What’s next for Belgian Phils quadruple chasing Rangers?!

What’s Next?

What an unbelievable week to be a Rangers supporter!

Let’s rewind to Saturday 30th September. A day we’d all like to forget. Losing 1-3 at home to Aberdeen was inexcusable, although was arguably the catalyst the board needed to make a change.

The supporters certainly had enough and made their feelings perfectly clear.

Enter Philippe Clement.

Or ‘Belgian Phil’ as he’s been affectionately named. I said upon meeting him, he had something different. A presence, if you will. He brought with him experience of winning and a drive to continue to do so.

He spoke of the returning the synergy between the team and the supporters and with his recent comments, it’s fair he’s been impressed. “That history, that tradition. I have never experienced that passion of people for football anywhere.”

The Rangers fans are the best in the land.

Nine weeks on and with some favourable results across the city, we find ourselves right back in a title race, something that you’d have been mocked for suggesting back in September.

The players have spoken about the manager ‘simplifying’ things. Summer arrivals, who arguably have struggled to find their feet, are starting to show what they can do & there’s a real sense of cohesion and fight in the team.

It’s easy to say Butland has been the outstanding player thus far, a blind man would agree. But a word on John Lundstrum.

Regularly criticised and sometimes deservedly so, however he has quite frankly been our best player since Clements arrival.

Mr Thursday night is back with a bang!

I will mention though, the Europa League game at home to Aris Limassol left me feeling we’d bottled it. With 62% possession and 15 shots, we should’ve taken all three points.

The manager was calm in the press conference after the game, he could see the improvements within the squad but let’s not joke, we were all worried about qualification that night.

I travelled to Spain for the Betis game with a slight nervousness – the optimist in me hoping we could do it but knowing the Spaniards home record would be difficult to overcome. The games against Aris Limassol may have come back to haunt us and the injury situation left us with a threadbare bench.

Back when the draw was made, I was mocked for suggesting we could top the group.

Never write us off.

Back the team and the results will follow. A fantastic result for all involved and a great support in Seville.

Also – a shout out to those who sprinted through Bergamo airport with me trying to get home 😁.

What a trip!!

After smashing the Spanish, the first silverware was up for grabs at the weekend.

Philippe Clement writes himself into the history books joining Bill Struth, Scot Symon, Willie Waddell, Jock Wallace, John Greig, Graeme Souness, Walter Smith & Alex McLeish in returning the trophy to Ibrox, a feat last achieved by the late & great Walter in 2010/2011.

We now find ourselves high on confidence, knowing a win in each of our next four fixtures would send us into the winter break a point clear at the top of the table.

An unbelievable turnaround from the start of the season!

The small matter of a trip to Celtic Park with no supporters is undoubtedly the stand out fixture & a big challenge, but one that we will all be relishing. There’s a feeling that the momentum is swinging our way.

What’s next?

There’s been a lot of talk about recruitment recently and I’ll be watching with a keen eye come January. The manager has been vocal on the number of injuries we have and said the other week that his job was to find ‘solutions’.

Dujon Sterling playing out of position as a CM, having barely featured, has arguably been a stroke of genius but it’s clear that we need reinforcements.

Young Ross McCausland has impressed but I still feel we need an experienced right winger – I know I’m not the only one. But it’s good seeing talent coming from the youth academy.

Bailey Rice was someone who seemed close to a step up under the previous managers tenure but hasn’t featured under Clement. There are a number of players from the youth set up now training with the first team which will be excellent for their progression at Rangers and I’m hopeful we see a few more break through this season.

Do we need another number nine? I’ll leave that open for debate.

Abdallah Sima has been a revelation on the left, 14 goals in all competitions since his arrival. People always say, never fall in love with a loan player. Brighton payed around £7m for his services in 21/22, if he keeps this form up, I’d like to see him stay at Ibrox.

A break from European football until March will allow us to focus on league & Scottish Cup fixtures with 5 games in the coming 17 days (and give many of us time to save for a trip after Christmas).

I’m sitting writing this with a smile on my face. Absolutely buzzing at what I’m witnessing from our team. Yes, sometimes the football isn’t sexy but football is about winning.

Undefeated in fourteen games under the new manager and Dessers scoring a screamer in Seville! Finally, things are looking up!

What’s next? Game at a time and keep winning.

PS. Shoutout to the boy on the alternative commentary videos. They make my week 😁!