GERS HAVEN’T PEAKED
Clem’s climbing but he can’t hit the top
And with the Aussie in charge at Celtic, Michael Beale simply couldn’t get anywhere close to it.
Now with Philippe Clement the main man at Ibrox, Rangers couldn’t be any nearer to the Premiership peak.
But having gone 742 long days since their last proper perch on the table’s summit, the Light Blues are going to have to wait a little longer to claim the position they desire most.
Last night’s win over Ross County means a Hoops lead that once a stood at seven points has now been slashed to a single goal.
It’s a remarkable achievement for a manager who was given a challenge akin to scaling Everest when he walked into Ibrox just four months ago.
Maybe the Gers fans need reminded of that fact, though. Yes, their team should have been out of sight after an opening 45 minutes in which they had 19 shots to County’s three, yet found themselves ahead only by one as Cyriel Dessers struck twice either side of Simon Murray’s shock leveller.
But this was a night when the nerves nearly got the better of many in the stands before John Souttar added a third in stoppage time.
Clement has now made use of 29 players since taking over in October but his week-to-week tinkering hasn’t impacted on results, with just five points dropped in his 16 league games.
Having made seven changes to his line-up against Ayr on Saturday, he made the same number again.
The fact Oscar Cortes was absent from the line-up, though, would have pleasantly surprised caretaker County boss Don Cowie after the Colombian impressed against Scott Brown’s side in his first Gers start.
After Derek Adams’ bizarre 12-game stint as boss it was down to Cowie to get more from a side who have managed two wins in 21 games and shipped five goals last time out against Motherwell.
Things couldn’t have got off to a worse start for the Staggies however.
After just five minutes they allowed a routine ball from James Tavernier to float into Dessers’ body. Ryan Leak should have dealt with the danger but was outmuscled before the striker lifted the ball over keeper George Wickens.
Clement punched the air before quickly urging his team to get back to halfway and go again. The boss knew there was still work to be done and didn’t want his team dallying. And they quickly got back to laying siege to the County goal.
Tavernier had a rasping strike turned over by Wickens before Dessers squeezed an effort off the base of a post after Ridvan Yilmaz put him in again.
Next John Lundstram’s fabulous pass caught County unawares as Rabbi Matondo snuck in off the left flank but fired wide.
That drew the first quiet groan of the evening but it wouldn’t take long for the Ibrox crowd’s patience to fray as their team missed chance after chance.
Matondo had a low drive brilliantly flicked up on to the bar by Wickens while Tavernier wasted another chance as Ross McCausland found the skipper free with a cut-back.
Dealing with second balls played in behind the backline has become a recurring problem for Gers. Both Kyogo Furuhashi and Bojan Miovski have been able to profit from such failings in front
of the Copland Road when the Light Blues failed to reorganise.
And yet again it proved their undoing as Souttar’s clearance was returned with interest to Eamonn Brophy out wide, with his driven cross expertly tucked home by strike partner Murray.
County took every opportunity to run the clock down to half-time. But it backfired as ref Alan Muir added five minutes on – just enough time for Tavernier to send in another delivery and this time Dessers finished, angling a deft header into the corner of the net.
Relief spread round the stadium. Clement is learning that composure goes out the window in these parts when the stakes are at their highest.
The home support were a little more reassured when they saw
Cortes coming on for Matondo at the break. But in Wickens, County had a keeper determined to resist. He pulled off a brave block when the on-loan Lens ace burst through before tipping a Todd Cantwell strike wide. There was yet another murmur of discontent when Michel Efete was allowed to leap unchecked to head over from a Staggies corner. Wickens wasn’t helping home nerves with more stops to frustrate Lundstram, Tom Lawrence and Dessers, who was denied a crack at the match ball when he made way for Fabio Silva. The No.1 continued to throw himself at everything that came his way – but there was no stopping Rangers’ late third as another menacing Tavernier corner was at last headed home by Souttar.