Dad-to-be Borna Barisic knows he’ll have sleepless nights ahead of him. But the Rangers ace insists the last thing that will be keeping him awake is worries over his Ibrox future.
The Light Blues’ left-back is bracing himself for midnight feeds and early morning nappy changes as he and wife Anja prepare for the big arrival of their first child. Barisic Junior is due any day now and his old man is hoping he’ll be allowed to hop on a plane back to Croatia so he can be at Anja’s bedside before tiny feet are pattering into the delivery room.
It’s an exciting time for the World Cup star but he’s anxious to be reunited with his partner as they welcome their bundle of joy into the world. But when it comes to what lies ahead with Rangers, Barisic has given no thought to inducing contract talks with boss Michael Beale.
With another 15 months left on his Gers deal, the defender is perfectly settled in Glasgow and content that if he keeps up his current impressive levels he will be rewarded for the fruits of his labour. “I hope everything will go well this week,” said the beaming first-time dad. “It is our first child and I’m very excited and happy.
“Everyone tells us it will be a big change in our lives but I’ll still not know until the baby is here. My wife Anja is back home in Croatia to have the baby.
“In one way it is hard to be here on my own as you need to think about it a lot as it’s our first baby. I’m separated from her and it’s not easy for me or her.
“But that’s part of my job. In one way it’s harder but in another way I’m very motivated and excited. I’m planning to go home for the birth as she is due this week. We’re having a boy.
“We will see how things go and then we will decide if I play next weekend against Motherwell. But everything is good. I’ve been alone obviously now for two months already so it’s a little bit harder now we are separated as I care about everything.
“But after the baby comes and my wife and the baby are able to fly, they will come here. I’m happy here in Glasgow. That’s very important to me, that I’m happy, I’m settled down which is also affecting my performances on the pitch.
“What will happen in the future? We will see. You never know in football, I never want to say I will stay or I will leave because you never know and then people say you lied before when you spoke a few months ago!
“So I don’t want to talk about that. The most important thing is that I’m very focused here and very happy.
“No I’ve not had any discussion on my contract yet. We haven’t spoken about that, my only focus is on football.
“I want to do very well in the rest of the season. That’s very important to me, to the team and the club.
“What’s changed to produce my good form? Maybe a couple of things. I’m very motivated, I’ve settled down here and I’m very happy.
“I had a nice chat with Mick when I came back from the World Cup and made some deals. I’m feeling good. That’s the reason.”
Barisic may be happy in Scotland but knows the decision on whether to cut the cord on his Ibrox stay might not be his alone to make. With Barisic now a doubt for Saturday’s Fir Park trip as he races home to join Anja in his homeland, returning rival Ridvan Yilmaz will get another chance to show he’s the long-term successor to the former Osijek ace after making his comeback against Raith Rovers on Sunday.
He added: “You don’t get a contract if you’re not performing well. Then no-one wants you!
“It’s very important that you perform well if the manager is to see you as an important part of the team. I’m happy that Ridvan came back.
“Listen, competition is always good. I’m happy that Ridvan has come back, he’s a good player and in every position we need competition as that’s very healthy for the team when you have players competing in training and then to play in the games.
“If you want to win trophies it’s very important to have a big, deep squad with very good players.”
Gers failed to hit the heights of their Easter Road rout as they squared up against Raith Rovers for Sunday’s Scottish Cup scrap but were still too strong for Ian Murray’s Championship outfit as they secured their semi-final slot. Having lifted the trophy last year, Barisic is insistent his side won’t be letting go.
He said: “It’s very important for us as we want to defend this trophy and keep it with us. We will give everything to do that.
“Sunday was a quarter-final so we had to be professional. We knew what had happened in the last round also against a Championship team. Sometimes it’s hard.
"On Sunday we had a lot of attacks and a lot of possession and a lot of chances to score. In the end we won, which is the most important thing. It was one-way traffic and at the end it was 3-0, a clean sheet and we are going to the semi-final again so we’re happy.”
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