Kenny Miller slams Rangers ‘failure’ as ‘booby prize’ on the cards for Philippe Clement
Rangers playing in the Europa Conference League this season would be a failure, according to Ibrox legend Kenny Miller.
The verdict comes after the Gers drew 1-1 with Aris Limassol in their Europa League clash on Thursday (30 November).
The point leaves Philippe Clement’s side sitting second in their group, one point behind leaders Real Betis, who they take on in their final match next month.
“Rangers secured European football after Christmas on Thursday night,” Miller wrote for the Daily Record. “But I’d be wary of singing that from the rooftops, given their performance against Aris Limassol.
“Sure, they’re guaranteed to have at least a Europa Conference League place. But is that where Rangers are at now? Being happy with a booby prize? When you play for this club you should never celebrate failure and that’s what the Conference would be.
“Let’s be honest, when the groups were drawn the target would have been the top or at least second place. Obviously, that can still be achieved by getting a result over in Betis in two weeks’ time. But Thursday night definitely felt like a step backwards.”
Poor result
There is no getting away from the fact that it was a very poor result for Rangers, on what could have been a memorable night for the players, fans and manager Clement.
It should have been a comfortable victory for the home side at Ibrox given the circumstances, with the Gers going strong in the group and their opponents struggling at the bottom.
The Ibrox faithful certainly did their part, but the same cannot be said of the players, with Clement’s side going 1-0 down on home soil just before the 30-minute mark.
The manager does deserve at least some praise for making a dramatic substitution not long after, with young winger Ross McCausland coming on for Todd Cantwell.
The former made an instant impact, scoring an equaliser for the home side early in the second half, but that is where the goals stopped, much to the frustration of the majority of those inside Ibrox.
In other Rangers news, Ally McCoist was blown away by one Gers player who “looked the part” against Aris Limassol.