Philippe Clement will be focussed purely on Rangers performance when preparing his team to face Kilmarnock this week but, after losing at Rugby Park on the opening day of the season, there is more than just three points up for grabs.
The Gers boss is squeezing every ounce of talent out of a squad that seemed to need a major overhaul earlier in the season but the 5-0 win over Hearts at Ibrox is the latest example that the depth is there.
Philippe Clement wasn’t the man in charge for Rangers defeat to Kilmarnock on matchday one but there will still be a tactical issue he has to get right if he is to succeed where Michael Beale failed.
Day one Rangers warning that Philippe Clement must heed
The most damning statistic is that we could only muster four shots on target and none of them were clear cut chances.
It was a hangover from the pre-season fixtures that saw a string of poor displays and even fewer goals from open play.
Rangers resorted to type and just threw crosses into a penalty area packed with 6ft plus Kilmarnock defenders.
Plan A had been abandoned already, whatever that might actually have been.
Beale had picked a starting XI with almost all of his bigger players rather than the one most likely to break Kilmarnock down.
He left Todd Cantwell on the bench and then criticised his performance afterwards.
We have seen a noticeable increase in intensity and tempo under Philippe Clement and that is a positive start for Rangers.
This on its own isn’t enough though and where we build play will be key.
Kilmarnock have the third best defence in the league but they are also only three teams who have scored fewer goals.
Expansive games are few and far between.
They also have one of the highest win percentage ratios in terms of home v away games.
Funnily enough, it’s an almost identical split to Livingston’s which is also one of the biggest in the league.
Rangers need variety and they need to attack at pace.
Don’t worry about giving the ball away in Killie’s half, try and make something happen, be brave on the ball.
But most importantly, get their defence turned and facing their own goal.
If we play in front of them for 90 minutes, we will be playing into Derek McInnes’ hands.
It’s a pattern of play that we are seeing more often under Clement and we will need a repeat if we are to return from Ayrshire with all three points.
A repeat of day one and don’t be surprised if we leave with nothing.
