How are Rangers able to make a success of this season?
On Sunday, Philippe Clement saved his job, for now, as the Gers battled to a 3-1 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle; Václav Černý on target in Gorgie, while Jamie McCart scored not one but two unfortunate own goals.
In terms of the Premiership table, this result is immaterial, given that Celtic remain 13 points clear at the top, but it was also a crucial victory for the Light Blues, to life morale if nothing else, considering they’d been ignominiously dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park a week earlier.
So, as Rangers fans rage against their side’s current predicament, we look back at better times at Ibrox, highlighting one of the most profitable sales in the club’s 153-year history.
Steven Gerrard's time at Rangers
When Steven Gerrard arrived at Rangers, the club were a total mess, having gone through three managers the previous season, finishing third in the Premiership.
Meantime, they had been dumped out of Europa League qualifying by Luxembourgish side Progrès Niederkorn, a defeat Lawrence Ostlere of the Guardian labelled ‘humiliating’, while Scott Lewis of the National believes it to be the worst result in the club’s entire history.
This is pertinent because the Europa League is where Gerrard was able to make immediate progress upon his arrival in Glasgow.
During his first season, the Light Blues came through four rounds of qualifying to get into the Europa League group phase, before reaching the competition’s round of 16 during both of the next two campaigns, enjoying noteworthy victories over Midtjylland, Legia Warsaw, Feyenoord, Porto, Braga, Galatasaray and others.
During that third season, Gerrard also led Rangers to their 55th league title, ending Celtic’s streak at nine-in-a-row, going through the entire Premiership campaign undefeated, winning 32 of 38 fixtures, thereby ending up a whopping 25 points clear, the club’s first unbeaten top-flight campaign since 1898/99.
He departed for Aston Villa soon after, but this remains Rangers’ only league title since 2011, hence why Mark Pirie of the Daily Record has reported that Gerrard could return to Ibrox, having departed Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq last month.
Regardless of who has been manager, as noted by David Irvine of the National, Rangers do not make enough profit from player sales, bringing in less than £3m this season, compared to the £56m raised by fierce rivals Celtic.
Many of Gerrard’s stalwarts, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos to name the two most high-profile, have been allowed to leave for free, while Connor Goldson (£2.5m), Borna Barišić (free) and Joe Aribo (£6m) have all departed for pittance.
However, Rangers’ second-most expensive sale of all time did come as a result of the Gerrard era, and Rangers will be delighted they cashed in when they did.
Rangers academy graduate struggling down south
The title-winning season of 2020/21 was very much a breakthrough year for right-back Nathan Patterson, celebrating his 19th birthday mid-way through the campaign.
He made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring his first-ever senior goal during the 9-5 aggregate Europa League victory over Royal Antwerp.
Gerrard labelled the youngster’s work on the ball as “world-class”, while later adding the teenager “became a man tonight”, following a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic.
Meantime, former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thompson was delighted by Patterson’s ‘remarkable rise’, while Jordan Campbell of the Athletic described him as one of Scottish football’s ‘brightest’ young talents.
So, despite having only made just 27 senior appearances for Rangers, totalling a mere 1,554 minutes, Everton paid £11m plus £5m in add-ons for his services in January 2022, although this move has not worked out.
His time on Merseyside has been blighted by persistent injuries, suffering long-term ankle, hamstring and thigh injuries, most recently starting a Premier League match all the way back on 5 April last year.
Statistics
2021/22*
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Appearances
1
21
26
8
Minutes
45
1,585
1,415
197
Matches missed due to injury
23
18
6
12
% of matches missed due to injury
96%
44%
13%
41%
*joined in January 2022
As the table outlines, despite the fact he wasn’t starting every week, Patterson was available for the vast majority of last season, before requiring hamstring surgery in April, which saw him sit out the European Championships in Germany.
He made his long-awaited comeback at Old Trafford in December, but is once again sidelined, simply unable to stay fit for any extended period of time.
This has seen the 23-year-old’s Transfermarkt value drop to £12m, underlining that Rangers were certainly right to cash in when they did.
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