The Herald - Herald Sport

‘A lot of kids schooled in the Arsenal way are going to be comfortabl­e here’: Classy Kamara in focus for Gerrard

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regular football for your developmen­t.

“That’s what Glen did. To be fair, Dundee coached him really well. Glen really bought into Neil McCann’s possession style and he is a fantastic coach who did a good job with him.

“I think Neil has played his part in getting Glen to where he is now.

“It just made total sense for us to do it when we did. Rangers and Glen Kamara is a good match.

“A lot of kids who are schooled the Arsenal way are going to be comfortabl­e in a style like ours. He coped at Dundee in this league so you know he has got a little bit about him in terms of out of possession.

“He ticked a lot of boxes. No-one had a bad word to say about him.”

The squad that Gerrard has assembled ensures he has plenty of selection questions to answer every week. The decisions in midfield – where he also has Steven Davis, Ryan Jack and Joe Aribo in form – are perhaps the most difficult.

It is a good problem to have and Kamara will continue to stake his own claims for a jersey this season.

“I think Glen is in good form at the moment and the players love playing with him,” Gerrard said. “He is someone who is always available. He will never hide, he will always give you an angle and take the ball in any situation.

“The midfield three of late have been outstandin­g and they compliment each other well. That is the strongest part of our squad at the moment.

“We have people who probably don’t deserve to be outside of that three. We also have people outside the 18 who are fighting to get in.”

THE food on offer at Ibrox and the Hummel Training Centre has been improved since Steven Gerrard was appointed as Rangers manager.

And captain James Tavernier hopes there will be success on the menu for the Govan side thanks to Gerrard’s increased standards on and off the park.

Tavernier knows as well as anyone at Rangers how different things are these days now that Gerrard is calling the shots. The squad has been overhauled and results have improved, while the environmen­t has been given a much-needed lift after years of neglect and under investment.

Every area has been looked at in an attempt to find the small gains that could make a huge difference come the end of the campaign.

And results like the Europa League win over Porto on Thursday night only highlight just how far Rangers have come in a short space of time.

“It’s definitely some transforma­tion from being knocked out by Progres, only a couple of years ago,” Tavernier said. “It’s been incredible.

“The standard of player that has come through the door has risen and the quality of everything around Rangers has gone up as well – the facilities at the training ground have changed and got better for us – the kitchen, the canteen, everything.

“We spend almost every day in this environmen­t and they’ve tried to make it the best they can for us. Even the food we eat every day now is up a notch from what we were eating.

“Small things make a difference, so all the things people aren’t seeing behind the scenes are really benefittin­g us. We’ve got a cryotherap­y chamber on site now, which helps recovery. Everything is going in the right direction.

“We need to have consistenc­y all season and the standards have to be top. We can’t slack at any point because that’s when we’ll hit the speed bumps like we did last season, so we have to keep the standards high all season.”

Rangers didn’t hit the heights in terms of their performanc­e against Porto but the importance of the result cannot be underestim­ated. A knockout berth is now in their sights.

Goals from Alfredo Morelos and Steven Davis won it as Ibrox savoured a memorable European evening.

Tavernier said: “It was a great result against Porto for the fans, team and the club but we’ve got to focus on Sunday now. I was one of the lucky ones, along with Borna, who was selected for the drugs test after the game so we got a chance to reflect.

“And even just looking back at some of the clips of the fans all bouncing, I can’t remember seeing that because you’re always so focused on the game but you heard the support and it was a special night.

“I’m not the best sleeper after games and I only managed three hours – I woke up at seven o’clock in the morning for some reason.

“We needed the win and the first half was a bit cagey, we maybe gave them too much respect, but second half we tried to punish them when we could and we were delighted to keep a clean sheet.

“Alfredo pulled off a great volley and we say in training if you don’t shoot you won’t score and Davo got a deflection and it went into the back of the net.”

Rangers’ win over Porto came just hours after Celtic had taken all three points against Lazio. For Scottish football, both achievemen­ts were significan­t and could be rewarding in years to come.

Tavernier wasn’t aware of their Old Firm rivals’ fortunes pre-match. Once he took to the field, he relished the occasion and the atmosphere at Ibrox.

Tavernier said: “I read the next day how much of a boost it is for the co-efficient and Scottish football is closing in on two places in the Champions League, so it’s a big positive.

“I played a couple of Europa League games with Newcastle United so that was my first taste of European football but I was young and learning the game then.

“Those three games were away so nothing compares to the atmosphere at Ibrox the other night against Porto. It was phenomenal, especially when we went 2-0 up and it was special. You pay great respect to the calibre of players they’ve got – they’re a Champions League team – and that is the icing on the cake.”

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