Europa League dividend gives Rangers manager Philippe Clement a little credit in the bank
A measure of success in Europe has never prevented the critics from rounding on Rangers managers if all is not going well for them domestically.
A continental scalp or two does, however, allow an incumbent to look beyond the gathering storm clouds and point towards brighter days lying ahead.
Across two barren domestic seasons, faith in Steven Gerrard was sustained through the uplift in European results Rangers witnessed under the former Liverpool captain.
Twice he guided the club through the minefield of four qualifying rounds for the Europa League. That doesn’t win you Scottish Premiership titles. But it does buy you the time to do so.
Fast-forward six years and Philippe Clement finds himself in a similar bind.
Brendan Rodgers is back in town. A well-oiled winning machine, Celtic look unlikely to make the title race as interesting as they did last season.
Philippe Clement will buy himself time if his Rangers team make further progress in Europe.
Substitute Ross McCausland's left-foot strike sealed Rangers' richly-deserved victory in Malmo.
Nedim Bajrami, scorer of Rangers' opener, was among the summer signings who had a fine night.
Clement’s talk of a promising future and his pleas for patience are all very well. Yet unless Europe offers green shoots of success, no one of the light blue persuasion will buy it.
He didn’t do too badly last term, to be fair. Having inherited a mess from Michael Beale, he took Rangers to the summit of a group comprising of Real Betis, Aris Limassol and Sparta Prague. Benfica was to prove a game too far.
With all the credit from that wiped out by a loss to Dynamo Kyiv in this year’s Champions League qualifiers, Clement took his seat in Malmo’s Eleda Stadium desperately needing to strike a positive note.
The season to this point has been underwhelming. A story of spilled points, insipid performances and acrimony amid the odd suggestion that Clement was actually getting something going.
This, then, felt like a significant night for the former Monaco boss. One that might well prove to be a turning point in his tenure.
For the most part, the Belgian’s team was cohesive, energised and balanced. It was certainly a marked improvement on their early season labours.
They made Malmo look poor but the Swedish champions and current leaders are not that.
It was a fine night for all of Clement’s charges but especially his summer acquisitions.
If only all players started matches as quickly as Nedim Bajrami. The man who ripped up the record book by netting on 23 seconds for Albania against Italy was at it again, bundling the ball home after Cyriel Dessers had struck the upright with the smoke in the arena still to clear. It set the tone.
With Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande zipping across the turf, Rangers had defensive protection and a base to play from.
Malmo looked uncertain whenever Bajrami cut in from the left or Vaclav Cerny darted in from the right. They linked well with Tom Lawrence and Dessers. All over the park there was evidence of the burgeoning understandings the manager had talked about.
The Swedes’ best hope stemmed from set-pieces. The suspicion arose that some of their players may have been born offside.
An improvement in the home side after the turnaround was inevitable. It brought with it a reminder of the shortcomings of Clement’s work in progress. James Tavernier briefly looked uncertain. This time the skipper’s slackness went unpunished.
He was not alone. For a period, there were echoes of those early season skirmishes when the team was disjointed and shapeless.
But Clement will be encouraged with how his players navigated those choppy waters. They passed a test of character and dug in when it threatened to get rough. The match came and went without the home side having a single shot on target.
It was a night when everything went the way of the Belgian. Cerny looked unhappy when he was replaced by Ross McCausland but the Czech could have no grounds for complaint.
What appetite the Northern Irish winger showed to pounce on a loose ball. His left-foot strike flashed in off the post to seal a richly deserved win.
The only criticism of Clement’s side spoke to their domination of the contest; they scored two goals but should have had half a dozen. The positives were substantial.
The manager will be the first to stress that one result and performance — no matter how impressive — only counts if it signals the start of something. That point is inarguable.
But after a wretched start to the campaign on and off the park, he’s entitled to feel that he’s getting somewhere.
His side have finally shown what they are capable of. If they can adhere to that standard, the man at the helm will be granted the time he desires.
