The title aspirations of Glasgow Rangers were severely damaged on Sunday when Philippe Clement’s team lost in an unusual fashion.
As a matter of fact, their 3-2 loss to Ross County marked their first-ever loss to the Highland team and only their third domestic loss under the Ibrox management. This could prove detrimental in the title battle.
Rangers led by a goal within the opening twenty minutes, but the truth is that they were never at the races.
The Ibrox team would now need to win all six of their remaining games in order to win the league after three goals from the Staggies in the second half made it impossible for them to come back.
The shocking defeat against County and Celtic the previous season undoubtedly demonstrated that some of the senior players are not able to produce when the chips are down. Another summer clear-out is what’s required, and Clement has to add his own players to the group to round out his roster.
It will be easier to free up the salary bill because several players on the first team have contracts expiring in the summer.
Who might quit this summer from the Rangers? As it stands right now, six players will be leaving Ibrox at the end of the current campaign. The players who have not yet received a new contract are Ryan Jack, Leon Balogun, Kemar Roofe, Borna Barisic, Jon McLaughlin, and John Lundstram. If they depart, Clement may be able to free up a total of more than £90k a week, which might be crucial for his transfer plans.
Due to a few strong performances under Clement, Lundstram was the only player on this list with any prospect of obtaining a contract extension just a few short weeks ago.
But given that his most previous performances at the Light Blues have fallen well short of the needed threshold, this has appeared to be a purple patch.
This season’s statistics for John Lundstram The former Sheffield United midfielder had a difficult 2022–23 season, managing just five goals in 52 games and not helping Rangers secure any kind of trophy.
Michael Beale’s current campaign got off to a lackluster start, which stoked rumors that it might be his last with the Glasgow team.
But with Clement on board, Lundstram established himself as a regular starter and hasn’t missed a match since mid-October, that being an Eve match against Motherwell.
Lundstram is currently ranking fourth for big chances created (four), sixth for key passes per game (1.4), and fourth for tackles per match (1.7) among his teammates in the top flight.
These stats indicate that, at least statistically, he isn’t doing too badly. However, the Englishman was often disoriented against County and was unable to follow George Harmon, who capitalised on Jack Butland’s parry to score the team’s second goal.
Lundstram gave up the ball twelve times during the game, and although he completed 90% of his passes successfully, the midfield player contributed very little in the attack.
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