Why Rangers' main man is in rich vein of form and why Christmas 'release' talk isn't welcome
Philippe Clement’s suggestion from earlier this week that Rangers might now be in a position to consider “releasing” Vaclav Cerny will have added to the pre-Christmas Day stress levels for Rangers fans.
What the Ibrox manager was meaning, of course, is that the team might be now be functioning well enough to cope without the in-form winger. For “release” read “rest”, though the player himself sees no reason to stop now. He’s firmly in the groove as he enjoys a first festive football schedule after previously knowing only long breaks at this time of year.
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Hide AdCerny is embracing Scottish football’s packed Christmas programme after emerging from his own personal ‘winter’. There are quite a few Rangers supporters who would have welcomed the proposal of the player taking some time out earlier this season as he struggled to settle in Glasgow following a loan move from Wolfsburg. Now, with ten goals to his name, he is fast becoming indispensable.


The 27-year-old credits his manager for the transformation but won’t thank the Belgian if he goes through with his plan to rest him at some point. “My form is very much down to the manager, the relationship I have with him is great,” said Cerny. “I said before that the talk I had with him helped me so much and we have continued to do that.
“I want to do everything to give it back to him, the boys in the team and the club,” he added. “Since I got here I have enjoyed it so much, even with the up and downs a few months ago. My only job this year is to give everything to this club, the manager and to those guys.”
He is currently succeeding to win everyone around. His winner against Dundee on Saturday was his tenth goal for the club and he is eager to go again against St Mirren on Boxing Day.
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Hide Ad“It’s a nice period because this will be the first time I have played over Christmas and I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “During my ten years in Holland there was always a winter break and I enjoyed it in the Czech Republic too. It was the same in the Bundesliga, so this is the first year there has been no Christmas break for me.”
It might be exciting for him, perhaps not so for his family. “We have these conversations every day - but my wife understands!” he said. “We have family coming over, you need to find a way to make it nice for the family as well. It’s the job and, personally, I am looking forward to it.”


The Czech tradition is celebrating principally on Christmas Eve so a Boxing Day commitment is not so painful, although with games coming so thick and fast – Rangers play Motherwell on Sunday, before hosting Celtic on Thursday – there’s not time for any over indulgence.
“The schedule is very tough, so we just have to be very focused on our recovery,” said Cerny. “We have to keep this flow because the team is doing well and we’re fit. We need every single player from the squad because it’s really killing.
“The body needs to be ready for it,” he added. “In the end, that’s what you want because you want to go as far as possible in every competition you play. It’s what you want but it’s also tough.”
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