Rangers

Andy Campbell
BBC Sport Scotland

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Manager Philippe Clement says winger Vaclav Cerny "loves it" at Rangers but did not entertain questions about whether the Czech winger could remain at Ibrox beyond this season.

Cerny joined Rangers on loan from Wolfsburg in July and has scored nine goals in 22 appearances for Clement's side.

He is under contract with the German club until 2027.

Clement cited Abdallah Sima's loan spell to Rangers from Brighton last season and how much the Senegalese forward enjoyed being at Ibrox.

However, Clement indicated the money was not available to sign either Sima or Cerny on permanent deals in the summer.

"He loves it here, clearly," Clement said of Cerny. "He told me also last week that he's never felt better in his whole career than now - physically, mentally, in the team, in the dressing room, with the staff, in the club, with the fans.

"But of course, he has a contract with another club at the end of the season so that's negotiations again."

Andy Campbell
BBC Sport Scotland

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Rangers manager Philippe Clement has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premiership trip to face Ross County.

Here are the key lines:

• Wingers Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo have returned to full training following injury.

• Clement indicated lowering the wage bill and squad age contributed to the club taking in just £810,000 for the sales of five first-team players in the summer.

• Rangers "need" to sign players like Vaclav Cerny on loan as the money to buy him outright was not available and Clement hopes to lower the reliance on loan deals in future.

• "He loves it here," Clement said of Cerny and added: "He told me last week that he never felt better in his career."

• Clement believes the Scottish game would benefit from clubs like Rangers fielding their academy players in the second tier, like in Belgium, Croatia and the Netherlands.

• The manager urged supporters not to light pyrotechnics at matches, suggesting fines for such incidents may reduce funds available to the first team. The club have been charged by the SPFL after flares were let off at the League Cup semi-final win over Motherwell. "It's not safe," Clement said of fireworks. "It doesn't help in any sense towards the team."

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John Beaton has been confirmed as the referee for the League Cup final between Celtic and Rangers on Sunday, 15 December.

The 42-year-old will be assisted by David McGeachie and Jonathan Bell.

Alan Muir will be the video assistant referee (VAR), assisted by Frank Connor.

Beaton has taken charge of two Scottish Cup finals and two League Cup finals in his career.

With Celtic disappearing over the horizon, attention turns to the next best in the Premiership standings.

Aberdeen have stumbled in recent weeks, allowing Rangers to make up ground. The gap is four points with the Ibrox side having a game in hand.

Rangers have now displaced the Dons at the top of the home form table - and did so in style, hitting Kilmarnock for six.

A front four including Danilo, Hamza Igamane and Ianis Hagi really clicked on Wednesday, but those three have not had much football of late and Philippe Clement may consider rotation for Sunday, with Tottenham coming to Ibrox next week.

Rangers also put six past Ross County in their last meeting in Glasgow, but only Celtic and Aberdeen have left Dingwall with maximum points this season - and both needed late goals.

County are aiming for back-to-back home wins over Rangers too, having got the better of the visitors for the first time in 25 attempts in April.

Toiling on their domestic travels has been a recent theme for Rangers, who picked up just their second away win of the term against St Johnstone last weekend thanks to an own goal. In those six league road trips, they have scored three and conceded six.

Clement needs to build momentum for what promises to be an intriguing contest to hang on to the leaders' coattails.

Read all the weekend's Premiership picks

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• Ross County's 3-2 win in their last home game against Rangers in April last season is their only victory in 26 meetings with the Ibrox side in all competitions (D4 L21).

• Rangers have won 18 of their last 20 league meetings with Ross County (D1 L1), winning their most recent 6-0 in August – their biggest win over the Staggies in all competitions.

• Ross County have failed to score in four of their last five league games (W1 D2 L2), as many as their previous 14 beforehand. The Staggies have lost two of their last three in the league (W1), as many as their previous eight prior to this (W2 D4).

• Just 24% of Rangers' Scottish Premiership points this season have been won in away games (7/29), while Ross County have won their largest share of their points at home this term (80% - 12/15).

• As well as being the joint top scorer in the Scottish Premiership this season (six goals), Rangers' Vaclav Cerny has also created more chances than any other player so far (33).

Rangers director Alastair Johnston says new Ibrox chief executive Patrick Stewart's first task will be to explore the possibility of striking up multi-club partnerships with rivals abroad. (Daily Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Rangers received just £800,000 from the sales of Sam Lammers, Connor Goldson, Todd Cantwell, Scott Wright and Robby McCrorie last summer, the club's Annual General Meeting (AGM) has revealed. (Scottish Sun), external

Speaking at the Rangers AGM, interim chairman John Gilligan says the delayed works on the Copland Road Stand cost a six-figure sum and will be included in next year's accounts. (Daily Record), external

Rangers boss Philippe Clement says he will hold "big discussions" over the January transfer window with the Ibrox board next week. (Glasgow Times), external

Rangers are still hopeful of being able to pursue a deal to sign Neraysho Kasanwirjo next summer despite the on-loan Feyenoord defender being sidelined for up to six months by a knee injury. (Daily Mail, external, subscription required)

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

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Rangers forward Danilo insists there is "more to come" from him following his first league start in a year.

The 25-year-old scored in the 6-0 win over Kilmarnock on Wednesday night and is looking to kick on in Glasgow after an injury-hit start to life at Ibrox.

The Brazilian joined Philippe Clement's side in the summer of 2023 on a five-year deal but after injuring his knee against Hearts last December, Danilo has had to bide his time.

"100% it's a relief," the striker said of his goal.

"That's what the celebration was about, just being out there after coming back from the injury. I've had my opportunities before but didn't finish them off.

