Current Team - Rangers
Nationality - Scottish
Age - 20
Height – 181cm
Position - Winger
League Career stats
2016/2017 Motherwell Scottish Premiership – 3 apps 0 goals
2017/2018 Airdrie (loan) Scottish League 1 – 31 apps 2 goals
2018/2019 Alloa Athletic (loan) Scottish Championship 19 apps 1 goal
2018/2019 Motherwell Scottish Premiership 14 apps 6 goals
Overview
Its easy to forget about Hastie because David Turnbull had such a phenomenal impact on the Motherwell side last season. Following a dire first few months of the season, Stephen Robinson decided to play more of his young players, and it paid off, with a much more enjoyable playing style and boosting away from any relegation fears that had built up towards January. There used to be a time where Celtic and Rangers would hoover up all the talent from other sides without much regard for their progress or playing time (see Derek Riordan, Alan Gow, Nadir Ciftci, Gary Mackay Steven and Jack Hendry as a few examples ) but Steven Gerrard has made it clear he will improve his side. Hastie has certainly tried his best to endear himself to the Rangers fans through comments in the press this week but let’s have a look at what he could offer in a footballing sense.
Strengths
Cutting in from the left wing - There are two unhelpful comparisons players get given when they are left footed and cut in from the right wing. Are they short with a low centre of gravity? Then hello the Scottish Leo Messi. Are they a bit taller, powerful and fast with the ability to cut in and shoot? then let’s welcome the Scottish Gareth Bale. On this occasion I will plump for the Bale comparison because he is more about pace and power, with long strides eating up the ground as he races past players. You can see from the goals he has scored this season he is great at making the run from outside between the full back and centre back to race on to a through ball , but also can pick the ball up deeper while stepping inside and thundering one either side of the keeper. He offers a completely different style of play to Rangers other mooted signing Greg Stewart who plays in a similar position. If James Tavernier stays, its easy to see him pushing wider down the right touchline with Hastie coming narrower. This will leave the opposition needing to add an extra player to cover the left side or leave the exposed full back to decide which one to try and cover.
Weaknesses
Top level experience – Hastie only has 6 months of being a regular player in the topflight so does lack a bit of experience. To his credit he has talked about how he needs to keep working hard and keep his feet on the ground but you almost have to say that when presented as a new signing (we shall touch on some of his other comments in the next section) Its unfortunately too common to see a player make it at one team, but then find himself on the fringes of his new team trying to break in. He will need to stay patient and take his chance when given to him.
Talking himself into trouble – Its honestly impossible with the media surrounding the old firm teams to establish if quotes attributed to a player have been blown out of all proportion or if they are accurate. There’s no doubt the media scrutiny on a Rangers player will be so much more intense than a Motherwell player, and the immediate pressure and attention that comes with that can surprise a few. Look at the example of Jordan Jones tweeting how proud a day it was for him to sign for Rangers to then be met with all sorts of attention. Hastie has talked about signing to “stop ten in a row” which of course is true when Rangers will be targeting the league title. Celtic, and particularly Scott Brown, are masters of using these things to motivate themselves and it could backfire on Hastie and put more pressure on himself. He is a terrific player and could be a tremendous asset to Rangers next season, but he needs to keep his head down, train hard and put all his efforts into standing out on the pitch when he gets to play.
Future potential
Hastie has everything needed in the modern winger; he’s fast, strong, powerful, has good movement and has a proven end product. It does remain interesting to see how much first team football he gets with Rangers next season, its not improbable to see him get a few games early on when Europa League and cup fixtures pile up and then possibly have to go out on loan for the second half of the season. He doesn’t appear to be in Steve Clark’s thoughts internationally for now, but a good season could change that. For all my talk of him needing to prove himself and possibly finding game time scarce, let’s not forget he started last season on loan to a part time team and ended it signing for Rangers. As sad as it was to see him heckled by his own supporters in a substitute appearance against St Johnstone recently, it should also be seen as a backhanded compliment as they are mostly annoyed at losing such a talented player to one of their league rivals so shortly after they begin to see the best of him.
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