Ghost of Beale's incompetence forced Rangers to go nuclear but Sparta point will do the job for Euro hopes

Philippe Clement will have learned far more about his Rangers players last night than he did in the 4-0 hammering of Hibs last weekend.

He’ll know now that while he may not have inherited a team of world beaters, he’s got a group who will battle, stick to their tasks and not wilt when the going gets tough. It was tough all right in Prague but they emerged with a precious Europa League point that might have been three but for the thickness of the crossbar late in the second half. Clement wouldn’t have been prowling the touchline in the Czech capital if Michael Beale had been up to the task.

Beale’s decision to go only with Borna Barisic, who is no stranger to an injury, and exclude Ridvan Yilmaz looked strange at the time. Now it just looks like incompetence and it was Clement who had to pick up the pieces of another man’s folly. The new manager had to completely rip up the shape of the team to accommodate the fact he didn’t have a left-back.

He went in against Sparta with a back three of John Souttar, Connor Goldson and Ben Davies, with John Lundstram a sitting midfielder occupying the space between the defence and a four-man midfield of James Tavernier, Nico Raskin, Todd Cantwell plus Abdallah Sima, trying to stem a maroon tide that swept towards them. That left a front two of Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers in less than splendid isolation.

And for much of the time in Letna Stadium, the 3-1-4-2 formation looked like a team at sixes and sevens. The Sparta fans were roaring as early as the fourth minute after seeing their team only denied by a fabulous double save from Jack Butland.

Ex-Slavia player Sima was getting stick every time he touched the ball but with seven goals in his previous seven games, Rangers needed him