Rangers show faint shoots of optimism amid Ibrox melodrama as Philippe Clement finds way to plug numerous leaks

Andy Newport spots some positives on the park as the boardroom saga continues off it

At each other’s throats off the pitch – shoulder to shoulder on it.

It’s just as well relations in the Ibrox dressing room aren’t half as bad as dealings between those in the boardroom and the club’s biggest single shareholder or Rangers might be in an altogether bigger mess. Dave King has swept back into the Govan melodrama this week swinging insults at virtually every blazer in sight while at the same time demanding they hand back his old seat at the top of the table.

As a negotiating tactic, well, it’s certainly bold. But the chances of it succeeding are about as bleak as Philippe Clement’s Premiership title hopes this season. King will be told thanks but no thanks, with the men he left to steer the ship when he unexpectedly quit at the height of the Covid pandemic instead setting their own course forward.

Whether it’s the same disastrous route they’ve been following of late or a passage through calmer waters, that remains to be seen. But there is a feeling around Ibrox right now that as bad as this summer has been for the club and its supporters – and it has undoubtedly been awful – they might just have found a way to plug the club’s numerous leaks.

Having got the summer stadium shambles at long last sorted, the club will also need to address the shaky foundations upon which Clement’s side are built. But as with the matters above, there are faint shoots of optimism emerging.

Of course they remain a long, long, way off Celtic. But if Rangers are to close the gap on their rivals then they have to start somewhere and Clement will hope his side have finally reached the turning point. There’s still little sign of a fluent style of play but with individual performances, there are a few signs of encouragement.

Brazilian left-back Jefte seems to have cut out the defensive lapses which caused alarm bells in pre-season.

And Saturday evening’s performance against Dundee showed plenty of promise in attack. Comfortable both travelling with the ball and linking up with team-mates, the 20-year-old former Fluminense defender should be confident of keeping his slot when Ridvan Yilmaz eventually returns from his latest lay-off.

Connor Barron continues to buzz about the midfield with an energy that’s been lacking in the Ibrox engine room for a good while. And Jack Butland stuck one of those giant thumbs of his in the eye of the critics who have been questioning his displays since this month’s Old Firm defeat with a couple of huge saves to preserve a clean sheet.

The first of those was an impressive double stop from point-blank range as Simon Murray tried to offer the Dark Blues a way back into the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final after the Light Blues had stormed two up on their homecoming run-out. There are a good number of Rangers fans who would have liked to see the tie used as an opportunity to test out new frontman Hamza Igamane after his bright Tannadice cameo the week before. But that starting slot is Cyriel Dessers’ for now and as long as he continues his scoring streak, Igamane will have to wait it out on the bench.

That might not be a bad thing for the Moroccan and will certainly ensure the levels of pressure and expectation weighing down from the stands don’t creep out of hand. But the fresh competition seems to be getting the best out of Dessers. It’s now seven goals in his last eight games after he book-ended a James Tavernier penalty with two clinical strikes. The first came 18 minutes in as he reset himself quicker than Dundee stopper Trevor Carson.

The keeper had done well to block an initial effort from the strike. But when Tavernier whipped the loose ball immediately back into the box, it was Dessers who was primed to strike as he flashed his finish past the Dark Blues’ Northern Irish keeper. Dessers was involved again as Gers doubled their lead, winning a penalty when Mo Sylla wrestled him to the ground at a corner five minutes after the break. If Tavernier had any nerves after his run-in with the furious fans who waited outside the ground for him after that derby defeat, he didn’t show them as he laced home his spot-kick with venom.

With Igamane warming up, Dessers gave the young pretender a glimpse of the standards he’ll have to hit if he wants his place on 66 minutes, adding a third with an expert finish from a difficult bouncing ball played in by Nedim Bajrami.

Rangers now head to Malmo for the start of their Europa League campaign but Dessers isn’t getting carried away. Asked if the Dundee win could be a catalyst to kick on this season, he said: “Yeah, maybe. It could be. Obviously it sounds cliché but we’re just looking game to game because we have so many games. But, yeah, it’s just a nice feeling to be back.

“We wanted to give something to the fans as well on the first night back at Ibrox. We’re excited about Thursday. We have a very beautiful but very difficult draw. Malmo away is not an easy start but these are the games you want to play in. Saturday can give us some confidence, a boost, and hopefully we can have a good performance there as well – and hopefully win.”

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