Philippe Clement makes dramatic change for Rangers midfield | OneFootball

Whether some Rangers fans like it or not, Ibrox manager Philippe Clement has seemingly permanently ditched the idea of Dujon Sterling in midfield, despite previously shining there, in favour of the equally permanent ‘promotion’ of Nicolas Raskin to become Connor Barron’s partner.

We know that Sterling’s situation has been a bit cryptic at Rangers for some time, with manager Clement offering an ‘injury’ explanation for his fringing on the first team the past couple of months, and the ex-Chelsea man may now be returning to his less-favoured right back slot based on recent selections.

And that has meant that in-from-the-cold Raskin has been favoured by the boss alongside Barron, in a seemingly-settled midfield.

First used against FCSB, Raskin and Barron together has seen slightly positive results – 3W, a loss and a draw, in what appears to be a fractional improvement from the side as a whole the past five matches, but it’s been by no means a sea-change.

But it is clearly the manager’s final choice.

So what do we think of it?

Well, it’s a strange choice – both Barron and Raskin are very, very similar – both very mobile, both diminutive, play generally the same role, and both about the same height (Barron is 5ft 8, Raskin 5 10). Neither of them are big strong lads who can dominate the centre and we saw that as Aberdeen comfortably put our side away. Even St Mirren got a lot of joy before eventually succumbing.

We don’t think it’s the best combo for the middle, even if recent results have seen a little uptick in fortunes – simply because they’re so similar.

It’s getting the predictable praise from fans of course – if they see a portion of decent football and a win, they will haul out all the superlatives for the same players who struggled in the previous match – that’s just the football fan who prefers to praise and big up than criticise. And we’re not going to criticise that.

But we’re not convinced long-term that Raskin and Barron is the right combo, preferring as we would Sterling in there instead.

But that’s the call Clement has made, and as long as Rangers get good results with it, we can’t complain too much really.