Dundee vs Rangers preview: International Superstar

Morning all, it feels like it's been a long time, but Rangers are back again, and as a result I am back. The Gers travel to Dens park to face Dundee, hoping to improve upon the last performance and result there. It shouldn't be hard, our 1-1 draw there felt like one of the lowest points in the season in terms of effort and desire from the players.

The international break provided minimal entertainment in terms of watching Scotland. A very respectable 1-0 win away in Greece of the first leg of the play off was followed up by a battering at home, 3-0 and that was all she wrote. I expect Steve Clarke's days are numbered, in fact there's a strong argument that Scotland should have already moved on after the latest Euros. I certainly wouldn't rush to disagree with that.

From a Rangers perspective Souttar played in both games and performed well individually. Clarke set the team up to defend in both matches so the big centre half was called upon numerous times to defend the 18 yard box, and did so effectively. Most of Greece's goals and good chances came from cutbacks to the edge, taking advantage of the gap created by the backline rushing to defend their goal line.

Additionally Nicolas Raskin had an international break to remember. He was a late sub as Belgium lost 3-1 in their first leg play off against Ukraine. But he started the next game and was truly exceptional in that 6 role we've become accustomed to seeing him in. The Red Devils turned their tie round and won 3-0. Raskin's performance has been widely praised by Belgian fans and the press. It's great to see a Rangers player perform so well on the international stage, and although it seems cynical to immediately talk about it now, that will do no harm to his transfer fee should we look to sell him in the summer.

Raskin has managed to be a revelation on 3 separate occasions in his Rangers career. His performances upon his arrival in January 2023 were exceptional and a breath of fresh air. He was injured upon Clements arrival and it wasn't until near the end of the season that he was introduced to great effect in place of the departing John Lundstram. This season he was only called upon once Barron seemed to lose his way as the 6, once again he dazzled and were it not for Vaclav Cerny, he would be a shoe-in for player of the season. Even with the presence of the Czech, he's still in with a strong chance.

As a fan I always want us to hold onto good players for as long as possible. But that's not how things can work for us these days. I absolutely loved Glen Kamara, he was easily my favourite player in the team under Gerrard. When we didn't sell him after winning the league or Seville I was happy because I would get to see more of my favourite player. That quickly soured when his performances dipped and we saw a fraction of the fee that we could have for the Finn upon his eventual departure.

It's important we don't make the same mistake with Raskin, his stock will be extremely high in the summer. Getting a strong fee for him and investing that in the rest of the team is a lot better than hoping we can add quality around him and therefore raise his fee.

Amusingly, the discourse around Vaclav Cerny's exuberant celebration still rumbles on. Early reports of SFA action, including a ban for the Czech seem to have abated. So honestly I'm bored of hearing about it at this stage. Hopefully it's just a case of international break bringing on a slow news week and there's more actual football to talk about concerning Rangers until the end of the season.

Looking at today's game, the biggest decision for Rangers is around the kind of set up we will adopt. The 352/343 shape has been very effective in the recent run of games. Although on paper it's a defensive/counter attacking style, I think there's scope for us to leave the back 3 on their own and push everyone really high up the pitch. Sterling should be seen as a bit of a cheat code here, his recovery pace should allow him to cover the space in behind the back 3 very effectively.

Dundee are coming into the game off the back of a fantastic result at Tannadice and will be full of confidence. They've taken points off both us and Celtic at Dens this season. It's important that we set the tempo of the game by claiming territory in the opposition half, much like at Celtic park. I'd also like to see us look to build more consistently through Raskin and Barron, we have bypassed them at times in recent away games, which was understandable given the opposition, but we need to back them to be the base of our attacks in a fixture like todays.

This could be a game for Igamane to return to a starting berth, Dessers has shown his most intelligent play out of possession since signing for Rangers in recent games. But Igamane's willingness to run the channels and stretch the opposition will be really crucial here, especially if Dundee decide to sit deep. There was lots of space on the break in our last game at Dens too, Igamane and Cerny will be key to exploiting that.

Aside from that I'm genuinely excited to see what kind of set up and approach the coaching team serve up. I look forward to that backfiring swiftly. Enjoy the game everyone, safe travels if you're going.