Rabbi Matondo makes Michael Beale ‘levels’ admission at Rangers
Rabbi Matondo accepts he has yet to show Michael Beale what he is capable of at Rangers, but is confident he can improve his “levels” this season.
The Wales international impressed as a substitute in last weekend’s 4-0 Scottish Premiership victory against Livingston.
After struggling for any real momentum in his first season at Ibrox, Matondo is looking to make more of an impact under Beale this time around.
“Yes 100 per cent. Everyone, even my team-mates, staff and manager, I just feel like they haven’t seen the levels I can really get to,” he is quoted as saying by the Daily Record [19 August].
“I feel I’m the only one, and people who have known me for a very long time, who know the levels. So it is obviously nice to show a bit of it last week. But I have to build on that and keep improving every day to get to those levels.
“I need to prove it every day to the gaffer, to the coaching staff, to my teammates, so they have the trust in me and then, ultimately, the fans will have the trust in me.”
Promising signs
A lot was expected of Matondo as a youngster when being snapped by up Manchester City, but he did not make the breakthrough at the Etihad Stadium and an underwhelming spell at Schalke followed.
Matondo was signed by Rangers last year after catching the eye on loan with Cercle Brugge in Belgium, but the 22-year-old was restricted to just nine Scottish Premiership starts last time out.
Four assists was hardly a terrible return for the Welshman but, as he himself admitted, he needs to step things up this season if he is to make the Ibrox grade.
On the basis of what he showed against Livingston last week, he could do exactly that.
Matondo was introduced in the 71st minute with Rangers 1-0 up and helped his side to an eventual 4-0 victory, assisting the last of those goals for Kieran Dowell.
The Scottish League Cup tie with Greenock Morton on Saturday [19 August] will provide another opportunity for Matondo to stake his claim for more regular starts.
There is still a long way to go, but Matondo at least appears to have the right attitude to succeed in Glasgow.
In other Rangers news, Barry Ferguson has called for a rarely-seen player to start against Greenock.