Five players with point to view at Rangers under Philippe Clement

Philippe Clement started his managerial stint at Rangers in the perfect manner as he guided the side to a 4-0 home victory against Hibs.

It was the ideal start to life in Glasgow for the Belgian, especially given the fact that the squad he inherited had vastly underperformed at the beginning of the campaign under Michael Beale.

Whether it was new signings having a sluggish start to life at the club, or experienced players failing to step up to the plate, there were several in the Rangers dressing room grateful that the new boss was keen on everyone starting with a clean slate.

With two months to go until the transfer window, these players have plenty of time to show that it was confidence not quality that had been their issue, and that a change of manager will be able to get the best out of them.

Here are five of them in particular that need to step up under Philippe Clement at Rangers

Ridvan Yilmaz

There is no doubt that the Turk is a talented individual, but given a series of injuries and a continuation by previous management of picking Borna Barisic at left back, Yilmaz has never fully been able to kickstart his Rangers career to-date.

The end of last season and the final few games under Beale showed exactly what he is capable of, but he needs sustained minutes to produce it regularly.

Many fans are still unconvinced that he is the long term answer at left back, but with Barisic looking set for a spell on the sidelines, Yilmaz needs to make the most of the minutes he is bound to get.

John Souttar

Having established himself in the team at the end of the last campaign, a number of high profile errors early in the season saw Souttar drop back out the side in favour of Ben Davies.

Returning to the side in the last two games though, the Scottish international’s ability to bring the ball out from the back should fit in perfectly with how Clement would ideally look to set up his team.

The new manager will likely look to strengthen his defensive enforcements when he first gets the chance to, and Souttar and Davies could be two prime candidates to lose out in this scenario, so it’s up to the former to continue his form against St Mirren and Hibs in the games to come.

Jose Cifuentes

Many expected Cifuentes to take the Rangers midfield to the next level when he arrived from LAFC in the summer following a protracted chase.

However, for numerous reasons, including being used out of position in Europe, he’s not quite hit those highs just yet.

Playing deep as a covering holding midfielder isn’t the Ecuadorian’s game. Instead, he is best as that aggressive box-to-box midfielder, which would help playing in that high pressing style that Clement has became known for.

Sam Lammers

The Dutchman was Rangers’ best player during pre-season, but has since looked a fish out of water when it came to competitive action.

A lot of this was down to Lammers being used more as a wide player under Beale, where he was unable to show his strengths and has since led to a massive drop in confidence.

In Clement’s first game, despite still showing a lack of finesse in front of goal, playing as the Number 10 led to him playing a few key passes that helped lead to the final two goals.

Granted, he is best in a role that Todd Cantwell is also strongest in, but he definitely has the skillset still to be a massive strength to how this team will play over the rest of the season.

Cyriel Dessers

Before Clement’s arrival, fans called Dessers as the worst striker the club had seen, and this is a club who’d once had Fran Sandaza and Kevin Kyle as a front line.

Whilst harsh on the forward, there are several elements of his game, including a lack of any pace, that haven’t helped him endear himself to the support.

But having more players close to him in the game against Hibs, you could see the differences in the Nigerian’s game, and the composure he showed for his goal is exactly what we’d hoped to see to this point.

Be it Lammers, Danilo or Todd Cantwell, having players near him providing ammo could help begin one of football’s greatest turnaround tales.