BBC NEWS. Former Rangers ace thinks £1.7m man he ‘loved’ watching is saving his Ibrox career now.
As one Rangers player begins to regain the form that once made him a guaranteed starter at Ibrox, the expression ‘class is permanent’ comes to mind.
And, for former Ibrox veteran Andy Halliday, witnessing the £1.7 million man begin to return to his 2023 best was another huge benefit in what has been a successful few days for the Scottish Premiership giants.
Rangers rebounded from their setback at Kilmarnock by defeating FCSB in the Europa League.
Nicolas Raskin’s remarkable performance with the Rangers, creating a strong connection with Connor Barron, might represent a turning moment in his career.
Nicolas Raskin was the only player to make more than nine tackles as Steaua Bucharest was defeated by a fierce and brutal Gers team. He subsequently led the ball-winning statistics again as St Mirren were defeated in Glasgow.
Raskin earned RangersNews’ Man of the Match award after another bold, aggressive performance from the Belgian battle-axe.
Andy Halliday is pleased to watch Nicolas Raskin kick-start his Rangers career.
“Do you know who was very good? Raskin,” comments Halliday, a Motherwell veteran who was with the Rangers for five years before leaving in 2020. “I adored Raskin when he initially came in.
“Clement plainly didn’t like him because he hadn’t played him for a long time. And, as he’s come and gone over the previous six months, you wonder if he’s still the same powerful player he was at the start.
“But perhaps that was due to the absence of games. I felt he was fantastic [against St Mirren].
Kris Boyd, a former Rangers striker, claimed Raskin was ‘a shell’ of his previous self a month ago. The former Standard Liege star was replaced at half-time by Kieran Dowell in the unimpressive 1-0 win against Hibernian at the end of September.
A performance that seemed like the beginning of the end for his Rangers career.
Four weeks later, with Raskin fully back to full health after some minor injury difficulties, the 23-year-old continues to demonstrate that reports of his doom are highly overstated with each full-blooded tackle.
Nedim Bajrami also excels in Rangers’ St Mirren victory.
Raskin was one of two standout players for Halliday as Rangers resumed their domestic winning streak against Stephen Robinson’s side. Matchwinner Vaclav Cerny maintained his own revival, scoring a magnificent brace against FCSB, but it was the player on the opposite flank that attracted Halliday’s attention.
Halliday was originally concerned with Nedim Bajrami’s lack of speed on the left. What he lacks in rapidity, the £3.5 million signing from Sassuolo more than compensates for his vision and technique.
“I think Bajrami will be really good,” Halliday continues, certain that the Albanian playmaker will progress even more in a fluid, strong Gers team.
“I believe he will thrive if the club improves and provides him with more opportunities.
“I thought he was quite excellent in the second half. [Raskin and Bajrami] were the two primary positives.”
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