Philippe Clement warned his players on their stunning Europa League win over Nice as he urged them to show the hunger to get back on track domestically.
The Belgian eased some of the pressure on his position as his players romped to a 4-1 victory in France to move into an automatic last 16 place in the league phase of Uefa’s second tier competition. Clement was justified in his decision to hand Hamza Igamane a start over Cyriel Dessers as the Moroccan bagged goals in either half after the opener from Vaclav Cerny and a second from Mohamed Diomande. The travelling fans were in dreamland in the French Riviera and Rangers now sit on 10 points in the new-look Europa League and well on course to progress with three games to go.
But the huge victory came just days after a dire domestic draw with Dundee United which led them trailing by 11 points in the Scottish Premiership ahead of Sunday’s trip to St Johnstone. And Clement wants them to stop being Jekyll & Hyde Gers.
He said: “We need to win. That’s clear. We need to win and perform well but not just Sunday. Also Wednesday and the weekend. I don’t want to see players who are in satisfaction mode.
“They can be happy after the game but I want to see hungry players with a desire to get better and better. What I’ve seen until now, we have made some mistakes along the way with young and new players but we’re grow to a better level.
“If we look at the opponent it’s one of the best performances because of their strength. We had big performances in Malmo and against Steaua Bucharest but this is probably the best so far this season but it’s still young. We talked a lot about a young squad, a lot of new players. If you look at how many new players were on the pitch who are only two, three or four months at the club. It starts to gel together and we become stronger and stronger and that’s what we need to confirm in the next weeks and months.”
And Clement warned Cyriel Dessers faces a fight to regain his starting place after Igamane’s two-goal show, with the former missing a late sitter after coming on as a substitute. The Gers boss said: “Hamza came in with an injury and missed all the preparation and doesn’t have experience at this level.
“We’re working hard with all staff, physically to make him stronger. He made big progress that way but also tactically doing things right for the team.
“That’s why I gave him the chance – I saw the good things in training and it’s my job to give these opportunities to see what players can bring and he showed what I expected.
“But you never know with young players, they can get caught up in the emotions but he din’t and you need characters like that to play for Rangers because you can never be overawed by occasions. Cyriel Dessers has to up his game, for sure. There will be competition between them and it’s about seeing who is in the best shape but it’s not a decision for weeks and months. It’s showing it game by game.”