'Switch flicked' but Rangers still left with regrets

Philippe Clement is yet to beat Celtic as Rangers manager

When the Rangers players emerged from the tunnel at Hampden Park, they were greeted by a banner among their support that read 'Eyes on the prize'.

For 120 minutes - plus penalties - against Celtic, their focus on winning the League Cup trophy was certainly intense.

Only a matter of weeks ago, finding a sizable section of fans with confidence that Phillipe Clement's side would retain their silverware would have been a struggle.

But, as former Ibrox striker Billy Dodds said on BBC Sportsound "a switch has been flicked" in recent times.

"Three weeks ago, something changed. Rangers were ready for this," he added.

"Now they have to prove that the bar has been set and it's the long-term vision."

'Rangers miles ahead of last derby'

A myriad reasons contributed to the lack of belief among Rangers' most ardent admirers as autumn turned to winter.

The lead, which now stands at 11 points, Celtic hold in the league was one. The inconsistency of Rangers was another. And the routine manner in which Brendan Rodgers' side brushed aside their rivals in September strengthened the sentiment.

This was nothing like that 3-0 defeat, though.

Even when Rangers went 2-1 down having taken the lead at the national stadium, they didn't look out. Their heads didn't drop and they didn't retreat into their familiar cocoon to allow Celtic to dominate.

Even Celtic defender Liam Scales credited Rangers for "the battle" they brought and the "carnage" that ensued.

According to Dodds, they showed "the right mental strength" to take into a game against the league champions, while another former Ibrox player, Neil McCann, said they "were miles ahead of where they were" in September.

Seldom do the losing team in a cup final come out with so much praise, but Rangers' impressive, passionate and energetic performance led former Scotland defender Willie Miller to describe it as "a good cup final" for them.

"If being defeated in a cup final can be a good thing, that is," Miller added.

"I think Phillipe Clement can rightly say that they played well and he can put forward a case to the fans that his players are beginning to respond to what he wants them to do."

Penalty incident 'weird' for Clement

For now, the only case Clement is putting forward is to ask why his side were not awarded a penalty in the second half.

Vaclav Cerny's shirt was tugged and his foot clipped by Scales, leading to the award of a free-kick just outside the Celtic box.

However, Clement says he received "hundreds of messages" about the incident, suggesting the foul was on the line of the box and should have been a penalty.

"I don't know if you saw the images back, but my phone is overloaded with the penalty situation," the Rangers manager said.

"I've had hundreds of messages about that decisive moment. The referee cannot see that moment, but he didn't get the VAR communication to come to the screen, which is weird for me."

What was out of sorts for McCann and fellow Sportscene pundit Scott Allan, though, was the lack of outrage from those in blue.

McCann was "amazed the Rangers players weren't going berserk", while Allan was perplexed that "Cerny didn't make much noise himself".

There were plenty of cries from the stands, dugout and pitch alike, though, when Rangers did not make the most of a four-on-one breakaway.

Cerny - having pinched possession - played through Hamza Igamane, who opted to pass to Nedim Bajrami on his right, inside of returning it to the onrushing Cerny or Mohamed Diomande on his left.

Cameron Carter-Vickers got back to block Bajrami's cross, and the chance was gone.

Clement said it was "really disappointing that we made the wrong decision". However, wrong moves were rare, which hasn't been the case in recent derbies.

While ultimately Rangers lost their grip on the trophy, they headed down the tunnel nearly three hours after kick-off with their eyes open to future prizes.