Nikola Katic opens up on Rangers, his respect for Steven Gerrard and being left angry by the axe

BlueMeanie

Well-Known Member
The Croatian centre-back has looked back on his first season at Ibrox and delivered his verdict.


Nikola Katic has described how anger gave way to admiration as he looked back on his first season at Rangers .
The Croatian centre-back was a virtual ever-present at the start of the season after joining from Slaven Belupo in a £1.5million deal.
But Steven Gerrard was to then leave him out of the team as Joe Worrall and Connor Goldson became his first-choice centre-back pairing.
The 22-year-old admits being dropped initially infuriated him but he has now accepted the manager was right to wield his axe.
Katic is now back in the team and won rave reviews with another fine performance in the 2-0 win over Celtic .
And in an interview back in his homeland, Katic has declared his respect for Gerrard and his love for Rangers.


He said: "There were ups and downs this season. It started well but then new signings were made and there was plenty of rotation.
"But when I sum it up, I have to remember I played 30 games. We did not concede a goal in 15 matches and lost only two. So my statistics are brilliant.
"It was my first season at this great club and when you play for an institution like this, the pressure is huge. So all in all, everything was OK.

"You know, I used to be angry when I didn’t play because I thought I deserved to. But I needed to be realistic. I had weaker matches so I was on the bench for a reason.
"Steven Gerrard says he respects me and I respect him. We have a great releationship."
Katic, who won’t play in Rangers’ last game of the season against Kilmarnock on Sunday after Gerrard gave him a break to prepare for the European U21 Championship, has looked back on a season that points to promise for the new campaign.
He accepts the failure to win a trophy is not good enough but insists progress has been made.


Katic said: "My team-mates and I are not happy with the fact we didn’t win a trophy this season. We didn’t even get into a cup final. Celtic were dominant but we are better this season than last. Also, we got more points so progress is plain to see and that is reason for some satisfaction.
"Everything is right for me in Scotland – from the club to the league. I’m at a big club where I can develop properly. Working with Steven Gerrard and his staff is a pleasure."

Katic is at home ahead of travelling to Italy and San Marino for the U21 Euros. Croatia face England, France and Romania but the defender is in bullish mood.
He told Sportske : "Gerrard gave me a one more week of a rest because of the Euros. As I left I got the work programme from the coach to work on during the summer. But right now the emphasis is on the holiday.
"We seem to have it tough and it’s a bit of a group of death. But our team is excellent and we showed in qualifying how strong we are. That’s why I am optimistic."
 
Puts to bed the notion he was dropped for personal reasons. Just an error of judgement from the gaffer.

Delighted Katic is back in and doing so well though, he’s a rock now, as he was at the beginning of the season. His attitude is first class, wannabe gangsta Grezda could learn a thing or two.

Katic is the one thing I felt really justified complaining about all season. Our whole back line looks better with him and he's a fucking unit.
 
Love him, impressive find by the scouts, imagine he'll add to that first cap for the seniors soon enough.
 
Puts to bed the notion he was dropped for personal reasons. Just an error of judgement from the gaffer.

Delighted Katic is back in and doing so well though, he’s a rock now, as he was at the beginning of the season. His attitude is first class, wannabe gangsta Grezda could learn a thing or two.

Wait, so Katic says, in plain English, in that article, that Gerrard was right to drop him and you use that as some kind of proof that Gerrard was wrong to drop him? ok...
 
Didn't know he was going to the U21 championships. Good luck to big man Here's hoping Croatia lift the trophy and niko comes back thirsty for more trophies!
 
I love his attitude. In that article and on the park. Potential to be a massive player for us and a big sell on in due course.
 
Comes across really well. His face was a picture when the players where coming out at the end of season awards to follow follow. Think he was realising what a special and amazing club he is now part of.
 
Mostly a repeat of his RTV interview from like a month ago.

Guess it could still have been personal reasons that led to his drop in form and the player just doesn’t want to broadcast it.
 
Being angry is fine. Anger is passion. Every player should want to be in the team every week. No player should expect to be there.

Katic seems very grounded on this.
 
Already love the big man and he seems like he gets what expectations are required to play here.

I have no doubt in my mind he will be a huge success here and go on to make us a wealthy profit in the future.
 
Well, King of the Debate, if that is your decree, I guess us mere peons have no choice but to acquiesce.
You’ll thank me for it ;)

I reckon it’s cost us a trophy over the course of the season, fucking around with the defence. It’s something I think and hope Gerrard has learned from though. Looking forward to seeing Katic and Goldson playing 50/60 games a piece next season.
 
