A summer of change, stadium issues, and poor pre-season results – it was a tough few weeks for Rangers fans ahead of the new campaign.
A host of experienced players had left over the summer, some new faces had arrived and Philippe Clement admitted he faced a “big rebuild”.
Three defeats and a draw in their four pre-season friendlies did little to quell the nervousness among supporters ahead of the big kick-off.
Added to that, there was frustration as the club revealed home matches at the start of the campaign would be moved to Hampden Park due to a delay in works to Ibrox.
Despite all the issues, their quest to reach the Champions League could ignite the club’s season and much more – so why is qualification so important?
Feel-good factor
Cyriel Dessers scored with the last kick of the game as Rangers drew with Dynamo Kyiv
Some ranked Rangers as the underdogs as they prepared to visit Dynamo Kyiv in their third-round qualifier. The first leg followed a goalless draw in their Premiership opener at Hearts. However, when Cyriel Dessers scored with the last kick of the ball against Kyiv, it sealed a well-earned draw that could go down as a key moment in the club’s season.
Why? Because it appeared to give the players a real boost as they secured a big result away from home. The goal would have done no harm to Dessers’ confidence too. The striker continues to be questioned by some fans but he followed up that finish with another goal at Hampden Park as Rangers won their first game of the season, beating Motherwell 2-1 in the league.
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Watch highlights from Rangers’ win over Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership
Momentum and confidence are huge, especially when you’re playing every few days – so it should be of little surprise that Clement will hope his players continue riding that wave as they welcome Dynamo Kyiv to Hampden on Tuesday. Should Rangers get over the line, that confidence will swell further and the players will know they’re just 180 minutes away from the lucrative new league phase – should they beat RB Salzburg or FC Twente.
Their crushing defeat against PSV in the play-offs last summer proves it will be no easy task, but perhaps reaching the Champions League is not as far-fetched a dream as some thought just weeks ago.
Transfer boost
Vaclav Cerny – one of nine summer signings – scored on his first Rangers start
Rangers have set out their summer transfer budget based on qualifying for the Europa League. However, should they reach the Champions League – Clement will find himself with a lot more money to play with.
The club have added nine players this summer with Robin Propper, Vaclav Cerny, Hamza Igamane, Jefte, Clinton Nsiala, Liam Kelly and Connor Barron joining. Meanwhile, Oscar Cortes – who returned on loan with an obligation to buy next summer – and Mohamed Diomande – who made his loan move permanent – have also been signed.
However, the manager will want to add more quality to his group and should Rangers reach the new league phase of the Champions League. The club stand to earn at least £36m, almost three times as much as the Europa League groups will offer.
If Rangers were to get past Kyiv and then RB Salzburg or FC Twente, Clement would only have a few days to bolster his squad with the playoff second leg on August 27 and the window shutting on August 31.
However, Clement says progression to the Champions League would make a “world of difference” to his plans not only for this window, but future transfer windows.
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Philippe Clement says reaching the Champions League would give him “another budget”
“I think it can make things faster,” Clement said when asked what reaching the Champions League could do for his transfer plans. “It’s not budgeted to go to the Champions League and that’s the best way. Some teams have done it in the past and have had really big financial problems out of that so we cannot do that, clearly.
“Of course if you can go to the Champions League it will give another budget, the only thing is it’ll be the last hours of the transfer market at that moment. But it would be an important thing, maybe for now something but for future windows for the club.
“We do everything to succeed but we know to look at all the teams playing for that, there are a lot of clubs in there with a bigger budget than us, that’s the reality. But we’re going to go really hard to qualify. Let’s focus on the Kyiv game first because we need to win that game.”
Title-race twist?
Clement is yet to beat Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic
Celtic are the team to catch in the Scottish Premiership this season. The champions look even better than last time out and Brendan Rodgers is still hoping to add to his squad. However, things could get interesting if Rangers were to reach the Champions League.
The aforementioned confidence boost and extra transfer power could give Rangers a new look and one that could see them stay within touching distance of their rivals. If that were to be the case, the next challenge will be for Clement to beat Rodgers – something he’s not managed yet. The challenge of catching Celtic is tough but not necessarily insurmountable and Champions League qualification would certainly help Rangers.
Clement has a host of hurdles to guide his team over. Kyiv is the first one, two more could follow and if Rangers were to successfully clear all three to seal a spot in the Champions League, things could look a whole lot more rosy than they have in recent weeks.
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