It’s amazing what one substitution can do for the mood of a support with Rangers fans starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Against Dundee Utd, Philippe Clement had to shoehorn Kieran Dowell into an unfamiliar looking forward line but there were signs that this sort of square peg in round hole decision will soon be a thing of the past.
Tom Lawrence looked back to his pre-injury beat, however, a return to Ibrox and with Dundee the visitors, the manager has a great opportunity to give fans what they really want.
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Philippe Clement could pick new look Rangers attack
With more players returning to fitness and new signings knowing their teammates’ names, the Gers boss doesn’t have any excuses now.
A front four of Oscar Cortés, Nedim Bajrami, Vaclav Cerny and Hamza Igamane is one that will get fans off their seats, if Clement picks them.
Cortés played 60 minutes in a bounce game against Motherwell during the international break and 45 minutes at Tannadice so is good to go.
Bajrami has no fitness issues and, for £3.4m, Clement will be looking to build his attack around the Albania international.
Cerny made an impact for Czechia when he was away and only missed the trip to Dundee through illness and will be an immediate upgrade on Dowell.
Then there is Igamane.
Despite his numbers this season and last, Cyriel Dessers continues to frustrate at key moments.
On a bad day, everything breaks down around the Gers number nine and chances to put Rangers in front or games to bed – as he did against Dundee Utd – go begging.
Igamane’s cameo when he came on for Dessers was like a shot in the arm for the travelling thousands.
There was a new dynamic look to the attack, one that might be repeated against Utd’s city rivals.
Bajrami could be the man to make Rangers tick
The man who could orchestrate things is Bajrami, and the 25-year old playmaker can’t wait to get going and show what he can do in a Light Blue shirt:
“We have a good dressing room and I feel really happy already. I have played against Vaclav Cerny, so I know him.
“I am ready to play as I have just played two games for Albania, but it is up to the coach if I play.
“We have pressure every week here. I am happy to have that pressure and I like that.
“I like to play with the ball and most of the games we have the ball – I will try to get as many goals and assists to help the team.”
When the idea of Aberdeen or Hearts challenging Rangers was raised, there was an ignorance towards what the arguments were based on.
Rangers haven’t played badly this season, but there are a lot of new players who need to settle and get used to each other.
With a totally new forward line, this is even more important, but there is no argument that players like Cortés, Cerny and Bajrami are an upgrade on the players who played in the same position last season when Rangers challenged for the league.
It has been a summer of change, this weekend would be a good time for Philippe Clement to show what direction he really wants his team to go in.