So it seems the whole ‘dropped for personal reasons’ was just nonsense then - as expected.

Would’ve loved to have seen more of Katie this season. Roll on the next....
 
You’ll thank me for it ;)

I reckon it’s cost us a trophy over the course of the season, fucking around with the defence. It’s something I think and hope Gerrard has learned from though. Looking forward to seeing Katic and Goldson playing 50/60 games a piece next season.

I remain doubtful over the first comment.

I know that the second is a pile of shit.

We lost the league through being in decent positions during matches and failing to take any of the myriad chances we produced.
 
At 22 his future is bright if he sticks with us. But a good season with us next year and in Europe will see his value go up and catch the eye of others.

Been a good sign of maturity that he plays with his heart even when he had been dropped and didnt throw a strop.
 
Even a tiny shred of common sense tells you he’s never going to say “aye the gaffer made an arse of it, I should have been playing”.

Even a tiny shred of common sense would tell you that he does not need to say the manager was correct. An even smaller shred would tell you that an article where the player literally says that the manager was right is probably not the right article to try and use as evidence that the manager was wrong.

No surprise at all that you singularly fail to grasp either of those points.
 
Even a tiny shred of common sense would tell you that he does not need to say the manager was correct. An even smaller shred would tell you that an article where the player literally says that the manager was right is probably not the right article to try and use as evidence that the manager was wrong.

No surprise at all that you singularly fail to grasp either of those points.

That’s bollocks though. He can’t dispute it, certainly not in public, without undermining his boss. Credit for having the stones to try and talk down to me with such a feeble/nonsensical argument though, I wouldn’t have done it.

On top of it all, it was blatantly the wrong decision to make, results and performances make that abundantly clear, but carry on polishing squire.
 
That’s bollocks though. He can’t dispute it, certainly not in public, without undermining his boss. Credit for having the stones to try and talk down to me with such a feeble/nonsensical argument though, I wouldn’t have done it.

On top of it all, it was blatantly the wrong decision to make, results and performances make that abundantly clear, but carry on polishing squire.

Bollocks?

So you think that there is no other answer he could have given at all? No skirting the issue? no deflecting? Nothing at all? He simply had to just say, literally, that the manager was right?

Really?

Well done on finding a way to make an article that clearly states one thing say another simply to fit the agenda you are pushing. It takes stones to call the player you are 'defending' a liar. Talking down to you is not something that takes any effort or bravery (what an absolutely bizarre assertion: it takes 'stones' to talk down to you? on the internet? when you are clearly not that bright? ok....) , it is kind of the only way it is actually possible to talk to you.

And, just as a wee addition, pinning poor results on Katic not playing is an absolute reach, even for someone so invested, for whatever reason, in Gerrard having fucked up...
 
Why? It was widely reported in the media and from posters itk on here that there were personal issues back home for him. Him not going into detail on them somehow trumps that?

If he was being dropped to help him with his personal reasons, why would he be angry at it, and why would he not mention ‘ ah, I was dropped for some personal reasons’.
 
Bollocks?

So you think that there is no other answer he could have given at all? No skirting the issue? no deflecting? Nothing at all? He simply had to just say, literally, that the manager was right?

Really?

Well done on finding a way to make an article that clearly states one thing say another simply to fit the agenda you are pushing. It takes stones to call the player you are 'defending' a liar. Talking down to you is not something that takes any effort or bravery (what an absolutely bizarre assertion: it takes 'stones' to talk down to you? on the internet? when you are clearly not that bright? ok....) , it is kind of the only way it is actually possible to talk to you.

Take a second to cool off and let your blood pressure regulate itself, then think about how utterly stupid it would be to remark on his exclusion from the team and state that he felt the manager was wrong. Then go one step further and think about the performances you’ve seen from both centre backs and that alone should lead to you the obvious conclusion on whether or not the gaffer made the right choice.

He’s not above criticism and every mistake doesn’t have to be transformed and polished into a positive.
 
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If he was being dropped to help him with his personal reasons, why would he be angry at it, and why would he not mention ‘ ah, I was dropped for some personal reasons’.

Personal reasons was never, by anyone, given as the sole reason for him being dropped. It was given as a contributing factor to the way he was managed. That would have little or no bearing on him being angry at being dropped.
 
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