If there is one word that best describes the make up of Rangers’ squad last season it was maybe this; ‘unbalanced’.
A roster lacking in deep-lying, defence-first midfielders but overloaded with number tens. A side with few options on the right wing but with Abdallah Sima, Rabbi Matondo, Fabio Silva and Oscar Cortes all capable of thriving on the left.
The summer transfer window offered Rangers the chance to right the wrongs, then, of last year’s Mick Beale-led recruitment drive.
And while Philippe Clement’s squad still appears lacking in a few key areas – Rangers remain in the market for a Steven Davis-like playmaker and a Connor Goldson replacement at centre-back – the arrival of Vaclav Cerny should fix a problem that has pervaded through many a window.
Rangers sign Vaclav Cerny from Wolfsburg
Former striker Kris Boyd claimed back in 2022 that Rangers had never really replaced Daniel Candeias following the Portuguese’s departure five years ago now.
“The right-wing position has been an issue since Daniel Candeias left,” Boyd told the Scottish Sun. “It has been a blind spot for the club, and one that must be urgently sorted out.”
Two years on – after a season in which the promising but inconsistent Ross McCausland and the limited Scott Wright battled it out for a starting spot – Cerny could be the signing Boyd and co have been crying out for.
The 26-year-old Czech Republic international is an electrifying presence in full flow.
During his final season at FC Twente in 2022/23, he ended the campaign with 15 assists and 13 goals. Cutting in to often devastating effect from the left wing in a manner similar to last year’s loan star Sima on the opposite flank.
Much has been made of the potential of a Cerny and Danilo reunion – the duo were ‘sensational’ together at Twente a couple of years ago – but Cyriel Dessers knows the winger well too.
Formerly of Heracles and Feyenoord, Dessers came up against Cerny in the Netherlands.
And he feels that the VFL Wolfsburg loanee will add a different dimension to Rangers’ attack, potentially becoming the first right-winger since Candeias’ heyday to really make the position his own.
Cyriel Dessers excited by Ibrox newbie
“I think he has a very interesting profile that maybe we don’t have yet,” Dessers tells Rangers Review. “He’s a winger who can play on the outside against the line but who can also come insider and create more in the midfield.
“He’ll give us some good creativity there. He has a good left foot, right foot. He can be important with goals and assists so I’m really looking forward to playing with him.”
Cerny enjoyed some promising moments in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg.
But, as his former Twente boss Ron Jans explains, Die Wolfe’s wing-back system never really suited a footballer who played his best stuff in a mobile front-three.
“Vaclav is one of my favourites. I loved working with him,” Jans tells The Herald of the Ajax academy graduate.
“As a young kid, he was seen as one of the biggest talents in Europe. Vaclav had real speed. His left foot is incredible and he works really hard as a player. He’s a real high-intensity player in transition and when pressing.
“Sometimes, he wants things to happen too quickly and needs to be relaxed in his head. But we all love watching football players who are doing something special.”
