Rangers 4-0 Steaua Bucharest: Czech yourself before you wreck yourself

To say I'm surprised at the performance we saw last night would be an understatement. I was clearly not expecting much of a change in the team or approach, but Raskin came in for Diomande to start alongside Barron in midfield. I thought when we played Hibs at home and started with that partnership they seemed to get in each others way alot, but there was no sign of that last night. Raskin was slightly deeper of the two and I thought it allowed Barron a bit more freedom in his use of the ball, and also gave us a safety net if Barron was bypassed whereas Barron would normally be our last line of defence in midfield.

But the night could have been oh so different, inside the first 5 minutes the ball was played back to Butland, he dillied, he dallied and he had his pocket picked by the opposition striker. The ball was rolled into the empty net, but thankfully from a Rangers perspective, the ref had already blown for a foul on the Rangers number 1. I think he's a bit fortunate to have been adjudged to have been fouled, if it was down the other end, we'd have been absolutely fuming to see an opener chalked off. But we know keepers get a bit more protection from refs than other positions, so I think it was probably down to that.

I can't imagine how quickly the mood may have dipped if we'd been 1 down before some people had even taken their seats. But we got the rub of the green on that decision and I thought we did well not to let it disrupt our approach. Our first goal came from pushing high on a throw in high in the oppositions third, clever positioning from throw-ins was a feature of early Clement games, but not sure we've seen it since. We got Cerny in a good position and he cut the ball back to the edge of the area for the arriving Tom Lawrence to curl the ball into the goal via the keeper's hand and post. It was a well worked goal but I think the keeper was caught out by Lawrence's slightly mishit finish. It was a goal we deserved after a positive start though.

We were buoyed by the early goal and it was a return to a real pressing from the front approach. This approach led to the second goal, we dispossessed them on the edge of their box, the ball came to Cerny who curled the ball brilliantly into the bottom right corner with his right foot. I liked the view from behind Cerny when it looked like a bit of a swinger from the Czech winger. But the way he took it early was superb and a real sign of the confidence he's playing with at the moment, we've really seen a different side of him since that miss against Lyon.

Steaua were left reeling after that, they had a chance when a set piece was played to the edge of the area, but Butland saved well. We looked more likely to add to our tally but we were unable to do so before halftime. Just short of half time Lawrence went down and had to be helped from the park so we weren't expecting to see him emerge for the second half. And sure enough, out came Mohammed Diomande from the tunnel to replace him as we got underway.

Then came the third goal, almost certainly our goal of the season. We played out from pressure quickly and accurately, Barron fizzed it to Diomande who cushioned it first time brilliantly to Cerny. Suddenly he was bearing down on the box when seconds earlier we'd been in our own third, it was the most verticality I've seen in this time without resorting to going long. Cerny drove inside with the ball, skipped away from defenders and rolled it into the corner, sending the keeper the wrong way, like he was out for an afternoon stroll.

I've mentioned Cerny's confidence but it's clear he had some of his defensive responsibility reduced in the team with Barron and Raskin playing together. That allowed him to be truly unleashed in the final third without needing to look over his shoulder, and we saw the best of him again. It's taken him a while to get going properly, but keep playing him like this and he will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Then came the cherry on the icing on the cake. Igamane was introduced for Dessers in the aftermath of the 3rd goal, Barron pounced on a Steaua midfielder, poked the ball to Igamane who strode forward with defenders backing off until he got into the area, then he calmly blasted the ball into the far corner. Igamane has been a bright spark off the bench this season but I think we saw against Hibs that some of his finishes can be a bit wild, no sign of that with the control on this finish. He was unlucky not to add a second later too.

In terms of a checklist for the game (I wasn't optimistic enough to write a checklist) you'd want:

1. A big win - Check

2. Goal for Igamane - Check

3. Genuinely positive performance - Check

4. Clean sheet - Check

So I think we can be pretty pleased with how that turned out. But the main thing staying my hand on cracking the champagne and declaring us Quadruple champions, is that we've had a very positive performance already in Europe and it didn't lead to any progress domestically. Malmo away was absolutely superb from top to bottom and could have had a scoreline like last night, but then we went back to stiff laborious football at the weekend. I'm reserving any judgements until we see our next two domestic games for that reason.

Lovelace got some minutes after being subbed for the B team after impressing the first team staff at the game. He looked bright, maybe a little desperate to score, but who wouldn't be in his position. He's a more traditional wide option than Bajrami and could be a good option for late on in games or against certain opposition.

Have to give a big round of applause to Leon Balogun, what an absolute lion of a man. Barely had a sniff this season, called upon to start a big European game and doesn't put a foot wrong. Rangers have made a lot of poor decisions in recent windows, but keeping him around isn't one of them.

Cerny, Barron and Clement were all effusive in their praise of the team after the game. I liked Cerny talking about his goals as good team goals, very selfless and exactly what you want to hear after a good game.

I've been very vocal in my criticism of Clement this season, and I'm not rowing any of that back after a good game. I will give him a point of praise, you can see he cares about this team. The reaction on the touchline to each goal and the way he addressed the press after the game was not the manner of a man that's given up. I can only respect the fact he wants to fight for this and show he's the right man for the job. Whether or not he is, remains to be seen.

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, and hopefully they share the goals around a bit more because I'm running out of Czech-related puns. Have a good day everyone.