"So, yeah, obviously when you score it's so nice to have those feelings again. Hopefully there's more to come.

"It's about keeping myself fit and also prevent those kind of silly injuries I've had as well. But sometimes things happen without even wanting that, so we just have to be careful.

"So right now, I've been really good. I've been looking after my body looking to prevent those kind of injuries. And right now I'm feeling fine, feeling great, and I'm ready to challenge."

We asked for your views on Rangers' 6-0 win against Kilmarnock.

Here's what some of you said:

Steven: Good solid performance. Ianis Hagi stood out among some good performances. He looks like he has a real hunger. Positive tactics paid off and dealt with Killie's low block. The press was good and energy levels were high throughout. One swallow does not a summer make - this energy and positive forward play has to replicated.

Ronnie: Our best domestic performance by a country mile. Not a single weakness. Even the substitutions when they came on were on fire. Nicolas Raskin was immense but you could say the same about the whole team performance. Sadly we won't claw back Celtic but let's at least keep this level going for the rest of the season.

Gerry: Where's that performance been hiding all season? It looked like new signings playing out there, on the front foot with tempo, movement and quick passes. Kilmarnock tried to stifle the game but a much improved performance all round was too much. Credit where credit is due after lots of criticism but we must kick on from here beginning Sunday.

Fraser: Hagi and Raskin were immense in midfield, Hamza Igamane and Danilo should start every game as they can only improve. With the cup final coming up is there a chance we might sneak it?

David: It was a performance the team owed the fans, some great individual performances, nice to see James Tavernier back to something like his old self.

Chris: About time we took Kilmarnock apart. They've caused us plenty of grief in the not too distant past. Good to see Tav on the scoresheet and two assists from Hagi. This is how it should be every game.

Elaine: Wow. Where has that performance been all season? What a difference with Hagi and a fit Raskin in the team. More of that please Rangers. Tottenham will be shaking in their boots.

Sally: The team seem to have discovered a ruthless streak and it was a better performance. If they would pass the ball quicker and improve movement, packed defences would find it harder to defend against them. More creativity needed at corners and free kicks.

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Former Celtic and Dundee striker Cillian Sheridan suggests Rangers players know the title is heading to Parkhead at the end of the season, even though it's only December.

Despite a 6-0 thrashing of Kilmarnock at Ibrox on Wednesday night, Philippe Clement's side are 11 points behind Celtic at the top of the table, and four behind Aberdeen although they do have a game in hand.

"I think they [Rangers] know the race is over," Sheridan said on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I don't think anyone there believes that they can go and win the title.

"It's not that it's irrelevant going and winning 6-0 at home. It's good for them confidence-wise, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really mean anything.

"They've won 6-0 and we're still here saying the title's done."

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• Kilmarnock have failed to score in 6 of their 15 games, only Ross County (8) have failed to score more often in the Premiership this season.

• Rangers have scored in their last 6 games in the Premiership, their longest scoring streak this season.

• Rangers have kept a clean sheet in 8 of their 14 games, only Celtic (11) have done this more often in the Premiership this season.

• Kilmarnock attempted 1 shot in this game, the lowest total for any team in a single match in the Premiership this season.

• Rangers have scored in each of their last 6 games in the Premiership, scoring 12 goals in that run.

• Kilmarnock have failed to win in their last 5 games in the Premiership, their last longer winless streak was from 15th May 2024 to 28th September 2024, a run of 8 games.

• Rangers are undefeated in their last 4 games in the Premiership, their last longer unbeaten streak was from 14th May 2024 to 24th August 2024, a run of 5 games.

• Kilmarnock failed to attempt a shot on target in this game, it's the first time they failed to attempt a shot on target in a game in the Premiership since facing Celtic on 7th January 2023.

Manager Philippe Clement says he is not taking any notice of the Scottish Premiership table despite his Rangers side closing the gap on second-placed Aberdeen to four points with a 6-0 win over Kilmarnock.

Captain James Tavernier scored his first Scottish Premiership goal of the season as Rangers equalled their biggest win of the campaign by thrashing lacklustre Kilmarnock at Ibrox.

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Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "We could have scored already more goals in the first half, but there were good connections on the field because these players are training more and more together. If you see how many players we had on the pitch today, who are only two, three, maximum four months in this club.

"So that takes time and a lot of work together, but they're all in the story and they all want to do it, also without the ball, because that's for me also massive.

"Not only the six goals, also Jack [Butland] didn't have to do really one save and that stay is also really important.

"Today, yeah, making six goals is really good, although it could have been more.

"It's pleasing and I want that this team gets the desire after this evening for more and more and more and this creates a hunger to become a better and better team, because we have a lot of young players who are not at the top of their potential and it's about hard work together to make them better and better and we will go a good way in that.

"We want to give our fans good games, good show but the most important stays the three points. So we're going to work hard for that."

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Clement’s side trounced Nice last week in the Europa League and many fans hoped they’d be able to continue that level of performance into their domestic form.

Sunday’s win over St Johnstone wasn’t quite to that level, but tonight it certainly was. 28 shots, 11 on target, they were relentless.

Tavenier looked like his old self, marauding up and down the right-hand side and picking out team-mates at will with his crosses.

Igamane, Cerny, Hagi, and Danilo formed a formidable attacking four that constantly troubled and hassled the helpless Killie backline.

Pace, tempo, and aggression were evident throughout with all outfield players routinely venturing forward in a complete performance - something fans have been crying out for.

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Who impressed? Take your pick in all honesty.

Ianis Hagi is still making his return to the side but looked like the attacking spark they may have been missing.

Two assists, composed touches, and an attacking impetus that's been lacking for the club so far this season.