RANGERS v HEARTS – PREMIERSHIP – SATURDAY 13th SEPTEMBER, 3pm

Welcome to the latest edition of the website’s weekly preview feature.

The international break is over, and it’s time to get back on the rollercoaster that is following Rangers. Since our last fixture, the dreary and dull Old Firm game at Ibrox, Rangers have spent a significant amount in the transfer market by securing Everton striker Youssef Chermiti for a colossal £8m that could rise even further, as well as bring in experienced Canadian international defender Derek Cornelius from Marseille on loan with an option to buy next summer. We also said goodbye to Cyriel Dessers, a man who could excite and frustrate within minutes of each other, and whose goals tally was as impressive as his misses were incredible.

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The arrivals look at first glance to be on opposite ends of the risk scale. There’s no doubt we need to score more goals, and we have lost our three main scorers from last season in Dessers, Cerny and Igamane. The arrival just before the Old Firm match of Bojan Miovski seems to bring a forward with proven pedigree in our league, whereas Chermiti on paper is a massive gamble. Very few appearances and no goals for Everton after a big money move isn’t exactly encouraging, and that’s before you also factor in a lengthy spell on the sidelines injured. There’s a very decent argument that the club could and should have looked in other markets if they had that amount of money to spend on a striker. The best part of £10m only gets unfulfilled potential in the crazy world of the EPL, but it would have bought proven goals from many other leagues.

Kevin Thelwell has put his neck on the line with this one, it’s obviously a player he knows well and is convinced will bring what we need up front. But I fear the price tag will haunt the player unless he hits the ground running and scores regularly. I well remember the “£12m flop” headlines every time Tore Andre Flo had a bad game, and he is still viewed as a failure despite having a goals to games ratio that we would have thought perfectly acceptable if not for the record fee paid. After our start to the season and the unhappiness already obvious within the support, it would be crazy to expect patience from the fans, it just won’t happen. I really hope the player manages to impress from the start, for all our sakes.

Cornelius, on the other hand, seems to fit the bill for what we have been crying out for. Experienced, left sided, an organiser. Frustrating that a player with those qualities wasn’t found before the defensive calamities we all had to endure, but we’re not the only club who seems to have left things a bit late in the transfer window. The player further got us looking forward to his debut by scoring a fantastic free kick for Canada against Wales the other night, one that Albertz would have been proud of. Of course, I’ve been confident we have signed a good central defender before and I was very wrong (Basile Boli and Bert Konterman through to Ben Davies and Robin Propper). So let’s see how Cornelius looks when he’s got a Rangers shirt on.

The 0-0 against Celtic, might have emphasised again how toothless we have been so far this season, but it also showed us how far Celtic have gone backwards too. They look as weak and as vulnerable as any time for years. But that only matters if we get our act together and do what they always seem to be able to do – string a decent run of league wins together. Four games played, four draws, only three goals scored. We can’t look elsewhere until we sort ourselves out. The pressure is still very much on our Head Coach, and only results will ease it.

Finally, a word on Nico Raskin. The Head Coach confirmed on Friday morning that the player remained out of the squad as he had to “regain the trust” of the players and coaching staff. There is absolutely no doubt that the support will almost unanimously take the side of the player here, given the fact he is the best player we have and Russell Martin is universally disliked. And, I must admit, I tend to think that this looks like another PLG v Ferguson or Murty v Miller, where a manager totally out of their depth tries to exert their waning authority by making an example of an outspoken player who has criticised them. Russell Martin thus far has indeed looked out of his depth.

Neil McCann and Barry Ferguson have alluded to Raskin being difficult and opinionated. But, they also were able to get him playing as well as he’s ever played for Rangers within the team shape and tactics they demanded. Strong managers can deal with strong personalities, it has been a part of football forever, and even more so in these days when players hold so much power. Raskin is no Gazza or Ferguson as a player, and there’s every chance he has pushed things too far with a manager who is struggling for results. But, for the good of Rangers, this has to be resolved in a way that Raskin is back playing. It makes no sense for him in World Cup year to be sitting in the stand, and it makes no sense for the team to miss their best player. Russell Martin has welcomed the closure of the transfer window, he now needs to manage a situation so that he delivers what he is paid to do. And winning games will be that much easier if he plays his best midfielder in a way that uses his strengths rather than looking to shoehorn him into a role that will never work.

Nico Raskin has ambitions to play in a bigger league, earning more money, and he’s good enough to achieve that. I’ve always doubted that he wanted to extend his contract here, this fiasco just makes that even less of a possibility. We now won’t get his true value in a transfer, and that transfer can’t happen until January at the earliest. He ended up in dispute with his previous club and leaving under a cloud for a bargain fee. Rangers need to make sure that doesn’t happen here.

PREDICTION TIME

Thankfully, my pessimistic prediction of a defeat in the Old Firm game was wrong, I never realised just how toothless Celtic are! Just the one game to predict this week.

RANGERS 2 HEARTS 1

It sounds crazy to say it before the fifth league game of the season, but this Saturday has “must win” written all over it. For the team, three points is desperately needed to both build some confidence and also to prevent the gap to the top growing even bigger. For the manager, going to just three wins in 12 would further ramp up the massive pressure he is already under, it would be no wins in five league games. I think the midweek internationals showed we have some top class players now at the club, who can more then hold their own at that level. But having good players does not automatically mean a good team. There also needs to be organisation, tactical discipline, the right attitude, and the right blend in key areas. All of these have been sadly lacking in the vast majority of games this season so far, and these foundations are what Russell Martin needs to have firmly in place before his “philosophy” can ever hope to succeed.

Hearts will be a stern test. They are unbeaten, with three wins and a draw so far, sitting joint top and six points ahead of us. They have a manager now who looks ideally suited to bringing the best out of their squad domestically. They have goals in their team, scoring at least twice in each league game so far. And they have shown a terrific mentality, scoring injury-time winners in both their away league games to date, as well as coming back from three goals down a few weeks ago. Their support will be confident of inflicting more pain on us, and their players will think the same. But I go back to who has the better players. That’s without doubt Rangers, even without Raskin. If the Head Coach has learned from the Celtic game in terms of midfield structure and cutting out the overplaying in the wrong areas, then we should win. If we play the game quickly enough to create chances, we have players who can score. The crystal ball says a narrow, and nervy, home win. To be honest, it needs to be a home win, or the Head Coach could be in for a very loud and very unpleasant experience.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

A personal opinion on the player who has most excelled in the past seven days.

The award is different this week, there were no Rangers games. Without doubt the player of this international week has to be Thelo Aasgaard. Four goals in less than half an hour in an international match, regardless of the opposition that is a fantastic feat. And it surely has given him great confidence going into this weekend. I thought he did a good nullifying job on the Celtic captain in our last match, but looked way off the pace when he had the ball. Wanted too much time, and too often dispossessed. I hope his sparkling display for Norway, has lit the fire under a player of real potential.