What did Rangers’ rout of Nice mean for Philippe Clement? | OneFootball

It’s safe to say few aside one man saw Rangers’ stunning win in Nice coming, and that man was of course Ibrox Noise’s Derek, who saw a lazy Nice who don’t work hard enough, and consequently Rangers, who do on Thursdays, easily tore them to pieces repeatedly.

Indeed, he foresaw it exactly:

And he was bang on.

Rangers work hard in the Europa League, on Thursday nights the DNA of Steven Gerrard’s Europa League side comes alive regardless of the squad or the manager, and it just gets results when it really shouldn’t.

And against a lazy Nice it was rampant.

So what did this sensational win do for the club?

It’s the dichotomy of the Rangers set up to compete at Europa level, but who can’t hack the domestic league.

As fans frustratingly joked, having just gubbed Nice it’s back to being rotten v Raith (or whoever) at the weekend.

Many were irritated that Philippe Clement refuses to adapt his selections and team for the domestic game, and that like all managers before him, he can get the big results in Europe but not in Scotland.

The reason of course is that aside Gerrard building a Euro Rangers, European teams don’t play low blocks, and especially not in these competitions. They have a go, they always have a go.

SPL teams do not, and snuff Rangers out with ease. And no manager since Walter has built a Rangers team designed to actually overcome the challenges of the SPL.

So until one does we’re stuck being rank rotten in the league but shockingly good in the Europa.

In reality, that a squad with Joe Aribo, Connor Goldson, James Tavernier, Borna Barisic and John Lundstram could get to the Europa Final shows the DNA in this squad that Gerrard made – that group of players is not really much better than what we have now.

Winning the league is where it’s at, and it’s why last night’s win, as wonderful as it was, doesn’t really change anything with regards Clement. We need a manager who can win the SPL, and he’s miles away from that.

But that said, who would ever have seen this Rangers team pushing for an automatic qualification spot from the league given where we were after Lyon?