The return of Ianis Hagi has been like the proverbial new signing with the Rangers playmaker putting Celtic to the sword.
Philippe Clement had to field questions in the summer as to why the Romania international wasn’t in the first team squad and the manager must only regret that the 26-year old’s contract situation wasn’t resolved sooner.
What it has shown, if anyone had any doubts, is that Hagi has the ability and mentality to carry the weight of expectation in a Rangers shirt, a sentiment shared by a former teammate.
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Ianis Hagi given Rangers mentality praise
Posting on Instagram, Kemar Roofe, who is still without a club, shared a photo of Hagi after scoring the opening goal at Ibrox, saying simply:
“Mental strength brother, never giving up.”
Everytime Hagi speaks, he talks with intelligence. Even as a younger player, he always had maturity beyond his years.
Roofe is right, the mentality needed to be written off and then come back into the team to be a key player has to be applauded.
Hagi not getting carried away with Rangers win
Speaking after the game, Ianis Hagi knows that Rangers can enjoy the moment, but have a long way still to go:
“It feels good,” Ianis Hagi told Sky Sports at full-time.
“It feels good because you obviously want to win derbies. Is it a step forward for us? Indeed.
“But we know it’s three points. They’re important but we go again in three days so we got to switch on quickly, recover and get ready for the next game.
“It definitely helps (getting the early goal). Obviously with the fans playing home that definitely helps.
“I think it’s an all-round good game for us for 90 minutes. You can start well and finish really bad.
“I think we were consistent and I think that’s the perfect word for us moving forward.
“We have to be consistent for 90 minutes and when do that then we are a good football team.”
