Injury problems were central to Rangers’ disastrous collapse in the final stretch of last season.
Whilst problems dominated a mismanaged and poorly reinforced squad, the loss of attacking players like Abdallah Sima, Danilo and Oscar Cortes was quite simply too much in the end.
Injuries however stretched the length and breadth of the team.
All four centre-backs were missing at various stages throughout the season, several high earners were either recovering from long-term injuries or being consistently shot with them, the same old faces turned out the same old results.
Only eight players from a squad of 30 hit Clement’s 90% availability target.
Heading into the new season Philippe Clement has tentatively pledged that things will change in the medical department but as pre-season kicks off, the Ibrox injury curse hasn’t quite lifted.
Raskin suffers fresh Rangers injury
As Rangers faced Ajax at the end of their pre-season training camp, the inclusion of Nicolas Raskin in the starting XI was a welcome sight.
Whilst the Belgian midfielder, 23, returned at the end of last season, the ex-Standard Liege star was one of those players badly effected by injury.
Problems have blighted Raskin’s 18 months in Glasgow to date and after being on the receiving end of a tough challenge v Ajax, the midfielder was forced off in the first half.
After the match, you could almost hear a collective sigh across Govan as images circulated of Nico wearing a protective boot.
Speaking to the Rangers Review, Rangers manager Philippe Clement explained that the midfielder had ‘twisted his ankle’.
“We don’t know (how bad the issue is) yet,” said Clement. “It’s too early to say but he twisted his ankle.
“I hope it’s not too bad because for him it’s also important to have this preparation.
“Like it is for everybody, we want to keep all the squad fit so they can do this six weeks together and then they have a good base for the rest of the season.”
Exit-linked Rangers duo have ‘small’ problems
As Nicolas Raskin went off in the game, the Rangers midfielder isn’t the only player suffering from injury issues.
Rangers are coming out of a disastrous run of injury problems and players need to be slowly introduced back into the squad.
For that reason, Oscar Cortes played against Standard Liege but missed out against Ajax.
Similarly, Brazilian striker Danilo made his long-awaited return to the side from the bench for the final 15 minutes in Venlo.
But the absentees of two players in particular have raised eyebrows in recent days, with James Tavernier and Todd Cantwell missing v Standard and also against Ajax.
The two Rangers stars are amongst seven Ibrox players being linked to the exit door this summer.
But speaking after the game, Philippe Clement has provided an update and claims that it is injury problems, and not transfer interest, which is keeping both players out of the team.
Ominously, there’s a suggestion that Ibrox skipper Tavernier might even miss the start of the season.
“James has a small injury,” Clement said. “It’s nothing big.
“But it’s too much for him to train with the squad at the moment. We expect him back at the beginning of next week, the end of next week. It all depends on how it evolves.
“Everyday it’s better but he is very disappointed that he could not train with the team. He’s been a little bit down because he loves to play football.
“He loves to work with the ball, more than he does doing all these exercises or running laps round the pitch alone that he’s been doing. It’s not a nice time so he wants to be back as soon as possible. It’s three weeks still to go so let’s first bring him back into training fit and to build him again.
“Todd is also not ready so we will see in the next couple of weeks. It’s a small thing with him.”
Philippe Clement has also given a Rangers transfer update which has not exactly inspired confidence amongst supporters.
