Philippe Clement reaped the rewards from some long-awaited Rangers changes against Tottenham – despite previously saying he wouldn’t make them.
That’s the view of Celtic hero Peter Grant who reckons the Belgian is finally getting the most out of his squad. Rangers battled to a highly-creditable point against the Premier League team that kept them in the top eight of the Europa League and on-course to qualify straight for the last 16. He sprung a surprise or two in his starting lineup, deploying Ridvan Yilmaz as a left-winger and moving Nedim Bajrami inside to the No.10 position from the off.
The result? A vibrant and dynamic performance that caught Ange Postecoglou‘s team on their heels, with Hamza Igamane striking first before Dejan Kulusevski equalised to spare Spurs’ blushes with 15 minutes to go. Grant reckons it was a sign of some tactical flexibility from Clement that he had previously refused to show, and believes fans will be happy to see it – at last.
He said on Go Radio: “Celtic have got a better squad, there’s no doubt about that. But what I did see against Tottenham is the manager doing things he previously said he wouldn’t do. He changed the system, changed the personnel and the areas they play, and he saw the reward from that.
“I’m not speaking for all Rangers fans but, if he doesn’t do that, they will just think, ‘You’re being stubborn now. We’ve got players who we should try somewhere else, make it difficult for the opposition, and have a go’.”
Neither Ianis Hagi or Danilo were able to feature against Spurs, having been left out of the European squad, but having recently featured domestically, they could play a big part in the remainder of the season – including the knockout stages in Europe if indeed Rangers, as is now expected following a strong start to their Europa League campaign, make it. They could also play starring roles against Celtic in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final but the impressive performance against Spurs means he’ll find it hard to drop players like Igamane, Bajrami and Vaclav Cerny.
And Barry Ferguson, writing in his Record Sport column on Saturday morning, reckons that gives a resurgent team even MORE firepower. He said: “With Ianis Hagi and Danilo to come back into Clement’s squad, there’s an exciting, attacking edge to the team the Belgian will put out. Rangers have been too predictable and too rigid in the final third for most of the campaign. But that’s all changed now that these two have come into the side along with Hamza Igamane, who doesn’t know what he’s going to do next, never mind his opponent.
“All of a sudden, there’s a fluidity about the way Rangers are operating in forward areas. They are interchanging and mixing things up and that makes them very difficult to defend against. It also means they will carry a threat to Celtic that they simply didn’t possess in the first derby of the season.
“What they have to do is draw strength and confidence from the way they set about Spurs on Thursday night. Yes, they have to respect Celtic but they have no reason to fear them. Part of that respect might mean Clement has some big decisions to make in terms of his team selection.”