness of his intervention, the Rangers midfielder faces an increased punishment, as Scottish journalists have speculated.
“Hagi was devastated to see his comeback come to an abrupt end after just 36 minutes on the pitch. Even so, Rangers fans cheered him on as he left the pitch and manager Philippe Clement cheered him on before his pupil went to the dressing room. Now, Hagi risks a suspension of three matches, for violent behavior, and such a sanction would remove him from the team for another month“, noted The Scottish Sun.
The foul committed by Hagi was so hard that even the coach from Rangers could not challenge the decision of central David Dickinson after the match.
“It was not a violent or high-intensity entry. But it’s a sloppy entry, in a way also caused by bad luck. It is the entry of a player who was tired because he is not at the best level in terms of physical training, after everything that happened to him (no – allusion to the sending of Ianis Hagi to the second team). But it’s a clear red, after rewatching the phase, but I don’t think Ianis will get a very big suspension“, said Clement.
Here, a question appears that will certainly remain unanswered: how did a footballer who, according to the statements given by his coach at the club, is lagging behind with his physical training, was called up to the Romanian national team for the matches against Cyprus ( October 12) and with Lithuania (October 15)?
The bizarre scenario that is taking shape…
And if he doesn’t receive a three-stage suspension in Scotland, as local journalists have speculated, Ianis Hagi will miss Rangers’ next two games in the Championship, as this is the minimum sanction for “red” directly. This impending suspension, of two or three stages, comes at the worst possible time for the Romanian international. Because it will leave him with no chance of regaining his starting place in the Glasgow line-up.
Ianis has been left out of Rangers’ European squad, so he will miss all group games until January 2025. If his ban in the Championship is only for two games, then he may not feature in Clement’s squad until the end of the month October, for the confrontation with Aberdeen. Otherwise, a three-round suspension would further delay his return. Just for the 3rd of November, when the League Cup meeting with Motherwell is scheduled!
Meanwhile, an unprecedented anomaly in the recent history of the Romanian national team will be magnified. Included by Mircea Lucescu in the squad for the next games in the League of Nations, Ianis can reach 12 appearances under the tricolor, in 2024, if he performs with both Cyprus and Lithuania. Such a scenario would mean that Ianis Hagi will have more games for the national team than for the club team, where he has collected only 11 games this year, including the match with St Johnstone!
The good news is that Ianis has always rewarded the trust given to him in the national team, which is why we can expect him to shine in the away double, in the League of Nations.
100
of matches16 goals and 22 assists were collected by Ianis Hagi at Glasgow Rangers, a team with which he is under contract until May 31, 2026.
