By Alistair Aird
Ding ding, it was time for round 14 of the league fixtures for Rangers as they welcomed Kilmarnock to a sodden Ibrox Stadium this evening. But the fans who chose to brave the elements didn’t arrive hoping to see their team bob and weave or float like butterflies and sting like bees. Instead, they expected another encounter that would see their fighters lumber around the ring, pawing at their opponents before entering a series of clinches. Perhaps in the end they would land enough scoring punches that would mean they would cling on and edge another joust. Plus ca change or would we finally see a shackle-free performance with more than a few haymakers landing to knockout Kilmarnock and light up a dark December night?
From being ever so nice in Nice, Clement’s side had produced purgatory in Perth. European elation had once again been hastily followed by a domestic dirge. Three points, a clean sheet and a prize for having lots of shots on target were the positives the manager had gleaned from another monotonous moment in what even at this early juncture has been a desperate season. Once again there was a lack of cutting edge as Rangers registered only their third league goal in what was their sixth Premiership fixture away from Ibrox. When one considers that eight have been scored in four matches on our travels in Europe, that simply added fuel to the fire that we see a better version of Rangers overseas than we do at home.
Most Read on FollowFollow.com The FollowFollow.com Friday Preview – Hearts at Home Dessers Departs – A look back at Cyriel In The Eye Of The Storm – Rangers 0-0 Celtic
Unfortunately for Clement, the barometer of success for the club is a silver lining domestically. And a man who beguiled us with an 11-match winning streak last season that had us believing we would indeed go from terrible to Treble is now beleaguered and bereft in equal measure.
The consolation he could cling to going into this one was that Kilmarnock were much more wretched than Rangers. Since eking out a 1-0 win when the sides met at Rugby Park in October, Derek McInnes’s side had only won once in the six league games that followed. That left them sitting in tenth place on the league ladder, three points better off than basement boys, Hearts. It should have been a home banker, but with this Rangers side, there is no such thing.
There were three changes to the XI that started on Sunday. As expected, Leon Balogun came in for ropey Robin Propper, while the inclusion of Mo Diomande allowed Connor Barron to rest his weary limbs on the bench. And at the sharp end, Danilo came in for his first start in the league since 6 December 2023. He replaced an out-of-form Nedim Barjarmi which meant that Hamza Igamane retained his place and there were two strikers in the starting line-up. But we are far too deeply entrenched now to think that this would mean a change in ‘structure’. The Moroccan started as the number 9, Danilo the 10, while Hagi – a natural 10 – would be deployed on the left of the ‘3’ in Clement’s rigid 4-2-3-1. Steadfast but unsure once again? Or would there be a bit more cohesion in the forward areas?
As kick off approached, there were swatches of blue seats in each of the four stands. The Rangers fans are not often fair-weather followers. They turn out in their numbers in all conditions – rain, hail or shine – so the fact that they had chosen not to for this one reinforced the apathy that was swirling round Ibrox just as much as the rain was.
Nonetheless, The Best boomed out as the teams emerged, although it failed to stir up the usual war cry. The place was flat and if spirits were to be lifted, an enterprising start would be required.
Igamane was the first to threaten after five minutes, but his snapshot fell wide of the returning Robby McCrorie’s goal. And after a shimmy and a shake, the little Moroccan fizzed a shot a shade too high. The start had indeed been enterprising, a seismic shift from most of the Premiership matches this season.
Cerny was next to threaten, his shot from distance taking a deflection that took the ball out for a corner that came to nothing. Danilo was then slipped in by Igamane but was crowded out.
There was a zip about Rangers in the opening quarter of an hour, an intensity that hasn’t been witnessed for a while. And John Souttar should have broken the deadlock when he latched on to a head flick across goal from Igamane. Unfortunately, the ball fell a little behind him and his effort was launched high into the night sky.
In that opening gambit, Rangers had had seven shots at goal, three were blocked, four were off target. And to illustrate how high the press had been, five of the seven shots had been taken inside the box.
Jefte tried to unleash shot number eight but took a fresh air swipe at the ball when he was teed up by Hagi. And what followed that was lull. For a period, the pace dropped, and Rangers plodded. Kilmarnock were tight and compact, and their silver line was stoic and solid.
