Todd Cantwell looks as if he’s enjoying himself as a Rangers player. And after yesterday’s man-of-the-match performance against Celtic - I really hope the novelty of it doesn’t wear off any time soon.
Pulling on that blue jersey and playing in front of those Ibrox fans should never be taken for granted. And Cantwell looks as if he’s thriving on it. If he keeps performing like that, he can be the poster boy for the big changes Michael Beale is going to make at Rangers this summer.
He’s been playing well for a while now. And he’s getting better with every game. But in a convincing Old Firm win for Rangers yesterday, he was outstanding beside another January recruit, Nico Raskin. And I’ll tell you something. If Beale’s first two signings are anything to go by ahead of the next window, Rangers fans can start getting excited. If he can get more in the door like those two, they will be so much stronger than they’ve been this season.
It was a brilliant performance from Cantwell from start to finish in the 3-0 win. And he was the catalyst for so much of the good stuff Rangers did. In any good move, he seems to be involved at some stage of it. Off the ball, he’s also pivotal to how Michael wants his team to play.
His contribution was superb yesterday when Rangers weren’t in possession, in terms of his tracking back and turning Celtic over. He hustled their players into mistake with his pressing and breaking up of their play.
If he hits the ground, he gets back up and he’s at them straight away. Cantwell took the game to Celtic and that’s what’s been missing at Ibrox for a while now. That’s the type of performance Rangers need from their big players.
He’s only been in the building for a few months but he looks so hungry. It looks to me like he has said to himself: ‘Someone needs to take responsibility here and take this team by the scruff of the neck to beat Celtic’.
That’s what he did yesterday with his performance. He made his goal look easy. But trust me, when these balls are bouncing off a goalkeeper and coming at you fast, it’s not easy.
You can easily snatch at it and not hit the target. But he concentrated and buried it beyond Joe Hart. It capped a fantastic day from him. Against the champions, he was the best player on the pitch.
And he fully deserved his standing ovation from the supporters when he came off. They need a new hero and Cantwell looks like he fits the bill.
This Rangers team needs freshness and he provides that with his energy and desire. And in terms of Raskin, aside from his part in Celtic’s goal at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-final, he’s barely put a foot wrong since he arrived at Ibrox.
Scoring early, through Cantwell, was vital for Rangers because it made Celtic chase the game, which hasn’t happened often enough in these fixtures of late. It was a brilliant start to the game for Michael’s side because they pinned Celtic into their own half.
And set plays is an area I’ve always felt they could get joy in. When I watched Rangers’ first corner and saw Yuki Kobayashi on John Souttar, I wondered whether they’d try to isolate that duel.
It was a mis-match and John showed great strength to hold off his man for the second goal. He bullied him in the box and had the ability to plant his header past Hart.
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