It wasn’t quite a classic case of ‘getting the old band back together’ at Rangers last summer.
More, an attempt to put two long-estranged musicians back in the studio in the hope that they could still produce the same melodies of old.
The carefree guitar riffs of Vaclav Cerny, coupled with the cerebral, synthy stylings of Danilo. The attacking pair went together like Hall and Oates at FC Twente – forming one of the Eredivisie’s most chart-topping duos in the 2020/21 season – and are now proving at Rangers, four years on, that the magic of that wonderful first LP could yet be recaptured.
As Cerny started slowly at Rangers, and as injuries kept Danilo on the sidelines, even Ron Jans must have wondered if these two reunited teammates were in danger of the dreaded ‘second album syndrome’.
Jans watched on in awe as Cerny and Danilo bounced off each other beautifully in Enschede. News that the pair would be working together again at Ibrox, meanwhile, had the now-FC Utrecht boss hoping that Rangers would witness the same ‘sensational’ results.
And, slowly but surely, those old notes and hooks are returning.
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Danilo and Vaclav Cerny rediscover ‘sensational’ partnership at Rangers
Three weeks after Danilo set up Cerny to score Rangers’ winner against Dundee in late-December, St Johnstone were to suffer the same fate.
Danilo dropped deep, as he likes to do in behind Hamza Igamane, and threaded an inch-perfect through ball into Cerny’s path.
Rangers’ leading Premiership marksman, taking his tally to 12 in all competitions, finished with the composure of a man enjoying the second-most prolific goalscoring season of his career.
And Jans, watching on from afar, will have been hit with a wave of nostalgia as his former Twente talismen rolled back the years at Rangers.
“Danilo and Vaclav played together and had a great fit. The chemistry was really good,” the veteran Jans told Rangers Review over the summer, following Cerny’s arrival on loan from Wolfsburg.
“They scored so many goals in the first half of the season. It was sensational.
“Vaclav is one of my favourites. I loved working with him,” Jans added, Cerny graduating from Ajax after rejecting Arsenal and Chelsea in favour of the Dutch giants.
“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.”
Barry Ferguson is praying Rangers can keep Wolfsburg loanee Cerny
To think, it’s not long ago that Cerny was being jeered off by the Rangers fans. Or, since Danilo’s time in Glasgow looked destined to end prematurely following another return to the treatment room.
Now, Danilo is finally fulfilling his £5 million price-tag while Cerny appears to have fixed a right-sided problem Rangers have been contending with arguably since Daniel Candeias rode off into the sunset.
By his own admission, Rangers legend Barry Ferguson is desperate to see Vaclav Cerny stay, presuming Wolfsburg’s asking price does not make a deal impossible.
“He’s a player I like and would love to see stay beyond this year’s loan,” Ferguson tells the Daily Record. “He’s not been quite as prominent in general play lately and perhaps that is down to his fatigue levels.
“But he’s a player who can come up with big moments, as you saw with his equaliser against Dundee. It was his 11th goal of the season and most of those have been vital to Gers.
“I read another stat this morning which said his goals have directly contributed 14 points to the Ibrox cause. Take them out and we’d be sitting level with sixth-placed St Mirren!
“It looks like his German parent club will be looking for a fee north of £6 million but will that be beyond Rangers’ budget? We’ll just have to wait to hear what [chief executive] Patrick Stewart has to say for himself.”
