No two wins are the same, and the differing reactions to Rangers’ victories over Malmo and Hibernian spoke volumes about the gulf between those two performances.
Philippe Clement’s side were outstanding in Sweden last Thursday.
Cruising past a Malmo side sitting ten points clear at the top of the Allsvenskan table, Rangers produced their most impressive performance of the entire campaign. But as Hibernian arrived at Ibrox three days later, the reaction to their latest three-point haul could hardly have been more dramatically different.
With Clement shuffling his pack, Kris Boyd fears the lack of depth in Rangers’ squad had been brutally exposed against Hibs.
Nicolas Raskin, he says, looks a ‘pale shadow of his old self’. Hamza Igamane, meanwhile, struggled to emulate the presence of their go-to number nine just 72 hours after Malmo boss Henrik Rydstrom singled out Rangers’ Cyriel Dessers for praise.
But while the Gers faithful had very different feelings about the performance which put Malmo to the sword and the one which needed a Jack Butland penalty save to protect the win against Hibs, one thing that stayed the same was the narrative surrounding Vaclav Cerny.
Former Rangers man Andy Halliday expresses Vaclav Cerny concerns
Rangers’ least effective performer against Malmo, Cerny squandered a gilt-edged chance as he missed the target one-on-one at the Eleda Arena.
The Czech international then started brightly against Hibs but quickly slipped into those old habits.
And hints of a strained relationship between Cerny and those on the Ibrox terraces were impossible to ignore as the Wolfsburg loanee snapped back at a few groans from a crowd who, understandably, expect better.
Cerny arrived amid big expectations.
He was one of the most fearsome forwards in the Eredivisie not so long ago, former FC Twente coach Ron Jans talking up Cerny’s ‘incredible left foot’ while Erik ten Hag described Rangers’ number 18 as a ‘special’ talent at Ajax.
So far, that Motherwell stunner aside, Cerny has been more sluggish than spectacular in Scotland. And once Hibernian got wise to his party piece – Cerny frequently cutting inside and slowing down the play much to the frustration of a fanbase who wanted to see him drive towards the box – the 26-year-old rapidly faded as an attacking force.
Lack of speed is an issue at Philippe Clement’s Rangers
“The way Hibs set up in the first-half, to frustrate Rangers, you need someone who can beat someone in a one-v-one,” former Ibrox stalwart Andy Halliday tells argues.
“Cerny has got a lovely left foot, but he’s always wanting to come in onto that left foot. He’s wanting to thread passes, he’s wanting to cross it.
“[Rangers have] a lack of pace or athleticism. And those are the kind of games where [you need that].”
Halliday has cast doubts on Rangers newbie Nedim Bajrami too, feeling that the man lining up on the opposite flank to Cerny is simply more of the same. Another technically gifted playmaker but one who lacks the fleet of foot to stretch a deep-block backline.
“Maybe Rangers are better against teams who have a bit of a go,” Halliday adds when asked why Clement’s team excelled against Malmo but toiled at home to Hibs.
“I do think it suits them when Rangers are attacking them, on turnovers and transitions they kind of get after teams. I thought they were excellent [vs Malmo]. You think; ‘go and kick on and build a bit of momentum’.”
Should he be given the nod by Clement on Thursday night, a statement performance against Lyon would be the ideal way for Cerny to silence his critics.
