The question on the lips of most observers, after Rangers signed Lyall Cameron on deadline day, was this; ‘Just where on earth is he going to fit into Philippe Clement’s starting XI?’
Now, it’s certainly a question worth asking.
If Connor Barron cannot force his way into the side despite being arguably Rangers’ best performer in the opening months of the season – just two starts in the last eight Premiership games in which he’s been available – then what chance does Lyall Cameron have of ousting Mohamed Diomande and the imperious, peerless Nico Raskin from Philippe Clement’s team sheet?
But, still, such a stance misses the point a little.
Clement has consistently argued that Rangers’ hopes of success depend not on the strength of their starting XI but on the strength of their squad.
“It’s really a squad, it’s not team. It’s not 11 players or 14, or 15 players,” Clement said after the 2-1 win over Union Saint Gilloise last week; James Tavernier, Ross McCausland and Hamza Igamane starting in unfamiliar roles while Paul Nsio and Zak Lovelace emerged from the bench.
“All the squad has been involved in that way, and it was necessary to see it also today again.”
As Rangers look to balance league and cup commitments with another deep run into the Europa League, the Belgian needs all the depth he can get. And while Cameron will not officially become a Ger until the summer – he joins on a pre-contract agreement with his Dundee deal running out – the Scotland Under-21 international further strengthens arguably the strongest area of Clement’s squad.
Not only that, Cameron promises to bring a different dimension to the Ibrox roster.
Lyall Cameron brings another dimension to Rangers’ midfield
With eight goals this season, he has found the net more often than Raskin, Diomande and Barron combined.
While Raskin’s game is all about snatching back possession, while Diomande likes to drive forward from deep and Barron prefers to dictate the play, Cameron is something Rangers didn’t really have before.
A midfielder capable of bursting into the penalty area and finishing off chances.
That stunning lob against St Johnstone may be the most memorable finish of Cameron’s young career, but if you look through his other strikes in a Dundee shirt, you may end up with a feeling of deja vu.
So many of Cameron’s goals arrive in a very similar fashion. He pops up in the box, awaiting a cut back or a cross, before finishing cooly. Take his late brace in last month’s 4-1 win over Motherwell for instance. For his first of the day, Cameron picks up the ball on the edge of the area and shoots early, his effort deflected in. Doubling his tally, he races into the 18-yard box, receives a lay-off and curls his strike into the far corner. Even for Dundee’s first two goals of the afternoon, Cameron was loitering in the penalty area waiting for scraps.
Rangers have arguably not had a midfielder with this sort of skillset, or nose for goal, since Scott Arfield’s Ibrox heyday.
Whether Clement can bring the best out of him in his new home remains to be seen, of course. At the age of 22, he is far from the finished article. And, as Rangers legend Barry Ferguson says, a move to Ibrox is a ‘huge’ step up for Lyall Cameron.
But, with Hamza Igamane establishing himself as the club’s go-to number nine for now and the future, it genuinely feels as if Rangers already possess the perfect foil for a midfielder of Cameron’s talents.
Hamza Igamane is the ideal partner for Lyall Cameron
“People expect a centre forward to operate in between the sticks and I get that. But Igamane plays like a free spirit and that makes him such a handful,” Ferguson told the Daily Record in January.
“He floats into areas, is difficult to pick up and offers something totally different. I enjoy his unpredictability. You just don’t have a clue what he’s going to do next or where he’s going to pop up and that must make him a defender’s nightmare to play against.
“He’s certainly not your average number nine.”
Igamane likes nothing more than drifting out to the flanks, dropping deep, and opening up spaces for his teammates to dart into. The sort of spaces where Lyall Cameron often does his best work.
For all the qualities Rangers possess in midfield, out wide and in the number ten role, there is a shortage of genuine box-crashers in the squad. Particularly those with the energy, the running power and the vision to drive forward from deep.
Well, not anymore. Not once Lyall Cameron is in the building.
Only one Rangers midfielder has hit double figures in a season – Malik Tillman – since Arfield in 2019. With Cameron set to arrive, and with Igamane a match made in heaven for a footballer who’s potential can be unleashed alongside a mobile number nine, Rangers might just have added an all-new weapon to Philippe Clement’s armoury.
