Rangers renaissance?

The European adventure continues this evening in France, when Rangers come face to face with adversaries who are struggling domestically like Rangers, but who are struggling in Europe as well.

14th in Ligue 1, Auxerre are in relative dire straits in the division, unable to make any headway into the top ten of the championship.

They have also lost their only match in the Uefa Cup to a side Rangers have beaten fairly comfortably in Maccabi Haifa, which would lend itself to the notion that going into this game Rangers are arguably favourites, which given their overall season is definitely a change from the norm.

Le Guen has fielded a relatively unchanged team for the past two encounters, the only alteration being the dropping of Martin who performed so miserably against Dunfermline and indeed was hauled at half time during that encounter, in favour of the reinstatement of Boyd for the Hearts match. So it stands to reason that given the two successive victories attained in those encounters Le Guen may opt to persist with the rapidly settling starting 11. However, second guessing the boss is a mug’s game and tantamount to folly, so it is much wiser to refrain from hypothesising the lineup and to merely scrutinise the team when it is officially revealed.

One other thing which stands out is the current settlement of the defence; Hutton, Hemdani, Svensson and Smith has been the staple backline for a short while now, and to reinforce the advocation of this policy it is worth noting Rangers have enjoyed 2 clean sheets as well as the victories. So it seems valid that those who called for an unchanging defence have been vindicated.

Also revealed in the past couple of days has been Le Guen’s desire to send Bardsley back to Manchester; it has been all but confirmed by the manager that Phil has no future at Ibrox, and will return to his owning club in the new year. This is arguably a very disappointing move by the Frenchman; Bardsley showed plenty of potential as a more than decent right back, and seemed a cut above his main rival Hutton, but the infamous training-ground bust up between Bardsley and the gaffer severed any chances he realistically had of remaining in Le Guen’s plans. At the same time, his fellow Mancunian Martin has been informed he is very much in the plans of the club, and it is conceived that Rangers will desire to extend his loan spell from January onwards.
It is clear Martin has failed to deliver bar that superb performance against Hearts, so quite what Le Guen sees in him is unknown, his wish to retain him is something of a mystery. If either of the two loans were to be kept, it should arguably have been Bardsley.

Finally, Clement has been in the red tops today quoted as stating his desire to move on to pastures new, and that he admits Rangers are little more than a stepping stone to greater things for him. He belittles the standard of the SPL and suggests Le Guen’s presence is the only thing which persuaded him to join the Govan club.

Many supporters will be upset by this apparent lack of passion for the club from him, but too many still idealistically believe that players join clubs for the club’s heritage, supporters, and pedigree. In this cynical modern age, players go where they will be paid handsomely, and where they can develop their career. This is a business, and loyalty comes at a price. It could be argued that Clement would have been better off saying nothing, and maybe that is true, but the brutal realists among us would merely respect his honesty, and expect that as long as he remains at Ibrox he gives his heart and soul to the team, and plays as well as he would if his employers were Real Madrid.

However, this is all long term; our immediate concern is tonight, and we have to hope the likes of Clement deliver.