George Overhill

Wed 6 December 2023 18:10, UK

Rangers look “way better instantly” now that Philippe Clement has switched Todd Cantwell into the middle and brought Ross McCausland in as a winger, according to Tom English.

The BBC Sport journalist told the Scottish Football Podcast on 6 December, ahead of what he expects to be a tough test against Hearts, that the Light Blues had been through a “difficult week” with the fallout from the manager’s first-half substitution of midfielder Cantwell against Aris Limassol in the Europa League.

But, while English pointed out there are “too many unconvincing players” such as Sam Lammers and Jose Cifuentes that still require the Ibrox boss to find a solution, he is already sold on the answer Clement reached for the Cantwell situation.

Of Hearts English said (14m 15s): “I see wins, I see a kind of confidence coming into the side. So tonight I think will be interesting.

“We think back to the dramatic Danilo and [James] Tavernier penalty in the last minute. If we get anything like that kind of drama and controversy we’ll be lapping it up.”

He agreed with Alasdair Lamont that it would be a tough game for Rangers: “I think it will be. There’s too many unconvincing players in this team. I’ll be fascinated to see what Clement does with them, Lammers and Cifuentes and a couple of others.

“They’ve gone through a difficult week with the whole Todd Cantwell thing. He’s back in the middle of the park. McCausland is out wide. That looks way better, instantly.”

Got there in the end

Obviously Clement sees the Rangers players in training every day and he is paid to use the squad in the way he sees fit to get results.

But, were he ever minded to seek advice from within the Gers fanbase, he would be hard pressed to find anyone who thought it was a good idea to push Cantwell out wide in order to accommodate Lammers, especially with McCausland available.

The Belgian appeared to have compounded his error by scapegoating Cantwell in the 1-1 Aris draw, and the boos that rained down from the Ibrox stands as he made that decision showed how many supporters felt as much.

However, he seems to have acknowledged that and he got a positive reaction from the former Norwich City man in the form of two assists against St Mirren at the weekend.

That is ultimately to both the manager’s and the player’s credit, and after McCausland was arguably the man of the match at the weekend were it not for Abdallah Sima’s two excellently-taken goals the attacking midfield options surely pick themselves for the trip to Tynecastle.

The picture at striker is far less clear and this game is the latest example of a match where the man starting up front for the opposition would be many people’s pick to lead the Rangers line with the January transfer window approaching, amid links to Lawrence Shankland.

In other Rangers news, Clement “definitely” already has a list of at least five players he wants to get rid of.