Philippe Clement always said that things would be different once he got more options into his Rangers team.
A mixture of injury and unavailability over the course of the Belgian manager’s 12 months in Scotland have meant the ex-Club Brugge hasn’t always been playing with a full deck.
With Rangers fans shown a glimpse of this new-look Ibrox squad’s attacking prowess in the 6-0 hammering of Kilmarnock, there were certainly more options for Clement than ever before.
But whilst all three strikers scored for Rangers, the performance of Romanian playmaker Ianis Hagi was given a special mention by Philippe Clement come full-time.
The Rangers star played a crucial role and continues to grow back into the Ibrox squad, with Clement just happy to have Ianis Hagi back amongst his options in the final third.
Philippe Clement singles out Ianis Hagi
”You cannot play in this way in every game,” Clement told the press following the win over Killie.
“It’s not possible. We knew very well how Derek would play against us.
“So we wanted to create spaces for ourselves in that way. The first goal is a good example.
“If Ianis can give an assist but it’s your right full-back who is scoring that goal behind the defence of the opponent, like it was against St Johnstone. It was an own goal but he was in that position.
“So it’s about getting the players in the right positions and a lot of variation in that way that it becomes difficult for opponents.
“Ianis is an interesting player because he can play the three positions.
“He can play on the right, he played a lot on the right with national team also. He can play a ten and he can play on the left and he can give crosses with both feet.
“I am really happy that he’s now in my selection. That was something that was not in my force in that moment to have him in the selection or not, but I talked about that before.”
Rangers manager bites back at press criticism
The Rangers manager has also been speaking about those additional options in his team – and the increasing competition as a result.
Clement asked reporters just how many times he had more than one striker in his side, let alone three, as he reflected on the hammering of Kilmarnock.
All three Rangers strikers scored in the match whilst there are increasing contributions from players across the field.
What’s more there are still some players to come back into the team to bolster the squad.
Philippe Clement insists everyone will need to contribute in the weeks and months ahead and bit back at press criticisms over his selections in recent weeks.
“How many times in this one year did I have two strikers available in the squad?” Clement said.
“That’s the reality of the story, so it’s major, it’s important to keep everybody fit, but I am sure if we didn’t win with 6-0 that maybe you would’ve said, ‘why is Connor Barron not starting today?’ It’s like that.
“It’s like that but all these players are pushing, they’re working hard, I cannot say anything about that.
“We need to keep it that way and then they all will have their moments to shine, they all will have their moments also to sit on the bench and to be ready for the next game.
“Because it’s such an ultra-marathon this season that we need this rotation and smart rotation in the squad and that’s what we’re going to do the next weeks and the next months.
“So I’m sure maybe you’re going to be the first one if we don’t win the game to say ‘ah why is that one not playing?’ But that’s easy after the games with insight so that’s what is difficult about this job.”
