Rangers reaction: Clement’s comic timing; overlooked success of new regime; ill-judged, in-game huddle

We pick out some of the extras from Rangers’ 2-1 win over Sparta Prague

It was all sweetness and light for Rangers as Philippe Clement’s first home European game continued the Belgian’s dream start to life in Scotland. A fifth victory across an unbeaten six-game sequence not only delivered a 2-1 win over Sparta Prague that leaves them only requiring to beat Aris on their own patch next time out to progress from Group C but a post-match funny.

Overlooked success of new regime

There has been a tendency to concentrate on the attacking department of the Rangers side when identifying players who seem to have had new life breathed into them by Philippe Clement’s Ibrox arrival. Yet, one of his ever-presents has been John Lundstram, with the holding midfielder more than justifying playing in every minute of the past six games in showing a real renewed vigour and confidence. A player who can look a little cumbersome and sluggish when Rangers struggle, he has possessed a snap and ability to power around the pitch as if he has found an extra half-yard in the past month. Clement had insisted he would push up the fitness levels among the Ibrox personnel and the 29-year-old Liverpudlian’s performances could suggest that was no empty promise.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement proved game for a giggle following his latest success at the Ibrox helm. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

Ill-judged in-game huddle

Sparta Prague didn’t seem content to bring the heat of the Ibrox crowd right down on top of them through merely proving defensively inept as they coughed up two goals inside 20 minutes. Not when they ensured there was an extra sizzle in the Govan cauldron as a result of keeper Peter Vindahl instruction all the players to convene for a huddle in the middle of their half before the restart after Todd Cantwell had netted. You might have thought amid their whole heap of problems then they would save themselves another verbal mauling after clocking the response to the team-bonding gesture – despised by the Rangers denizens for being synonymous with Celtic - when initially staging such a huddle just before kick-off.

Clement’s comic timing

Ahead of Clement pitching up at Ibrox, Belgian press colleagues suggested that the 49-year-old would prove an ultra-serious individual who would offer little in the way of brevity or colour in his media dealings. It has been a pleasant surprise then that this has been anything but the case. The fierce intent is always to the fore, but he likes to lace his observations with impish humour. The club’s PR man Nick Thomson proved Clement’s straight man – in an affectionate manner – on that front following the Sparta game. As Clement paused to collect his thoughts as he sought to expand on a point he was seeking to make, Thomson thought he had completed his answer and attempted to move the conference along. It wasn’t lost on his manager, who seamlessly completed his answer then dropped in: “If you want to answer the questions, no problem.” Endearingly, Thomson, sitting alongside him, looked to play along by responding: “Next time, yeah”. A quip that set up Clement for the pay-off line … “Only when we win, probably.”