If we remove the horrendous loss to Lyon from the equation, it is once again Thursday Rangers we’re seeing in the Europa League this season.
The composed and impressive display with deserved point that could and should have been more in Piraeus was yet another Europa night from the Famous in which Philippe Clement’s Rangers matched up against a quality side and secured another praise-worthy match.
Olympiacos are another solid and decent side – yes, they are only fourth in their domestic league, and it’s well known that their defence has similar issues to our own, but their home record in this competition is outstanding and of course they won the Conference League last season so this wasn’t exactly going to be a cakewalk.
But once again it was the Europa Rangers who managed a point at the Karaiskakis taking 7 points total of a possible 12, which is not half bad for a team struggling domestically.
It all sits with Steven Gerrard, who built a European side back in 2018, and instilled a winning belief in a side who had been crushed by Neiderkorn only one season earlier, and every Rangers manager since has managed a level of joy in Europe.
The only bad run was of course the Champions League, which Rangers are no more ready for now than they were in 2022.
But there’s definitely stardust with Rangers in the Europa, under Clement, Gio, Gerrard and even Beale, this club shines at this level.
And it did it again in Greece, following up that massive win in Sweden and easy dispatch of a rather meek FCSB side last time around – Lyon was the only blot, and ironically their record in this competition is the same as Rangers – two wins, a draw and a loss.
Clement did get a lot wrong that night, as he has many times for Rangers in all competitions, but certainly in southern Europe it was a vast improvement on that, and the side took a gigantic step towards actually qualifying from the league stage.
Do we agree with Super Ally McCoist that Clement deserves the chance?
It’s more of the problem that he wrecks things repeatedly in the league, acts bizarre in pressers, then the side produces a big European display and the man gets some slack.
We neither agree nor disagree with Coisty, it’s a tricky one.
But who at this point would bet against Clement’s Rangers getting to the next stage?
Well, we’ve got the big matches to come, Utd under a new coach and Spurs who remain at 100% in this competition. Getting anything from those will be a hard graft.
But Rangers and Clement have given themselves a chance.
Who would ever have had us 10th in the league of 36 after 4 matches?
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