Philippe Clement proves the Rangers numbers nerds wrong and I see nothing to fear in Europa League last 16 – Barry Ferguson

Get the latest Daily Record breaking news on WhatsApp

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info

Join us on WhatsApp

If you believed the number crunchers, Rangers barely stood a chance of fighting their way into the Europa League’s top eight.

But I’ve never been one for paying too much attention to the stats and thankfully neither it seems is Philippe Clement. His side were give a mere 10 percent probability of claiming a last 16 slot. But those sums simply didn’t add up on a night when Clement’s team were determined to upset the odds.

I was impressed by the way Rangers went about things in Thursday night’s league phase finale against Union Saint-Gilloise. We all know about the injury and ineligibility issues the manager is dealing with right now but there was no moaning or groaning from him or his players. They simply got on with the job at hand and did what was required. Clement had to rejig things, moving James Tavernier to centre-half, bringing Leon King in for his first start of the season and then asking winger Ross McCausland to cover at right-back when King went off concussed.

Hamza Igamane did a turn for the team off the left wing too while Cyriel Dessers put in one of, if not his best ever, performances in a blue jersey up front. It was a true team display from a squad down to the bare bones and they got the win they needed which, along with a little help from elsewhere, booked their place in the top eight.

That combination of results might have seemed unlikely to the boffins but I always had a sneaky suspicion this team would come up with the right formula to qualify. As much as it’s been a tough campaign so far domestically, Rangers have been upsetting the odds all year in Europe.

From skelping Nice away to putting in competitive displays against Premier League big guns Tottenham and Manchester United, I think we’ve seen enough now to know that this Light Blues line-up is a completely different beast on the continent to the one that has struggled at times at home.

OK, Clement will admits his team was outclassed by Lyon earlier in the competition but I think we’re seeing signs that Rangers are more than comfortable at this level. And I really think we should now be looking towards these March showdowns against Anderlecht, Bodo/Glimt, Twente or Fenerbahce with no fear.

They are all decent sides but are any of them a level above what Gers have faced so far? I don’t think so. Bodo and Anderlecht just missed out on the top eight while Twente and Fener were lucky to scrape into the play-off spots.

But Rangers have faced four of the sides already safely through to the last 16 and only toiled against Lyon on a night which swung on a terrible Vaclav Cerny miss when the scores were level. Get through this next tie to reach the quarter finals and then the Ibrox punters really can start dreaming of another deep run like the one they had just a couple of years ago on the surge to Seville.

There were some nerves at the end of Thursday’s game when Union got a goal back late on and had a couple of late chances as they threw bodies forward in injury-time. But Rangers managed to see it out and considering the players Clement had missing and the hectic run they’ve been for the past two months, I thought it was a heroic performance from the boys.

Dessers has certainly hit a purple patch of form. He had scored six goals in his four previous games but Thursday night was as good as I can remember him performing outside the box.

His hold-up and link play was immaculate and his assist for Cerny’s winner deserves huge praise. But for me, the best of the bunch was wee Nico Raskin.

The little Belgian has had some difficult moments since moving to Glasgow and I admit I did struggle to see what all the hype was about following his move from Standard Liege. But I think we can now all see why Michael Beale was so keen to sign him a couple of years ago. He’s been terrific since returning to the team after a spell out injured.

He was everywhere the other night, racing to cover gaps and nicking into tackles. And his header was inch perfect to give Rangers the lead.

A special mention also has to go to James Tavernier. He’s also had his critics this season but I still believe he has so much to offer this team.

The manager might have been joking about moving the skipper to centre-back permanently to extend his career but it might end up being a serious option - just not yet. For me, there’s still life left in him as a right-back but I can see the sense in moving the captain into the middle.

OK, you’d lose that attacking threat he offers out wide. But as you saw at Old Trafford for Dessers’ goal, he’s still got that range of passing that is dangerous from any position on the pitch. And you’d always have his set-piece delivery to rely on, which he again displays while whipping over the cross for Raskin’s opener.

Clement might have to continue mixing things up over the next few weeks as he waits for bodies to return but they major positive of skipping the play-off rounds is that Gers now have two free midweeks they can’t have been counting on next month. That will be crucial as Clement looks to tighten up on some issues, particularly around defending set-pieces.

Hopefully that can have an impact on domestic matters too. There’s been far too many false dawns this year but hopefully the Light Blues are finally seeing some green shoots of recovery…

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.