Player says Rangers spell saw him get “better and better” – Knew Ibrox exit would mean struggles

When it comes to Rangers exits and misery away from Ibrox, Calvin Bassey must be something of an expert at this point.

His exit To Ajax was not one that anyone at Rangers particularly wanted, with Michael Beale’s defence not quite as good as it once was.

They would have been more than happy to keep the defender for longer, particularly with Ridvan Yilmaz struggling at Ibrox this year and the likes of Ben Davies and John Souttar arguably not on his level.

Indeed, that has certainly been seen in the league this season, with Rangers already conceding 25 goals after conceding just 27 in the whole of last year.

The change has not been smooth for Bassey either with the defender struggling to replicate his form early on in the Netherlands and coming in for criticism on a regular basis.

He’s managed to turn that around in the last month or so, with John Heitinga’s decision to move him back to centre-back working out and helping him to get back to his best.

He’s starting to look like the player who performed so well at Rangers and earned himself fans inside and outside of Ibrox.

That hasn’t stopped the criticism in some corners, of course, and he admits seeing what’s been said about him since leaving Scotland has not been easy.

“When I received a lot of criticism, I tried to avoid it getting into my heart,” he told de Volksrant.

“Because then I would believe what they said. Instead I thought: I wouldn’t be with Ajax if I wasn’t a good player. Ajax wanted me. I am in development, just like the rest of our team.

“But I like the process of improving myself. That’s why I chose Ajax. I could go to the Premier League. That had been perfect for me. Raised in London, close to family, connoisseur of culture.

“But I wanted to do something unusual for me. The style of playing, the consistency, the technique. If you can play for Ajax, you can play anywhere in the world.

“Every footballer will say it doesn’t affect him, but it does affect you. A hundred percent. My mum gets screenshots with criticism. She’s concerned. She calls. She doesn’t know how it works. That’s how you think: they don’t like my son.

“I’ve only been on the road in a first team for a few years. Rangers just got better and better. But there comes a time when the line goes down. That could take a month or a year.

“With me you could call the beginning of this season a down period. The team didn’t play well, while I prefer to play central rather than left back. It’s also a character test.”