Philippe Clement under 'extra pressure' to hand Rangers outcast a reprieve as fan power could have impact
One of Ally McCoist’s Rangers signings has suspected that Clement and Hagi have 'fallen out'
Ex Rangers fan favourite Dorin Goian reckons Philippe Clement is now “extra pressure” to bring frozen out playmaker Ianis Hagi back in from the footballing wilderness after he featured for Romania on international duty.
The 25-year-old has been informed that he has no future in Glasgow by Clement, who previously banished him to train and play with the B-team. However, Hagi remains an important player for his country and made a substitute appearance in Romania’s 3-0 Nations League win over Kosovo this week.
And Goian - who spent two years at Ibrox between 2011 and 2013 - insists the player's issue at club level seems to be more deep-rooted. He believes the main raison Hagi has been cast aside by the Ibrox boss is because the pair have fallen out.
“Ianis Hagi is a valuable player,” he admitted. “Unfortunately, he is not having a great time at Rangers, given he is not on the best of terms with the manager there. His summoning to our national team is also to do with helping his morale and I think that our manager Mircea Lucescu did the right thing by picking him.
“It gives him a confidence boost and there is now extra pressure on Rangers to play him. I know their supporters are demanding the return of Ianis. The facts are that Rangers have a talented footballer who, until he got injured, was playing very well there. I think Ianis should play for Rangers. He is a technical player who can beat a man. He can make a killer pass too and in Scotland there are not many players of his ability.”
Fans have been urged to apply further pressure on Clement to hand the attacking midfielder a reprieve after he failed to secure a move before the summer transfer deadline. The gers were hopeful of offloading Hagi for a small fee, with the player on significant wages. There has also been speculation that one more appearance for the first-team would trigger a hefty pay rise which is why the Light Blues don't want to involve him in games.
Close friend Giovanni Becali is of the opinion that Hagi being recalled could aid the club’s fortunes. He told fanatik.ro: “Something is happening to Ianis that the supporters also dispute. If we look at the results that Rangers has had so far, they drew a game and Celtic went to two points, they beat them 3-0 in the direct match as well and they are on five points, so the situation of the first place is kind of settled in Scotland. It's not like England where you can relive how Manchester City came back from five or six points behind Arsenal to finish first.
“In Scotland there are two big, wide teams playing for the top two spots. And it looks like Rangers are destined to stay in second place. This is an advantage for Ianis to be able, especially with the help of the supporters who are unhappy with this Clement, to be able to return to play and even start at Glasgow Rangers. It would be a shame if he doesn't play at least until the winter, even as a starter, after which, depending on how he plays, there will probably be other offers from the winter. I haven't heard of any offer for Ianis from Greece.”