Philippe Clement has been nothing if not positive about the state of Rangers’ squad in recent weeks despite a lack of January arrivals and an injury list which has forced the Belgian to get creative.
Rather than bemoan the fact that only Rafael Fernandes arrives to boost the Rangers roster – Dundee’s Lyall Cameron will join in the summer – Clement seems determined to see the sliver of silver outlining the lingering clouds hanging over Ibrox.
Injuries to the likes of John Souttar, Dujon Sterling and co have offered Ridvan Yilmaz and James Tavernier the chance to stake their claim in unfamiliar positions.
Clinton Nsiala might not have made his eye-catching breakthrough, meanwhile, Clement’s first-choice defenders had stayed fit.
And while some feel that Rangers’ squad is weaker now that it was at the start of January – Kieran Dowell and Rabbi Matondo both departed – the emergence of Findlay Curtis and particularly Bailey Rice as first-team options represents a shift towards a long-term strategy which should do the Premiership’s second-placed side a lot of good down the line.
Coventry City boss speaks out after Rangers’ Rabbi Matondo talks broke down
While Dowell has impressed early on at Birmingham City, Rabbi Matondo scored a stunner on his Hannover debut in Germany’s second tier.
Promotion-chasing Hannover snapped up the Wales international in a £1 million loan-to-buy deal after talks over a return to England broke down.
Coventry City initially looked set to sign Matondo. That was until the finances involved reportedly had the Championship outfit pulling the plug.
Now, Coventry coach Frank Lampard had made no secret of his desire for additions in the wide areas. The Chelsea legend went as far as to admit that the Sky Blues needed ‘help’ on the wings.
But if Lampard is holding any grudges – central midfielder Matt Grimes their only winter addition in the end – then he is pretty good at hiding it.
Lampard, taking a glass-half approach himself, views the returning Haji Wright, Ben Sheaf and Ephron Mason-Clark as proverbial ‘new signings’.
Mason-Clark has missed the last eight league matches but he is expected to be back in action, if not this weekend, then certainly against Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday. It was Mason-Clark’s left-wing role, meanwhile, that Matondo would have stepped into had Coventry managed to finalise an arrangement with Rangers.
Maybe, with Mason-Clark almost back to fitness, Matondo wasn’t needed in the West Midlands quite as much as it first appeared.
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Ephron Mason-Clark return eases Frank Lampard’s fears
“Well, we have got three [metaphorical] new signings, hopefully, in the next two to three weeks with Ephron, Haji and Ben Sheaf, our captain, so that changes the look of our squad,” the former England ace explains.
“A lot of teams do business at this time of year and load the squad or try to find solutions. We have been going OK. We’re not in a bad place from where we were when we first came in two months ago. Those three boys coming back will be big pluses.
“Ephron is training now and there’s a chance he could be involved at the weekend, but probably more QPR and going forward.”
According to reports, disagreements over any future bonuses was a key factor why talks with Rangers collapsed. But while he would not be drawn on the Matondo situation specifically, Lampard is insistent that Coventry had money to spend.
Matondo, potentially leaving Ibrox for a knockdown £1 million, would have cost around a third of the fee Coventry paid for the aforementioned Grimes.
“It certainly wasn’t a case of no more money, as you put it,” Lampard protests. “That’s not in my realms to delve into but, since I have been in I have been working with Doug [King, owner] and Dean [Austin, head of recruitment], we are very together on what we want to do.”
