First impressions are crucial in football, and a couple of Rangers’ summer signings have made a strong start.
Former striker Kris Boyd highlighted Connor Barron as the standout performer during Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Hearts. Philippe Clement, however, noted that Barron had performed even better in pre-season but acknowledged the promising start for the potential long-term replacement for Ryan Jack.
Vaclav Cerny also impressed Clement off the bench at Tynecastle. Three days later in Poland, the Wolfsburg loanee once again provided a spark for Rangers, entering the game late and delivering a pinpoint left-footed cross for Cyriel Dessers’ equalizing goal in the Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Kiev.
Cerny’s former Ajax coach, Erik ten Hag, once described him as a player with ‘special’ talent. In his first two appearances for Rangers, Cerny has shown glimpses of his game-changing potential.
Cyriel Dessers saves Rangers in the Dynamo Kiev match
“It’s his big quality. He has this cross, he has this shot, he has this action, he has his defensive work,” Clement said of Cerny during his post-match press conference via Rangers’ official YouTube channel.
“He’s just coming off a four-week holiday after the Euros, so he can’t play many minutes yet, and he’s been struggling with recovery after a few actions. But that’s normal.
“So, you see how much potential there is in this group to improve in the next weeks and months. We need some time for that. This result is very important for the club as it shows everyone’s hard work to make things better.
“And I’m confident it’s going to be a really good season because of that.”
Apart from Barron, Clement has been cautious with his new signings. He confirmed that patience would be needed with Clinton Nsiala and Hamza Igamane. Robin Propper, the £1.5 million acquisition from FC Twente, is also being given time to adapt, though John Souttar’s worrying form might hasten the Dutchman’s involvement.
If Souttar faces a battle to retain his place, the same can be said for Ridvan Yilmaz. While the Turkish international struggled, giving the ball away leading to Dynamo Kiev’s opener, fellow left-back Jefte Vital caught the eye.
Strong debut for Jefte with Rangers
Substituted in for Scott Wright at halftime, the Brazilian whipped in a fabulous cross that Dessers almost converted and provided the assist-to-the-assist for Cerny’s equalizer in the 94th minute.
Jefte, known for his skill and creativity, is already making an impression on Rangers fans.
“We have a lot of potential for the future weeks and months. Jefte is still young and doesn’t speak much of the language yet, but he is a high potential player,” Clement said about the player, who reportedly cost around £700,000.
“We need players for the future of the club. He played a good second half with his crosses and defending.
“We had six shots on target to their three, and we kept pushing until the end to get the result. I’m happy about that because we want to maintain this mentality until the last second, to keep going and believing.
“We have several new players, young players, and they did well. Vaclav was important with the assists, and Cyriel kept pushing, creating chances that the goalkeeper saved well.”
Thanks to Dessers’ last-minute goal, Rangers will face Dynamo Kiev in the return leg in Scotland next Tuesday with a positive result to build on.
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