WHEN this current crop of Rangers players have long since hung up their boots and are reflecting back on their careers, this campaign is bound to be one that sticks out in their memories. And there is no one who has had a better view as the Ibrox club have marched towards title No.55 than central defender Connor Goldson.

When the Englishman is casting his mind's eye back over his side’s seemingly inevitable title triumph one day off in the future, he will be spoiled for choice for his share of special memories. As well he might: after all, he’s been on the park for every second of this campaign. He has never been any more than 100 yards away from every kick, every pass and every goal - both for and against - Rangers this season.

The 28-year-old’s indefatigability has been remarkable ever since he pitched up in Glasgow two-and-a-half years ago, with Goldson’s name a regular staple of Steven Gerrard’s team sheet since the Liverpool great took the reins in the summer of 2018.

In his first season with the Govan club, Goldson played the full 90 minutes in 54 of his side’s 60 games, sitting out the remaining six fixtures. During the last campaign, he went one step further and only missed two: the 3-0 win over East Fife in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup, and the 2-0 victory against Stranraer in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. This year, he’s featured in every minute of every game.

Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over Livingston was Goldson’s 150th appearance in light blue: no other player in the Govan club’s illustrious history has reached the milestone quicker than the central defender. And they didn’t have to contend with a shortened season due to a pandemic.

That consistency, that determination to always be available for selection come what may is a glowing testament to Goldson’s character, discipline and professionalism – and Gerrard has been reaping the rewards.

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Not only does Goldson boast the most minutes played of any Rangers player this season with 3,960 of them under his belt in all competitions – James Tavernier (3,469), Borna Barisic (3,421) and Ryan Kent (3,390) are the next closest players to matching the defender’s achievement this term – but he has also clocked up more game-time than any other outfield player in the Premiership. He’s marginally ahead of Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor (2,895) in this regard with 2,926 minutes played, with Aberdeen goalie Joe Lewis (2,956) the league’s only player to have spent more time on the pitch this season.

Being consistently available for selection is one thing, of course, but seizing that opportunity and making yourself undroppable is an altogether different proposition. It’s no secret that Goldson has evolved as a player during Gerrard’s tenure at Ibrox – becoming a confident, reliable and composed centre-half – and it’s impossible to overlook his hefty game-time as one of the primary reasons for this.

Rangers’ current success has been nearly three years in the making and the progress has been incremental at times. All those thousands of hours on the training pitch are finally paying off as Gerrard’s tactical philosophy has crystallised and fully-formed. The defensive shape is structured to the point where even without the ball, Rangers remain in control of games and Goldson has been emblematic of that progress.

His early career in Glasgow was dogged by error and calamity but as time has marched on, we’ve seen Goldson develop into a calm and commanding presence at the back. His personal trajectory has marched hand-in-hand with his team’s as he has grown into a mature and modern defender, just as Rangers’ defence has become watertight. If we’re looking for an explanation for Goldson’s improvement, we need only look as far as the training pitch.

The National:

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The cross-field balls he plays with increasing regularity provide a different way for Rangers to build attacks against their opponents and at offensive set-pieces, Goldson has become a far greater threat. He has three headed goals to his name in the league this season – no Premiership player has more – and his return of eight goals in all competitions (so far) is a career best in a single season. These are areas where he has clearly been coached, and the effect is pronounced. In fact, Goldson now boasts the fifth highest aerial duel success rate of any player in the league.

With Ibrox eerily quiet due to the lack of supporters in stadia, another of Goldson’s qualities that has been on display this season has been his communication with his fellow players. Those that have been lucky enough to attend games in this campaign like no other can attest to the centre-back’s vocal leadership of his team; every pregnant pause in the vast, empty stadium is filled with the defender cajoling, convincing and commanding his team-mates.

When Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic swept away any other domestic team unfortunate enough to share a football pitch with them in their ‘Invincibles’ campaign of 2016/17, perhaps the most startling aspect of their way was the way they controlled games. But Rodgers’ philosophy, for all the goals that came with it, was a primarily defensive one based upon the simple notion that if you’ve got the ball, you can’t concede. Rodgers’ players would press aggressively high up the park, forcing the opposition into mistakes in possession and suffocating them by holding onto the ball for long periods at a time. This smothering approach constricted teams into submission and left them gasping for breath.

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This Rangers side control games too, but the approach is different. Sure, they can play on the front foot but the current crop’s success has been built on their resolute defensive foundations. The team’s structure means that even in games where their opponents have more of the ball, the passing lanes are blocked and there is no obvious route to goal (see Rangers' away win in Braga, or the 1-0 victory over Celtic in January).

Goldson has been integral to this approach, constantly organising Rangers’ defence and barking orders to his team-mates. Just as someone like McGregor characterised the style of football that proved so successful under Rodgers, so too is Goldson representative of the dutiful defensive determination of Gerrard’s champions-in-waiting.

It’s no exaggeration to claim that this title success, one that seemed so fanciful nine years ago following the club’s financial implosion, wouldn’t have been possible without Goldson’s steady presence at the back – and he would not be the player he is today had he not clocked up so many minutes in such a relatively short space of time. In the end, there is no substitute for experience and Goldson certainly has plenty of that.

It’s these leadership qualities that have made Goldson Gerrard’s on-field lieutenant and they are just one of the reasons he has proved so invaluable to Rangers this term. The composed defensive performances he has regularly provided are indicative of the steeliness that Gerrard’s Rangers have developed over the last three seasons, and there is perhaps no other individual at Ibrox to have improved as much under the Liverpool great’s watch.