'Terrific, Best Game' - Manager linked with Rangers job wowed by Ibrox star vs FCSB

Rangers were “terrific” in their response to defeat to Kilmarnock and Vaclav Cerny had his best game for the club, according to Derek McInnes.

The opposing manager from the 1-0 loss at Rugby Park reacted live on TNT Sports on 25 October after Philippe Clement’s side ran out comfortable 4-0 winners, with Czech winger Cerny scoring two and assisting another.

Clement’s job has been called into question since the Scottish Premiership loss at the weekend (20 October), with McInnes himself linked as a possible replacement [PLZ Soccer, 21 October], but he was very impressed with what he saw at Ibrox.

McInnes said (9.57pm): “The response was terrific. I think it was exactly what everyone from a Rangers perspective was looking for. When the manager, Philippe Clement, woke up this morning he would have envisaged this type of game. This would have been the perfect story for him.

“His attacking players, Cerny and [Tom] Lawrence certainly, had a big influence on proceedings, probably Cerny’s best game in a Rangers shirt.

“I actually thought the middle of the pitch… you see Connor Barron playing a lot of times for Rangers and he plays as a six. Now he had [Nico] Raskin alongside him today and they played like two eights, and they took it in turns just to get about their work, make contact, make tackles, get the game going forward, press well and with a bit of intent, and I actually thought it helped both players play a really good game.”

Derek McInnes reacts to Rangers response to Kilmarnock loss

It was quite a surreal situation at Ibrox for the manager who created the latest storm for Clement by beating the Belgian in the league at the weekend to be there assessing him on the reaction.

When other pundits such as Michael Stewart have been asked about his credentials to take the Rangers job [Premier Sports, 21 October] McInnes was instead tasked with analysing what Clement did well as he holds onto the role.

The Gers boss spoke ahead of the game and made quite clear he didn’t expect to be going anywhere, with his contract extension in the summer part of an agreement between himself and the club that the current cost-cutting and rebuild process would take time.

And in fairness to him he presided over exactly the sort of response Rangers needed, with higher tempo, more attacking intent, and the more balance midfield McInnes highlighted.

Jack Butland almost caused the entire thing to implode in the second minute as he was caught in possession by David Miculescu who slotted home, only for the Gers keeper to be rescued by an extremely charitable free kick.

Rangers took their second chance and never looked back, with Cerny outstanding as he put his own misery in the Europa League this season behind him to drive the team forward, assisting Lawrence then adding two of his own, before Hamza Igamane scored his first for the club.

The re-emergence of Raskin was arguably the most pleasing element of the night, as the midfield tactics which have become a stick to beat Clement with finally looked more coherent, and the fact that McInnes picked up on it may have been a sign it was something he’d have advocated previously.

The only down side was arguably an injury to Lawrence, who was repeatedly fouled through the first half, which forced him off at the interval.

Handfuls of tickets were on sale outside the game ahead of kick off in a sign that fans are running out of patience with Clement [David Tanner, 24 October].

He missed a huge opportunity in the league with the loss at the weekend, but this was a big step in making it right, although it will mean nothing if it isn’t backed up with another.

In other Rangers news, a Ryan Kent update has emerged as Gers fans clamour for him to train with the club before signing a new deal.

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