Rangers manager Philippe Clement saw red as Hertha Berlin overcame his side 1-0 in a stuttering training camp friendly in Spain.
The Gers faced off against their German counterparts in a friendly match in Murcia but the game was overshadowed by Belgian manager Clement’s sending off in the second half.
The Rangers boss had become frustrated when a foul against winger Scott Wright hadn’t been given in a seemingly innocuous pitchside moment.
It all seemed a tad dramatic against the backdrop of a mid-season training camp friendly but it wasn’t the only talking point as the Ibrox side succumbed to Marc-Oliver Kempf’s first half header.
Referee overshadows Rangers v Hertha Berlin
Rangers and Hertha Berlin would’ve been hoping for a casual Saturday afternoon stroll in Spain but that’s not what Philippe Clement got on his winter holidays.
The Gers manager was forced to view the match – a mid-season friendly designed for fitness and assessing the state of the club’s squad – from over a perimeter fence at La Manga.
The optics of the entire thing, which seemed a sizeable overreaction on the part of the power hungry referee, were not good and one suspects Rangers’ training camp bosses won’t be happy.
Combine that with a shoddy pitch and suddenly we’re not convinced we’ll see Rangers back at La Manga any time soon.
Ridvan Yilmaz transfer exit talk overblown?
Heading into the match, all the talk was about Ridvan Yilmaz’s proposed “loan move” to Serie A side Verona.
And yet the Turkish international rocked up in the starting XI to face Hertha Berlin as Rangers succumbed to a narrow defeat.
If Yilmaz was as close to a Rangers exit as some have had us believe in recent weeks then we’d be very surprised to have seen him in from the start against Hertha Berlin.
It’s a situation which has plenty scratching their heads and fans will be hoping the transfer talk reaches a crescendo this week.
Rabbi Matondo has Rangers role in 2024?
Also starting the game was out-of-sorts and perennially injured Ibrox winger Rabbi Matondo, who was one of this season’s early bright sparks.
Bursting into life after a solemn first season in Glasgow’s southside, the 11-times capped Welsh winger saw a productive first part of the campaigned derailed by an injury issue in September.
Now working his way back to fitness, after the mid-season training camp breather there is real hope the Rangers star can kick on and leave an impact on the squad in the second half of the season.
With Abdallah Sima away to AFCON, and Rabbi Matondo reportedly on very high wages, the club are relying on the 23-year-old to start proving his worth.
