The last seven days have been a bit of an up-and-down affair for Philippe Clement and his Rangers side.
A poor showing last Thursday in the Europa League against Aris Limassol – and not for the first time this season – had several fans once again questioning the bottle of this side.
Having been presented with the chance to go to Seville next week top of the group with qualification to the next round in some form secured, what the supporters witnessed on a cold Ibrox night was something they’d seen all too often in recent years.
That was a group of players who seem to have a mental block when it comes to moving forward in any way shape or form.
When you’d have liked to have seen headlines showing off another fantastic European night in Govan, all you could see on the Friday morning was regarding the manager’s decision to replace Todd Cantwell before half time.
Thankfully, the two league matches which followed in the last week saw a bit of the character the squad had shown signs of early into the Belgian’s reign.
A comfortable 2-0 win against St Mirren at the weekend was followed up with a 1-0 victory away to a Hearts team who had found a bit of form since Rangers put them out the League Cup at Hampden last night.
All three of the goals were scored by Abdallah Sima, who continues to show why the club are so keen to make his move to Scotland permanently, but the results don’t even begin to paint half the story of the two games.
In each of them, the latter match in particular, there were points where it could have ended up a much more comfortable scoreline, if not for some poor finishing.
So often at points this season, in particular in the recent matches where points have been dropped, it has been the defence who have come under great scrutiny.
However, that is now two clean sheets on the bounce, with Rangers also boasting the best defensive record in the league across the full campaign to-date, with just the seven goals conceded.
Jack Butland has managed 10 clean sheets in that time, and the only match he conceded a goal in that the side didn’t drop points in was that Hearts game at Ibrox where a defeat was turned into victory in the dying minutes.
So personally, I think things are looking a lot more prosperous at the back, especially since Leon Balogun has forced his way back into the side. The sight of the Nigerian defender strutting about Tynecastle for most of the second half on Wednesday with the bottom of his shirt torn to shreds really emphasises his attitude towards defending that Rangers have badly missed.
It’s at the top end of the pitch where the worries remain unfortunately.
I can only think back to a month or so ago where despite still trailing Celtic, the two Old Firm clubs were close together on goal difference. Now, the gap between them on this metric is nine in favour of the Parkhead side.
Putting the ball in the back of the end is a big factor in this, as Brendan Rodgers’ side have scored 14 in the last four league matches compared to Rangers’ six.
One man who seems to be taking the brunt of the criticism over the last is Danilo.
Now, first off, I think the Brazilian is due at least some of that rightfully, as the two chances he spurned against Hearts were genuine sitters.
However, especially since Clement has come in, he has been excellent in leading the line across all aspects of his game. His passing and movement in particular has been a key element in how Rangers have been looking to play the game in recent weeks, so I think it’s important to note that he’s doing a lot more for the team even when not scoring goals.
To make matters worse, it appears as though Danilo picked up a knee injury in that game which may need surgery, so now Clement may need to call upon his striking reserves which in recent months, just haven’t been there to the necessary standard.
It’s been well noted across this site and elsewhere in Rangers fan media about Michael Beale’s £15m summer transfer fee – £6m of which was spent on Danilo.
But with the other £9m, you have Cyriel Dessers who the manager only really fancies using in games at home where Rangers should dominate the games, and Sam Lammers whose finishing makes him come across as a more handsome reincarnation of Filip Sebo.
You also have Kemar Roofe, who looks more and more likely to be losing his everlasting battle with the treatment table.
There are subtle signs, like mentioned earlier with the defence, that things are moving in the right direction in other areas of the team.
Todd Cantwell looks more like his old self playing as a Number 10, Ross McCausland impresses with every passing game. Even Jose Cifuentes looked in control and comfortable in the match in Edinburgh.
If only we could just give these players more options around the box to work with, the team would arguably be in a better place, and this will surely be at the forefront of Clement’s thinking heading into January.
But with the wastefulness we witnessed from his predecessor, he will likely need to think smart in order to get exactly what he needs.