But when the visitors did come out of their cocoon, they posed a threat going forward, and just shy of the half hour, they forced a couple of corners. Butland’s goal remained intact, although the last of the corners resulted in a sickening clash of heads between Nico Raskin and Joe Wright. Both recovered after treatment albeit Raskin returned to the fray with a fresh shirt and a head swathed in bandages. Had he been wearing a string vest you could easily have mistaken him for a certain Rab C Nesbitt.
Raskin was back just in time to witness the scoring being opened. Robbed of a goal at the back post at the weekend by Jason Holt, James Tavernier was there again to throw himself at a fine cross from Hagi to find the net for only the second time this season. It was the captain’s first league goal since the 3-2 defeat in Dingwall back in April, and we haven’t seen much of him ghosting into the box like he did on this occasion. Hopefully we will see it more often in the weeks ahead.
McCrorie, his hopes of a clean sheet on his return to Ibrox now dashed, did well to prevent the loss of further goals when he made smart saves from Igamane and Danilo. After that dip, the Rangers of the opening 15 minutes was to the fore once more, and when the fourth official indicated there would be seven additional minutes at the end of the half, hopes were high that the home side could use that momentum to make things a little more comfortable. And they threatened to do so with an uncharacteristic lightning-quick break.
Igamane smuggled the ball away and was brought crashing down by a tackle that you were more likely to see at Murrayfield. Nick Walsh allowed advantage to be played, but after cutting inside to create space for a shot, Danilo’s effort was deflected wide. And from Hagi’s corner, Igamane rose inside the six-yard box but skewed a header away from goal rather than towards it.
The opening half had been very much like the curate’s egg. In some parts it was very good, but in others it was poor. That being said, it was among the best domestic first half performances of the season, although admittedly the bar for that is set rather low.
Clement resisted personnel changes at half time. The XI that had started had served him well in patches so there was no need to be honest. One who had stood out more than most was the impish Igamane and he was the first to get sight of goal. Unfortunately, he slashed his right foot shot high and wide of McCrorie’s goal. The former Rangers understudy then produced a fine reflex save to paw away a Danilo effort after fine play by Cerny. But the bubbly Brazilian wouldn’t be denied the next time he got a chance.
Hagi produced another fine cross and Danilo nudged it into the net. And moments later it was 3-0, Igamane’s explosive shot from distance zipping away from a diving McCrorie. Rangers were remarkable once again and their return was most welcome. Timely too given the fixtures that lie ahead in the next 11 days!
On the hour, Tavernier stung the palms of McCrorie with another shot from distance. There was now some vim and vigour about Rangers. It may still have been 4-2-3-1 but there was much more fluidity and it was faster. More goals seemed certain and Cerny delivered one after 61 minutes after good work from our little bandaged Belgin, Raskin.
Ragged Rangers had given way to rampant Rangers, and Hagi almost caught out McCrorie at his near post when he whipped in a free kick. This was the version of Rangers that we wanted to see. Clinical and dynamic. And good to watch. Entertaining.
Clement made a triple change after 64 minutes. Three of the dynamic front four came off, with Cerny, Danilo and Igamane replaced by Dowell, Dessers and Bajrami. But that didn’t disrupt the flow, and it was soon 5-0. Jefte crossed from the left and Dessers did what Dessers can do when he got on the end of a cross. It was the Nigerian’s 11th goal of the season and 33rd in 76 Rangers appearances. On recent evidence, he is behind both Danilo and Igamane in the pecking order, but maybe he has a role to play as the proverbial supersub.
Dessers scored again after 77 minutes, thumping in a low cross from Tavernier. The build-up play had been a joy to behind, and from dreading more drudgery at the outset, the fans were enjoying some sumptuous fare for a change. It was the tastiest and most satisfying they had had for a long while and finally gave them the kind of football that they had been starved of for most of the campaign.
This report started off with a rather negative slant, but I don’t think I was alone in thinking that we would see another mundane showing. But it will end with more than a pinch of positivity. This was much better, this was what we want to see week-in, week-out. Fast-paced, energetic, pulsating, pulverising, ruthless. This must be the benchmark. No more pedestrian play please.
If we can sustain this level of performance, keep the train on the track so to speak and perform at this high level consistently, then this Rangers side might just get up a head of steam and become a force to be reckoned with once again.