It is not only the Rangers supporters, it seems, who are struggling to make their mind up about one of Philippe Clement’s many summer signings.
Recruitment chief Nils Koppen opened up on Rangers’ transfer strategy this week, explaining the rationale behind an approach that has seen the Glasgow giants pursue bargain deals for little-known prospects from some less-heralded markets.
Jefte, a £2 million left-back brought in from Brazilian football after a spell in Cyprus, was one player Koppen highlighted, alongside Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane.
Vaclav Cerny, however, was a very different sort of deal. If Jefte and Igamane were two young players boasting considerable re-sale potential brought in from left-field, then Cerny was much the opposite.
A soon-to-be 27-year-old winger brought in on loan from a club in Europe’s major leagues. Cerny joined from Wolfsburg in July with his reputation on a downward trajectory.
Three months on, he is perhaps the Rangers signing who has sparked the most discussion and debate.
Rangers’ Vaclav Cerny questioned after Czech Republic win
Cerny’s brilliant brace in Rangers’ 2-0 win over St Johnstone last week quietened the critics.
But considering the expectation that accustomed his arrival – Cerny was labelled a ‘special’ talent by Erik ten Hag in his Ajax days – there has certainly been more underwhelming performances than dazzling ones in royal blue.
The narrative surrounding Cerny’s role in the Czech Republic team will feel rather familiar, then, to those back home in Scotland.
A glimpse at the two minute highlights displayed on UEFA’s official website may give the impression of Cerny at his flowing best. It was his blocked shot which led to the opener Tomas Chory.
Cerny then created a shooting chance for Lukas Provod.
But, after Cerny failed to add to a respectable tally of six goals in 18 international caps, the Czech media certainly did not seem overly enthused about a man who lined up on the right of Tomas Hasek’s front three.
“Vaclav Cerny fell short of expectations,” Medium write in their post-match autopsy. “It wasn’t exactly a bad performance, but more was expected from him.”
Sport, meanwhile, gave Cerny the worst rating of anyone in the Czech Republic XI.
Despite that, they believe that the former FC Twente talisman has actually ‘improved his game’ since that summer switch to Rangers.
“Active in the first half, he tried to score,” Sport say. “In the second half, he messed up a counter-attack [and] his performance went down.”
Cerny’s Czech Republic get the better of Nedim Bajrami’s Albania
With Rangers team-mate Nedim Bajrami lining up for the opposition, there was to be no repeat of the 1-1 draw back in 2023 for an Albania side who struggled to lay a glove on a superior Czech Republic outfit.
Bajrami scored a long-range stunner in that previous encounter 13 months ago.
This, however, was a much quieter evening for a man who has caught the eye since his £3.5 million deadline day arrival from Sassuolo.
“We knew they would be aggressive. They got the goal very quickly,” Bajrami sighed during his post-match discussion with the media.
They put a lot of pressure on us. In two days, we have the next match [against Georgia]. I hope we score the goals we didn’t score today.
“Both their defence and their attack were better. They haven’t done anything better than us. That’s how football is.”
