Rangers found a cutting edge and attacking thrust against FCSB that has been missing in recent weeks with Philippe Clement silencing the critics, for now.
The manager put his neck on the line when Tom Lawrence was picked from the start but was rewarded with an early goal and a good performance, from the whole squad, not just the Welshman.
It might only be one game, however, Clement deserves an apology from some elements of the Rangers support who have called for his head with a rocking Ibrox proving that not all of them have lost faith.
Philippe Clement gets it right to earn Rangers plaudits
Lawrence spoke about Rangers being “lacklustre” against Kilmarnock, and he wasn’t wrong, that’s exactly what they were.
For the visit of FCSB, it was an entirely different Light Blues that the 40,000 plus fans saw in front of them.
Clement’s decision to drop £4.3m signing Mohamed Diomande for the effervescent Nicolas Raskin paid off handsomely as the diminutive Belgian encapsulated everything that was good from the home side.
The 23-year old was aggressive out of possession and positive with the ball. If he lost it, he tried to win it back, in what was an all-action display.
A brave call from the manager and one that showed he deserves more time.
The intensity and attitude of every player wasn’t the type that you see of a team that don’t believe in what they are being told to do.
Why Rangers fans can’t use Kilmarnock game to beat Clement with
Only this week, Clement was almost begging Rangers fans to back him, and to trust that he is the man to lead the club forward.
When asked about the process of rebuilding the squad and the club from the ground up, he said:
People who are not happy now, they were probably happy, really happy with me six months ago, nine months ago. I am still the same man.
“I’m working even much harder than I did at that moment because there are much more things to be done, not only on the sportive side but also on the non-sportive side in this moment in the club.
“So, I’m throwing myself on all those things because I engage myself in that way in the summer and before the summer, in all those talks, because I believe so much in this club and the potential it can have for the future and to bring it back where it was before.”
The performance against FCSB might only be one game, but so to was the Kilmarnock one.
To ignore five wins out of six, other than the defeat to Lyon, all with clean sheets, and use the most recent game as all the evidence needed to sack Clement isn’t rational.
As is using the Lyon game to judge European form when the two games either side of it have been outstanding.
It is time for perspective, and it is time to back Clement, not berate him.
