While it feels a little churlish to focus on the negatives after Rangers did the business against a Fenerbahce side coached by Jose Mourinho, that 3-1 win on Turkish soil did raise a few probing questions.
Why, the Rangers faithful would cetainly be forgiven for asking why on earth can their players produce performances like this, against a team as talented as Fenerbahce, while slipping up at home to Motherwell, St Mirren and Queen’s Park.
This year alone, Rangers have hammered Celtic, ran Manchester United close at Old Trafford, beat Union Saint-Gilloise to secure a place in the last-16 of the Europa League and, after destroying the Turkish giants on their own turf, took a giant stride towards the quarter finals.
Rangers have also lost three successive games at Ibrox. They were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by second-tier Queen’s Park, while dropping further points against Dundee and Hibernian.
No wonder Kris Boyd, the former Rangers striker, is left wondering how his old employers continue leap so wildly from brilliant to abysmal, sometimes within the very same week.
Kris Boyd feels Nico Raskin sums up the good and bad of Rangers
“It makes no sense at all but Rangers seem transformed every time they take to the pitch on a Thursday night,” Boyd tells the Scottish Sun.
“Players who toil against Queen’s Park, St Mirren and Motherwell at Ibrox are suddenly starring in a hostile venue playing against multi-million pound players.”
Boyd sees no greater example of Rangers’ maddening inconsistency than Nico Raskin.
Not only did the Belgian battleaxe produce yet another tireless, ferocious midfield performance in a European clash, Raskin provided a ‘world-class’ assist for Vaclav Cerny too. His wonderful through ball cut right through the heart of Jose Mourinho’s side, Cerny slotting home his second of the night as Rangers secured a two-goal lead heading into the second leg next week.
Ally McCoist called Nico Raskin’s performance ‘unbelievable’. The very best in a team full of stand-out performances.
And Boyd, a former teammate of Barry Fergusons and a two-time Premiership champion at Ibrox, feels domestic silverware will not return to Rangers until players like Raskin can translate their continental qualities onto the local stage.
READ MORE: Rangers Europa League Record Since 2017
Boyd explains how Raskin and Rangers must improve
“You take Raskin as an example. The better the opposition, the better he seems to play,” Boyd argues. “The Belgian was everywhere against Fenerbahce. It was a complete midfield performance.
“Raskin was tenacious, he was composed and he then produced the laser-like pass of the game for Cerny’s clinching goal.
“Anyone watching the Fenerbahce match would be thinking; ‘What a player Rangers have there’. But Raskin, like so many of his team-mates, has struggled to hit those heights consistently in Scotland and that’s why they won’t win any domestic trophies this term.
“In one-off games, Rangers have shown they are more than a match for Celtic and some top European teams. Beating Fenerbahce 3-1, and having two goals disallowed, was further proof of that.
“But these players need to take the next step and produce these performances in the bread and butter of Scottish football.”
It speaks volumes that Rangers only have a week off between those two Fenerbahce ties – a place in the last-eight of the Europa League the prize – because they failed to defeat a Championship club at home in the early stages of the Scottish Cup.
Makes no sense’: Kris Boyd absolutely baffled after watching Rangers’ £1.7m man vs Fenerbahce
