Philippe Clement is probably his own worst enemy at the moment as Rangers struggle to gain any consistency of performance.
The manager has been managing a squad with injuries to key players, however, some of his team selections and substitutions continue to raise questions.
One common complaint is his loyalty to players who either offer little or who have been given too many chances already, especially when Rangers now have a player like Ianis Hagi available.
Ianis Hagi disrespected with Rangers snub
At 1-0 up against Hearts, Rangers had no control and squandered a series of chances to kill the game off.
The biggest problem was the quality of passing and yet Clement chose to give Ross McCausland and Kieran Dowell a chance off the bench, rather than Hagi.
Dowell had two chances to play in Danilo but overhit both passes and McCausland’s involvement was to give a series of cheap free-kicks away.
If Clement thinks either player is more likely to create something than £3m signing Hagi, then Rangers have a serious problem.
It’s borderline disrespectful to leave Hagi on the bench in a game lacking quality and control or someone who could make a difference.
Hagi shows the mentality needed for Rangers resurgence
Hagi sat down with RTV to discuss his return to the first team and there can be few players in Clement’s squad more motivated to succeed at Rangers than the 26-year old:
“As long as I am a Rangers player, I will definitely go out there and give my best for the fans,” Hagi declared.
“I feel that football changes really quick, situations change every 24 hours and, obviously, it took more than 24 hours, but I knew that this would never be, it won’t last that much.
“I knew that day would come (returning to the first team) and I just kept focused on that day and I was focused to be in the best shape physically and mentally for when that day comes.
“Coming back for my first game with Rangers, at Ibrox, in front of the fans, having an assist in, probably, my first 15 minutes of me coming back, that’s not a coincidence, that’s just my work and my mentality of ‘I know my day will come’.”
It looks like Hagi is going to have to be more patient than most after the win over Hearts, if Clement is trying to chase the Romania international out the club, he is going about it the right way.
Hagi shouldn’t just be coming off the bench in that type of game, he should be starting them.
Given Rangers lack of goals and creativity, the decision not to unleash Hagi was as puzzling as the performance itself.
