Philippe Clement may be out of his depth at Rangers if he starts Scott Wright for Europa League clash v Sparta Prague
Rangers return to Europa League action when they take on Sparta Prague on Thursday 26 October and Philippe Clement must be brave to axe Scott Wright.
The Gers claimed an impressive 4-0 win over Hibernian in the Belgian’s first game in charge, and now look to keep that momentum going in Europe as they look to bounce back from defeat in Cyprus to Aris Limassol last time out.
Group C is proving quite the intriguing match-up right now with all four teams level on three points and the Gers could boost their qualification hopes should they triumph against the Czech giants.
In order to ensure of a crucial victory, Clement has some decisions to make with his team after the weekend and one of those key decisions should be to axe Wright who failed to take his chance under the Belgian against Hibernian.
The 26-year-old was linked with a move from Ibrox all summer and looked destined to follow the likes of Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, Fashion Sakala and Antonio Colak out of Glasgow, but for his expected move to Turkish Pendikspor to break down, according to The 4th Official (2 August).
The 26-year-old via Sky Sports in July (19 July), even looked confident and smiling ahead of a potential move away when he was spotted and interrupted for an interview at an airport travelling for talks, in order to break away from his Ibrox first team nightmare.
That was the second time the winger was seen jetting to Turkey in an attempt to complete a move but instead came back empty-handed.
There were eyebrows raised after former boss Michael Beale named him in the playing eleven in their 1-0 win over Motherwell on 24 September and then decided to take him off in the second half.
According to Sofascore, he misplaced 66 per cent of his long passes in that encounter and lost possession on 10 separate occasions during the game showing why he may not have the required quality to start for Rangers in the long-term.
With Clement providing players with a chance to impress in his first game, Wright was handed a rare start against Hibernian on Saturday (21 October) but it was yet another uneventful showing for the wideman.
Despite recording two key passes, Wright failed with 100% of his crosses, and 100% of his long balls, missed a big chance and lost possession eight times [SofaScore].
He did win four of his duels but Cantwell who replaced him after just 58 minutes, came on and made a crucial impact providing the assist for Cyriel Dessers goal and Rangers’ fourth.
That is likely to see Cantwell take Wright’s spot for Thursday’s crucial encounter in the Czech Republic and it would be a major surprise should Clement stick with the below-par Rangers winger. Questions could well arise surrounding his ability to make ruthless decisions in order to succeed at Ibrox.
In other Rangers news, Brighton stance on permanent Sima exit emerges as Rangers clause shared, chairman John Bennett should prepare for fan unrest.